'if defending what Tolkien wrote is evil, then I'd gladly become the new dark lord, even if I'm all alone in that struggle', you are not alone my friend, you have my sword...
Galadriel leading the kid out of the village alone while ignoring everyone else including the poor dude on fire was the most ridiculous thing I've seen on this show.
Actually, I think the plot armor is what saved everyone in Mordor here, so it seems to be quite powerful! lol Seriously... nobody should have survived that pyroclasm. Even fantasy shows should know better than that.
I am looking forward to your lordship taking over the rule. May I respectfully suggest that one of your top priorities may be to force everyone to take a bath, my lord. There will be resistance. I have never heard anybody consistently use the world-weary tone like you do, my lord. The rare, but occasionally interjected, groan is masterful. It would be very effective, your lordship, when you deliver proclamations, to use that tone (groan optional). Your devoted servant, Subscriber Number Is A Secret Parked Behind The Mithril
@@CounciloftheRings Talking about swords…. When Elendil comes riding to aid the queen regent, (at 21:21) his sword is gone from the sheath but it magically appears seconds later… what a show👏🏻 I am the only one who let things like this ruin the experience? (Not that this show gives you any good ones)
Spot on. The biggest problem this series has is BY FAR that it's just incredibly boring. Literally nothing happened now for 7+ hours. The battle scenes were poorly choreographed and filled with plot holes, just like the rest of the show. And in between all we get is just plain, empty and boring dialogue, that is forgotten 5 minutes later
The leaf deserves an academy award. It told the story that the elven race was dying, it convinced Durin that Mythril could be a cure, it traveled to the depths of Middle Earth to wake the Balrog. WHAT NEXT????
You guys are looking at this all wrong. I personally LOVE this show. It's one of the funniest unintentional comedies I've ever seen. I'm in such anticipation every week because I know that I'm going to be laughing my ass off. The terrible dialogue, the absurd plot, the bad acting, nonsensical motivations...it's all such horrendous horse shit that it results in pure comedy gold!!! 😆 🤣
I wish I could laugh along with you, but I find it so bloody painful I truly want to bash my brains in. Obviously I'm watching it wrong! 😆 Mind you, one thing I definitely SHALL miss, is all the entertaining commentaries slagging it off. Luckily, it looks like these Amazon munchkins are clueless enough to pony up for a 2nd season (& that's good news for the son of a good friend of mine here in NZ, who worked in the special FX department - not sure which exact dept, so I must make some enquiries. Who nose - he may furnish me some juicy "insider gossip" (though probly not, as Weta keep pretty tight-lipped, but). ) Cheers! 👍
I thought it was very realistic and reflected the real world that everyone survived the volcanic eruption. Also that the commander of the northern armies would find a random teenager and they would have a long, soulful conversation In which the thousands of years old elf would casually mention that she had a husband. Why did she tell this young male teenage human (?) about this, which she has never told anybody else? The motivation seems disturbing. And then she made him a soldier? Metaphor for coming of age? Then again, practically everything that comes out of her mouth is disturbing. It is also realistic that the badly injured Halbrand can ride a horse very well. For great distances. It’s almost like people forget that in the movie the Fellowship of the Ring, when Frodo took that Morgul blade to the shoulder, he did that Ironman triathlon where he swam, biked and ran to Mordor and back, ending up in Rivendell. I’m glad you are finding some satisfaction in the show! I’m loving these reviews, reading the comments and writing comments!
First I have not watched the series yet because I will wait until four seasons before beginning. If four seasons never happens I will just skip it. I do not like waiting for the new season and if it does not last four seasons that will tell me it was not worth watching in most cases. (I have watched other shows that did not last even four seasons and many of these I liked but I hate waiting for the next episode let alone a new season). But from what you say it looks I will have to be intoxicated to the hilt to enjoy watching this series...note I might consume five drinks in one year.
Dear Balrog, since you know a lot about fire, I was wondering if you could explain to us how Galadriel survived the volcano blast? Is she also a Balrog? I apologize if that is an offensive question. It’s just that she was completely relaxed having the searing hot, toxic gas cloud of fire engulfing her like she was having a day at the spa. Thank you for taking the time to read this comment. I know you have a very busy schedule of balrogging. 🔥
We know how thee feel, Join us for our counter ROP series, we must stop watching this even for negative publicity because it feeds the amazon rating system, Mae G'ovannen! Now the evidence is clear, and none can deny that "ROP" is not of Tolkien. Take heart and join us for our just released third installment of EXSURGE TOLKIEN that makes robustly clear the heresy of Tolkien's Canon displayed out of the showrunner's mouths and hearts. They probably know nothing of Tolkien's masterpiece, as evident from their interview in the Vanity Fair Article. For "they who proclaim to loveth Tolkien, yet understandeth, not his world view can neither hope to create a new film, show, or series of his secondary world." "Auta i lóme!" and" Aurë entuluva!"
Spared myself the burden :D Selective volcano, Galadriel revealing that she is married seven episodes into the show.... nah, I'm not brave enough for that. Plus, listening to you dissecting the show is way more entertaining than the thing itself.
I know, right?? This guy is the reason I stopped watching the show myself, after Episode 5. Because his reviews of the show are frankly more educational to me, and much less of a waste of my time.
I rely on these reviews to keep me filled in. Stopped watching after the first two and nothing seems enticing enough to bring me back to it. It's just a generic fantasy show with names/locations stolen from Tolkien, not the multi season epic of the Second Age that I was hoping for.
But... Galadriel IS married and doesnt have much contact with her husband for hundreds of years... It's fine to dislike that, but it's lore written by Tolkien.
it's crazy how many ppl acrually defend this show too. like I get there's a lot of hate usually for shows, but this is so warranted. they poured so much money but missed so much that are just single things to make the story interesting and engaging. as well as shitty dialogue and overall terrible pacing. it's much like the wircher series, the books are good, don't change them, they clearly are great already
In this Middle Earth , it appears Sauron has already been completely in charge of everything from the very beginning. And even he doesn't give a $h!t anymore.
I really didn't expect the "rock bottom and sinkhole" analogy from a few episodes ago to hold true, but these episodes are determined to live up to that law of exponentially diminishing quality.
@@RabbitShirak Amazingly apt analogy! And the jokes from The Simpsons made against Police Academy are also very accurate to the experience of watching this series. Except for the guy who makes random sound effects.
Disa is no better than the vicious, vile Lady Macbeth, in this case exhorting her husband to all but murder his father. Her lust for power is obvious and obscene. Another character they think is empowered but is genuinely evil under the benign skin. They clearly cannot tell the difference between good and evil.
Why exactly? I haven't watched the show and I don't intend to, but what in the portrayal of the harfoots in this series makes you decide they are psychopaths? Honest question.
My sister and I are thoroughly enjoying the Rings of Power. Every week we watch it together on discord. We take the piss out of it the entire time, and look forward to the post episode reviews more than the episodes themselves. It's so bad that it's actually been a fantastic and hilarious experience. Thanks Amazon! :D
This is the way. There is so much free content in the form of reviews that it was worth watching. Watch the battle scene Analysis by Shadversity if you want a good time.
This is how I watch the show. After episode 4 I couldn't sit through another episode. Your videos are my short cut to watching the show. The actual show makes me very sleepy.
I never watch just it. I'm always doing something else. I watch just hoping one day there will be a cook scene for the sinking if numenor and the last alliance battles. at least they'll be visually cool
I for one was grateful for them showing me through cunning visual titles that the land I've been seeing is now Mordor. I had no clue before... what with Orodruin looking all dormant volcano-ish in many landscape establishing shots and Adar telling the orcs that it would become their land and home. It was such a mystery. Even when the volcano erupted... who would have known unless they gave us the title change? I mean... this is 5D chess world-building here. /sarcasm
you're completely right, I had absolutely no idea what that eruption was all about last week until the end of this week's episode. It was very confusing
@@bungobaggins01 5D Chess World-Building! When they pushed the render button on the Southlands to Mordor transition title during post production, the director yelled "King me! Uno b*tches!"
You just did exactly what they did when you added "sarcasm" at the end. Lol. Kidding. This was funny. Don't forget the symbol that then was discovered to be a map also showed that the location was Mordor. It is just lazy writing and lazy presentation.
The best scene was when Galadriel, after beheading the Balrog with her bare hands, said "there is still one woman standing in Moria". It was epic and empowering.
Definately the hardest episode to get through.... you were telling me things I didn't even relise happened, I must of had a few naps that I didn't even know of!
Apparently, I'm patently evil, too, because I cannot stand this show. I gave up two and a half episodes in, but I still enjoy watching you eviscerate them. That said, I welcome our new Dark Lord, Council of the Rings.
In episode 5, Mithril was made by an elf fighting a Balrog with a lighting strike from a silmaril, that finally killed it for me! COTRs keep up the good work that you are doing with the reviews! I really enjoy them and I can chuckle right along with your review! It’s a hell of a lot better than watching this abomination!
I was honestly fine with that apocryphal myth / legend / whatever but the Elves needing to sunbathe in it was where I literally threw stuff in the air and lost it.
Thank you for your reviews. I stopped watching ROP after the third episode. The only reason I made it that far is I downloaded the first three episodes for a long plane flight and had nothing better to do. Even then it was difficult for the person sitting next to me as I cursed the screen multiple times as I suffered through this abomination on the airplane. I’ve read the Hobbit, LOTR, and the Silmarillion several times. I still have my original copies of LOTR that I bought and read for the first time in 1981! There is always something special, almost sacred, every time I read through Tolkien’s work. I watch all your reviews because of your love for Tolkien and your accurate assessments of each ROP episode. It is therapy to me as I grieve the ROP travesty. Thanks again for your reviews. 🙏
Everything leading up to the release of the show made me steer well clear of it. Instead I found the channel Tolkien Untangled and his marvellous alternative: over five or six videos he sketches out five seasons of a Second Age show. He only avails himself of the material Amazon had the rights to. But he is a serious Tolkien-lore-adherent (hurray!!!) and it is the closest thing to a masterpiece that RU-vid or Tolkien fandom (or apparently the globe’s largest streaming giants and $1 billion) can provide.
I wonder if this was a compromise between Tolkien family members who wanted to sell it all and the ones who actually respect the lore. They didn't give them everything that would be needed for this show. We may never know....
I've been doing this since episode 4, fast forwarding through and haven't missed a single thing. It actually makes it better this way because the cringe of the writing is unbearable.
Elrond after examining Halbrand/Sauron: “He’s not who you think he is, Galadriel” Halbrand/Sauron to Galadriel: “I told you I’m not who you think I am”
hello friend of middle earth, I really appreciate your time and effort watching every episode, so many of us don't have to. I like your reviews as I feel there's no "bad blood" towards the show as other RU-vidrs that only hate on the show for the sake of it. My wife tried so hard to defend the show, but after a few episodes she forgets to watch it, unlike House of the Dragon, and I bet she can't name any of the hardfoots, but I don't want to start an argument 😅
I appreciate this aspect of his reviews also. Judge the show on its own (de)merits, not because your agenda. It's a badly written, boring, overpriced disaster, which is taking a crap all over the lore.
I don't know why Galadriel got lost from the main group in the beginning of the episode. That was odd. Also, why would During go mining alone? Was he prepared for mining for a week, a month, a year all by himself? Strange also. And if "the elf" was so good at breaking rocks, he should at least be helping. Last, the harfoots are more than a day behind "the giant" and at least 12 hours behind the bad guys and with their little legs they will reach him in time? Of course they will, aaaah.
All good points. Also was wondering why Galadriel and the boy were seperated or why Elendil left the village without queen and was waiting for her in the forest. It is so painfully obvious that the writers absolutely do not care about anything
I predict it won’t make it to season 4. We’ll get a season 2, and less people will watch. This will upset Amazon executives, and they’ll give the show runners one more chance. They’ll then overdue season 3. It will be a laughing stock and have even less viewers. They’ll cancel it after that.
My favourite scene was the three creepy maidens. Just the unresponsiveness as she put her hand on the fire and then the blowing and magically all their carts spontaneously combust. I found it absolutely hilarious.
I love your sarcastic humour and savage put downs. Comparing to Jaden Smith tweets, "attempt at lore, just didnt read the books" and Macbeth jokes. Top notch.
At 9:18 We can't even read the Map im so glad he breaks down these episodes to show how poorly this show is done its such a disaster and disservice to Tolkien.
Notice when the Numenorians are marching away from the devastation through the forest that all the men on horseback are facing inwards toward the people on foot as if they are under guard like prisoners instead of facing outward to protect the queen and her subjects?
I just want to point out, coming from someone who grew up near one of the most active volcanoes in the world and one that is famous for its pyroclastic flow (most casualties were because of it), it's really annoying that the show treated it as passing cloud of ash. I know many people are annoyed, but this annoyed me personally because I saw this on the news every five to ten years, many people died from it and their bodies couldn't be searched and retrieved until it cooled enough. It made me so angry. Anyway, thanks for your service to the community. That -1/10 score made me chuckle in satisfaction, I feel like the showrunners deserve this score. Here's to season 2 being cancelled!
It seems the writers wanted it both ways.....Orodruin being simultaneously far enough away that people survived but much closer for dramatic effect/FX.
According to Tolkien, the reason for traveling to Mt Doom is because it's the only way to destroy the powerful ring. Now it seems it can't even make a scratch on God-Ladriel, lol.
Like the grandfather in "Lost Boys" said... read TV guide and you don't need a TV. I watch the reaction videos, and I don't need to watch the show. You and all the others are true heroes. Taking one for the team and sparing us from that toxic sludge of a show. 👏👏👏
Btw, the scene where Galadriel and Theo hide from the Orcs was also stolen from Tolkien/PJ (PJ probably, as they never used stuff from Tolkien but only from PJ): The four Hobbits hiding under a root of a tree from the sniffing Nazgûl - and Frodo about to put on the ring, but getting stopped by Sam. Btw, your screenshot of Elendil - I just realised his cape-pin: Another horse. God damn... they are really trying to make them into Rohirrim... (And I cannot stress this enough: NÚMENORE HAD NO CAVALRY AT ALL!! The did no use horses for war, only for sports or maybe messangers...!)
I have papp smears that are better looking that MoreFud Clark. She must have some serious magic wajayjina that also paints your house, washes your car, and makes you a sandwich , because I cannot imagine how else she got his job.
thank you for being honest. I swear these other "honest" reviews are so ignorant of how terrible the show is that they remind me of the Southlanders who swore fealty to Adar... and that certainly went well.
I predicted the pyroclastic flow would do next to nothing to our primary characters despite the fact they should all be dead. I was right. Galadriel says her husband Celeborn never returned from war. Somehow she never felt the need in all those centuries to go looking for him. The hobbits remain stupid. The only good thing was the interaction between Elrond and Durin IV.
I have an inkling that celeborn scene was shot or deepfaked and added post production after first episodes have aired. It seems so off and inserted. And I haven't totally investigated but would explain why they have to stay over night for it to be daytime again when they emerge at the camp
@@paladin1254 I was thinking the same! It feels off, why would she only speak of her brother all the time when her love was missing or death? They must have done this after the backlash.
Thanks for another great review - you always nail the criticisms and it’s great to have you fact check the lore… I probably speak for most of us when I say your reviews act as much needed therapy after enduring every episode!
The more I see of the show, the funnier this statement gets: “I just want to sort of quibble with the ‘vaguely connected.’ We don’t feel that way. We feel like deep roots of this show are in the books and in Tolkien. And if we didn’t feel that way, we’d all be terrified to sit up here. We feel that this story isn’t ours. It’s a story we’re stewarding that was here before us and was waiting in those books to be on Earth. We don’t feel ‘vaguely connected.’ We feel deeply, deeply connected to those folks and work every day to even be closer connected. That’s really how we think about it.” 🤣🤣🤣🤣 You serious?
Nice review! I agree pretty much with all of it, though I think my ratings would be even LOWER. LoL! I've left this comment on other channels, so apologies for repeating mice elf, but one thing I thought was a glaring bit of nonsensical writing in ep 7 that others seem to have overlooked, was how the holy HELL did Theo & Galadriel know that the "mystery sword-key" was responsible for opening the bloody dam??? No-one witnessed it, aside from the evil turncoat tasked with opening the dam, & it seems to be a pretty big deductive leap to associate the key with the dam, and thence the wildly unscientific triggering of Mt Doom, if you ask me. PLUS - Galadriel wasn't even bloody aware of Adar's sneaky hatchet/key swap either! So how would she have even known what Theo was going on about when he blubbered on about the devastation being HIS fucking fault?!? Jesus on a stick - it's brain-dead writing like this that truly makes me wonder who's double-checking all this shit - or whether they're so bloody preoccupied with making sure we get the required variety of races in every crowd shot to even fucking notice. Ridiculous. F- Could Do Better (Yrs sincerely, Dr "Evil" of Middle Earth, Wellywood, Aotearoa, NZ)
P.S: I totally agree with you that the Harfoots (or HarfWITS,, as I prefer to call 'em, boom boom) are sick sick SICK little puppies!!! Plus, they get MY prize for this episode's hotly-contested "Most Idiotic Line of Dialogue" - namely, "If you harm a hair on her foot, I'll, etc". Yet another hexample of how fucking SHALLOW the writing is in ROP - like, yeah, they've got big feet, we get it, already, but - as another channel pointed out - how would the Harfwits even KNOW that they've got abnormally large plates o' meat, seeing as they frikking hide from every other race in Middle Earth??? But woteva....
The tone in your review is excellent and entertaining. When you brought up the hobbits, your response made me laugh out loud.. thank you! I didn’t watch it.
It is indeed, is a shame that still the channel has so few videos and a great part are from this joke of a show, still, I hope he releases more actual Tolkien Middle Earth videos in the near future.
I constantly hover my mouse over the fast forward 10 second icon, whenever they stop talking I start tapping! Why are these episodes so long! Your not alone we can raise an army at this point!
@@lotuschamp7796 I'm not sure how much I'd have to be paid, considering I think I'd rather shovel shit for 25 bucks an hour. At least that's physical exercise.
This episode definitely had the bestest piece of dialogue so far. I mean, someone who has just gone blind saying "I see" followed by a snarky "Do you?" is just comedy gold! Right..? Right??
Here is the thing, if you only used the chapter called Rings of Power, and add the appendix in the return of the king, you would have enough material to do a fully fledged series.
When the numeshits where leaving the singed ¨south-lands¨ Miriel told Elendil to not say a thing about her being blind and for the rest of the episode she wears a band over her eyes... There is ZERO continuity between scenes of the same characters. Yes, they changed from humans to hobbits but how could they just forget the ONE line Miriel has during the retreat?
Loving the reviews! For one moment where Dissa & Durin talk about about his Dad and the Elves getting the Mithril, there seemed a building tension - i was actually pulled into the story... for about 30 seconds until Durin made a joke about Dissa's Mum with lice in her beard and it all went back to normal. Also, how does a leaf summon a Balrog? So many questions!
I’m an assistant director and background coordinator in Vancouver. I’ve done shows like lost in space, peacemaker, and yellow jackets. So trust me when I say I absolutely hate the show runners and writers and this is such a bastardization of Tolkien. I am sorry everyone that my industry butchered this.
The show must have (deliberately?) confused _namárie_ and _márienna_. _namárie_ does NOT mean "go towards goodness", it means simply "be well" or "farewell". Tolkien explained it many times, and the explanation has always been _na_ "be" (imperative) + _márie_ "well", short for á na márie, literally "be well". _márienna_ means "towards/to what is good (may you go on and find goodness)" (PE17) They are supposedly used in similar situations (to say goodbye), but they don't mean the same.
You are not alone! "If by my life or death I can [defend] you, I will." There is nothing evil about telling the Truth or refusing to compromise one's principles when those principles are right & fair. So far, your channel has done nothing but educate and illuminate with valid criticism and cheeky asides. Besides, I agree with everything you say (tho' sometimes you are way more charitable about the Furfoots than I am.)
Aw man, with that "Go towards goodness" scene, they really achieved anime fansub levels of quality. "*Sayonara*, Durin-kun!" [Translator's Note: *Nihonjin* don't say goodbye, but *sayonara* when wishing their friends farewell. This untranslatable idiom roughly means "If that is the case..." and alludes to the finality of departure.]
What I also like is, even if the volcanic rocks could somehow be thrown that far from Mordor to the edges of the Great Greenwood, then the ash from the volcano most likely would have traveled further and should have covered the land. This is because ash rises higher and travels further on the wind, so unlike big rocks which fly only as far as they have momentum created by the eruption, the finer grained ash will cover an area much larger than the flaming projectiles can reach. The only reason why this wouldn't happen is if there was an extremely strong north-eastern wind and the ash somehow wouldn't have gotten high enough to travel above it, even though the area of Middle Earth is based on Europe and most likely has a climate dominated by south western winds. And at any rate, if there had been strong north eastern winds, then the ash should have at least covered the lands that would become Gondor.
If Amazon is actually going to waste everyone's time making a second season, I think the best response is to simply ignore it. It isn't even worthy of further parodies. I don't know how anyone can still be watching. I left in episode 3.
I've hung on and will finish the last episode of this season, but I agree with you. I'm not going on beyond that. I hope all the Tolkien channels just turn their backs too.
Dude..this show is so bad that even I had to do an *ANGRY ELF review* on my channel AND I DON’T EVEN COVER TOLKIEN on my channel….this show is BEYOND BAD…🤦🏻♀️ Thanks for the review…it’s appreciated. I feel your pain ✊
This episode was a travesty. Unbelievable that they did this. And I'm not even a hardcore Legendarium reader, I just love LOTR (book + movies) and The Hobbit (book). Yet I was angry. Shameful really.
I think the scene with Miriel not calling her father Tar Palantir is meant to convey that she is not one of the faithful anymore. Numenor will now come back as the oppressors and start building their colonies. And they will probably start with Pelargir.
@@goodputin4324 if he does that, how is he supposed to review the show? Also, I doubt the show runners have a clue what this comment about names even means.
How can Galadriel be willing to go to the ends of the earth to hunt down Sauron, but be unwilling to look for her husband who is also missing? I don't know a lot about the lore. Is it customary for them to not care for the person they wed? That just seems cruel. Like when the elves arranged for her to be sent back home on the boat, why did she not protest and say that she still wishes to know if her husband is dead? Surely, that would have made for a better, more humane argument as for why she should have been allowed to stay. Can you imagine it? To be sentenced for all eternity to not know if your husband is alive or dead and not bring that up as a plea to be allowed to stay? Is her husband a terrible person in the lore? Was he abusive? She doesn't talk like he was. Was Galadriel dissatisfied with her marriage? Was their child the only thing keeping it together? Is that why she cares more about Sauron than him?
They loved each other, so no, there was never bad blood between them. "Is it customary for them to not care for the person they wed?" - No. They care so much for the other person, they wed only once. So even if one of them dies and goes to Valinor, none of the marries another person. Both wait until they are united again, and if it takes 10.000 years (which is no unusal).
@@Maryondo Damn, that's sweet xD. Thanks for sharing. I only really have what I've heard from others and the Jackson films to understand the lore, so the info you gave was very helpful and endearing to the lore of the setting.
