Hey everyone! Thanks so much for the crazy support and feedback I’ve gotten on this video! If there’s anything you want to see me cover in the future, let me know in the comments! Also thanks for 1000 subs!!! Happy new years everyone!
Dont they purposley put the family with the worst reputation in the back ? because i remember when they did something that earned them that spot in the back ? or am i wrong ?
Show videos on how they muffed up Galadriels character with the writing and the bad acting done by the actress who played her unless you are afraid of the "Woke" fan base that only learned of lord of the rings after Google showed a news report about it.
Not gonna lie, i thought you had way more subs based on the quality of this video! Awesome take, editing, pacing and narration! Keep it up! Looking forward to more!
The Dwarves have their mountains, the elves have their forests, men their fields, but the harfoots have each other - unless of course, a harfoot get a minor injury in which case he or she is left behind to die alone
apparently if you scratch yourself slightly, they will first banish you to the very back, and if you still manage to keep up, they will break your legs... I have a feeling that these creatures are what spawned the Gollum
the orcs showed more compassion for each other than the "hobbits". and never got why they used carts, they are supposed to be so secretive...how secretive can you be when you are leaving tire tracks behind you where ever you go.
Adar was the only hero in the Series. Elrond: Betrayed Galadriel, then betrayed his best friend while kinda lying to his King. Durin: Was mean to his best friend, lied to his father out of pure greed and ignored his fathers begging not to dig further... Galadriel: Wastes Elves lifes in a personal pursuit for revenge in useless expeditions, misusing her military rank.. torturing prisoners.. mocking on untrained men while being a frickin high-Elve... and so much more.. Elendil: Too dumb to be a hero.. Isildur: Too selfish to be a hero... Arondir: Is so full of himself like ruining polite people chess games on one hand and giving them catastrophic tactical battle advices (leave the fortress, defend the village) and hides the "Key" in the damn village under the eyes of the villagers... DUDE! Sauron: Did nothing but defending himself in the show. Not even close being a Villain. He even helped the Elves making their rings without any profit, the way they turned things over compared to the source. He did not use the Elves to make the dark influenced rings for men and dwarves first like in the books. He just told them, how to make the most dangerous weapon against his presence in Middleearth... what a kind guy! Adar: Cares for a whole species, considering them all his children. He let Arondir go, AFTER him slaughtering several Orcs. He even fought the fricking dark lord, chief lieutenant of Morgoth himself to make life better for THEM. He terraforms a whole fucking country to make his children simply survive during half the day... he even endures captivity and torture by a scary high-elven Psychopath, not revealing anything to her. Like... brrruuuuuuhhh... What kind of show is this, where the Villain becomes the Hero and the Heros become psychopathic anti-heros and pure villains? No wonder the Actor of the only satisfying and working role in the series just left...
@@holzbierproductions9153 fully agree, it really is off that Sauron is shown to be far more honest and less manipulative then that psychopath Galadriel....unless that was the worst case of reverse psychology I have ever seen. He didn't even show any manipulation for the forging of the rings..he only helped the elves do exactly what they wanted to do to survive. Didn't even show how the elven rings would benefit him. Book Sauron only manipulated the elves to make the rings for all the races was to benefit him...... Then you go the rest of the "good" guys acting so selfish and evil that I'm found myself actually hoping none of them survive.
@@mr.s2005 yes exactly :D And my girlfriend didnt know the books. She felt the exact same way. Like... "This is Sauron? This huge, evil threat terrorising middle earth in the movies? This is him?"
@@holzbierproductions9153 You can tell her its 5000 years before LOTR movies, before he had the rings so Sauron not looking the same isn't super strange, especially since he also could change apperance.
Clearly the Halflings were able to out breed the Harfoots because they actually cared for their injured, stayed in a area to farm, and even dealt with the humans in their area for things like metal work among other things.
@@DrRush-ow4qg I mean halfling are often depicted as little shit in any other setting, in warhammer Fantasy they are a bunch of thieving, gluttonous and "extremely" open society but they still have their own merit. They are good Farmers producing much of the Empire's Luxury agricultural goods, They make for good scouts, They often use their bad reputation into a plus maneuvering the politics of Fantasy HRE (Germany) and though very isolationist are very loyal to the Empire of Man (given the province of Averland and Stirland really hate Halfling for historical reasons). Halflings in other more wholesome setting still portray the obvious flaws of halfling ( Specially the stealing part) but arent as mean-spirited and contrary to their very survival.
@@lettuceman9439 Warhammer as usual puts a spin on the halflings and some are evil. You go to the bad part of the county at a certain time and there is a ritual taking place and you, an outsider will probably be that ritual.
@@lettuceman9439hing is the warhammer fantasy Halflings wouldn’t work as well as a distinction if the Tolkien version were not so unapologetic wholesome,for example the reason Frodo could resist the ring’s influence for so long was due to his innocence and lack of desires that the ring could use against him
I think it shows how bad the writers are when they specifically write a line about them having hearts as big as their feet, then actually write them like this. That tells you everything they need to know about their incompetent writing - they write scenes or moments that sounded cool in their heads, without any consideration to how it ties in with other things in the show. Like Galadriel jumping off a ship in the middle of the ocean. Like Galadriel being hit in the face with a volcanic eruption.
it doesn't necessarily mean that it's bad writing that a character say something, and act in a different way. This way of writing can actually be very interesting because it shows off the hypocrisy of the character. A character's actions tells a lot more than what they say. Although I don't like the execution in this show or how they work with it, I do find the concept of the harfoots being hypocritical interesting.
Everyone is ripping on the Harfoots, but I love them for the simple reason that they are the perfect embodiment of the people who created them - an ethnically diverse group (not diverse out of genuine love or care for other races, but out of a need to appear accepting and good to others), a group who sings songs about supporting others, but will instantly abandon those they are supposed to care for. And who look sweet and kind and innocent, but internally are truly cruel and nasty. It's perfect really.
It's amazing how the writers of this show turned the kindest most peaceful creatures in all of Middle Earth into complete psychopaths. Either this was done on purpose or they are really that stupid.
Or the harfoots represent poor people, who happen to be good hearted and also really backwards and supersticious and small minded and ignorant and foolish
It reflects their own worldview, I think. Centered around saying the right things and keeping up proper appearances until the moment it is no longer convenient or pragmatic.
Hobbits were no different to every farmer society. Lobelia for example was a beast. A stealing crow. And her son Lotho was an asshole. The difference between hobbits and other cultures is, that hobbits will not go to war, just for the conquest. They will only take up arms to defend their homes or friends. The shit, that amazon produced is not even worth watching.
@@jarlnils435 you are talking about 3rd age hobbits.... 2nd age hobbit ancestors were never detailed by Tolkien, so the ROP writers can make the harfoots however they want. The fact that they are backwards and poor actually makes sense developmentally
The worst thing is they were ment to be portrayed as a lovable bunch, they were supposed to remind us of the movie version of the hobbits. It just shows how bad the writting was, the writers had no idea what they were making them to be.
This TH-camr needs to realize, stories arent histories, they are tools. Stop trying to make the story work in middle earth, make it work in your own life.
"Nobody goes off trail and nobody walks alone" *literally abandoned the guy with an injured foot* SHOW us that they share this strong bond. Don't tell me something and then show me the exact opposite Sam carried Frodo all the freaking way to Mount Doom, facing death to save his friend. Really great video! I just had to get this off my chest
That is the whole idea of the quote: Whoever walks off trail or walks alone is outside the protection of the group. The group will not wait for stragglers or endanger the whole group for the sake of someone who stepped out of the 'group perimeter'. It just clashes with our idea that the group should band together to protect the weak or those who have brought themselves in danger. It is the same idea as Spock's "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." - logic dictates that the survival of the group must not be compromised by caring for someone who can not contribute enough to the group and is a burden.
@@mandolinistry3207 There are roughly 4.900 years between the Harfoots we see in 'The Rings of Power' and Samwise Gamgee. Peoples, societies and attitudes change over millenia. Just like the modern Swedish social state is a thad different than the semi-nomadic (?) society of the Proto-Swedes from 3.000 BC. ;) Not to mention that neither Bilbo, Frodo, Sam, Merry or Pippin are what one would consider 'typical hobbits'.
@@chrishieke1261 It is in their best interests to help a healthy male with minute injury survive until he gets better. Strength is in numbers. It would make sense if they left their elderly to die from exposure medieval Japanese-style, but not a man who will be fine in few days and can provide protection/workforce, together with other healthy hobbits. There is no good reason shown why they can't afford to rest for a couple of days, either. They aren't on strict schedule, and if they were, it's unbelievable that they could manage to stick to it with all the possible nature disasters.
Even orcs in Tolkiens world were shown as being very loyal to their commanders and comrades (assuming they weren't enemies/rivals), they were known to travel great distances to avenge fallen commanders and comrades. Even the orcs are a better group to roll with than the Harfoots
When I watched the House of the Dragon, i didn't like the first few episodes but kept watching thinking it will get better, and it did, the second half of the season was good IMO. With a similar mindset i went and watched the RoP, and i regret every second of it
3/ How did a nomadic people develop a written language? Even in the Third Age, when the Hobbits of the Shire were very comfortably off, Tolkien wrote that all Hobbits learn to cook even before they learn to read, and many of them never learn to read. Sam was very proud of having "learned his letters" as Mr. Bilbo taught him. Another TH-cam channel recently made a video about all the ROP things that were ripped off the LOTR trilogy, and he mentioned this book as being similar in appearance to the dwarf book in Khazad-Dûm. Maybe it was only intended as a member berry. Speaking of which, their table manners are disgusting, but that is the least objectionable thing about them.
That's actually the least inaccurate part of them. Phoenicians for example developed a writing system mostly for the migratory elements in their society. In Iberia while the first writing system may or may not be the Tartessos one (there's debate due to lack of evidence as to wether those are runes or just decorations) the spread of writing systems on preroman times was mostly on the back of transhumant subsocieties. And as the prior comment mentioned, same goes for mongols, the most literate elements were the leaders of the roaming segments of their society. The issue however is actually one thing all 3 of these societies had but harfoots don't: COMMERCE. Phoenicians were a thalassocracy, aka rule by the sea, the reason the migratory segments of their society were so literate is because they were MERCHANTS and when power is derived by sea trade, merchants get clever. Mongols, same thing. The roaming packs served as the logistical backbone of their empire, writing became necessary for them to communicate because trade required it. Transhumans in Iberia? same thing. Preroman iberia, specially the deep parts (away from the mediterranean) was made up of small castros that dominated valleys in a sort of feudal style, transhumants therefore acted as these castros' way of communicating with the outside, and so they made up the bulk of merchants, which became vital for the castros as the metal trade with greece and phoenicia started dominating their economy during the bronze age and early iron age. So of course transhumans learned to write. Because that helped them trade. Harfoots don't trade. With pretty much anyone. They're hunter-gatherers... actually I think just gatherers. Which brings the question: WHY THE HELL DO THEY EVEN MIGRATE?! Why did most early societies take to migrating? well the term I used for the iberians should tell you: TRANSHUMANT. They were animal-husbandry focused so they migrated in predictable patterns through fertile grounds to grow their flocks, much like animals do in nature. For non-coastal europe these were cows and sheep. For the mongols, you add horses and hunting. For the mediterranean like the phoenicians it wasn't animal husbandry, but it was fishing, they migrated following the patterns of where the best fishing spots were. Harfoots have no animals. They don't hunt. They don't fish. And they don't trade... They're vegetarians, so you'd think the first thing they would develop past gathering is agriculture, therefore making them sedentary. But no. They have developed 3 things. Migration, writing, and metallurgy.. HOW?! WHAT KIND OF MINMAX STRATEGY GAME STRAT IS THIS?! HOW DO THEY EVEN HAVE METALLURGY WITHOUT SETTLEMENTS?!
2/ For a group of people who have such disregard for life that they happily discard somebody who has a temporary injury, plus his healthy family, I find it extremely unlikely that they would have an ethnic mix. They would be much more likely to approach a being with a different skin colour with hostility and murderous intentions. If they can't be bothered to assist a grown man, who may be somewhat past his prime, but still strong, how on earth do they deal with pregnant women? They are nothing but a liability in terms of strength and immediate usefulness. However, they are obviously extremely important to keep the species alive. Three guesses how they would treat an infant with special needs. Speaking of infants and toddlers, they tend to be very noisy. This is a problem when your entire lifestyle revolves around hiding from the big people and the wolves. I'm starting to reach the conclusion that the amount of thinking you have put into your video, and the amount of thinking I have put into this comment is more than the showrunners ever did.
The ethnic mixes always makes me laugh in shows like RoP and wheel of time. Extremely isolated communities that don't accept outsiders are portrayed as more ethnically diverse than modern day major metropolitan areas, and it's got to the point where parents sometimes aren't even the same ethnicity as their children. It's as if the casting director just hit a randomize button for the ethnicity of characters
This TH-camr needs to realize, stories arent histories, they are tools. Stop trying to make the story work in middle earth, make it work in your own life.
@@adc1222 the races in the show are defined by their personalities rather than their color. Its Dr MLK Jrs Dream in metaphor. And thats actually the history of our future. As races mix today, people tend to group together with like minded people. The divide between Republican and democrat is more important than divides between black and white.
Yeah, it seems pretty strange that a group of people so xenophobic that they'd severely punish one of their own for helping a stranger would be welcoming to people who look different from them.
Pro tip, try lowering the music audio in your next videos. It's a tad loud now I'd say and it distracts from the dialogue. I'm sure it'll make your videos feel more professional.
"Nobody goes off trail, and nobody walks alone" sounds about as meaningful as "The sea is always right!" or thought provoking as the ever burning question of "Do you know why a ship floats but a stone cannot?". I also cannot be the only one who fist pumped after a Harfoot got killed. Afterall, they're the real villains of the series. I'm also certain they meant to say "stab each other's backs", not "have each other's backs".
They did this because they are racist English people that wanted to portray the Irish this way the millions murdered from the potato famine wasn't enough!
@@TheRealMaxoto quote "Amazon eventually managed to convince the estate without any specific pitch, through a combination of its bid amount and by promising it a role in making creative decisions." Unfortunately the Tolkien estate was!!!
Wow. In addition to everything you said, they completely rewrote Gandalf's backstory. In the books he arrived at the Grey Havens, knew exactly who he is and what his mission is. Círdan the elf gives him Narya, the ring of fire, to aid him in that mission.
It's supposed to be Alatar the blue wizard. They were the first to arrive, and spent their time in the east (where they head to at the end of season 1)
@@Seeingeyepig That would require the writers to have read anything Tolkien wrote. It would also require them to give a damn and introduce a character for greater purpose than "Hey remember Gandalf? Wizards are cool right? Watch our show".
This is Gandalf's secret back-backstory of his first appearance in Middle Earth before he somehow left again so he could come to Grey Havens for the non-secret regular backstory...see? "The writers are always right! Er, I mean "the sea!"
They're the worst kind of evil person... they think they're good. And the story keeps saying they are... despite showing they're not. Honestly, I just fast-forwarded through most of the harfoot stuff.
The English that made this I assume you're referring to! because they said they represented the Irish purposely made them filthy uncouth and uncaring and the dwarves the Scottish. They are racist assholes!
Modern TV in nutshell. Awful people that are framed as good in show but carry out despicable acts. The Empress in Blood Origins is a good example. She’s a murderous cutthroat but the show tries to make her out as oppressed and tries to justify her actions. Says a lot about the mentality of the writers.
You should just stop watching it in genera;. Read the book. Read the Lore. This is not Tolkien's writing. Dont support the destruction of written word.
@@Eagle-eye-pie The Pensuke files averts this! Pensuke is shown is The Villain in the Pensuke Files! The Pensuke Files is TH-cam only and thus can only see in my TH-cam channel. Pensuke is about to be outright called out! THE STORY IS SLOWLY REVEALING HOW VILE PENSUKE REALLY IS!!! Wanna watch and see?
There is one more thing that I feel should be brought up in this excellent video: Nori's dad, in, I think it's ep 1 or 2, is inspecting the wheel of a cart and talking to the cart's owner, about how the wheel needs to be round (hilarious). He is then responsible for raising the tent when he breaks his ankle: this suggests that Papa Brandyfoot is something of an engineer or at least handyman whom others come to for help: we also never see him dealing out assignments to any other Harfoot, so we can conclude he doesn't have an apprentice. The Harfoots were perfectly fine with abandoning (and murdering) their own, only, engineer, that kept their caravan functional. That's not just evil: that's fucking stupid.
Harfoots: "No one gets left behind!" Also Harfoots: discard all the disabled members of their community, the chronically ill, temporarily ill or just those that think differently
If they leave them behind how do they know how they die? Do they send someone back to make sure they are dead so they can record it for their book ceremony?
It sounded like what they meant about "leave someone behind" is when a person is dead they leave them behind. When Sadoc died he said he was going to be left behind. Did you expect them to bring the corpse with them? One of the hobbits that was left behind was attacked by wolves which implies he died that day. Leaving someone behind is just a light way of saying that person died like saying they went to heaven or something. People died in real life pilgrimages. People just got really soft these days. The Harfoots are pilgrims so they don't have graves.
I feel that the "you're not special" line would make perfect sense in a very collectivist, conservative "we need to stick together" kind of nomadic society, it could give some conflict and inform us on the relationship with her daughter. Too bad then that everything else about the harfoots makes absolutely no sense!
@@greyeye6371 Not politically conservative, culturally conservative, tribalistic. It seems they have a tribe leader, and his word is law, without question. They only look like "woke liberals" because hollywood writers think that every society has to look like los angeles for some reason. I think i'm overthinking this dumb show, but the wasted potential here is astounding.
@@stefanocer3094 I'd like to think we're actually watching documentary footage from a group of midget homeless crackheads that Amazon filmed in Griffith Park or something like that. That would actually make a ton of sense and make the not hobbits screwed up culture and social structure make sense.
This has restored me to sanity. I felt like Will Ferrell in Zoolander shouting “I feel like I’m taking crazy pills!” every time someone said the Harfoots were cute, or fun, or the best part, etc…they’re soulless murderers 😂
@@debugger4693 lol you both lack the critical thinking or lore knowledge or both to conceptualize why a tribe would develop this way. In this age hobbits lived between the Mirkwood and the Misty Mountains in the Valley of Anduin, which is smack dab in the middle of the region where Sauron was preparing to battle against men and elves. It’s literally just NE of what would become Rohan. The fact that there’s few young men, hard line policies that prioritizes the longevity of the tribe over the individual, and technology/practices typically associated with agricultural civilizations suggests they were DRIVEN FROM THEIR LANDS AND SLAUGHTERED REPEATEDLY! The dude that made this video literally pointed to each piece of environmental storytelling that explains this and was like “why did the writers do that? That’s dumb!”. Clearly the writers aren’t the dumb ones here.
Name one other person than Melba, the old woman, that said they should take their wheels. Name one person from the rememberance ceremony that was left behind. All of them died in something like and avalache, mudslide, or animal attack.
Honestly, I will take the concept of the Harfoots for my next D&D campaign... For like Orc or another evil clan. Nothing says evil and heartless better than a group constantly traveling because they have no idea of moderation and eat absolution everything on their way, abandoning those who would slow them in the slightest and mock the dead for dying.
The Harfoots were meant to be the moral compass and vehicle for the audience to relate to this universe. Every fantasy story does this to some degree. You use a character or race of characters for the audience to relate to and go along with the journey. The Harfoots in this world are like crazy people in the hood I grew up in that you can't turn your back on or trust.
Any good story has a five-man band: The hero and the lancer, the heart, the smart and the strong guy. You just described the heart. Makes sense. The show did not
@@nathanaelmaugre7824 historically, a lancer was not a knight, but he wished he could become one, and would try to stand out, act heroically so people would see he was worthy of being a knight. In books and movies the hero is 'knightly' and his best friend/ biggest rival is the lancer, he wishes to become the main character, they often squablle and sometimes the lancer will even betray the hero to get promoted himself. Want to know more? Overly sarcastic made a vid on 'five man band'
They also thought their not-Gandalf/maybe-Sauron red herring would actually fool anyone, so I would guess writing isn't their strong point. They should probably find a different profession other than writer or showrunner.
Sauron: Honest about his addiction to power. Is trying to give it up. Is truthful about everything except his name because he doesn't want to die. Goes out of his way to help someone he barely knows. *Gets power shoved in his face anyway.* Harfoots: Dishonest about caring for one another. Will leave others to die the moment they are able, including children, if it inconveniences them in any way. *Are the good guys.*
I was soooo hopeful not Gandalf was really Sauron who at the time had no memory and could have gone either good or evil but because of the treatment he gets from the Harfoots (Harfeet?) and their heartless treatment of their weak begins his journey to darkness. But NOOOOO obvious plot must remain obvious
But why Gandalf?? Why do they feel the need to throw in characters just so we can say "I know that character" And the book fans are mad because they disrespect the lore again
@@totallynottrademarked5279 They don't have the rights for the Blue Wizards and they used THE EXACT SAME F*CKING LINE AS GANDALF FROM THE MOVIES,WHICH ISN'T EVEN IN THE BOOKS.
@@fabi3790 that is the beauty of a prequel, you can introduce beloved characters in deminished form and keep them that way basically episode after episode of minimal development because we all know what they turn into in the end. The greatest example of this is (Better call Saul)
Wasn't the whole point of Tolkien's Scouring of the Shires that evil doesn't just exist in great all-powerful enemies like Sauron but in smaller, local and more trivial settings as well? In other words, the idea that the ends justify the means as long as we defeat the Big Bad Guy would *not* have gone down well with Tolkien.
Yes, yes it did. Tolkien truly understood the problem with ends justifying the means type of thinking because that's what led to so much of the bloodbath that was WWI.
@Tblazer You really do wonder some times. I think the Wraiths are still some of Tolkiens most interesting creations because they truly encapsulate the hollow, vacuous nature of evil. Which I think describes the people who made this show to a T.
And the worst is that the creators of this thing thinks this is a good behaviour. Most of the "good" guys in this show behave like that even the protagonist. Personally I think these showrunners would react very similarly if it happens to someone irl.
The worst day in the modern cinema was the day that we experienced this for the first time “They will never know what you sacrificed for them.” - Monica Rambeau to Wanda Maximoff Since then, the showrunners and filmmakers used this as a blueprint to make supposed “heroes” evil.
Rather frightening thought, but do the showrunners even understand that they are writing evil "heroes"? Or do they honestly believe they are writing sympathetic characters who are forced to make difficult self-sacrificing decisions. Take the above quote. What did Wanda sacrifice? Yes she sacrificed a potential happy life with a dream family. That is pretty sad. But the people she sacrificed that potential for, were people she had trapped in her TV Land so she could have that happy life in the first place. While one could argue their lives were better for it, she took from their their free agency, put them in a cage so they could play the parts her fantasy needed. So her sacrifice resulted in a Net Zero Sum for the people, a Net Zero that is only possible because she interfered in the first place.
@@hrs29 have you ever read the recent comic books? Have you ever read a feminist writers story? They have no idea. They write evil villains but in their mind they are cool, good and perfect. That's because feminism is inherently evil.
@@kato093 I started to get into comics in the early 2010s, read some good stuff and bad stuff, though most of the good stuff was more indie then the main DC/Marvel stuff. Then in 2016 everything got way too overt political. I swear they were even changing plots mid-story just so they could take a swipe at people they don't like. Very mean spirited in tone which ruined the casual enjoyment.
@@hrs29 They weren't arguably better off. The last episode has them confront Wanda, telling her how they are still awake and conscious, but are in constant pain and can't go against her "script". Not even a net zero sum, it was actively traumatizing for every one of them involved.
Isn't it ironic that the writers of this show, who were soooo preoccupied with making sure the casting and narratives were reflective of modern day social justice politics, have managed to write some of the most ethically questionable and dislikeable characters in all of Middle Earth as a result.
I've been noticing a lot of movies these days will have protagonists that are presented as moral and are treated as such by other characters despite being incredibly cruel and selfish. I'm starting to wonder if most people in Hollywood are literally psychopaths who genuinely don't understand how their audience will empathize with the characters they create.
Not just hollywood movies, literally all media from across the globe has characters like this. I read plenty of light novels and webcomics where the main character is treated as a paragon while committing reprehensible acts. I think that a lot of writers are just out of touch with reality
Happy New Year man! This was truly GREAT! Only feedback I can give is keep doing what you're doing. You're on the right way to hundreds of thousands of subs. I have zero doubts about that. There are so many insanely dumb and lazily written plots, characters and dialogues in shows these days you'll definitely have enough material to work with :D All the best!
At first it was sad but now I'm just fascinated how the show depicted Orcs crying actually feeling deep sorrow for their dead while the ancestors of the hobbits party and drink and celebrate all the ways they screwed you over before you they left you
@@badpiggies988To be fair the Orcs I believe were corrupted elves, twisted and tortured to the point of loosing their humanity, driven insane or forced to follow their abusers.
It's not even that the Storyline could have been cut, it's that the storyline could have been almost exactly the same and worked with some minor changes. 1: Harfoots have a proto-shire thing, but something is coming that forces them to leave. 2: Migration is NOT something they're used to, and the rule becomes "Stay on the path and no one walks alone" instead of those two things separately. It's meant to mean 'you have to stay with the group so the group can look out for you.' 3: The Harfoots slowly become a bit hesitant to keep helping Poppy's family because they're slowing down the group as a whole. It's not a matter of punishment, and it instead becomes a conversation about 'do we help this family who can't keep up with the rest of us and are endangering the group as a whole, or do we just keep moving without them.' The season long arc for the Harfoots can then become them almost losing their way due to fear, but by the end of it banding together to help Poppy's family because that's who they are as a people. This is all offa the top of my head so it's not perfect but I personally find stories which could have been good with MINOR fixes a lot more irritating that stories that just wholesale suck? And I feel like Rings of Power had a LOT of shit which could have worked but they either half-assed it or made bad choices.
I 100% agree with you that stories that need minor tweaking/alterations are more annoying than stories that are just 100% wholesale awful. That's why I dislike "Man of Steel" and "The Phantom Menace" because I think with a handful of changes the movies wouldn't have just been passable but downright amazing (Anakin Skywalker should have been 14-15 when we first meet him, then it makes perfect sense why he wants to help Amidala, exactly like Luke when he first saw Leia). Whereas if a movie is just completely screwed up from start to finish, a la "The Last Jedi" or "Suicide Squad," it's easier to detach from the movie and it doesn't bother me because you realize there wasn't any saving it. I think your ideas for how to make a second age hobbit storyline are more than serviceable. Maybe you adjust when Greenwood became Mirkwood? In Tolkien's works is partly what set the three kindreds of Hobbits, or Holbytla, as they were known then, moving westward. You could also have them start moving because of orc activity in the Misty Mountains (which they lived next too in those days) or even have them migrate because men are multiplying in the area and they were always wary of "The Big Folk." If they remarked that the human hunters were encroaching into their territory more and more and they didn't feel safe that would have made the migration make perfect sense. Because to be honest, If they had adjusted the timeline of events of Middle Earth (moving something from the Third Age to the Second, for example) while keeping those events intact I honestly don't have a huge problem with that (At least for smaller stuff, them waking the Balrog up screws up everything with the Dwarves and the elves as well as the Last Alliance). I'm not the biggest fan of that, but that would at least be acceptable. As opposed to what they did, which I can only attribute to a combination of illiteracy, clinical narcissism, and a serious cocaine habit.
That's so much better. I still don't think the Harfoots are necessary, and I think the show writers opinions of hobbits in general keep their story from ever being great, but since they need to have those little monsters, your ideas would make it 100x better.
@@gianna526 This is the thing, this is what frustrates me the most - I don't think the subplot is necessary at all, and to be fully 100% honest - I've not actually watched the show. I clicked on this video because I was curious about watching it and decided "no actually probably not." I was able to come up with those fixes from this video. The fact that I, some rando on the internet, could do that, means that the people PAID TO WRITE THE SHOW should have been able to come up with WAY better ideas that me right out the gate.
One of the most powerful scenes in the Peter Jackson trilogy of LOTR is when earlier in Return of the King Frodo says "Rationing?" Sam says; "For the journey home." It's a hopeful scene that shows that Sam is always trying to think positively about their mission and situation. Then, during the final stretch when they are in Mordor, they are about to reach the slopes of Mount Doom and they take a rest and get their water out, Sam gives his to Frodo and Frodo says; "There'll be none left for the return journey..." And Sam, who up until this point has not had a single negative thought, says the bone-chilling; *"I don't think there will be a return journey Mr. Frodo."* He then stretches out his hand, which Frodo takes and they make the final push up the volcano. The scene perfectly depicts the innocent, inherently good and positive nature of Hobbits, so that when they finally give into despair, it's absolutely heart wrenching, yet they still choose to do what is right and good, even if it means their lives are surely over. These fucking Harfoots give up and leave people to die when someone twists their ankle, then all of a sudden want to fight people who have magic? It's complete garbage writing, and they have the gall to try and make us root for them or treat them as anything other than the nasty little psychopaths' that they are.
It really is wonderful to realize that Sméagol knew what he was talking about when he called the hobbitses nasty and filthy. RoP is such a badly written show that I was unable to watch more than 1 episode of it but watching hours upon hours of reviews ripping the show apart brings me some joy. Modern movies and tv really makes me sad that I chose to be an Engineer instead of a writer, if I was a writer I wouldn't need to be competent to get paid.
The Harfoots are such a perfect representation of this show's writers. Going on and on about love and inclusion but they will turn on you in a SECOND, expelling you from their "group" and condemning you to death if you break one of their rules. And some of those rules are unspoken and completely irrational. Like taking the wheels off the Brandyfoot's wagons, stranding them in the wilderness to DIE for the "crime" of . . . talking to the Stranger who offered to help them? Are the writers even aware of how insane their creations are?
I have read the early stories of JRR Tolkien and how he describes how to write a good story. My guess is that the writers of the rings of power didnt do that.
I'll be honest I haven't watched RoP but I love videos like this that explain flaws in writing. Great vid. I am subscriber 362 for you. Considering how new your channel is the quality is high. Smooth editing, entertaining, clever, energetic, passionate. It's also nice to put a face to the voice. Not all content creators do that, it's an individual choice. I hope you channel grows.
This TH-camr needs to realize, stories arent histories, they are tools. Stop trying to make the story work in middle earth, make it work in your own life.
@@michaelcook6483 Again, how do you make a story about psychopathic vagrant hobbits work in your life? Even without the context of Lord of The Rings, the Harfoot storyline and characters as a standalone thing didn't really work. As the video said, they were bizarre psychopaths and hypocrites, and their storyline served no purpose except as a framing device for the maybe Sauron red herring, which everyone saw through pretty much immediately anyways because it was so clumsily done. Stories aren't histories but when something is adapted from an existing book or series of books, especially one with such a wealth of written material and worldbuilding, there IS history behind it. A ton of history, in the case of Lord of The Rings. Tolkien created an entire history of thousands of years across an entire world of multiple races and cultures from the dawn of time to the end of the War of The Ring. There are living real world cultures which have less written about them. Simply stealing some names and vague concepts and making something barely recognizable using them and throwing out all of that canon is bound to piss people off. These stories have history, and are beloved by millions the world over for generations. It is something that happens all too often with adaptations these days. See also: The Witcher, Wheel of Time, Shannara, Altered Carbon (season 2 in particular). The Hobbit movies also spring to mind. Great adaptations that respect the source material can be done pretty readily. The Lord of The Rings movies changed some things but stand as a great adaptation. The Expanse, a long running book series, was adapted into an amazing show. Dominic Noble has a whole channel analyzing adaptations both good and bad, and its worth a watch because he dives deep into what works and what doesn't and why, and might help you understand why this is such a heated subject for so many people.
Great video! I would actually like to hear somebody genuinely say that they like the Harfootses, and then explain why. I don't think it's possible unless maybe they don't speak English very well and they didn't get subtitles in their own language, or they are sadistic psychos. Speaking of English-speaking, you did mention their accents. The Irish Times was very upset at the portrayal of the filthy, poor, homeless bunch speaking with Irish accents. This is a stereotype that English people have had of Irish for centuries, which led to the English treating the Irish as subhumans. In the mid-19th century, when there was a potato famine and many Irish immigrated to the United States, the Irish were treated with prejudice there, too. People put up signs saying "no dogs, and no Irish." The East Coast American elite were all descendants of English and Dutch Protestants and they loathed Catholics, which the Irish were. (This prejudice was extended against the Italian immigrants who started arriving en masse around the beginning of the 20th century.) For the progressive showrunners to have chosen the filthy Harfoots to have Irish accents was showing a lack of sensitivity to put it mildly. I highly doubt they are aware of any of the above. They probably just think the accent is cute.
@@Egill2011 It really doesn't matter either way tbh. We don't need anyone to speak up for us and coddle us like children. I don't want to be part of the next protected group
I cant really say I liked the Harfoots, but atleast I somewhat enjoyed the scenes with them, mainly because I didnt take them that seriously and they gave me some sort of comic relif from the other grey, very boring events with galadriel, southlands etc.
Well done video!! What are they, they certainly not hobbits. Hobbits love comfort, warm underground houses (no worms, no dirt floors) good food. They did have a journey in their early history - to where the Shire would be established - but it was only one to escape the enemy, and then they settled down. They were said to be very caring for each other throughout their history, even early on. That is an awful society and it doesn't deserve to survive.
Believe me, this dude is barely scratching the surface. If you loved the film trilogy, this show will make you cry. If you love the books, you'll be doing jail time like me, should we ever meet these two awful showrunners (and nigh on everyone else involved in this travesty).
Sure we can. Ignore it. I don't care what goes on in the sequel trilogy or any of the new shows. I'm not watching them. Star Wars is done for me. It's over. There are other things I can turn my attention to. Just because some corporation says "we own this property now and the stories we write are to be considered canon" doesn't mean I have to pay any attention. It's all fiction anyway, what they say carries no weight for me. If I want more Star Wars, then the Extended Universe is still a thing. Sure, Disney says it's not "canon" now, but what does that mean? It's all fiction. It's all made up. I don't care what Di$ney says. Why should I? Why should any of us? The books in the EU that have been written still exist and aren't going away. This is a world where people are deciding what's true and what's not in fictional worlds. None of it is true. None of it is real history or fact. So disregard what the corporates say, they're irrelevant anyway.
@@no-one-787 I think the sequel trilogy is absolutely awful but I've just come around to that there can be good things in SW these days as well, as I just started watching Andor and halfway through it it's the best thing in SW since the original trilogy. It works really well and actually has nuance to it, which SW generally does not have. The Mandalorian is probably also better than a lot of it as the prequel trilogy is incredibly poorly made and the animated shows probably have more episodes that are mediocre to bad than really good ones. And as you say, we can just ignore that which isn't good.
Yeah, even the Peter Jackson movies (like the Harry Potter ones, unfortunately not counting the failed prequel series we’ll never even see the conclusion of because of how bad it was) aren’t considered canon and never were- and those are some of the best movies ever made.
The VERY FIRST LINE of Tolkens most famous book opens with "Bilbo Baggins was a hobbit. Like most hobbits, he lived in a hole in the ground.". How could they fuck that up?
@@warlordofbritannia Ok, I was taking a confident stab in the dark about that one, but I'm mostly on the meaning. I was 8 and it was a LONG time ago...
ROP's existence has had only one single benefit, and that is introducing me to a few new and very talented content creators. I'm a massive LOTR fan and these videos have been cathartic for me. You do good work, sir. Very nice quality and care. I commend thee.
I’ve watched many critiques on this show and this one stood out. I just subscribed but I don’t see any email addresses or links to support you. I’ll be looking forward to more content.
omg I laughed so hard throughout this video... Thank you! also I love the easily overlooked details you point out, like a metal-lined wheel... it's easy to miss why something doesnt feel quite right at first, so when you point it out, it's like the "AHA! I knew it!"-moment in a thriller
5:53 let's also point out that nobody was helping him in raising the tent for their collective festival, they (including the dad) actually expected the weaker Nori to do it presumably on her own (but she was away with not-Gandalf) and NO ONR RUSHED TO HELP WHEN THE FRIGGING BEAM STARTED FALLING ON THE DAD. THEY JUST KEPT SITTING/STANDING AROUND WATCHING.
Take their wheels and leave them ..... this group wasn't waiting for these people at all but some, you know she wasn't alone, were thinking we've got to make sure they can't follow us ... and probably die as a result. I mean there is not helping someone who needs help and then there is actively trying to make their problems worse.
5/ There was a super creepy short story I had to read in high school called "the lottery". These people are spiritually linked to the Harfoots. The story was written in the 1950s, and I believe it was supposed to be contemporary, although it would've been horrifying, even if it was set in 1620. The setting was a small town in New England and every year they had a lottery in which all the name of the townspeople were put in a hat and somebody pulled out a name. The "winner" individual was then stoned to death by the other townspeople. They did that every year and were in all other respects completely normal people. It was the casual savagery, and acceptance of same, and laughingly disregarding the frightened cries of the victim (maybe your teacher, or your neighbor, or your mother) that still horrify the hell out of me 30 years after I read it. I would honestly not be surprised if this ghastly story was the inspiration for the Harfoots. 😃😁😎😍🙏 using emojis to lighten up the atmosphere of this comment ----- Anyway, that's five comments for the algorithm and I hope you don't mind my rambling on. I really enjoyed your video! I hope you had a merry Christmas and I wish you all the best for 2023! I hope your channel continues to grow a lot because you have high quality content, which deserves more viewers! 🖖🤩🥳
Thanks so much for the feedback! You’re comments are much appreciated and I always learn so much from you! Happy early new years and happy holidays to you too! Cheers 👍🏼
This is what happens when you have no respect nor desire to gain any for the source material. And when the cast and crew idolize Souron. And, correct me if I'm wrong but, Didn't Eru send Gandalf and the other wizards to the undying lands first where the hopped on a boat and crossed over and Gandalf was recognized by Keirdan the shipwright and was given Narya, the ring of fire ?
You don't actually expect showrunners and writers to actually read the material they are adapting from do you? They are busy people, they don't even have time to read any of the Wikis on the source material.
@Mandolinistry very true. It's probobly like a star wars issue. Disney had no source material to pull from to make the sequels. I'm sure there isn't much sorce material for LoTR for them to pull from either.
Harfoots are the opposite of my D&D party. The Leader- "Fall behind, left behind." Someone dies. The Leader: "Unacceptable. We will sail across the river Styx and storm the ninth circle of H E🏒🏒 to bring him home." Party "So say we all!"
I didn't really like the show and I pretty much hated this storyline, but I do think the Harfoots weren't necessarily unrealistic and they had one interesting insight, although whether or not the writers intended it is anybody's guess. Namely, I think the Harfoots do offer a good look into the problems of group-centric societies can face. First, the community faces a lot of danger and/or hard times, so they band together and form a culture that emphasises group cohesion and clear rules that are meant to deal with specific problems they are having. However, over time, especially should it happen that the original dangers lessen or disappear, group cohesion becomes ostracisation of everyone who does not conform, and the clear rules become an iron glove the culture or those who can control the group use to smother dissent. Eventually, the system just becomes a justification to keep those not in control down and compliant and to get rid of those who inconvenience them.
Not everything works as dark fantasy. That's what the writers faield to realize when they decided to make everything "gritty". The Harfoot's behaviour is just tonally inconsistent with the core of Tolkien.
If you want cute, plucky Hobbits in your show, that’s fine. Alternatively, if you want ruthlessly pragmatic proto-Hobbits instead, little people so afraid of everything around them and so hellbent on surviving at any cost that they’d gladly kill some of their kind so that the rest can keep going, that’s also okay, I think. It might even be more interesting. But you can’t have it both ways. You can’t have these awful people doing horrible things and still try to make them droll and fun to be around.
Are you kidding? Harfoots would’ve made LOTR such a more engaging experience instead of Hobbits! Imagine instead of Sam, it was Lenny’s character who was supposed to be Frodo’s best friend. Instead of a blossoming and beautiful friendship, Frodo would constantly be told how weak and not special he was, he would press the fellowship to continue on if someone died with no ounce of sympathy or grief, and on Mount Doom (if they even got that far), Lenny would rip the ring from Frodo in his moment of utter despair and leave him to die on the side of Mount Doom while he finished the job to destroy the ring, all while chanting about how the fellowship leaves nobody gets left behind while he literally leaves EVERYBODY behind. Oh wait, that wouldn’t be good, that would be freaking psychotic…
Now that you mention the wheels on those carts, no one made wheels like that. They would have used spokes. Chariots in ancient Mesopotamia used spokes.
Actually for very primitive technology civilisations, solid-wheel carts were totally a thing. Spoking wheels is pretty complex carpentry, and doesn't really come into common use (War chariots were expensive millitary kit) until the late bronze age, close to two thousand years after wheeled vehicles began being used. Of course, the Harfoot wagons have iron rims, and there's no excuse for putting an iron rim on a solid wheel, so I think it just goes back to "writer forget spoked exist lol"
It shows the true character of the writers, and that’s terrifying Edit: Also, this is a really impressive video from such a small channel! Nicely done!
Amazon's Harfoots were destined to go extinct, their entire culture is dumb. Just remember, the show creators claimed they regularly went back to Tolkien's book for inspiration. Somehow they came up with murderous, hypocritical non-Hobbits. Rings of Power is a garbage show! *Happy New Year to all my fellow Tolkien enthusiasts out there!* 🎉
Joshua, you claim to be a Tolkien enthusiast. Did you actually read the books or just watch the Peter Jackson movies? In the books you would know of the chapter of "The Scouring of the Shire". This is were Frodo and co come home to find that the Shire is taken over by Ruffian men, due to corrupted Hobbits in the Shire, selling the Shire out. You would have also have read in "The Two Towers" how Merry and Pippen come across pipeweed from South Farthing of the Shire. Pipeweed sold to Saruman by Hobbits. This is what I wrote to another comment cause I am sick of writing this out. They (ROP) wrote the Harfoots in the same way the Tolkien wrote the Hobbits. Nosy, interfering into other people's business, small minded, distrust of anything new, distrust of strangers and they are corruptible. So, yes, they did understand what they were writing. It is more accurate to what Hobbits are than the Jackson films. Remember, Jackson's films are more action based. So he is not really going to focus on Hobbit society. The only Hobbits that you get to know in his films are Sam, Frodo, Merry and Pippen and they are more likely to be the exception rather than the rule of what Hobbits are like. Yes, Jackson made really good films and they are a lot of fun. But they might not be accurate to Tolkien's writings.
@@gaebren9021 Hello. I definitely claim to be a Tolkien enthusiast, I have been a 'classic Tolkien snob' since the fifth grade, back in '90s. Yes, Lotho Sackville-Baggins was a naively ambitious Hobbit who succumb to the motto, "You can't stop progress!" He used his affluence to become a greedy land baron, exporting pipe weed, and giving the fallen wizard, turned petty vagabond despot Saruman the chance to exact vengeance on Gandalf and the Hobbits by ruining the Shire. Lotho was deceived, and murdered because of his ambition. (It always struck me as weird that Saruman insinuated Grima feasted on Lotho's corpse! Like what the hell, Grima!) Frodo and gang (plus a small army of freedom fighting willing to die for hearth and home Hobbits) overthrew Saruman's shabby ruffian regime and liberated the Shire, at the cost of Hobbit lives. Maybe Lotho had conspirators (Ted Sandyman, etc), but I don't remember anything written about Hobbits put on trial for aiding in the wrecking of the Shire. *Please let me know if I am wrong.* Now the fun part. Amazon's Harfoots are not similar to Tolkien's Hobbits, at all. When the sentient willow tree attacked the Hobbits in the Old Forest, Frodo didn't shrug his shoulders and say, "Everyone stays on the path, or gets left behind. Later, losers!" He futilely tried to rescue his friends, saved only by Bombadil's fortuitous arrival. When Frodo was wounded by the Morgul dagger on Weathertop, did Sam say, "Oh wow, that looks bad! Sorry, Mr. Frodo, we have to carry on without you!" "Yeah, but we'll remember you always," said Merry. "With hearts as big as our feet!" Pippin added. "You Hobbits suck," said Strider. And at Cirith Ungol, Sam went back to rescue Frodo. He didn't just continue on the quest, even though destroying the Ring was paramount to saving Frodo's life. Tolkien's Hobbits are not reclusive nomadic weirdoes who regularly abandon their kin. Amazon's Harfoots are horrible with a silly way of migrating. Why don't they use domesticated animals? Or pay the Sauron witches to move the carts? Food for thought! Now, I haven't watched Amazon's show, and I won't. It is a contemptible attempt to leech off Tolkien's legacy, just to get some of that 'Game of Thrones' cash. I can accept it, and will denounce it here and there. Because, why not? But, I will not denounce anyone for watching it. If you enjoyed Rings of Power, I am happy for you, my friend. To each their own. I consider you no less a fan of Tolkien's work for it. As of writing this, it's January 3rd; J.R.R. Tolkien's birthday! Here's to the Professor and his enduring legacy! *Cheers!* 🍻 Thank you for the comment. Yeah, Peter Jackson's movies were okay too. ✌ Oh, don't forget Fatty Bolger. He was willing to bravely act as a decoy for the Nazgul, while Frodo and gang escaped Buckland. Hobbits are a noble, decent folk! Amazon's Harfoots blow!👍
@@gaebren9021 Hello, again. How can I comment on a show I refuse to watch? Well first, I have free will. Second, I have a finite lifespan with only so much time for recreational viewing and an intuition molded by decades of subjecting myself to lousy media, and having to endure a jaded existence knowing that my irreplaceable time and hard earned cash was wasted. A costly lesson. Amazon's Rings of Power was a show I took an interest in when I first heard of it's conception. Learning Bezos wanted a 'Game of Thrones' fantasy epic cash cow; and Amazon blowing a fortune acquiring a snippet of Tolkien's work, a snippet big enough to layer on stories and altercations not found in the legendarium, it really bothered me, man! This show wanted to hitch it's own existence to Tolkien's Middle-Earth, and exert it's own interrelationships and interpretations on that legacy. Why? Because of a love and appreciation of Tolkien's work? Or is it because creatively bankrupt creators, bought and paid for, are tasked to fix a beloved, decades old fantasy for modern mindsets, while racking in revenue for big daddy business master? And there's not a damn thing I, a humble man-nerd with a fixation on a dead British man's fantasy adventure, can do about it. The corporations have the money, resources, and influence to win. I just get to live my life, loving, laughing, weeping, and where opportunities present themselves here and there, I can take the piss out of Amazon's fiasco in the comment section. I hope this answers your question. ✌ How about you, are you digging Amazon's show?
@@JoshuaHeald I first saw the Bakshi 1978 animated "Lord of the Rings". in 1988. I really enjoyed it. It inspired me to read the books. I saw the Peter Jackson films. I have to admit that I did compare them to the Bakshi film and preferred the Bakshi film. Though they were ok to watch and I was glad that someone else had attempted to make Tolkien's book into a film. I saw the Peter Jackson films "The Hobbit" and preferred them to his LoTR's and also the Rankin Bass 1976 animated "The Hobbit". I have seen the Amazon show through twice. I have started a third viewing but life gets in the way and I have pressing tasks that need attending to. So I will probably get back to it after a deadline I have to meet. I have enjoyed it so far. I would like to see a season 2 because I am now wrapped up in the story and want to see what happens. Maybe I will enjoy the series as it goes on or maybe I will hate it. Time will tell. Like you said, life is too short to get caught up in petty things. I really enjoyed the series so far cause I like Tolkien's work. I like to see how people bring his work to life (be it film or pictures etc). There was a scene in the Harfoots story line where they really succeeded in bringing an atmosphere of Tolkien, visually to the screen. I think it was in episode 7 in the Harfoot storyline where the stranger was looking up at the stars. They really caught an essence of Tolkien's world more so than Peter Jackson or Ralph Bakshi did in their films. So, it is small things like that, that I really appreciate.
Obviously the harfoots do agriculture. No one ever said they don't. And yes, they are nomadic. These two facts don't conflict - agriculture predates permanent settlement by thousands of years at least. Even modern "nomadic" societies such as the Bedouin and Tuareg are still traveling between their date and apricot orchards, grain fields, and animal pastures. it's easy to presume the harfoots are doing exactly that - traveling around a designated circuit, based on their fields and orchards. But it's more than that. Notice how they keep ending up around decayed fences? Ruined stone buildings? All of which seem proportional to the Harfoots themselves? The harfoots are people who, at some point in the not-too-distant past, were displaced, probably during the wars that form the background of the "Main Storyline." They know where all these feral farms are because they're THEIR OWN FARMS. So why not resettle? Because the orcs and humans are still there, and still hostile. Which is informing the other aspects of the Harfoot society you bring up. They are a people at the bottom of Middle-Earth's "food chain," so to speak, vulnerable and (deservedly) paranoid and wary. Yes they will leave you behind if your axle falls off, because if the whole caravan stops in the middle of nowhere to help you out, it puts others in danger. If you bring home a strange human? If you are noisy or go poking off-trail? They'll MAKE you stay behind because you are actively endangering others. The Harfoot are a people who got rolled over in someone else's wars, scattered and traumatized, and who have rebuilt something of a society based around staying safe from those dangers, while still trying to survive on what was originally theirs. It can be a little tough to get, if you're used to having exposition poured into your eyes via wiki entries or whatever. TRoP leans heavy into the assumption that the audience can reach informed inference from what's presented.
4/ What was the point of the Stranger? I didn't understand that very well. (I've only been watching the reviews.) Everything about Nori's behaviour is wonky and unrelatable. I know she is supposed to be "adventurous" but he is an emaciated, nearly-nude man with wild and matted hair and beard she found in a crater of not-hot fire. I would stay away from this man, because my instincts would be telling me to stay away from this man. That might not be politically correct, but there is very clearly something not quite right with him - his behaviour is going to be unpredictable, shall we say. So her wanting to help this guy is already very difficult for me to believe. Keep in mind that she is, at most 3'6", and he is a tall man. Leaving together to explore the east also feels false. If it were Third aAge Gandalf and Frodo, that would be fine and even fun. If it were this guy and a young male Harfoot, it would be okay, sort of. I don't know how old Nori is supposed to be, or whether she is of marriageable age in her culture. Either way, letting her go away with a strange man of another species is negligent to the point of de-caravaning. Just a few concerns: he could drape her, he could sell her into slavery, he could just outright murder her. She is defenseless. Even if he is perfectly safe and becoming a father figure to her, what kind of male in her own culture would marry a woman who has been goodness knows where doing goodness knows what, with some creepy guy who fell out of the sky? I realize we are in the "modern era" where the strong, independent women don't need no man, but that is what makes all of this pretense of leadership so fake and unbelievable. I am also referring to Bronwyn and Galadriel to a large extent. I'm not including Miriel because she is a queen regent, which literally makes her a leader.
I never understood how she wasn’t afraid of the stranger but saw a footprint of a wolf in the ground and bugged out. Everything about the harfoots is contradictory. I hate them so much.
@@drshin9893 this is my video and I greatly appreciate these kinds of comments, so please don’t tell people they shouldn’t comment. I’m a small channel and every bit of interaction I can get is useful for me. They can write as much or as little they want as long as it’s not hurting anyone in any way. Don’t attack someone just because they’re passionate about something 🙌🏼
@@drshin9893 also he’s attempting to help me by triggering the algorithm with more comments which seems to be working! It’s all in the holiday spirit of helping others! Hope you and yours are having a wonderful holiday season !
It completely unintendedly shows us the unromantic harsh reality of tribal savage life. I’m almost surprised they didn’t show slavery and constant tribal warfare and thievery too.
They said they represent the Irish this is racist garbage because it is an English production! It wasn't enough that they stole their lands and starved to death millions of Irish people by taking the food they raised and cultivated during the great potatoe famine! They needed to make them dirty uncouth and people that don't care!
@@benitocamela174 i have always loved the original films and after i watched this show ive been watching Nerd of the Rings channel on TH-cam. I love it. I love that lessons Tolkien teaches through his art. I tend to rate art by its ability to enoble people.
@@michaelcook6483 "Original?" ah, So I take it from your comment you loved the 1978 animated Bakshi "Lord of the Rings". As that is the original. I love that film too.
The whole damn Harfoot society would die off with their ridiculous caravan policies. Not matter how many of them there are, there would always be someone at the back of the caravan. The ancient book they have would indicate it is a very, very old society. There is no way a society could last that long with these stupid rules. None of it makes sense, like the rest of the show.
The entire Harfoot culture is an exercise in gaslighting. Their culture is exactly the opposite to what they say--and sing--it is. Did the show writers think no one would notice? But, regarding what is the most hate-able in ROP. My vote goes for Galadriel. Nothing and no one is more detestable than she is. Worst Mary Sue ever. If only she would have been allowed to sink to the bottom of the ocean.... Halbrand/Sauron's worst crime to date was saving her. The way Commander Galadriel is so unconcerned for the well-being of her troops, maybe she is a Harfoot in disguise. She is certainly short enough to be one.
This was great! I couldn't bear to watch more than the first (maybe first 2?) episodes, so thanks for reassuring me that I did the right decision. Also, I laughed out loud at you laughing at Papa Smurf's death!
Nice job! I never watched any of the series, but listened to a lot of commentary on how bad it was. I like the music, editing and passion you brought to the video!
There are some story about hunter-gatherer community/tribe that do this kind of thing. Once someone is too sickly/slow for the tribe, the psycho/cruel member of the tribe would quietly kill/dispose the weak.
Can you name specific tribes? Most if not all hunter-gatherer societies are highly socialist and take care of the sick and weaker members. This is seen all the way up to the modern day, but we also have evidence of this dating back to early human graves and habitations where we find remains of people too injured to survive by themselves but whose injuries also showed signs of healing to some extant, something which required a lot of time and full support and care from their tribe. They weren't left to die even when they were crippled, the tribe took care of them. Its something baked into the human genome and likely one of the big reasons we survived so well despite being so physically frail compared to other animals. If you've got examples I'd love to read up on them.
@@mandolinistry3207 I don't remember, I think I read it on Harrari's Sapiens. Probably that story don't apply for most other community/tribe, just that particular community/tribe at that particular time.
It doesn't make sense to dump a healthy male who will recover in few days. He's not really a cripple or sickly or that old, has other healthy family members, etc. And if they can't even do that - i.e. help haul the cart for minimal time, stay put for a couple of days - what's even the point of this society? All these abandoned hobbits are literally better off then. If he were hopelessly injured then sure, I'd expect then to put him out of his misery and for his family to be absorbed into other groups, makes no sense to condemn them as well.
No tribal community ever let their sociopaths run amok (for obvious reasons,) nevermind gave them a job as tribal "mercy killer." Such a society wouldn't have lasted long enough for you to have heard about them. Whoever told you this exaggerated/lied to you.
In times of extreme duress, like starvation, a number of tribes would have the elderly 'go out' to look for food, or give very little food to the weakest, oldest or youngest members of the tribe. It was not done lightly, and it was to ensure at least some of the tribe, usually the adults and teens survived. So if they were looking at a month of little food because mushrooms aren't growing, everyone would go hungry, a few hungrier than others. Their first instinct wouldn't be murder. And a minor injury was not a death sentence. Usually not even a bad injury was a death sentence. Again, generally only in times of extreme duress would they just kill a tribe member who would be useful again in a few days or weeks.
No they said the harfoots represented the Irish the dwarfs the Scottish they were being racist they made them dirty uncivilized and uncaring they told everyone this!
This video is exactly what I felt. They leave people behind to fucking die while they have a very small population and then read out their names at a festival while everyone is "so sad". These are not Hobbits.
Hey everyone! Thanks so much for the crazy support and feedback I’ve gotten on this video! If there’s anything you want to see me cover in the future, let me know in the comments! Also thanks for 1000 subs!!! Happy new years everyone!
I'm so happy for you dude, so surprised by your sub count really high quality stuff!
Dont they purposley put the family with the worst reputation in the back ? because i remember when they did something that earned them that spot in the back ? or am i wrong ?
Show videos on how they muffed up Galadriels character with the writing and the bad acting done by the actress who played her unless you are afraid of the "Woke" fan base that only learned of lord of the rings after Google showed a news report about it.
Do a Review on Bakshi's 1978 animated "Lord of the Rings".
Not gonna lie, i thought you had way more subs based on the quality of this video! Awesome take, editing, pacing and narration!
Keep it up! Looking forward to more!
The Dwarves have their mountains, the elves have their forests, men their fields, but the harfoots have each other - unless of course, a harfoot get a minor injury in which case he or she is left behind to die alone
of dysentery
apparently if you scratch yourself slightly, they will first banish you to the very back, and if you still manage to keep up, they will break your legs... I have a feeling that these creatures are what spawned the Gollum
the orcs showed more compassion for each other than the "hobbits".
and never got why they used carts, they are supposed to be so secretive...how secretive can you be when you are leaving tire tracks behind you where ever you go.
Adar was the only hero in the Series.
Elrond: Betrayed Galadriel, then betrayed his best friend while kinda lying to his King.
Durin: Was mean to his best friend, lied to his father out of pure greed and ignored his fathers begging not to dig further...
Galadriel: Wastes Elves lifes in a personal pursuit for revenge in useless expeditions, misusing her military rank.. torturing prisoners.. mocking on untrained men while being a frickin high-Elve... and so much more..
Elendil: Too dumb to be a hero..
Isildur: Too selfish to be a hero...
Arondir: Is so full of himself like ruining polite people chess games on one hand and giving them catastrophic tactical battle advices (leave the fortress, defend the village) and hides the "Key" in the damn village under the eyes of the villagers... DUDE!
Sauron: Did nothing but defending himself in the show. Not even close being a Villain. He even helped the Elves making their rings without any profit, the way they turned things over compared to the source. He did not use the Elves to make the dark influenced rings for men and dwarves first like in the books. He just told them, how to make the most dangerous weapon against his presence in Middleearth... what a kind guy!
Adar: Cares for a whole species, considering them all his children. He let Arondir go, AFTER him slaughtering several Orcs. He even fought the fricking dark lord, chief lieutenant of Morgoth himself to make life better for THEM. He terraforms a whole fucking country to make his children simply survive during half the day... he even endures captivity and torture by a scary high-elven Psychopath, not revealing anything to her.
Like... brrruuuuuuhhh... What kind of show is this, where the Villain becomes the Hero and the Heros become psychopathic anti-heros and pure villains? No wonder the Actor of the only satisfying and working role in the series just left...
@@holzbierproductions9153 fully agree, it really is off that Sauron is shown to be far more honest and less manipulative then that psychopath Galadriel....unless that was the worst case of reverse psychology I have ever seen. He didn't even show any manipulation for the forging of the rings..he only helped the elves do exactly what they wanted to do to survive. Didn't even show how the elven rings would benefit him. Book Sauron only manipulated the elves to make the rings for all the races was to benefit him...... Then you go the rest of the "good" guys acting so selfish and evil that I'm found myself actually hoping none of them survive.
@@mr.s2005 yes exactly :D
And my girlfriend didnt know the books. She felt the exact same way. Like... "This is Sauron? This huge, evil threat terrorising middle earth in the movies? This is him?"
@@holzbierproductions9153 You can tell her its 5000 years before LOTR movies, before he had the rings so Sauron not looking the same isn't super strange, especially since he also could change apperance.
@@jimmyandersson9938
I don't think his girlfriend meant his looks, at least not only. More that she probably meant his general behaviour.
Clearly the Halflings were able to out breed the Harfoots because they actually cared for their injured, stayed in a area to farm, and even dealt with the humans in their area for things like metal work among other things.
Canonically the majority population of the Shire were Harfoots. They were nothing like the show version. They only migrated once, to settle the Shire.
@@mandolinistry3207 I know they are nothing like the show. Just having a jab at the show.
@@DrRush-ow4qg I mean halfling are often depicted as little shit in any other setting, in warhammer Fantasy they are a bunch of thieving, gluttonous and "extremely" open society but they still have their own merit. They are good Farmers producing much of the Empire's Luxury agricultural goods, They make for good scouts, They often use their bad reputation into a plus maneuvering the politics of Fantasy HRE (Germany) and though very isolationist are very loyal to the Empire of Man (given the province of Averland and Stirland really hate Halfling for historical reasons). Halflings in other more wholesome setting still portray the obvious flaws of halfling ( Specially the stealing part) but arent as mean-spirited and contrary to their very survival.
@@lettuceman9439 Warhammer as usual puts a spin on the halflings and some are evil. You go to the bad part of the county at a certain time and there is a ritual taking place and you, an outsider will probably be that ritual.
@@lettuceman9439hing is the warhammer fantasy Halflings wouldn’t work as well as a distinction if the Tolkien version were not so unapologetic wholesome,for example the reason Frodo could resist the ring’s influence for so long was due to his innocence and lack of desires that the ring could use against him
I think it shows how bad the writers are when they specifically write a line about them having hearts as big as their feet, then actually write them like this. That tells you everything they need to know about their incompetent writing - they write scenes or moments that sounded cool in their heads, without any consideration to how it ties in with other things in the show. Like Galadriel jumping off a ship in the middle of the ocean. Like Galadriel being hit in the face with a volcanic eruption.
How does anyone survive that eruption Without choking on the fume is beyond me. Let not forget the heat wave and debris
Yes, and also like Galadriel being an arrogant, rude Karen who just won't listen to others, ever. No wonder we all ended up rooting for Sauron!
Since then, I wish Galadriel drank lots and lots of seawater to quench her thirst. Her tempest inside has gotten too big.
@@khanhnguyen-tt3ff not to mention the fact that pyroclastic flows travel at speeds up to 700km/h with temperatures over 1000 degrees Celsius
it doesn't necessarily mean that it's bad writing that a character say something, and act in a different way. This way of writing can actually be very interesting because it shows off the hypocrisy of the character. A character's actions tells a lot more than what they say. Although I don't like the execution in this show or how they work with it, I do find the concept of the harfoots being hypocritical interesting.
Everyone is ripping on the Harfoots, but I love them for the simple reason that they are the perfect embodiment of the people who created them - an ethnically diverse group (not diverse out of genuine love or care for other races, but out of a need to appear accepting and good to others), a group who sings songs about supporting others, but will instantly abandon those they are supposed to care for. And who look sweet and kind and innocent, but internally are truly cruel and nasty.
It's perfect really.
That's a very good point.
They say "write what you know". So it's of no surprise that psychopaths write psychopaths and believe them to be great people.
That was very well said. I couldn't have articulated it better myself.
Good point. 👍
Evil cannot create it can only corrupt and destroy
It's amazing how the writers of this show turned the kindest most peaceful creatures in all of Middle Earth into complete psychopaths. Either this was done on purpose or they are really that stupid.
Or the harfoots represent poor people, who happen to be good hearted and also really backwards and supersticious and small minded and ignorant and foolish
It reflects their own worldview, I think. Centered around saying the right things and keeping up proper appearances until the moment it is no longer convenient or pragmatic.
You don't know what psychopath means if you think that they were psychopaths.
Hobbits were no different to every farmer society. Lobelia for example was a beast. A stealing crow. And her son Lotho was an asshole. The difference between hobbits and other cultures is, that hobbits will not go to war, just for the conquest. They will only take up arms to defend their homes or friends.
The shit, that amazon produced is not even worth watching.
@@jarlnils435 you are talking about 3rd age hobbits.... 2nd age hobbit ancestors were never detailed by Tolkien, so the ROP writers can make the harfoots however they want. The fact that they are backwards and poor actually makes sense developmentally
The worst thing is they were ment to be portrayed as a lovable bunch, they were supposed to remind us of the movie version of the hobbits.
It just shows how bad the writting was, the writers had no idea what they were making them to be.
I can’t believe anyone wrote this and thought they did a good thing. Wildly stupid.
This TH-camr needs to realize, stories arent histories, they are tools. Stop trying to make the story work in middle earth, make it work in your own life.
@@michaelcook6483 the tale written here is shit and if it works in your life, rethink it....
They didn't like the Irish it was purposeful because they represented them!
@@michaelcook6483 You mean like the bible?
"Nobody goes off trail and nobody walks alone"
*literally abandoned the guy with an injured foot*
SHOW us that they share this strong bond. Don't tell me something and then show me the exact opposite
Sam carried Frodo all the freaking way to Mount Doom, facing death to save his friend.
Really great video! I just had to get this off my chest
That is the whole idea of the quote: Whoever walks off trail or walks alone is outside the protection of the group. The group will not wait for stragglers or endanger the whole group for the sake of someone who stepped out of the 'group perimeter'. It just clashes with our idea that the group should band together to protect the weak or those who have brought themselves in danger. It is the same idea as Spock's "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." - logic dictates that the survival of the group must not be compromised by caring for someone who can not contribute enough to the group and is a burden.
Good thing Sam wasn't a Harfoot, he'd have tossed Frodo in a bush and called it a day.
Don't forget death by bee sting Hobbit. My forehead was bright red from all the slapping it took from these gobsmackingly awful scenes/characters.
@@mandolinistry3207 There are roughly 4.900 years between the Harfoots we see in 'The Rings of Power' and Samwise Gamgee. Peoples, societies and attitudes change over millenia. Just like the modern Swedish social state is a thad different than the semi-nomadic (?) society of the Proto-Swedes from 3.000 BC. ;)
Not to mention that neither Bilbo, Frodo, Sam, Merry or Pippin are what one would consider 'typical hobbits'.
@@chrishieke1261 It is in their best interests to help a healthy male with minute injury survive until he gets better. Strength is in numbers. It would make sense if they left their elderly to die from exposure medieval Japanese-style, but not a man who will be fine in few days and can provide protection/workforce, together with other healthy hobbits. There is no good reason shown why they can't afford to rest for a couple of days, either. They aren't on strict schedule, and if they were, it's unbelievable that they could manage to stick to it with all the possible nature disasters.
Even orcs in Tolkiens world were shown as being very loyal to their commanders and comrades (assuming they weren't enemies/rivals), they were known to travel great distances to avenge fallen commanders and comrades.
Even the orcs are a better group to roll with than the Harfoots
Let's not forget, Nori's dad only hurt his foot doing a task which was Malva's responsibility, the same person who wanted to take their wheels later
To me it's mind-boggling that anyone watched more than 3 episodes of this train wreck
It was just like a train wreck, I couldn’t look away
Yep, did two eps and FF'd the rest. Utter tripe and a travesty of Tolkien's works. So irrevocably bad it's a scandal.
When I watched the House of the Dragon, i didn't like the first few episodes but kept watching thinking it will get better, and it did, the second half of the season was good IMO.
With a similar mindset i went and watched the RoP, and i regret every second of it
It's was only like 6 episodes long lol
If you watched 1 episode your wrong.
3/ How did a nomadic people develop a written language? Even in the Third Age, when the Hobbits of the Shire were very comfortably off, Tolkien wrote that all Hobbits learn to cook even before they learn to read, and many of them never learn to read. Sam was very proud of having "learned his letters" as Mr. Bilbo taught him.
Another TH-cam channel recently made a video about all the ROP things that were ripped off the LOTR trilogy, and he mentioned this book as being similar in appearance to the dwarf book in Khazad-Dûm. Maybe it was only intended as a member berry. Speaking of which, their table manners are disgusting, but that is the least objectionable thing about them.
I don't think that's a problem, specially because they likely didn't developed it, but copied it.
Mongols had a script.
That's actually the least inaccurate part of them. Phoenicians for example developed a writing system mostly for the migratory elements in their society. In Iberia while the first writing system may or may not be the Tartessos one (there's debate due to lack of evidence as to wether those are runes or just decorations) the spread of writing systems on preroman times was mostly on the back of transhumant subsocieties. And as the prior comment mentioned, same goes for mongols, the most literate elements were the leaders of the roaming segments of their society.
The issue however is actually one thing all 3 of these societies had but harfoots don't: COMMERCE. Phoenicians were a thalassocracy, aka rule by the sea, the reason the migratory segments of their society were so literate is because they were MERCHANTS and when power is derived by sea trade, merchants get clever. Mongols, same thing. The roaming packs served as the logistical backbone of their empire, writing became necessary for them to communicate because trade required it. Transhumans in Iberia? same thing. Preroman iberia, specially the deep parts (away from the mediterranean) was made up of small castros that dominated valleys in a sort of feudal style, transhumants therefore acted as these castros' way of communicating with the outside, and so they made up the bulk of merchants, which became vital for the castros as the metal trade with greece and phoenicia started dominating their economy during the bronze age and early iron age. So of course transhumans learned to write. Because that helped them trade.
Harfoots don't trade. With pretty much anyone. They're hunter-gatherers... actually I think just gatherers. Which brings the question: WHY THE HELL DO THEY EVEN MIGRATE?!
Why did most early societies take to migrating? well the term I used for the iberians should tell you: TRANSHUMANT. They were animal-husbandry focused so they migrated in predictable patterns through fertile grounds to grow their flocks, much like animals do in nature. For non-coastal europe these were cows and sheep. For the mongols, you add horses and hunting. For the mediterranean like the phoenicians it wasn't animal husbandry, but it was fishing, they migrated following the patterns of where the best fishing spots were.
Harfoots have no animals. They don't hunt. They don't fish. And they don't trade... They're vegetarians, so you'd think the first thing they would develop past gathering is agriculture, therefore making them sedentary. But no. They have developed 3 things. Migration, writing, and metallurgy..
HOW?! WHAT KIND OF MINMAX STRATEGY GAME STRAT IS THIS?! HOW DO THEY EVEN HAVE METALLURGY WITHOUT SETTLEMENTS?!
@@thespanishinquisition4078 Oh, apparently they have crops, which makes it even weirder. They migrate for no reason.
@@lloydgush Squirrely Dan?
@@lloydgush Wait... They're an agriculture-based migrant society?!
HOW?!
2/ For a group of people who have such disregard for life that they happily discard somebody who has a temporary injury, plus his healthy family, I find it extremely unlikely that they would have an ethnic mix. They would be much more likely to approach a being with a different skin colour with hostility and murderous intentions.
If they can't be bothered to assist a grown man, who may be somewhat past his prime, but still strong, how on earth do they deal with pregnant women? They are nothing but a liability in terms of strength and immediate usefulness. However, they are obviously extremely important to keep the species alive. Three guesses how they would treat an infant with special needs. Speaking of infants and toddlers, they tend to be very noisy. This is a problem when your entire lifestyle revolves around hiding from the big people and the wolves.
I'm starting to reach the conclusion that the amount of thinking you have put into your video, and the amount of thinking I have put into this comment is more than the showrunners ever did.
Also they would not survive long as a coherent group without shepherding resources including people.
The ethnic mixes always makes me laugh in shows like RoP and wheel of time. Extremely isolated communities that don't accept outsiders are portrayed as more ethnically diverse than modern day major metropolitan areas, and it's got to the point where parents sometimes aren't even the same ethnicity as their children. It's as if the casting director just hit a randomize button for the ethnicity of characters
This TH-camr needs to realize, stories arent histories, they are tools. Stop trying to make the story work in middle earth, make it work in your own life.
@@adc1222 the races in the show are defined by their personalities rather than their color. Its Dr MLK Jrs Dream in metaphor.
And thats actually the history of our future. As races mix today, people tend to group together with like minded people. The divide between Republican and democrat is more important than divides between black and white.
Yeah, it seems pretty strange that a group of people so xenophobic that they'd severely punish one of their own for helping a stranger would be welcoming to people who look different from them.
Pro tip, try lowering the music audio in your next videos. It's a tad loud now I'd say and it distracts from the dialogue. I'm sure it'll make your videos feel more professional.
Thanks for the advice! It was sounding way better on my headphones 😂😅 much appreciated
"Nobody goes off trail, and nobody walks alone" sounds about as meaningful as "The sea is always right!" or thought provoking as the ever burning question of "Do you know why a ship floats but a stone cannot?".
I also cannot be the only one who fist pumped after a Harfoot got killed. Afterall, they're the real villains of the series.
I'm also certain they meant to say "stab each other's backs", not "have each other's backs".
Oh dear lord I forgot about the sea quote....
@@flufflewarrior I'm sorry...
"Do you know why a ship floats but a stone cannot?"
Because it weighs the same as a duck and therefore . . . A WITCH!!!
@@KingOfSciliy That sounds about right.
The real burning question I ask is why does money burn yet 💩 still floats?
That stone question could have a clever answer.It is wasted potential.
They are known in our household as DLS's. Dirty Little Sociopaths. What a travesty of a Tolkien representation but your video was gold, thank you!
Thank you! They are disgusting little creatures aren’t they haha
How could 2nd age harfoots be as culturally evolved as 3rd age hobbits?
They were just struggling to survive
They did this because they are racist English people that wanted to portray the Irish this way the millions murdered from the potato famine wasn't enough!
@@patrickday4206 none of the writers were English… I think they unintentionally did that lol
@@TheRealMaxoto quote "Amazon eventually managed to convince the estate without any specific pitch, through a combination of its bid amount and by promising it a role in making creative decisions." Unfortunately the Tolkien estate was!!!
Wow. In addition to everything you said, they completely rewrote Gandalf's backstory. In the books he arrived at the Grey Havens, knew exactly who he is and what his mission is. Círdan the elf gives him Narya, the ring of fire, to aid him in that mission.
It's supposed to be Alatar the blue wizard. They were the first to arrive, and spent their time in the east (where they head to at the end of season 1)
I'm hoping he's one of the blue wizards.
@@Seeingeyepig I suppose that's possible. Tolkien didn't write much about them.
@@Seeingeyepig That would require the writers to have read anything Tolkien wrote. It would also require them to give a damn and introduce a character for greater purpose than "Hey remember Gandalf? Wizards are cool right? Watch our show".
This is Gandalf's secret back-backstory of his first appearance in Middle Earth before he somehow left again so he could come to Grey Havens for the non-secret regular backstory...see? "The writers are always right! Er, I mean "the sea!"
They're the worst kind of evil person... they think they're good. And the story keeps saying they are... despite showing they're not.
Honestly, I just fast-forwarded through most of the harfoot stuff.
The English that made this I assume you're referring to! because they said they represented the Irish purposely made them filthy uncouth and uncaring and the dwarves the Scottish. They are racist assholes!
Modern TV in nutshell. Awful people that are framed as good in show but carry out despicable acts. The Empress in Blood Origins is a good example. She’s a murderous cutthroat but the show tries to make her out as oppressed and tries to justify her actions. Says a lot about the mentality of the writers.
You should just stop watching it in genera;. Read the book. Read the Lore. This is not Tolkien's writing.
Dont support the destruction of written word.
@@enigmalfidelity facts
@@Eagle-eye-pie The Pensuke files averts this! Pensuke is shown is The Villain in the Pensuke Files! The Pensuke Files is TH-cam only and thus can only see in my TH-cam channel. Pensuke is about to be outright called out! THE STORY IS SLOWLY REVEALING HOW VILE PENSUKE REALLY IS!!! Wanna watch and see?
There is one more thing that I feel should be brought up in this excellent video: Nori's dad, in, I think it's ep 1 or 2, is inspecting the wheel of a cart and talking to the cart's owner, about how the wheel needs to be round (hilarious). He is then responsible for raising the tent when he breaks his ankle: this suggests that Papa Brandyfoot is something of an engineer or at least handyman whom others come to for help: we also never see him dealing out assignments to any other Harfoot, so we can conclude he doesn't have an apprentice. The Harfoots were perfectly fine with abandoning (and murdering) their own, only, engineer, that kept their caravan functional.
That's not just evil: that's fucking stupid.
To the liberal elites who made this show, things just work. They don't notice the low-paid tradespeople who actually have to get their hands dirty.
Harfoots: "No one gets left behind!"
Also Harfoots: discard all the disabled members of their community, the chronically ill, temporarily ill or just those that think differently
If they leave them behind how do they know how they die? Do they send someone back to make sure they are dead so they can record it for their book ceremony?
Yep, illogical, cruel and utterly pointless as a character trait.
It sounded like what they meant about "leave someone behind" is when a person is dead they leave them behind. When Sadoc died he said he was going to be left behind. Did you expect them to bring the corpse with them? One of the hobbits that was left behind was attacked by wolves which implies he died that day. Leaving someone behind is just a light way of saying that person died like saying they went to heaven or something. People died in real life pilgrimages. People just got really soft these days.
The Harfoots are pilgrims so they don't have graves.
@@kissme1518 - Yet these people are shown LITERALLY leaving fellow Harfoot behind in the show.
@@kissme1518 You'd think they would burn the bodies at least. Those would attract predators to their trail.
@@reginalannister2262 So would fire. Bury them, maybe, or put them in water.
I feel that the "you're not special" line would make perfect sense in a very collectivist, conservative "we need to stick together" kind of nomadic society, it could give some conflict and inform us on the relationship with her daughter. Too bad then that everything else about the harfoots makes absolutely no sense!
Conservative ? Yet they are portrayed as multiracial woke liberals .
@@greyeye6371 Not politically conservative, culturally conservative, tribalistic. It seems they have a tribe leader, and his word is law, without question. They only look like "woke liberals" because hollywood writers think that every society has to look like los angeles for some reason. I think i'm overthinking this dumb show, but the wasted potential here is astounding.
@@stefanocer3094 I'd like to think we're actually watching documentary footage from a group of midget homeless crackheads that Amazon filmed in Griffith Park or something like that. That would actually make a ton of sense and make the not hobbits screwed up culture and social structure make sense.
This has restored me to sanity. I felt like Will Ferrell in Zoolander shouting “I feel like I’m taking crazy pills!” every time someone said the Harfoots were cute, or fun, or the best part, etc…they’re soulless murderers 😂
NPCs will cheer whatever's put in front of them. Back in roman times they fed people to the lions. Never forget human is just an evolved primate.
@@debugger4693 lol you both lack the critical thinking or lore knowledge or both to conceptualize why a tribe would develop this way. In this age hobbits lived between the Mirkwood and the Misty Mountains in the Valley of Anduin, which is smack dab in the middle of the region where Sauron was preparing to battle against men and elves. It’s literally just NE of what would become Rohan. The fact that there’s few young men, hard line policies that prioritizes the longevity of the tribe over the individual, and technology/practices typically associated with agricultural civilizations suggests they were DRIVEN FROM THEIR LANDS AND SLAUGHTERED REPEATEDLY! The dude that made this video literally pointed to each piece of environmental storytelling that explains this and was like “why did the writers do that? That’s dumb!”. Clearly the writers aren’t the dumb ones here.
Name one other person than Melba, the old woman, that said they should take their wheels. Name one person from the rememberance ceremony that was left behind. All of them died in something like and avalache, mudslide, or animal attack.
Honestly, I will take the concept of the Harfoots for my next D&D campaign... For like Orc or another evil clan. Nothing says evil and heartless better than a group constantly traveling because they have no idea of moderation and eat absolution everything on their way, abandoning those who would slow them in the slightest and mock the dead for dying.
The Harfoots were meant to be the moral compass and vehicle for the audience to relate to this universe. Every fantasy story does this to some degree. You use a character or race of characters for the audience to relate to and go along with the journey. The Harfoots in this world are like crazy people in the hood I grew up in that you can't turn your back on or trust.
So the harfoots are the filthy, homeless, crackheads of Middle Earth? That would actually explain a lot.
"Harfoot comin!"
Any good story has a five-man band: The hero and the lancer, the heart, the smart and the strong guy. You just described the heart. Makes sense. The show did not
@@sjonnieplayfull5859 the lancer?
@@nathanaelmaugre7824 historically, a lancer was not a knight, but he wished he could become one, and would try to stand out, act heroically so people would see he was worthy of being a knight. In books and movies the hero is 'knightly' and his best friend/ biggest rival is the lancer, he wishes to become the main character, they often squablle and sometimes the lancer will even betray the hero to get promoted himself. Want to know more? Overly sarcastic made a vid on 'five man band'
Sauron was justified in trying to kill the hobbits in the third age. He knew they were evil people, they even stole his family ring.
What is extremely Hilarious is that the creators don't realize these were horrible characters...! Murderfoots....Yes!
They also thought their not-Gandalf/maybe-Sauron red herring would actually fool anyone, so I would guess writing isn't their strong point. They should probably find a different profession other than writer or showrunner.
Murderfoots! Oh God! Can I nick that? Superb one word review of the sociopathic little wretches.
@@davidstone-haigh4880 By all means Sit
MurderFEET!
Sauron: Honest about his addiction to power. Is trying to give it up. Is truthful about everything except his name because he doesn't want to die. Goes out of his way to help someone he barely knows. *Gets power shoved in his face anyway.*
Harfoots: Dishonest about caring for one another. Will leave others to die the moment they are able, including children, if it inconveniences them in any way. *Are the good guys.*
I was soooo hopeful not Gandalf was really Sauron who at the time had no memory and could have gone either good or evil but because of the treatment he gets from the Harfoots (Harfeet?) and their heartless treatment of their weak begins his journey to darkness. But NOOOOO obvious plot must remain obvious
But why Gandalf??
Why do they feel the need to throw in characters just so we can say "I know that character"
And the book fans are mad because they disrespect the lore again
@@fabi3790 Cause he is not Gandalf lol. He is one of the blue wizards.
@@totallynottrademarked5279 is it confirmed?
If yes I am sorry I didn't know. I just heard many call him gandalf
@@totallynottrademarked5279 They don't have the rights for the Blue Wizards and they used THE EXACT SAME F*CKING LINE AS GANDALF FROM THE MOVIES,WHICH ISN'T EVEN IN THE BOOKS.
@@fabi3790 that is the beauty of a prequel, you can introduce beloved characters in deminished form and keep them that way basically episode after episode of minimal development because we all know what they turn into in the end. The greatest example of this is (Better call Saul)
Wasn't the whole point of Tolkien's Scouring of the Shires that evil doesn't just exist in great all-powerful enemies like Sauron but in smaller, local and more trivial settings as well? In other words, the idea that the ends justify the means as long as we defeat the Big Bad Guy would *not* have gone down well with Tolkien.
Yes, yes it did. Tolkien truly understood the problem with ends justifying the means type of thinking because that's what led to so much of the bloodbath that was WWI.
My faith in humanity is shaken when people try to defend this story line. Why are people so empty inside?
Precisely. Because they're shallow as fuck
Because we're living in the Last Days. Peter and Paul warned up about this time when people's hearts would grow cold. It's disturbing to watch really.
@Tblazer You really do wonder some times. I think the Wraiths are still some of Tolkiens most interesting creations because they truly encapsulate the hollow, vacuous nature of evil. Which I think describes the people who made this show to a T.
One thing that stayed with me was that when the Harfoots laughed when someone died of bee stings...
Seriously.
In a dictionary definition you will find the little shits under: 'Noun; Murderfoots, see hairy bastards for more info.'
And the worst is that the creators of this thing thinks this is a good behaviour. Most of the "good" guys in this show behave like that even the protagonist.
Personally I think these showrunners would react very similarly if it happens to someone irl.
@@edersonnico there is a reason why there are many comments saying the root for sauron
The worst day in the modern cinema was the day that we experienced this for the first time
“They will never know what you sacrificed for them.” - Monica Rambeau to Wanda Maximoff
Since then, the showrunners and filmmakers used this as a blueprint to make supposed “heroes” evil.
Rather frightening thought, but do the showrunners even understand that they are writing evil "heroes"? Or do they honestly believe they are writing sympathetic characters who are forced to make difficult self-sacrificing decisions.
Take the above quote. What did Wanda sacrifice? Yes she sacrificed a potential happy life with a dream family. That is pretty sad. But the people she sacrificed that potential for, were people she had trapped in her TV Land so she could have that happy life in the first place. While one could argue their lives were better for it, she took from their their free agency, put them in a cage so they could play the parts her fantasy needed.
So her sacrifice resulted in a Net Zero Sum for the people, a Net Zero that is only possible because she interfered in the first place.
@@hrs29 have you ever read the recent comic books? Have you ever read a feminist writers story? They have no idea.
They write evil villains but in their mind they are cool, good and perfect.
That's because feminism is inherently evil.
@@kato093 I started to get into comics in the early 2010s, read some good stuff and bad stuff, though most of the good stuff was more indie then the main DC/Marvel stuff. Then in 2016 everything got way too overt political. I swear they were even changing plots mid-story just so they could take a swipe at people they don't like. Very mean spirited in tone which ruined the casual enjoyment.
@@kato093 oh boy.
@@hrs29 They weren't arguably better off. The last episode has them confront Wanda, telling her how they are still awake and conscious, but are in constant pain and can't go against her "script".
Not even a net zero sum, it was actively traumatizing for every one of them involved.
It's pretty scary that the writers make Orcs more sympathetic and like a family than 'Hobbit-Like' Harfoots lol
The Harfoots raid Halfling villages, that’s how they acquire the metals. This also explains why the young males are no where to be seen
Isn't it ironic that the writers of this show, who were soooo preoccupied with making sure the casting and narratives were reflective of modern day social justice politics, have managed to write some of the most ethically questionable and dislikeable characters in all of Middle Earth as a result.
What social justice politics? There wasn't really much of that in the show. Are you one of those people with a bug up their ass about elves of colour?
Or maybe they were also roped in to help with the money laundering.
Gee, I wonder why
Yea well. Diversive is divisive. People should pursue unity instead of the opposite.
Which is especially ironic when you consider the timeless themes of Lord of the Rings which give it its lasting appeal
I've been noticing a lot of movies these days will have protagonists that are presented as moral and are treated as such by other characters despite being incredibly cruel and selfish. I'm starting to wonder if most people in Hollywood are literally psychopaths who genuinely don't understand how their audience will empathize with the characters they create.
Not just hollywood movies, literally all media from across the globe has characters like this. I read plenty of light novels and webcomics where the main character is treated as a paragon while committing reprehensible acts. I think that a lot of writers are just out of touch with reality
“Evil cannot create anything new, they can only corrupt and ruin what good forces have invented or made.”
Happy New Year man! This was truly GREAT! Only feedback I can give is keep doing what you're doing. You're on the right way to hundreds of thousands of subs. I have zero doubts about that. There are so many insanely dumb and lazily written plots, characters and dialogues in shows these days you'll definitely have enough material to work with :D
All the best!
Thank you! Can’t wait to share all the ideas I got with everyone!
At first it was sad but now I'm just fascinated how the show depicted Orcs crying actually feeling deep sorrow for their dead while the ancestors of the hobbits party and drink and celebrate all the ways they screwed you over before you they left you
You know they’re cruel when they make orcs look like the elves
@@badpiggies988To be fair the Orcs I believe were corrupted elves, twisted and tortured to the point of loosing their humanity, driven insane or forced to follow their abusers.
It's not even that the Storyline could have been cut, it's that the storyline could have been almost exactly the same and worked with some minor changes. 1: Harfoots have a proto-shire thing, but something is coming that forces them to leave. 2: Migration is NOT something they're used to, and the rule becomes "Stay on the path and no one walks alone" instead of those two things separately. It's meant to mean 'you have to stay with the group so the group can look out for you.' 3: The Harfoots slowly become a bit hesitant to keep helping Poppy's family because they're slowing down the group as a whole. It's not a matter of punishment, and it instead becomes a conversation about 'do we help this family who can't keep up with the rest of us and are endangering the group as a whole, or do we just keep moving without them.' The season long arc for the Harfoots can then become them almost losing their way due to fear, but by the end of it banding together to help Poppy's family because that's who they are as a people.
This is all offa the top of my head so it's not perfect but I personally find stories which could have been good with MINOR fixes a lot more irritating that stories that just wholesale suck? And I feel like Rings of Power had a LOT of shit which could have worked but they either half-assed it or made bad choices.
I 100% agree with you that stories that need minor tweaking/alterations are more annoying than stories that are just 100% wholesale awful. That's why I dislike "Man of Steel" and "The Phantom Menace" because I think with a handful of changes the movies wouldn't have just been passable but downright amazing (Anakin Skywalker should have been 14-15 when we first meet him, then it makes perfect sense why he wants to help Amidala, exactly like Luke when he first saw Leia). Whereas if a movie is just completely screwed up from start to finish, a la "The Last Jedi" or "Suicide Squad," it's easier to detach from the movie and it doesn't bother me because you realize there wasn't any saving it.
I think your ideas for how to make a second age hobbit storyline are more than serviceable. Maybe you adjust when Greenwood became Mirkwood? In Tolkien's works is partly what set the three kindreds of Hobbits, or Holbytla, as they were known then, moving westward. You could also have them start moving because of orc activity in the Misty Mountains (which they lived next too in those days) or even have them migrate because men are multiplying in the area and they were always wary of "The Big Folk." If they remarked that the human hunters were encroaching into their territory more and more and they didn't feel safe that would have made the migration make perfect sense. Because to be honest, If they had adjusted the timeline of events of Middle Earth (moving something from the Third Age to the Second, for example) while keeping those events intact I honestly don't have a huge problem with that (At least for smaller stuff, them waking the Balrog up screws up everything with the Dwarves and the elves as well as the Last Alliance). I'm not the biggest fan of that, but that would at least be acceptable. As opposed to what they did, which I can only attribute to a combination of illiteracy, clinical narcissism, and a serious cocaine habit.
That's so much better. I still don't think the Harfoots are necessary, and I think the show writers opinions of hobbits in general keep their story from ever being great, but since they need to have those little monsters, your ideas would make it 100x better.
@@gianna526 This is the thing, this is what frustrates me the most - I don't think the subplot is necessary at all, and to be fully 100% honest - I've not actually watched the show. I clicked on this video because I was curious about watching it and decided "no actually probably not." I was able to come up with those fixes from this video. The fact that I, some rando on the internet, could do that, means that the people PAID TO WRITE THE SHOW should have been able to come up with WAY better ideas that me right out the gate.
One of the most powerful scenes in the Peter Jackson trilogy of LOTR is when earlier in Return of the King Frodo says "Rationing?" Sam says; "For the journey home." It's a hopeful scene that shows that Sam is always trying to think positively about their mission and situation. Then, during the final stretch when they are in Mordor, they are about to reach the slopes of Mount Doom and they take a rest and get their water out, Sam gives his to Frodo and Frodo says; "There'll be none left for the return journey..." And Sam, who up until this point has not had a single negative thought, says the bone-chilling; *"I don't think there will be a return journey Mr. Frodo."* He then stretches out his hand, which Frodo takes and they make the final push up the volcano.
The scene perfectly depicts the innocent, inherently good and positive nature of Hobbits, so that when they finally give into despair, it's absolutely heart wrenching, yet they still choose to do what is right and good, even if it means their lives are surely over.
These fucking Harfoots give up and leave people to die when someone twists their ankle, then all of a sudden want to fight people who have magic? It's complete garbage writing, and they have the gall to try and make us root for them or treat them as anything other than the nasty little psychopaths' that they are.
Excellent point.
It really is wonderful to realize that Sméagol knew what he was talking about when he called the hobbitses nasty and filthy.
RoP is such a badly written show that I was unable to watch more than 1 episode of it but watching hours upon hours of reviews ripping the show apart brings me some joy. Modern movies and tv really makes me sad that I chose to be an Engineer instead of a writer, if I was a writer I wouldn't need to be competent to get paid.
The Harfoots are such a perfect representation of this show's writers. Going on and on about love and inclusion but they will turn on you in a SECOND, expelling you from their "group" and condemning you to death if you break one of their rules. And some of those rules are unspoken and completely irrational. Like taking the wheels off the Brandyfoot's wagons, stranding them in the wilderness to DIE for the "crime" of . . . talking to the Stranger who offered to help them? Are the writers even aware of how insane their creations are?
There's quite a simple explanation for the nature of the Harfoots - they're the ancestors of the Sackville-Baggins family.
I have read the early stories of JRR Tolkien and how he describes how to write a good story.
My guess is that the writers of the rings of power didnt do that.
I don't think they read any Tolkien, to be honest. Maybe skimmed a wiki or watched the movies, and didn't even pay much attention to that.
I'll be honest I haven't watched RoP but I love videos like this that explain flaws in writing. Great vid. I am subscriber 362 for you. Considering how new your channel is the quality is high. Smooth editing, entertaining, clever, energetic, passionate. It's also nice to put a face to the voice. Not all content creators do that, it's an individual choice. I hope you channel grows.
Thank you! I have so much more for you guys and I’m not just a LOTR guy! Thanks for subscribing and see you in the next video!
Dude I am in the same boat. I have not watch a single episode but I have watch hours of content trashing RoP. I love it
This TH-camr needs to realize, stories arent histories, they are tools. Stop trying to make the story work in middle earth, make it work in your own life.
DONT DO IT! GOOD LORD! NEVER WATCH THIS SHOW IF YOU LIKE LOTR IN ANY WAY!
@@michaelcook6483 Again, how do you make a story about psychopathic vagrant hobbits work in your life? Even without the context of Lord of The Rings, the Harfoot storyline and characters as a standalone thing didn't really work. As the video said, they were bizarre psychopaths and hypocrites, and their storyline served no purpose except as a framing device for the maybe Sauron red herring, which everyone saw through pretty much immediately anyways because it was so clumsily done.
Stories aren't histories but when something is adapted from an existing book or series of books, especially one with such a wealth of written material and worldbuilding, there IS history behind it. A ton of history, in the case of Lord of The Rings. Tolkien created an entire history of thousands of years across an entire world of multiple races and cultures from the dawn of time to the end of the War of The Ring. There are living real world cultures which have less written about them.
Simply stealing some names and vague concepts and making something barely recognizable using them and throwing out all of that canon is bound to piss people off. These stories have history, and are beloved by millions the world over for generations.
It is something that happens all too often with adaptations these days. See also: The Witcher, Wheel of Time, Shannara, Altered Carbon (season 2 in particular). The Hobbit movies also spring to mind.
Great adaptations that respect the source material can be done pretty readily. The Lord of The Rings movies changed some things but stand as a great adaptation. The Expanse, a long running book series, was adapted into an amazing show.
Dominic Noble has a whole channel analyzing adaptations both good and bad, and its worth a watch because he dives deep into what works and what doesn't and why, and might help you understand why this is such a heated subject for so many people.
Great video! I would actually like to hear somebody genuinely say that they like the Harfootses, and then explain why. I don't think it's possible unless maybe they don't speak English very well and they didn't get subtitles in their own language, or they are sadistic psychos.
Speaking of English-speaking, you did mention their accents. The Irish Times was very upset at the portrayal of the filthy, poor, homeless bunch speaking with Irish accents. This is a stereotype that English people have had of Irish for centuries, which led to the English treating the Irish as subhumans. In the mid-19th century, when there was a potato famine and many Irish immigrated to the United States, the Irish were treated with prejudice there, too. People put up signs saying "no dogs, and no Irish." The East Coast American elite were all descendants of English and Dutch Protestants and they loathed Catholics, which the Irish were. (This prejudice was extended against the Italian immigrants who started arriving en masse around the beginning of the 20th century.) For the progressive showrunners to have chosen the filthy Harfoots to have Irish accents was showing a lack of sensitivity to put it mildly. I highly doubt they are aware of any of the above. They probably just think the accent is cute.
Faux Progressive actually once the Right did Segregation now "Left' does identity-siloing.
I'm Irish and didn't really care about that. I just wish they had decent accents and weren't multiracial
Perhaps, they are unaware of the accent implications. It is not their fault, however it is their IQ level.
@@Egill2011 It really doesn't matter either way tbh. We don't need anyone to speak up for us and coddle us like children. I don't want to be part of the next protected group
I cant really say I liked the Harfoots, but atleast I somewhat enjoyed the scenes with them, mainly because I didnt take them that seriously and they gave me some sort of comic relif from the other grey, very boring events with galadriel, southlands etc.
I believe the Harfoot's storyline existed solely as a red herring for the whole "Who is Sauron" angle.
And still I heard so many guessed correct who Sauron was and who the wizard would be
Well done video!! What are they, they certainly not hobbits. Hobbits love comfort, warm underground houses (no worms, no dirt floors) good food. They did have a journey in their early history - to where the Shire would be established - but it was only one to escape the enemy, and then they settled down. They were said to be very caring for each other throughout their history, even early on. That is an awful society and it doesn't deserve to survive.
Thank you, I don't watch the programme but heard ppl say they were heinous but never knew why, much appreciate the explanation. Happy new year
Believe me, this dude is barely scratching the surface. If you loved the film trilogy, this show will make you cry. If you love the books, you'll be doing jail time like me, should we ever meet these two awful showrunners (and nigh on everyone else involved in this travesty).
Happy new year!
The best thing about ROP is that it is in no way cannon to Tolkien's lore. Shame we can't say the same about modern Star Wars.
Sure we can. Ignore it. I don't care what goes on in the sequel trilogy or any of the new shows. I'm not watching them. Star Wars is done for me. It's over. There are other things I can turn my attention to. Just because some corporation says "we own this property now and the stories we write are to be considered canon" doesn't mean I have to pay any attention. It's all fiction anyway, what they say carries no weight for me. If I want more Star Wars, then the Extended Universe is still a thing. Sure, Disney says it's not "canon" now, but what does that mean? It's all fiction. It's all made up. I don't care what Di$ney says. Why should I? Why should any of us? The books in the EU that have been written still exist and aren't going away.
This is a world where people are deciding what's true and what's not in fictional worlds. None of it is true. None of it is real history or fact. So disregard what the corporates say, they're irrelevant anyway.
@@no-one-787 I think the sequel trilogy is absolutely awful but I've just come around to that there can be good things in SW these days as well, as I just started watching Andor and halfway through it it's the best thing in SW since the original trilogy. It works really well and actually has nuance to it, which SW generally does not have. The Mandalorian is probably also better than a lot of it as the prequel trilogy is incredibly poorly made and the animated shows probably have more episodes that are mediocre to bad than really good ones.
And as you say, we can just ignore that which isn't good.
Yeah, even the Peter Jackson movies (like the Harry Potter ones, unfortunately not counting the failed prequel series we’ll never even see the conclusion of because of how bad it was) aren’t considered canon and never were- and those are some of the best movies ever made.
Well-produced vid, I'm happy it showed up in my feed. And your analysis is spot on.
Thank you!
"Nobody Walks Alone" just after leaving a family behind 💀
The VERY FIRST LINE of Tolkens most famous book opens with "Bilbo Baggins was a hobbit. Like most hobbits, he lived in a hole in the ground.". How could they fuck that up?
Technically it’s “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit” but I get your point 😂
@@warlordofbritannia Ok, I was taking a confident stab in the dark about that one, but I'm mostly on the meaning. I was 8 and it was a LONG time ago...
ROP's existence has had only one single benefit, and that is introducing me to a few new and very talented content creators. I'm a massive LOTR fan and these videos have been cathartic for me. You do good work, sir. Very nice quality and care. I commend thee.
Thank you! More to come!
If there were ever a people that deserved to become Orc food...
I’ve watched many critiques on this show and this one stood out. I just subscribed but I don’t see any email addresses or links to support you. I’ll be looking forward to more content.
Thank you! I don’t have much set up yet I’m still starting out but subscribing is an awesome way to support me for now! Thanks again!
omg I laughed so hard throughout this video... Thank you! also I love the easily overlooked details you point out, like a metal-lined wheel... it's easy to miss why something doesnt feel quite right at first, so when you point it out, it's like the "AHA! I knew it!"-moment in a thriller
Glad you enjoyed it!
It's not that the Harfoots are psychopaths. It was the writers... How else would they write the scripts this tone deaf.
Good video. You’re incredibly straight to the point. A lot of rings of power videos drag it on but not in a good way
Thank you! I have much more on the way!
5:53 let's also point out that nobody was helping him in raising the tent for their collective festival, they (including the dad) actually expected the weaker Nori to do it presumably on her own (but she was away with not-Gandalf) and NO ONR RUSHED TO HELP WHEN THE FRIGGING BEAM STARTED FALLING ON THE DAD. THEY JUST KEPT SITTING/STANDING AROUND WATCHING.
Take their wheels and leave them ..... this group wasn't waiting for these people at all but some, you know she wasn't alone, were thinking we've got to make sure they can't follow us ... and probably die as a result. I mean there is not helping someone who needs help and then there is actively trying to make their problems worse.
Subbed as soon as review brah was used, thank you man of culture.
You guys realize hate watching still counts as a watch in amazons book
Also the quote is from a poem that Bilbo wrote about Aragorn. Two characters from the next age who will only be born in thousands of years.
5/ There was a super creepy short story I had to read in high school called "the lottery". These people are spiritually linked to the Harfoots. The story was written in the 1950s, and I believe it was supposed to be contemporary, although it would've been horrifying, even if it was set in 1620. The setting was a small town in New England and every year they had a lottery in which all the name of the townspeople were put in a hat and somebody pulled out a name. The "winner" individual was then stoned to death by the other townspeople. They did that every year and were in all other respects completely normal people. It was the casual savagery, and acceptance of same, and laughingly disregarding the frightened cries of the victim (maybe your teacher, or your neighbor, or your mother) that still horrify the hell out of me 30 years after I read it.
I would honestly not be surprised if this ghastly story was the inspiration for the Harfoots.
😃😁😎😍🙏 using emojis to lighten up the atmosphere of this comment -----
Anyway, that's five comments for the algorithm and I hope you don't mind my rambling on. I really enjoyed your video!
I hope you had a merry Christmas and I wish you all the best for 2023! I hope your channel continues to grow a lot because you have high quality content, which deserves more viewers!
🖖🤩🥳
Thanks so much for the feedback! You’re comments are much appreciated and I always learn so much from you! Happy early new years and happy holidays to you too! Cheers 👍🏼
You must not have a damn thing to do in life….
Eyooo you read this too, I remember The Lottery. Kinda fucked up we could read that and not Animal Farm.
@@shinjiiuchiha Do you mean you weren't allowed to read Animal Farm? As in it was banned?
@@TheRealMaxoto you are most welcome! Happy new year to you too!
This is what happens when you have no respect nor desire to gain any for the source material. And when the cast and crew idolize Souron.
And, correct me if I'm wrong but, Didn't Eru send Gandalf and the other wizards to the undying lands first where the hopped on a boat and crossed over and Gandalf was recognized by Keirdan the shipwright and was given Narya, the ring of fire ?
You don't actually expect showrunners and writers to actually read the material they are adapting from do you? They are busy people, they don't even have time to read any of the Wikis on the source material.
@Mandolinistry very true. It's probobly like a star wars issue. Disney had no source material to pull from to make the sequels. I'm sure there isn't much sorce material for LoTR for them to pull from either.
Harfoots are the opposite of my D&D party.
The Leader- "Fall behind, left behind."
Someone dies.
The Leader: "Unacceptable. We will sail across the river Styx and storm the ninth circle of H E🏒🏒 to bring him home."
Party "So say we all!"
Your D&D party sounds like a real tight knit group.
So, these Harfoots are migrating and yet they never figured out to put ponies before their carts. This is why they keep losing people.
I didn't really like the show and I pretty much hated this storyline, but I do think the Harfoots weren't necessarily unrealistic and they had one interesting insight, although whether or not the writers intended it is anybody's guess. Namely, I think the Harfoots do offer a good look into the problems of group-centric societies can face.
First, the community faces a lot of danger and/or hard times, so they band together and form a culture that emphasises group cohesion and clear rules that are meant to deal with specific problems they are having. However, over time, especially should it happen that the original dangers lessen or disappear, group cohesion becomes ostracisation of everyone who does not conform, and the clear rules become an iron glove the culture or those who can control the group use to smother dissent. Eventually, the system just becomes a justification to keep those not in control down and compliant and to get rid of those who inconvenience them.
I agree. And this IS the point that Tolkien is making. Hobbits are not cute and wholesome. They are corruptible.
All the best for the new year Max, awesome video. I can tell you put more thought into it than the writers did with their crappy Rings of Poo show.
Thank you! Happy new years to you as well!
Not everything works as dark fantasy. That's what the writers faield to realize when they decided to make everything "gritty". The Harfoot's behaviour is just tonally inconsistent with the core of Tolkien.
If you want cute, plucky Hobbits in your show, that’s fine.
Alternatively, if you want ruthlessly pragmatic proto-Hobbits instead, little people so afraid of everything around them and so hellbent on surviving at any cost that they’d gladly kill some of their kind so that the rest can keep going, that’s also okay, I think. It might even be more interesting.
But you can’t have it both ways. You can’t have these awful people doing horrible things and still try to make them droll and fun to be around.
Are you kidding? Harfoots would’ve made LOTR such a more engaging experience instead of Hobbits!
Imagine instead of Sam, it was Lenny’s character who was supposed to be Frodo’s best friend. Instead of a blossoming and beautiful friendship, Frodo would constantly be told how weak and not special he was, he would press the fellowship to continue on if someone died with no ounce of sympathy or grief, and on Mount Doom (if they even got that far), Lenny would rip the ring from Frodo in his moment of utter despair and leave him to die on the side of Mount Doom while he finished the job to destroy the ring, all while chanting about how the fellowship leaves nobody gets left behind while he literally leaves EVERYBODY behind.
Oh wait, that wouldn’t be good, that would be freaking psychotic…
Now that you mention the wheels on those carts, no one made wheels like that. They would have used spokes. Chariots in ancient Mesopotamia used spokes.
Actually for very primitive technology civilisations, solid-wheel carts were totally a thing. Spoking wheels is pretty complex carpentry, and doesn't really come into common use (War chariots were expensive millitary kit) until the late bronze age, close to two thousand years after wheeled vehicles began being used. Of course, the Harfoot wagons have iron rims, and there's no excuse for putting an iron rim on a solid wheel, so I think it just goes back to "writer forget spoked exist lol"
spoken wheels are very complex and require special materials and craftsmanship. even the wheels they have are too complex for their "society"
It shows the true character of the writers, and that’s terrifying
Edit: Also, this is a really impressive video from such a small channel! Nicely done!
They must’ve been drunk when they wrote what they wrote
Amazon's Harfoots were destined to go extinct, their entire culture is dumb. Just remember, the show creators claimed they regularly went back to Tolkien's book for inspiration. Somehow they came up with murderous, hypocritical non-Hobbits. Rings of Power is a garbage show!
*Happy New Year to all my fellow Tolkien enthusiasts out there!* 🎉
Joshua, you claim to be a Tolkien enthusiast. Did you actually read the books or just watch the Peter Jackson movies?
In the books you would know of the chapter of "The Scouring of the Shire". This is were Frodo and co come home to find that the Shire is taken over by Ruffian men, due to corrupted Hobbits in the Shire, selling the Shire out.
You would have also have read in "The Two Towers" how Merry and Pippen come across pipeweed from South Farthing of the Shire. Pipeweed sold to Saruman by Hobbits.
This is what I wrote to another comment cause I am sick of writing this out.
They (ROP) wrote the Harfoots in the same way the Tolkien wrote the Hobbits. Nosy, interfering into other people's business, small minded, distrust of anything new, distrust of strangers and they are corruptible. So, yes, they did understand what they were writing. It is more accurate to what Hobbits are than the Jackson films.
Remember, Jackson's films are more action based. So he is not really going to focus on Hobbit society. The only Hobbits that you get to know in his films are Sam, Frodo, Merry and Pippen and they are more likely to be the exception rather than the rule of what Hobbits are like.
Yes, Jackson made really good films and they are a lot of fun. But they might not be accurate to Tolkien's writings.
@@gaebren9021 Hello. I definitely claim to be a Tolkien enthusiast, I have been a 'classic Tolkien snob' since the fifth grade, back in '90s.
Yes, Lotho Sackville-Baggins was a naively ambitious Hobbit who succumb to the motto, "You can't stop progress!" He used his affluence to become a greedy land baron, exporting pipe weed, and giving the fallen wizard, turned petty vagabond despot Saruman the chance to exact vengeance on Gandalf and the Hobbits by ruining the Shire. Lotho was deceived, and murdered because of his ambition. (It always struck me as weird that Saruman insinuated Grima feasted on Lotho's corpse! Like what the hell, Grima!)
Frodo and gang (plus a small army of freedom fighting willing to die for hearth and home Hobbits) overthrew Saruman's shabby ruffian regime and liberated the Shire, at the cost of Hobbit lives.
Maybe Lotho had conspirators (Ted Sandyman, etc), but I don't remember anything written about Hobbits put on trial for aiding in the wrecking of the Shire. *Please let me know if I am wrong.*
Now the fun part. Amazon's Harfoots are not similar to Tolkien's Hobbits, at all.
When the sentient willow tree attacked the Hobbits in the Old Forest, Frodo didn't shrug his shoulders and say, "Everyone stays on the path, or gets left behind. Later, losers!" He futilely tried to rescue his friends, saved only by Bombadil's fortuitous arrival.
When Frodo was wounded by the Morgul dagger on Weathertop, did Sam say, "Oh wow, that looks bad! Sorry, Mr. Frodo, we have to carry on without you!"
"Yeah, but we'll remember you always," said Merry.
"With hearts as big as our feet!" Pippin added.
"You Hobbits suck," said Strider.
And at Cirith Ungol, Sam went back to rescue Frodo. He didn't just continue on the quest, even though destroying the Ring was paramount to saving Frodo's life.
Tolkien's Hobbits are not reclusive nomadic weirdoes who regularly abandon their kin. Amazon's Harfoots are horrible with a silly way of migrating. Why don't they use domesticated animals? Or pay the Sauron witches to move the carts? Food for thought!
Now, I haven't watched Amazon's show, and I won't. It is a contemptible attempt to leech off Tolkien's legacy, just to get some of that 'Game of Thrones' cash. I can accept it, and will denounce it here and there. Because, why not?
But, I will not denounce anyone for watching it. If you enjoyed Rings of Power, I am happy for you, my friend. To each their own. I consider you no less a fan of Tolkien's work for it.
As of writing this, it's January 3rd; J.R.R. Tolkien's birthday! Here's to the Professor and his enduring legacy! *Cheers!* 🍻
Thank you for the comment. Yeah, Peter Jackson's movies were okay too. ✌
Oh, don't forget Fatty Bolger. He was willing to bravely act as a decoy for the Nazgul, while Frodo and gang escaped Buckland.
Hobbits are a noble, decent folk! Amazon's Harfoots blow!👍
@@JoshuaHeald "...Now, I haven't watched Amazon's show, and I won't."
Wait, What? o.O
How can you comment on a show if you haven't watched it???
@@gaebren9021 Hello, again. How can I comment on a show I refuse to watch? Well first, I have free will. Second, I have a finite lifespan with only so much time for recreational viewing and an intuition molded by decades of subjecting myself to lousy media, and having to endure a jaded existence knowing that my irreplaceable time and hard earned cash was wasted. A costly lesson.
Amazon's Rings of Power was a show I took an interest in when I first heard of it's conception. Learning Bezos wanted a 'Game of Thrones' fantasy epic cash cow; and Amazon blowing a fortune acquiring a snippet of Tolkien's work, a snippet big enough to layer on stories and altercations not found in the legendarium, it really bothered me, man! This show wanted to hitch it's own existence to Tolkien's Middle-Earth, and exert it's own interrelationships and interpretations on that legacy. Why? Because of a love and appreciation of Tolkien's work? Or is it because creatively bankrupt creators, bought and paid for, are tasked to fix a beloved, decades old fantasy for modern mindsets, while racking in revenue for big daddy business master?
And there's not a damn thing I, a humble man-nerd with a fixation on a dead British man's fantasy adventure, can do about it. The corporations have the money, resources, and influence to win. I just get to live my life, loving, laughing, weeping, and where opportunities present themselves here and there, I can take the piss out of Amazon's fiasco in the comment section. I hope this answers your question. ✌
How about you, are you digging Amazon's show?
@@JoshuaHeald
I first saw the Bakshi 1978 animated "Lord of the Rings". in 1988. I really enjoyed it. It inspired me to read the books.
I saw the Peter Jackson films. I have to admit that I did compare them to the Bakshi film and preferred the Bakshi film. Though they were ok to watch and I was glad that someone else had attempted to make Tolkien's book into a film.
I saw the Peter Jackson films "The Hobbit" and preferred them to his LoTR's and also the Rankin Bass 1976 animated "The Hobbit".
I have seen the Amazon show through twice. I have started a third viewing but life gets in the way and I have pressing tasks that need attending to. So I will probably get back to it after a deadline I have to meet.
I have enjoyed it so far. I would like to see a season 2 because I am now wrapped up in the story and want to see what happens. Maybe I will enjoy the series as it goes on or maybe I will hate it. Time will tell.
Like you said, life is too short to get caught up in petty things. I really enjoyed the series so far cause I like Tolkien's work. I like to see how people bring his work to life (be it film or pictures etc). There was a scene in the Harfoots story line where they really succeeded in bringing an atmosphere of Tolkien, visually to the screen. I think it was in episode 7 in the Harfoot storyline where the stranger was looking up at the stars. They really caught an essence of Tolkien's world more so than Peter Jackson or Ralph Bakshi did in their films. So, it is small things like that, that I really appreciate.
Obviously the harfoots do agriculture. No one ever said they don't. And yes, they are nomadic. These two facts don't conflict - agriculture predates permanent settlement by thousands of years at least. Even modern "nomadic" societies such as the Bedouin and Tuareg are still traveling between their date and apricot orchards, grain fields, and animal pastures. it's easy to presume the harfoots are doing exactly that - traveling around a designated circuit, based on their fields and orchards.
But it's more than that. Notice how they keep ending up around decayed fences? Ruined stone buildings? All of which seem proportional to the Harfoots themselves? The harfoots are people who, at some point in the not-too-distant past, were displaced, probably during the wars that form the background of the "Main Storyline." They know where all these feral farms are because they're THEIR OWN FARMS.
So why not resettle? Because the orcs and humans are still there, and still hostile. Which is informing the other aspects of the Harfoot society you bring up. They are a people at the bottom of Middle-Earth's "food chain," so to speak, vulnerable and (deservedly) paranoid and wary. Yes they will leave you behind if your axle falls off, because if the whole caravan stops in the middle of nowhere to help you out, it puts others in danger. If you bring home a strange human? If you are noisy or go poking off-trail? They'll MAKE you stay behind because you are actively endangering others.
The Harfoot are a people who got rolled over in someone else's wars, scattered and traumatized, and who have rebuilt something of a society based around staying safe from those dangers, while still trying to survive on what was originally theirs.
It can be a little tough to get, if you're used to having exposition poured into your eyes via wiki entries or whatever. TRoP leans heavy into the assumption that the audience can reach informed inference from what's presented.
"The harfoots are straight up the worst. Let me explain." I will, but really there's no need to explain man, I already agree 😂
4/ What was the point of the Stranger? I didn't understand that very well. (I've only been watching the reviews.) Everything about Nori's behaviour is wonky and unrelatable. I know she is supposed to be "adventurous" but he is an emaciated, nearly-nude man with wild and matted hair and beard she found in a crater of not-hot fire. I would stay away from this man, because my instincts would be telling me to stay away from this man. That might not be politically correct, but there is very clearly something not quite right with him - his behaviour is going to be unpredictable, shall we say. So her wanting to help this guy is already very difficult for me to believe. Keep in mind that she is, at most 3'6", and he is a tall man.
Leaving together to explore the east also feels false. If it were Third aAge Gandalf and Frodo, that would be fine and even fun. If it were this guy and a young male Harfoot, it would be okay, sort of. I don't know how old Nori is supposed to be, or whether she is of marriageable age in her culture. Either way, letting her go away with a strange man of another species is negligent to the point of de-caravaning. Just a few concerns: he could drape her, he could sell her into slavery, he could just outright murder her. She is defenseless. Even if he is perfectly safe and becoming a father figure to her, what kind of male in her own culture would marry a woman who has been goodness knows where doing goodness knows what, with some creepy guy who fell out of the sky?
I realize we are in the "modern era" where the strong, independent women don't need no man, but that is what makes all of this pretense of leadership so fake and unbelievable. I am also referring to Bronwyn and Galadriel to a large extent. I'm not including Miriel because she is a queen regent, which literally makes her a leader.
I never understood how she wasn’t afraid of the stranger but saw a footprint of a wolf in the ground and bugged out. Everything about the harfoots is contradictory. I hate them so much.
My man just right essays or a blog. This isn’t the place for 1000 words
@@TheRealMaxoto I don’t think I’ve even seen anybody trying to defend them or excuse their behaviour somehow.
@@drshin9893 this is my video and I greatly appreciate these kinds of comments, so please don’t tell people they shouldn’t comment. I’m a small channel and every bit of interaction I can get is useful for me. They can write as much or as little they want as long as it’s not hurting anyone in any way. Don’t attack someone just because they’re passionate about something 🙌🏼
@@drshin9893 also he’s attempting to help me by triggering the algorithm with more comments which seems to be working! It’s all in the holiday spirit of helping others! Hope you and yours are having a wonderful holiday season !
Never watched the show but happy to support these content creators tearing it apart!
Can't be worse than "I demand to speak to the manager" strong woman Karen.
It completely unintendedly shows us the unromantic harsh reality of tribal savage life. I’m almost surprised they didn’t show slavery and constant tribal warfare and thievery too.
You popped up in my feed, so the likes and comments must be working their magic. Nice vid!
Thank you!!! Happy new year!
This is absolutely hilarious 😂!
Never did I consider their idiotic and cruel character flaws.
And also the idiotic writing of the show.
Yeah, harfoots represent poor people.
This is how poor people act.
They said they represent the Irish this is racist garbage because it is an English production! It wasn't enough that they stole their lands and starved to death millions of Irish people by taking the food they raised and cultivated during the great potatoe famine! They needed to make them dirty uncouth and people that don't care!
@@michaelcook6483 wow, you are really insufferable aren't you? Are you one of the writers to the god awful show?
@@benitocamela174 i have always loved the original films and after i watched this show ive been watching Nerd of the Rings channel on TH-cam. I love it. I love that lessons Tolkien teaches through his art. I tend to rate art by its ability to enoble people.
@@michaelcook6483 "Original?" ah, So I take it from your comment you loved the 1978 animated Bakshi "Lord of the Rings".
As that is the original.
I love that film too.
This is how the writers think morals work.
This video is GREAT, smartly edited and ooo so full of sick burns.
The whole damn Harfoot society would die off with their ridiculous caravan policies. Not matter how many of them there are, there would always be someone at the back of the caravan.
The ancient book they have would indicate it is a very, very old society. There is no way a society could last that long with these stupid rules. None of it makes sense, like the rest of the show.
Because they are written by bad people who think themselves morally superior to others...
Yeah they stated that the harfoots were a representation of the Irish and the Scottish were the dwarves they are racist assholes
The entire Harfoot culture is an exercise in gaslighting. Their culture is exactly the opposite to what they say--and sing--it is. Did the show writers think no one would notice? But, regarding what is the most hate-able in ROP. My vote goes for Galadriel. Nothing and no one is more detestable than she is. Worst Mary Sue ever. If only she would have been allowed to sink to the bottom of the ocean.... Halbrand/Sauron's worst crime to date was saving her. The way Commander Galadriel is so unconcerned for the well-being of her troops, maybe she is a Harfoot in disguise. She is certainly short enough to be one.
This was great! I couldn't bear to watch more than the first (maybe first 2?) episodes, so thanks for reassuring me that I did the right decision. Also, I laughed out loud at you laughing at Papa Smurf's death!
Nice job! I never watched any of the series, but listened to a lot of commentary on how bad it was. I like the music, editing and passion you brought to the video!
...so, basically they are hobbits from Detroit?
There are some story about hunter-gatherer community/tribe that do this kind of thing. Once someone is too sickly/slow for the tribe, the psycho/cruel member of the tribe would quietly kill/dispose the weak.
Can you name specific tribes? Most if not all hunter-gatherer societies are highly socialist and take care of the sick and weaker members. This is seen all the way up to the modern day, but we also have evidence of this dating back to early human graves and habitations where we find remains of people too injured to survive by themselves but whose injuries also showed signs of healing to some extant, something which required a lot of time and full support and care from their tribe. They weren't left to die even when they were crippled, the tribe took care of them. Its something baked into the human genome and likely one of the big reasons we survived so well despite being so physically frail compared to other animals.
If you've got examples I'd love to read up on them.
@@mandolinistry3207 I don't remember, I think I read it on Harrari's Sapiens. Probably that story don't apply for most other community/tribe, just that particular community/tribe at that particular time.
It doesn't make sense to dump a healthy male who will recover in few days. He's not really a cripple or sickly or that old, has other healthy family members, etc. And if they can't even do that - i.e. help haul the cart for minimal time, stay put for a couple of days - what's even the point of this society? All these abandoned hobbits are literally better off then. If he were hopelessly injured then sure, I'd expect then to put him out of his misery and for his family to be absorbed into other groups, makes no sense to condemn them as well.
No tribal community ever let their sociopaths run amok (for obvious reasons,) nevermind gave them a job as tribal "mercy killer." Such a society wouldn't have lasted long enough for you to have heard about them. Whoever told you this exaggerated/lied to you.
In times of extreme duress, like starvation, a number of tribes would have the elderly 'go out' to look for food, or give very little food to the weakest, oldest or youngest members of the tribe.
It was not done lightly, and it was to ensure at least some of the tribe, usually the adults and teens survived. So if they were looking at a month of little food because mushrooms aren't growing, everyone would go hungry, a few hungrier than others. Their first instinct wouldn't be murder.
And a minor injury was not a death sentence. Usually not even a bad injury was a death sentence. Again, generally only in times of extreme duress would they just kill a tribe member who would be useful again in a few days or weeks.
I heard that the writers of the show are mormons, and that they made the harfoots an allegory to their exodus during the civil war.
That’s news to me 😂 thanks for the info! I’ll have to look into that
That... explains a lot.
No they said the harfoots represented the Irish the dwarfs the Scottish they were being racist they made them dirty uncivilized and uncaring they told everyone this!
This video is exactly what I felt. They leave people behind to fucking die while they have a very small population and then read out their names at a festival while everyone is "so sad". These are not Hobbits.
I'm a lifelong LOTR fan and I'm never watching that dumpster fire and pretending it doesn't exist.
You hope they never return to the show? You dream too small.
I hope the show never returns.