Rings of Power Episode 2 BREAKDOWN | Lord of the Rings on Prime Explained 

Wow......absolutely love this interpretation.....(even if it's not what the showmakers had in mind, I'm going to assume it's the real meaning from now on 😅)

this is exactly what I was going to comment

Exactly my thoughts as I watched that intro. I thought it was brilliant

Love this. Thank you. I really liked the opening credits visuals. It also reminded me of "cymatic patterns" which I really love. "When musical vibrations are channeled through a malleable medium, such as a liquid, the vibrations cause the medium to arrange itself into visible geometries known as cymatic patterns"

I was just writing about it but you expressed it much better. 😅 Always read the comments first I guess. But yeah, I think it was one of the better things in the show so far.

It's making me enjoy it more; I've come in pretty neutral, so watching it with the channel is fun!

Refreshing!

Ditto!

@@valavaaramusic Same. There were moments from the first episode that made me cringe, but I actually enjoyed the second episode overall.

Exactly why I'm here and as I am not as schooled on all the books as most of you are, it is helping me understand what little knowledge I have better.

Can't believe I didn't think of this but you're almost certainly right

I'd like to believe this is true!

Maybe he becomes Khamul and becomes a threat on the south and Halbrands becomes the witchking and creates the black numenorians with all those Morgoth rituals and stuff which leads to the demise of numenor.

@@dante316a kamul is supposed to be from rhun not harad or southlands. Not saying it can’t happen because they might have to take some small liberties but would be better if they didn’t.

@@alanwiles3175 Oh i see i thought he was a Harad

I'm hoping it was to delay the reveal of creepy bearded children!

That’s what I also thought. Thought it was funny. Gotta save some money somewhere

A lot of money went to CGI but it seems not much into smaller practical effects that was what really made LOTR come alive.

In a production that big & expensive dwarf kids wouldnt be much hassle to make, i think it was just for the lols like much of the stuff during the durin scenes

I would've loved to see dwarf children tho. I wonder if they have beards already.

I guess maybe we could also add, unless I’m forgetting a detail, that the flaming whip the Balrog used on Gandalf didn’t actually burn him?

Well I mean next to nothing is based on canon, so who's to say if it is anything we can even guess at?

@@urusledge I kinda hate this take on the show. I've read the books and even though the show adds characters and plot lines it doesn't feel like it's taking away from the general storyline. The new characters are interesting so far, it's nice to explore new time periods not written in Tolkien's books, and saying its "not canon" with only 2 eps it's like listening to one song and making a review of a whole album.

For example when fire is hottest it takes on a blue flame.

@@grggarro1 it doesn't take away from the general storyline other than literally Galadriel's entire storyline, sure.

Agreed!

But he barely adds anything. Just repeats what happened in the episode.

Very well said

@@AdeelTariq0 Actually I think he adds quite a bit. He gives brief background to characters, he points at details with useful info. etc. I'm familiar with the main storyline , his breakdowns help me fill in the blanks I have.

It's basically a recap for osme reason. It's awful why would he make this?

You know what - I think I laughed too, but not AT Durin. I laughed because it's such a simple and sweet reason to be genuinely mad at a friend. That's a huge turning point in life, it's relatable. Can't speak for everyone else in the theatre though!

Theater ? How many people you got in there … don’t say 2

@@DezMarivette Yeah I get that, makes sense. Definitely one of the best parts of the episode for sure

@@Mr.Helper. Haha my city had a free advanced screening of the first two episodes at a theatre, they took our phones and used metal detectors

Yep it sounds like it cause he's on a deadline to world domination

I like this idea, and we know from other scenes that the forces of evil are already in motion. At the same time, it plays into one of my worries that they might shy away from Sauron’s fair form and keep him as a distant corrupting force like he was in the LOTR movies. But it’s way too early to tell, let’s hope that isn’t the case.

Halbrand or the stranger?

@@GrayCatbird1 I got a feelimg we wont See Sauronin this series but in a way I actually like that cause through the course of the movie trillogy we never see him apart from the first 10 minutes in FOTR but that actually made him scarier and more intimidating cause just the mention of his name was enougth to send fear to those in middle earth

I thought the same thing. Sauron has already set things in motion.

That's what I thought, creating physical pattern from music. Which is kinda beautiful.

We had that thought too. I thought it was perfect, reflecting the alignment of magic with beauty and creation with song in the Tolkien universe, along with the gold and representation of the various sets of rings of power.

Looked pretty cheap, my brother and I laughed at how it basically looked like sand on a vibrating board.

@@shubhamnema8281 It was so cheap, it looked obviously like a board

@@virtcondan1706 You clearly got bad eyesight, it looked so obviously like a board that it didn't look beautiful and out of place.

How are you ok dragons killing eagles?

He can't do something beautiful and envy everyone that can.

It shows the arrogance of the elves thinking their crafts are so beautiful it could turn the dark lords heart.

@@MichaelLeeFW 😂 and dragons can kill eagles… just a simple interpretation… right… 😂

I'm wondering if the fascination is with beauty itself or the realization that he cannot bring himself to ever understand it.

I know what you mean there is so many hate Chanel’s that know nothing about lord of the rings and use it only to get haters clicks that completely feel my feed up I’m tired of seeing it.

Amen

Yea really. People calling the show terrible or unwatchable like really??? I think it is good! But I liked the Hobbit so maybe I'm the crazy one😂

I like this take a lot

I think the same, this is the first one and later in the show will arrive the second one looking for his friend. I don't think he is any of the three wizard we know from Hobbits and LOTR, that would be lame as f...

I just realized the fire flys formed a star shape. Maybe numenor

i think its sauron. just because he has some darkness into him (the sauron looking eye at the end of the first episode) and the fact that he is going into a human form th convice celebrimbor to craft the rings.

I don’t know why but I thought it could be Tom Bombadil 🫣

Yeah. Elrond’s scenes in Khazad-Dum were my favorite.

Amen! You are really doing an excellent job!

I couldn't agree more with this sentiment! It's so sad seeing people attack it just to attack. Not everyone interprets things the same or imagines them the same, so give it a chance and back off on the hate train. I really look forward to seeing what they do in the show!

@@benbyers391 I think the issue is casting non white race in the series. If it’s an all white cast- it wouldn’t have much hate.

@@KateTsingtao who cares it lotr lore it doesn’t matter about skin color smh

@@KateTsingtao Saying the quiet part out loud are we now? lmao

Agreed, I have no problem with these sorts of alterations, only retcons. Leaving things out is unfortunate due to legal constraints but alas.

How much are you guys paid? How can I join?

Going further with this, it's clearly meant to be taken as a story the Elves created. The story serves basically to emphasize the glory of the Silmarils, which has added effect of glorifying Feanor, his works, and by extension the Noldor. It's essentially self-aggrandizing propaganda that says "The works of Feanor were so powerful, they nearly healed the greatest Evil to ever exist" - who incidentally was the Noldor's greatest Enemy. It's not conveyed as a canon thing that happened, but taken as a story the Noldor created for themselves it works very effectively at communicating how they see or saw themselves vis a vis the Silmarils and Morgoth.

@@Forum_of_Christ how much were you paid to camp out on any video to do with rings of power, if you don't like it then simply avoid it..?

that was also my exact thought.

Yeah it's called cymatics and it is creation through sound... Which is somewhat relevant 😊

I was thinking the exact same thing!!

Except lots of people brought this up already. But yeah, I think you are all right.

Good points!

I might be wrong, but the wizards shouldn't be around at that time. Didn't they arrive after the events of the second age?

All of these things very much point to it being Gandalf and the Stranger's "clothing" in this episode makes me think of Gandalf too! The fabrics are so similar!

@@ThePhantome1 they did but apparently on the latest changes in tolkien writings, only the blue wizard did arrived earlier around the end of 2nd age. Dont know if the showrunners are sticking to that.

@@ThePhantome1 Yes. The Istari were sent to Middle Earth 1000 years into the Third Age. Edit: According to The Peoples of Middle Earth, the Blue Wizards arrived in the Second Age during the forging of the Rings of Power.

There are two kinds of Lord of the Rings fans: those with an innocent and pure love of great fantasy, and those who only see value in Tolkien's work as a weapon in a culture war. The most obvious example is when outspoken Catholics make it apparent by their words that they hope to make converts out of people by conflating LotR directly with Catholicism, as though it were just as intentionally allegorical as The Chronicles of Narnia. The more dangerous and insidious example is when LotR becomes yet another case of fandom spaces being infiltrated by agents of fascism, who prey upon the fears, frustrations, and other vulnerabilities of nerds to radicalize them. Every single fandom in the digital age is a Númenor in progress.

wow. im screen shotting that. this is one of the worst comments since the show came out. rings of power is not a good fantasy show. its dialogues and plot lines are as bad as in witcher. stop

Some people are just haters, and will never give this show a chance. The more innocent ones are Tolkien purists who hate any changes to canon such as dwarf women not having beards or what have you, the more sinister ones like has been mentioned are those people who despise any form of multiculturalism and feel like LOTR is an inherently White Western European fantasy and and are using this series as a culture war tool to anger up their fellow nationalists. Me I'm just happy to see the Second Age even if it's not totally accurate, I've always loved it.

@@7QWERTY13 There's something so bitterly ironic about fascist elements using the works of Tolkien, a man who had as his overarching themes the need for empathy and distrust of "great men" who would use power for power's sake.

@@7QWERTY13 “infiltrated by Agents Of fascism?” Can you give some examples of what you’re speaking about here?

he is 100% a wizard. His magic voice of power, his talking to animals, the connection of wizards and "hobbits" from the beginning. And since Sauron is "Meth Eminem" there are not many Maiar left. Landing where hobbits are is a clear indication, he is kicking off their fate in preparation for Gandalfs story later on. Even though he obviously lost his mind and doesn't know why he is doing stuff, because of the Valar limiting the minds of the Istari in Middle-earth.

@@SkaldCG Halbrand is Sauron

It's possible that Aragorn is referring to the stars in different arrangements like our Northern and Southern Hemispheres will have different arrangements. But an interesting observation nonetheless. Also, according to Tolkien lore, Varda, the Valar who created the Two Trees of Valinor, created the stars to be arranged into constellations to be warnings and foretold of the coming ages and their dooms. And right when black decay and things are dying Meteor Man lands where it just so happens to be where the ever elusive and well-hidden Harfoots were staying. A mighty coincidence if you ask me, however, perhaps a clue lies with Nori Brandyfoot, who Poppy mentioned that Nori nursed an injured baby Eagle back to health. And since the Eagles are the messengers of the Valar, maybe Nori's sincerity and kindness had chosen her for the task to help this stranger who might just be the Istari that we have all come to know and love. I'm pretty sure such a liberty would be a welcoming affair to all.

@@macke2411 If that is true than they basically took the Diablo III story, I already thought about that, too. But even Halbrand could turn into Meth Eminem Sauron, he can change shape after all. And also Sauron needs to look like a super elegant Elven Lord to deceive them as Annatar etc. That fits with Meth Eminem.

@@Ihaka17 yes it is either Gandalf himself or another Istar kicking off the hobbits-wizards-connection and storyline.

I'm glad they are just making it organic. It would be too confusing to average people plus I love how they called Simarils pretty stones and not actually useful

I love how they can touch so close to the canon even though they don't have access to all of it. I believe they are being as faithful as they are allowed to be.

I think they handled it in the right way. Small nuggets and snippets of information like that are rewarding to those of us who know what deeper meaning these little conversations hold. It's such a little, caring flourish that doesn't 'need' to be there perhaps, but gives added weight to the characters for those who understand the context. And it proves to me that to some extent, there are people behind RoP who do understand, and love the material they're working with.

@@kingssman2 that's a nope

@Matthew How much did you have to squint to see two characters thousands of years old in that light? Do you have the same problem with Gandalf and any of the hobbits? Are Aragorn and Boromir gay? Bilbo and Thorin? Legolas and Gimli?

Hmmmmm

comment aged like a fine wine!

I don't think she gave it much thought, she acted instinctively; like a last moment gasp.

@@uchenna127 that's very sweet, except instincts usually support survival, and jumping into the sea thousands of miles from middle earth would not support survival. I think the writer at the Galadriel table that came up with the idea needs a time out, and their colleagues probably agree. I'll bet it wasn't even a writer, but a domineering executive instead. Just lazy writing. I felt the eyes rolling around the world when that happened. It nearly tilted us back on our original axis.

Is the fish dragon cannon?

@@fegu yes

@@jdmkIII The worm itself is cannon?

Cause he’s Sauron

Because the writers of this show are amateurs

@@hernethehunted7130 he is definitely Sauron

Scary to think tho I thought he would be arogorn’s ancestors

My vote is for ring wraith. 😜🤟

He is listed as Durin III on IMDB. Maybe they just didn't wanna confuse people?

It said it was him when you watch the prime video and you look at the cast member. It will tell you their character name

@@JohnSmith-jb2jf Unfortunately my assumption failed based on the end titles that credit the actor as Durin III. Oh well...

I’m not that bothered about the two durins. To be fair the “reincarnation” is written more as folklore than fact in the appendix. “They have many strange tales and beliefs”. At least they’ve made them look very very alike and therefore could well look alike to durin the deathless since at least they look similar to one another.

@@alanwiles3175 Yeah they look-alike to the point where I had to confirm on IMDB if it's not the same actor with aging work done. Even the voice is similar.

And if he is ever negative it’s his honest opinion, not coming from some place of deep cynicism or political right wing agenda. Love this channel

Thank god they couldn't sink their corporate claws into all that.

@@brednbudr2406 youre right, heaven forbid they spend hundreds of millions of dollars to build out a century old beloved franchise because MuH JeFf BeZoS

@@kevin-mv6qf Peter Jackson ... I mean for a friend I have to ask where his part is in this story.

Washing machines last longer with Ancalagon

What did they get the rights too ? I don’t get all this

and the sand coalescing is like lands rising from the sea during the creation myth

Also a note, it seems that NotR missed the part of the intro just before the title with the three rings where it's just one ring. That means that it starts off with nine rings (for men) before ending with the one ring and the three for elves. This matches the theme of the Ainur perfectly, with the one ring appearing in the discord of Melkor and the three appearing as the main melody takes over again. The only thing missing is the rings for the dwarfs, although there's a scene near the middle of the intro where a ring in the center of the screen is zoomed in on through other patterns as it dissolves into six other feint rings on the edge of the screen. That's my best guess as to what might be the seven rings for dwarfs, although it is a bit of a stretch.

@@pewpewpandas9203 I agree. They start with the Nine of course, and end with the One and then the Three (note they dissolve away slowly 😢). And I think you're also right about the Seven rings image (time stamp 2:00 of E02). I really like that these are all patterns that exist for real using various frequencies. They've done a tremendous job.

Yeah it’s fcken dumb just like the rest of the show. Ooow sand! 1 billion dollars and we get vibrating sand ur right what a privilege it is to see such brilliant concepts Brought to life.

The symbolism is cool and all but it just looks lame asf. Compare HOTD intro to this it looks so nice.

... so that she can start her little >5000 km swim back to Middle-earth?

​@@blasphemous1989 yes

@@Premoguys Wow you are completely unironic, it is kind of amazing. Can you then perhaps elaborate on how Karendriel planned to swim cca 5000 kms? (I really don't expect some sort of reasoning which relates to the lore. I happily lower the bar: please explain this to me in the logical framework of the show.)

@@blasphemous1989 no

@@Premoguys Fantastic, enjoy your show, mate. It really looks like you are the perfect target audience for this.

Exactly! Multiple channels have pushed me away! I’ve done my fair share of diving into books and lore, but I am in no way a purest with Tolkien. I grew with Dune, Barsoom, Rama, etc,. More SCI-FI. I can somewhat understand being upset but the vitriol is getting pretty wild. Man, it’s nice to have such epic tales, this high in production quality and a pretty good start!

should fans not care about their fandoms, how can this series not be seen as a bastardization of Tolkien's work?

Exactly, I was so prepared for a disaster series, people were talking about how unwatchable 8t would be and I honestly believed it would. Boy was I pleasantly surprised, I actually liked it.

@@RAKKAR7 Exactly! I think the outrage is getting too out of hand.

@@fredreindljr1996 exactly. I have read the books too, but really not liking this "NASTY Tolkien cult" i see emerging that is not open to anything except it's own purist interpretation.

@@Andrew8812 I would really prefer if Halbrand ended up being the WItch King, but you are probably right.

@@Andrew8812 halbrand is not sauron bro

@@Andrew8812 I think the stranger is a blue wizard

Halbrand might end up the Witch King. But this thing is meant to have a lot of episodes, and potentially span quite a bit of time. Halbrand may be Theo's father . . . but looking at Theo messing with evil swords, THEO could end up the Witch King, given time for a growing-up-and-going-bad arc.

I thought it was a bit of a missed opportunity, actually. I was fully expecting Elrond to win the rock-breaking trial by asking to use his own hammer, then out comes Feanor's.

@@Jagonath why would he want to rust a legendary relic from the most powerful of the noldor himself tho

Ah yes, the fabled hammer of feanor that was never mentioned in the silmarillion. ???? you people try to be nostalgic a bit too much XD

you love bad writing?

Oh my god, I never realized that, that is truly amazing!!!

Isnt it normal for all prime shows?

Afaik prime has always shown trivia for their shows

i agree too, i really feel like its gonna be in all the episodes, by the end of season 5 they would have written all the appendix passages in the trivia sections😂😂😂 and i thank them for it.

I think you captured my sentiment pretty well. For the love of the world Tolkien created, I'll watch it. Let's drink to that!

@@moensbruno except they fired the Tolkien experts, so is it even a Tolkien story can't slap a lord of a rings label on something and make it your own

@@moensbruno yea but clearly the writers themselves didn't love Tolkien enough by firing the only Tolkien expert they had on staff and then to make it worse, ghosting the biggest Middle-earth visionary director PJ during the show's production. if they don't respect the professor's work, why should i have respect for theirs?

@@mithex8414 if your Tolkien expert violates the NDA, you can't avoid firing him because ”he's a Tolkien expert". Didn't they have other lore consultants however? Seems to me that they know the lore very well for all the references in environments and dialogues.

@@goodmusic37 man I won't even spend time to say how much Christopher Tolkien hated LOTR movies. And PJ didn't even read fellowship of the ring before making the movies, he picked it up in a train trip like 20 years before the movies and never finished it. And they couldn't even call Jackson anyway for copyright reasons, although they would have wanted to apparently, or they wouldn't have even bothered to contact him.

That was my takeaway from that dialogue too

Yeah, while it may be a fabrication, it does track with what we know about his character. He obviously coveted the Silmarils, and made them his most prized treasure. Being obsessed with them until being awakened to his own nature seems spot on. I'm still a little up in the air about this show, but so far nothing has been painfully cringy, or just outright awful. Watching the Hobbit movies there were a lot of cringy moments. And a lot of painfully cringy moments. There's a lot of toxicity floating around about this show, a whole lot of it based on rumors and hear say. And people just trying to look for the bad. I'm a long time Tolkien fan, and I have my own complaints about Peter Jackson's adaptations, but overall I also accept that LotR, even with it's flaws, is about the best adaptation we'll ever get off the material. With this show I'm trying to give it some leeway. It's dealing with copyright limitations, and it's trying to do the unenviable task of filling in large blanks in the Tokien legendarium with new stories and original characters. So I'm trying to give it the benefit of the doubt. I will say, I like it more than I thought I would. It's not perfect. And it is taking liberties. But adaptations are always going to require breaking some things to make it work. Time compressions, melding several characters into one, introducing new characters, or expanding roles of existing characters who perform some function in the story telling process are necessary to some degree. As long as they don't go crazy off the rails and screw up the history, I'm willing to see where it'll go. Which, the Hobbit movies definitely went off the rails. Horrifically so. So if it's not as bad as that it'll be a lot better. I will say, I feel like most of the characters are being treated with respect though. And that's really all I ask, that people respect the source material. Especially if you're going to change things, you've got to know what can be changed, and what breaks the story completely.

@@andmicbro1 I'm so happy there are some out here looking at this show rationally. The toxicity is very draining.

I took that line to be Celebrimbor making an assumption about what happened with the Silmarils, like he is so obsessive about the power of creating that he makes a logical leap that the Silmarils were about to make Morgoth repent when all we know is Morgoth was captivated by their beauty.

@@jamesgraham1772 It could also be an allusion to Melkor wanting to be able to create, but only being able to corrupt and being envious of the pure light of the Silmarils that he coveted since Feanor created them from the light of the trees. Melkor/Morgoth, having the Silmarils, would get lost in the light that he so badly wanted to make his own.

ya the Map transitons so far seem real cool giving us a better understanding of where we at. I could do with a whole eps of just the dwarfs at this point

I actually really appreciate it as well! I have no problem with the art and design in the Jackson films, but I welcome a different take on things like the wargs, trolls, and orcs. They honestly should not be held down by existing designs and be free to make their own original mark. There are many different pieces of art showing the same scenes from Tolkien's work, and they can be pretty different. I really like that! As long as the character design doesn't stray too far from Tolkien's actual descriptions, I'm fine with some liberties taken in the design and artwork.

The inclusion of maps is genius, I like it

Sorry for your loss

Halbrand is Sauron and is going to be in a love triangle with Galadriel and Celeborn. she's going to choose Celeborn and that will be what pushes him into being the Uber bad that we know. This show is written by idiots.

This is so dumb…. Tolkien’s original story is far superior to this dreck…

@@JayJay5244 I agree. I’m just saying it’s possible based on how the show is playing out.

Halbrand is Sauron

He's a good RU-vidr who made me interested in these stories. But seeing him get so many dislikes on these videos (especially on the breakdown of the first episode) it's sad to se that even serious fans like him who put a lot of work in his videos gets "like bombed" by trolls...

@@thebatman129 literally came to his page to see if I was overreacting. He cares about the lore more than I ever could and he's having a good time watching the show, so i knew I need to open my mind and see it from a new perspective. The trolls are just being stans of the youtubers who've invested in trashing the series for the last year and who can't approach the show from an unbiased perspective.

Na it needs to be trashed its woke shite

@@Coach_Buj to have talked to a serious Tolkien fan, he told me that most of the people who're trashing RoP, think are Tolkien fans and think they know this world don't really know much. That a lot of the series feels like Tolkien. I mean ALL that series can't be trash. It's literally impossible. It reminds me of The Last of Us 2 treatment... Hope this backlash doesn't hurt the series.

@@thebatman129 90% of it is totally lore inaccurate so that's an actual reason to hate on this. I never watch other youtubers apart from Matt and I still think this show is something like 3/10 for me just for visuals, music and the awesome depiction of some locations. I can't agree on the lore bending as much as they've bent it and I think Matt is too lenient on the creators. Everyone has their own opinion though and I accept that but not everyone who gives low ratings are blind hating without having watched it.

😆

How can it be unbiased? That is crazy. The man has hours of lore videos about the second age and the characters portrayed I beg you to go watch them again and tell me how any of this show is similar to what the man who made this channel himself said in those videos. They show and the lore are night and day. To say these reviews are not biased is like saying a cow is a horse

@@anthonyarmstrong5352 Haha.. I see your point, but I am referring to other channels mate. Most notably those more concerned with the race of the actors involved, rather than the content itself. Nerd is a great channel

@@IAMPAUL2021 Ah, you dislike the people who follow the lore the closest. Now I know why you like this channel so much.

@@Turamwdd huh?

Yes, I agree. This was something that didn't feel right for me and I've liked the rest of it. It's not just ears that single elves out as different from human.

But she IS indescribably beautiful!

@@HomeGunMaker I actually like the actress, but I dont think the character should be able to pass for human

I agree as well. There is a reason Elves were so distinguished from men, it was more than their pointy ears, and in Galadriels instance, it would have been an even greater contrast.

Agree, he is watching the show with an open mind and you see it with his episode breakdown....al the other channels are full with hate watchers

@@ivanbroeckaert382 hes watching the show with an opportunistic and weak mind.

Yes I'm really enjoying this take on the show because I'm sick of seeing content on YT with incredibly negative and sometimes scarily right-wing titles and agendas. It's possible to love LOTR and still enjoy and take entertainment from this middle-earth story too if it's well made. And personally, having seen it so far, I am impressed and do think it is well made and engaging. NotR said in his review video that he puts Ep1&2 above The Hobbit movies and I'm agreeing so far.

That was my biggest criticism for the first two, but i couldn't describe it well. Saying it doesn't catch the poetry of Tolkien is a perfect way to say that. In some ways, I feel like all the Elves are in a high school theatre class and haven't quite perfected their lines yet.

I am wondering whether Theo might turn out to be the Witch King of Angmar himself, actually. He is young, so there's plenty of time for the blade to corrupt him, and he seems to have mixed feelings about elves in general. I agree with you on the fact that so far the magic that existed in PJ's adaptations of the LotR stories is so far elusive. I wonder whether this came from a desire to appeal to a greater audience, which would perforce mean more simplistic language. I admit that one character I was quite disappointed with in the two episodes we've seen is actually Elrond himself. I did not like the fact that Gil-Galad is incapable of making his own speeches, nor do I enjoy the fact that Elrond seems to play the part of a glorified secretary. This is LotR, not House of Cards, after all...

Wow, what a long-winded comment LMAO. The writing is pretty meh, with the desperate attempt to sound poetic or 'deep'. Which character could Theo be that would be profound? They only have rights to LOTR and Appendixes, the most profound one he can be is The Witch King.

@@Henbot Yup, the Witch King is a distinct possibility. And of course, they could introduce an original character and give them a profound role.

Witch King is better than the idea of Wizards appearing in the Second Age. Witch King's origins are somewhat vague, so they could try to work with that, though I'm not going to expect anything so deep from the showrunners.

Video of this phenomenon can be watched here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-wvJAgrUBF4w.html

I (and many others) believe it more probably to be a reference to the Music of the Ainur (music of creation)

Wow cool, I love that and hope it's TRUE @Leddy, I also like the Ainurs song too both great theories

i would even suggest that it could be both and that in many mythos, sound/frequencies/vibrations/and resonances are considered or related to magical powers or abilities, that gods but also sometimes mortals could possess a good example of this is elder scrolls, not many people know this but sound is like the ultimate force in the elder scrolls universe, used by the gods/daedra/dragons and also the dwarves who figured out how to use it and became more advanced than anyone else

Durin is pretty great. and I did not even think of Saruman. Great idea. They could go with either date for the arrival of the 5 wizards. 1000 TA or 1600 SA. Both are in the books.

Saruman actually would make a lot of sense! That's a great point! I mean Gandalf would be a good candidate as well, since he has an affinity for Hobbits, having a Harfoot come to his aid would be a great way to show why he doesn't underestimate Hobbits while everyone else does. Part of me wishes he's not one of the Istari, but if he is, both Saruman and Gandalf would be great candidates.

It could make alot of sense to be a blue wizard but why would he be separated from the other, also love this comment thread the theories and the politeness

Saruman was also my first thought! They’re in southern rhovanion too which is right where orthanc ends up if im not mistaken

when first seeing Meteor Man i thought for certain it was Gandalf by the way they've draped and styled the grey blanket very similar to Gandalf being "Gandalf the Grey". I thought this was a subtle but not so subtle way of pointing that out, but now seeing the theories on Saruman that does check out, because he seems really off and not as a gentle soul like Gandalf is.

The moment I find out it's Gandalf, I'm done with this show.

@@lordbane5627 And?

I hope he's one of the blue wizards. If he is Gandalf then the show is ruined.

Yeah, I'm fine with some creative liberties just as I was with the LOTR trilogy. However if it's Gandalf that is way too big of a leap from the lore which would be a shame as I'm honestly really enjoying the show. Blue wizard, perfectly fine. Would honestly be really really good imo

@@lordbane5627 I'd be pissed, but less than if the shiny thing was revealed to be a Silmaril. Mithril or the Arkenstone, or something else. _No touchy Silmarils._

Theo=Kamul?

I doubt Halbrand is Theo's father. How would that work? Bronwyn is light skinned. As is Halbrand. Theo isn't and he looks like an asian/african mix. Anyway, he does not look like he could be the child of Bronwyn and Halbrand. Not at all.

@@davidhimmelfahrt3732 - I don't think these villagers count as Easterlings, though.

@@Oozaru85 in this world skin color seems to be unrelated to anything. You just have this or that tone. Parents don't matter

@@WiseOwl_1408 That doesnt make sense. Adding diversity is one thing, but getting rid of every bit of logic is stupid.

This. The storytelling craft is superb. I am so surprised, because I hadn’t expected it at all. The themes are very layered, and the dialogue is very on point too.

Exactly. Also the none camical parts are well done.

Non Canon is minimal? Lol, it's 90% of the show. Which an actual LOTR/Tolkien fan would know.

@@johanstinson No it’s not 90% of the show that is ridiculous

@@lukethevampire8970 sure it is.

Which suggests that the orcs has shown considerable restraint over the centuries!

@@DelPlays That's distinct possibility, but I tend to see the orcs themselves as substantially less well-restrained. They charge to certain death in massive battles without evidently a thought, but are still capable of falling out with each other, for example, Shagrat and Gorbag in the Tower of Cirith Ungol.

And yet contrariwise I also like that they appear to be, how to put this, fairly old fashioned orcs. These are no Uruk-hai, I wouldn't even consider them full on Third Age Sauron-serving Uruks. They're more like your smaller mountain orcs, appropriate for thousands of years and a couple of breeding programs ago.

No one knows. Seems Amazon bought all big LOTR content creators to praise this series. Everybody just lost common sense.

And still in so many close ups the background seems so fake and made me completely lose immersion

You as fake as this show is. Tolken would turn in his grave, you didnt respect him

I think it’s good that they’re taking their time to set up the storylines. It Will make for better payoffs later. I thought Witcher sped along way to fast for example which was really distracting compared to this. Here it feels natural and I,ve been enjoying it a lot so far

I'm the opposite, the pacing imo was terrible until they got to the dwarfs. Everyone teleporting from one place to another. So I'm glad it seems things are finally settling down. Certain parts of this show I've loved, others have been mediocre. None the less, I'll watch it in its entirety.

@@timforsgren5275 definitely would compare it to the witcher

@@montynelson5033 Yes, 100% reminded me of witcher but witcher makes sense because they literally teleport in that world; though, still with s1, the pacing was a bit too much until s2.

I thought it did a great job of painting the characters and how important Elrond was to Durin… you could tell his feelings were hurt and the Dwarves hold mighty grudges. It also allowed Disa’s character to show her love, concern, and wisdom in encouraging Durin to make amends. I really loved the entire Khazad-Dum scene

@@jseels It was ok, but the pitch of Durins voice got way too high and sounded like he was about to cry. You can have deep feelings without getting whiney like a child

@@Roon3808 or you can be a man and also have deep feelings… having been best friends for 30 years then not seeing him for 20 years would probably invoke quite a bit of emotion.

@@jseels sorry, but even if I see cherished childhood friends I haven't seen in 2 decades...im not going to get whiney or cry

@@Roon3808 Well, he IS a dwarf - they always seem to be portrayed as very emotionally blunt and "outward", though typically in the shape of anger.

Halbrand is Sauron

Disa does have an infectious cheerfulness.

@@knockitoffhudson3470 Very much so. I was smiling through the whole scene, both because of Disa and her charisma and because of the grumpy Durin trying to hold Elrond at a distance (hilarious).

Honestly they are all wonderful additions that totally fit in… and my wife who is less of a Tolkien nerd really loves the Durin family dynamic with Elrond. The Harfoots also offer an interesting perspective and the added mystery of the stranger is compelling. I’m not sure why the show is getting SO MUCH backlash… but I hope as the season goes on, it gets better and better, and the people begin to see the light.

Plus, didn’t Gandalf only appear in Middle Earth in the third age?

@@SnailHatan And he came by boat. Though probably they don't rights for that either...

And I thought he was Mithrandir before he was Gandalf. He has to be a blue Wizard because the rings don’t exist yet. And there is enough ambiguity to support that tbf. We don’t know a lot about the blue wizards and they come before Gandalf, Saruman and Radagast, 1000s of years to my understanding. He should have a companion then though.

@@ryanmaxwell5076 That's a good point. I had only read the Unfinished Tales version where all the wizards come around the same time in the third age, but apparently in the Peoples of Middle Earth it suggests the blue wizards coming in the second age around the time of the forging of the one ring! But yeah, no companion, so that would be weird.

So Sauron 1st age, Gandalf 3rd age? Surely meteor man is Saruman?

Very possible, also Theo's ears are covered by his haircut.

Maybe that's their way of showing how difficult successful pairings between humans and elves are, especially if Theo turns into one of the evil characters we know more about

Physical union for the elves equals a wedding, they really don't take intimity lightly... I don't think their relation is yet pushed to this extent, although attracted they still talk to each other with a kind of deference..

Boring. Strong single momy and elf love story.🥱

I also thought this! And maybe I was perceiving him incorrectly, but I thought that Theo's skin color was a little darker than his mother's, and that he looked like he could be a mix of Arondir and Bronwyn... guess we'll find out!

Yeah, and I think him being a Maiar is cool. I just really hope it's not Gandalf.

Bombadil

@@notsoginger Tom was there before anyone else...

@@notsoginger Stranger Things Season 5, Tom Bombadil and the Upside Down

He's a stranger in this world who shouts at everything and seems to be in total shock. For all we know, he might be Tolkien himself.