Rings of Power First Thoughts (Spoiler free) 

Casually wiping tears away with a rat? That's a new one on me.

I cried, because of how bad it was written.

As a Tolkien fan, I'm crying too.

I cried too. I lamented the desecration of the Professor's work right at the beginning and I could not continue with this horror.

"The writers were out of their comfort zone when writing the dialog" - correct

I didn't cry, I sobbed...I sobbed how Amazon ruined the great world amd characters Tolkien created. Just fanfic and terrible fanfic at that

There's no amount of wine that could prepare me to watch this show.

Idk how any true Tolkien fan can genuinely enjoy Rings of Power.

"Quasi-Shakesperean" is a perfect way to describe the dialogue

I couldn’t watch it, not after they fired the Tolkien scholar for warning them they were straying too far from the lore, ghosting Peter Jackson, and releasing it on Tolkiens death date, and also filling it full of 2023 allegory. I couldn’t do it.

Crying is absolutely an appropriate response to being exposed to RoP

I don't get, but I'm actually very curious what moments you found emotionally compelling... for me, it all fell flat.

Tolkien would be rolling in his grave if he saw this show... holy mother of Pizarro world of Tokein's vision.

I cried too …. I cried just how bad this show actually is. The acting is terrible, the story / script is awful. The cgi and sets are fantastic which is the only saving grace (style over substance) . They should of never of fired Tom Shippey, it’s fairly evident on why he departed the show.

For somebody who made a ton of "why Peter Jackon's LotR movies suck", you were very lenient on RoP and rather reminded me of an Amazon super fan.^^

The screen print armor made me cry. 😑 I can’t stand this show. You’re an angel, and you like whatever you want, but even as a Philadelphian, I don’t have the venom I feel this show deserves. 😡

I *really* wish these massive corporations would stop buying up these beloved franchises and story series, to then just strip them for parts to gain access to an already-established fanbase. If you make a pizza, then throw it in the blender, is the resulting product still a pizza? Disney has done this with Star Wars and Marvel, Amazon is doing this with Lord of the Rings, and Netflix has done this with Resident Evil and Cowboy Bebop. And not to mention Star Trek, whoever owns that title now. If they're not going to tell the "Lord of the Rings" story, why are they calling this series "Lord of the Rings"?

By the Gods, you made me feel old when you said you were two when the films came out!!!

I also cried several times during the first episode, but for very different reasons.

The fact that you've made nothhing more than a costume video about this show speaks volumes. Never was the phrase "damned by faint praise" more apt!

So you made so many videos about how much you didn't like the movies, how they differ from the books, and you do this mild critique of this abomination? That's really suspicious.

I couldn't even finish the first episode

I don't think anyone will ever watch this series again after watching it one time. It's bad.

I personally deeply, deeply disliked the show, for a whole ton of reasons that would take too long to explain here (but I did write an in-depth episode by episode review about it). There were definitely some things that I liked about it, such as the music and cinematography, and a few of the plotlines were cool. Particularly I enjoyed the Dwarves plotline (Disa and Durin had such a lovely relationship, and I thought it was such a nuanced detail that Elrond just sort of...ghosted Durin for twenty years because to an Elf (or rather Half-Elf), that isn't such a long time), and I also liked the Southlands plotline (I loved the family dynamic of Arondir, Bronwyn, and Theo, which was developed very satisfyingly). Personally Adar was my favorite character, and I'm very sad that Joseph Mawle will be leaving the show. I loved that the actual geography of Middle-Earth was expanded upon, and every city and landscape was utterly beautiful (especially Numenor and Khazad-Dum). I definitely got the feeling that this was Middle-Earth in its prime, especially compared to the sort of fading glory that was in the Third Age. But that was about all I liked, and the rest I deeply detested. Galadriel was a disrespectful, haughty, horrid person who thought herself better than EVERYONE and bullied her way through at every turn, and I wanted to introduce her head to a brick wall every single time she opened her mouth. The reveal of Halbrand as Sauron was so bad it made me cry. Celebrimbor was deeply disrespected as a character, and that hit me really hard since I love The Silmarillion and the Feanorians in particular. The mithril plotline was just so incredibly ridiculous, as was the fact that the ending felt incredibly rushed. I mean, the show is based on the forging of the Rings of Power, and that event happened in the last forty-five minutes of the last episode. I really wish that the show's storyline had remained accurate to the canon, as that story on its own is incredibly rich and heartbreaking, and would have been utterly amazing to see on screen. I think it's great that you're able to appreciate the good parts of it, and really experience the magic this show does have! I also totally get that we might have different opinions, I just wanted to share mine. I really love your content, you have such a unique channel and way of analyzing Tolkien's works, and you just seem like a truly real person who cares about life and branches out into different hobbies and interpretations, and that truly sets you apart from the content mill that is youtube today! anyways I know this video is a million years old, I just watched your video about the costuming of Rings of Power and highly enjoyed it (although we do have a bit of a differing opinion on the Elves' hair being cut), and that led me to this one!

Admit it. It sucked.

This Wandering Day is one of my favorite scenes of any show in a decade

I'm assuming since this is your only review of RANGS, you didn't feel comfortable telling the truth and saying its crap, and it got crappier as you kept watching. I agree with your other vid, people need to give things a chance and allow for change and adaptation. But when things are garbage, we need to admit they are garbage.

Oh no... she really said she likes Galadriel...

I cried too, RoP wan an abomination. It politicized a beautiful classic. They wrecked the elven race and dressed dwarves in goddy outfits. They have no clue who Galadrie isl

What irks me is the meaningless phrases that are supposed to be deep. "A rock only looks downwards" "The sea is always right" I kept waiting for these to pay off, but they never did. It was just shitty world building.

You put words to some things that bothered me about it that I didn’t consciously recognize until now. I want to give the show a little more time before I form an opinion, but I will say that Galadriel and Elrond don’t really feel like Galadriel and Elrond to me at all. They might be interesting in their own right, but I kind of wish the creators had just started with new characters from scratch rather than pulling names from the original LoTR.

It was shit, but no surprise someone with pronouns in their bio would try to make excuses for how bad this was in every way.

The lotr fan in me could not stand this show. I like the actor who plays Elrond, but that's about it.

How about that elvish hair - Salon Selective!

You were drinking wine during watching Rings of Power? You got my full support. As a Tolkien fan, i would rather choose something stronger to watch this ... this... there is no word in Elvish, Entish, or the tongues of Men for this... this...

When she jumped the ship the show jumped the shark.

"if you're coming here to see a continuation of Tolkiens universe as you remember it, I don't know if you're necessarily going to be happy" 5:45 I'd fall into that category. Not a fan of Games of Thrones of other fantasy shows of the like, it was definietly TOLKIEN I was looking for. Which I felt like we were promised, and from a huge budget like Amazon. Instead I'm crying while re-reading the Simarilion, thinking of what they could of put on the screen. Even by most filmmaking aspects it's a lack-luster piece. Lots of dodgy dialogue, awkward camera framing, and at times some very unfortunate acting. The mixed race cast wasn't an issue for me. The black female dwarf was actually one of my favourite characters, even if she had nothing to do with Tolkein. Here's my hope. It inspires a new generation to read Toklien, then it at least did something right. It'll make his great stories look even better then they did before.

How could any Tolkien fan feel anything but disgust watching that crap?

I think it’s really cool when people don’t hate on people for enjoying the things they enjoy.

Using your pet rat as a tissue to wipe your eyes 😂

Bad fan fiction. Actually just bad fiction. The showstoppers have publicly stated their contempt of JRR Tolkien, so they are not fans.

Morgoth made that show. It's the only explanation.

Supposed Tolkein fans liking this show when it is LITERALLY Political Propaganda is just mind blowing. I can only assume it's because they happen to align with and agree with the political ideology being pushed. -Black Elf who has to deal with discrimination/racism from Humans(White ones of course). With lines like "why can't you people just get over it" directed at the elf. -The classic angry guy(again a white guy of course, all the evil characters are white men) screaming about not wanting immigrants in his city. -The CONSTANT girl-bossing, and ultra-masculine Female characters. These are in just the first few episodes and are OBVIOUS references to modern politics. This isn't just a poorly made show, it's an intentional desecration and corruption of Tolkein's work. Period. It is disgusting, and Tolkein would be disgusted with it as well

The lil rat tissue was precious xD

Tolkien said he wrote the books for the "English" People. Based off the "Germanic" mythology and histories of the Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon people specifically. So what amazon did was a slap in the face to us culturally. No different than if they made shaka zulu asian or mlk Irish.

I tried. It's probably not something I'm going to try harder at. Tolkien has impacted my personal religion so deeply, that my conception of the Divine Feminine has Galadriel being ancient and wise, in the way of immortals- and she embodies NOT needing armor or weapons, being patient, long, slow thoughts that wrap around a present vastly bigger than the here and now of mere mortals.

I feel for you, Jess. At what point did the tears become tears of sadness at the show's lack of quality?

Easily one of the worst tv shows in existence. Craps on the lore, terrible costumes, elves with short hair, Guyladril being insufferable girl boss, plot just doesnt make sense in many ways. I have hope in the animated movie coming out next year by warner bros. Its only up from here.

Ain't no way a Tolkien fan likes the corporate slop of RoP.

This show was the worst thing that has ever happened to Tolkien. Hes turning in his grave in valinor and giving everyone the eye of sauron

Look how they massacred my boy.

U ever feel guilty about crying remember kevin smith probably cried more

I spared myself the tears by not watching this dumpster fire.

Poor Guyladriel- got Mary Sued. 😅

I actually appreciated some of your videos and critiques of various adaptations and Tolkien documentaries until I saw this. You have no problem deconstructing every little detail, finding out if it was in the spirit of Tolkien or not, and you do this on every other piece of media about Tolkien except this. Your objectivity is pretty suspicious. If you did an honest video about this you would destroy it to bits. It's pretty disappointing, I really looked forward to subscribing, but alas.

I decided to boycott the show early on before the show came out.

The elves are easily the mostly poorly done part so far, which is worrying given how much the second age involves elves. I hate the style they've gone for with them and the dialogue is just so poor. The actor playing Elrond, seems like a good actor but he just doesn't look like an elf to me, his round face just screams Hobbit and the hair just looks silly.

I thought the biggest problem with the show was betraying Tolkien's original, straightforward storytelling style in pursuit of JJ Abrams Puzzle Box nonsense.

It's just churning the money machine, trying to capitalize on nostalgia for Jackson's movies. Which Jackson himself could not do, creatively / critically speaking. It's another year and now we're told they're dragging in Tom Bombadil. Cripes.

i was think the same thing, that yes there is problems but i was happy to be back on middle earth and i loved it. I too thought that going with a different perspective of peter is not necessarily a bad thing and your the first yt channel who shares a bit of the same view so thats a sub you got.

Communists/feminists/racists take over a franchise and make it unrecognizable to fan of said franchise, shocker!

You are too kind for this world, my lady....😒

The worst of the rings of power show is the language. Whst did they made of poor Finrod.

I suspect you had some kind of drinking contest and had a sip of wine for every thing that you didn't like about the series. Looking forward to the full review!

What is ur pet rats name?

Coming back after almost a year, its nice to see such a chill and fair-minded perspective on this show! Critiques are valid but the vitriol is just absurd, and I hope over time folks can relax and enjoy it for what it is. I for one am looking forward to future seasons if they continue!

I'm still crying .....

Really good review that showed both ups and downs. Bonus points for the rats. Excited to show my chinchilla the first 2 episode.

it is only allowed to cry at one piece when the ship burns down 😠

I really hope that wizard is not gandalf

Still waiting for a complete review of the series. It would be nice if it happened before the second season.

6:36-6:40 You were complete correct for my feeling about it. Two of the main things being all the non sequitur lines of dialog and the once you look at any details of the armor realization that some of the underneath parts are just a shirt w/armor patterns. Good vid though👍

I'm a huge Tolkien fan, and your new video just popped in my feed. I checked your past videos to see your take on ROP, to decide whether or not your videos are worth watching. They're not.

CGI aside, it's insultingly bad.

I didn't cry but I think the producers shouldn't have front-loaded things the way they did and rather simply let things develop gradually. The rushing seems to me mostly about money, getting as much story in as possible. It's challenging enough to keep even a vague timeline together for events in the Second Age, so I sympathise with the struggle to make it work. The dialogue is pretty rubbish, no question. I suppose we'll see how Season 2 turns out.

Rats forever! The best pet! I love rats, such smart, loving animals.

Drunk tears

loved your bravery in posting your honest perspective about Rings of Power and BOTH sides you liked and didn’t and also the emotional reaction. Sorry your vid got bombarded by rage commenters like many around the time did, with only a few legit back & fourth discussion but you got subscriber from after seeing this vid! I wasn’t a super fan of Rings of Power but wud watch another season and l DEFITNITELY didn’t have the vitriol for it like so many had, it’s those types made me apprehensive joining conversation on the Tolkien community but I know that’s just one side of it. Anywhoo, nice vid 👍🏿

It's absolute garbage.

I agree with Jess… they should have gone for something new

Maybe you're crying because you're drunk.

My neighbour who I have oddly known since she was nine and a charming woman kindly informed me of her imminent death. Unexpected. and shockiñg. Thank you for the joy you bting. A man should not be an unfortunate witness to incontinent death. You bring me joy in a difficult world and thank you for that. Joy and beauty is far too often zn unlikely companion. I wish you well as old hobbits should our remarkable Jesse's of pleasant, if undiscovered, shires. Travel well youngster. An old hobbit is grateful for such time and beauty as you most happily oresent. With best wishes.in difficult times.

R.o.P should not have been made and it flopped. Still a new season is on its way. Disgusting. Especially that narcissistic dwarf women (the best thing ever in her own mind) and Guyladriel. 🤮🤮🤮🤮

"Rings of Power" is exactly what I was worried Peter Jackson's LOTR would be.

No way you like the first two episodes and cried there is no story line. Nothing makes sense and Galadriel swam an ocean and lived she always looks pissed off. Every book where she is mentioned she displays joy and beauty, or sorrowful beauty not pissed off and distrust. There is no real dialog, and nothing is Tolkien, but I guess that explains name of part time Hobbit you missed it. The Cartoon the Hobbit that came out in the 70s I think was better than the Prime show which was very disappointing. I have read all Tolkien's books including unfinished tales multiple times and read them to me daughter. I am sorry I happened across your review. Maybe you should read more Tolkien then make another go of it.

Came here to see what you thought of this cos I've still not watched it. Immediately distracted by RATTO

I've enjoyed the show so far. I've seen each episode twice. It's obviously not faithful to the lore, but I didn't expect it to be perfect.

I really don't like RoP. I don't hate it per say, but I don't like it, I don't enjoy it, a lot about it feels out of place. The writing is also so bad that it's hard to get immersed. As someone who has read all the books it just disappointed me. I feel like I owe Peter Jackson an apology for shitting on his The Hobbit movies, because those were better than whatever this was.

I liked a few scenes, and appreciated the effort the entire production put into the series. AND, I love your positivity about it, and your hopeful mindset!

I guess desecration of lore is okay as long as it's done by left-wing political ideologues using Tolkien's name and work as a vessel to promote their message. She'll continue to critique Peter Jackson's adaption's though, which were at least done in good faith.

A great review, I was reading the books, the Simarillion other Tokein stories back in the 80's, back then the only place I had seen his world on screen was the animated movie which covered till the Two Towers. There was a great BBC audiobook too. The Jackson movies are pretty awesome, but many again forget that they twisted, elongated and changed the original narrative, phenomenal movies, but there will never be a canon movie or a movie/TV show that resonates with every Tolkein fan. The first 2 episodes of Rings of Power missed some great opportunities, like detailing what the Valar/Maia are, the differences between elves and men, Iluvatar and showing just how horrific Morgoth was and maybe give some scale to the War of Wrath. However maybe some of that will come. The plot hasnt really started as yet and I have to say the show looks fantastic, it isnt a canon story, so I am just relaxing and enjoying and the teasers into Numenor in EP2 have me looking forward to episode 3.

Finally a reviewer that doesn't let perfect be the enemy of good. I'm a huge Tolkein fan and found the first two episodes to be fine. They were not great or mind blowing but they were thoroughly enjoyable. Your review pretty much put into words my own feeling about the show. Glad to see someone that isn't trashing it just because it didn't meet their expectations of perfection.

I dont think it's as good as it could have been, definitely has some issues which to be fair it's a TV show so that could just be season 1 teething issues, but I enjoyed it overall...die hard fans could probably be a bit less irritable and enjoy it on the same sort of level as something like Shadow of Mordor/War, they aren't half as hated, people speak generally more fondly of them, if you can bring yourself to enjoy a game that features Shelob as a big tiddy goth chick, then your issues with Rings of Power are probably not entirely lore related...

I could not get into it. Loved PJ’s original series but his second series, not sure how to describe it, devolved like Star Wars devolved. Rings of Power began at what I felt was a very slow pace and I could not bond with the main characters so I never completed it. I have to admit, I never read the Silmarrilian (sp). But read The Hobbit and Lord of The Rings over several summers as a teenager. Tolkien was a great writer.

Having watched all your videos from the beginning, this is the first one I a NOT upvoting. Also, growing a little disturbed by what appears to be intoxication while presenting parts of some videos.

I appreciate your perspective and willingness to forgive in favor of story being told, BUT... 'nuff said. Love you, Jess!

I couldn't stand it it was lore breaking and way to woke for my taste. they even made the most noble honorable elf character Galadriel into a Karen!!

Well, it isn't Tolkien, but when you get over that it's really pretty bad. Pretentious. Silly. Stupid. The writers saw the movies (?) but apparently never read the books for inspiration. It might not seem so bad if it wasn't trying to pretend it's Tolkien. If it was called something else with characters named Bill and Jack and Andria it might be almost good. Big congrats to the visualizers, art director(s), and composer however. Just try to think of it as a badly conceived amateur kid's story from the 1950s with a big, big, big budget.

I have to be honest , Galadriel is written poorly imo. She was never meant to be that mad warrior that we sometimes see. If her name wasnt Galadriel, then I would be fine with it. But it isnt fitting her character at all. That was a huge turning point for me cuz i enjoyed parts of it. But the costumes were a bit poor imo, especially the Numenorean ones. I didnt mind Miriel, but changing Galadriel to an almost female version of Sauron wasnt a good move. The orcs looks pretty dope, ngl, the dwarves as well. The elves looked silly but not more silly than in the Hobbit movies (which is the most horrific movies i ever watched due to its overuse of CGI haha). Sorry the negative rant here, i just didnt like that one change they did. I dont mind having women characters like that but not when you have Galadriel, an already OP elf, to become more warlike. Usually, in tolkiens world, when characters are like that (driven by revenge) they usually die. Anyway i dont hate on the show, but that one thing rly annoyed me. If people want to make a female version feanor, then i am all in. But at least make it like arondir (which was a character i liked and adar). Sometimes you dont have to use every original characters either.

Its nice to see another long time Tolkien fan who actually gave the show a chance instead of hating from the moment it was announced (seriously i find it absurd that so many people just decided it would be terrible before we got anything aside from the knowledge that it was happening). Considering that many parts of the lore that were changed/omitted were often reasonable due to the nature of adaptations, it wasn’t horrible. Well, not from the lore standpoint that everyone seemed to think anyway. I just assumed it wasn’t going to be perfect and it was decent and at some points it was even good! For instance the red herrings throughout the series, they worked well and the fact that we no longer knew who sauron was worked as a good way to spread doubt about who we should trust or allow ourselves to like in the show. Plus there was the whole thing with the harfoots, which, while it may not be part of the original lore, has potential and most importantly doesn’t effect nor counteract anything important that im aware of. To add to it, the ‘stranger’ is a character that im pretty certain is a massive red herring, one that tricked many people into thinking he is gandalf. But There are so many small hints that, if you actually finish the show, point to the idea that he may be one of the two blue istari, for instance it is written somewhere (i can’t remember where) that the blue wizards controlled the weather, and the stranger seems to use the wind as his weapon/tool. Edit: god that was long… I would like to thank my adhd and autism for the inability to stop writing something or go without thoroughly explaining anything for more than a couple of minutes. Also, this is just my opinion and the opinion of a number of tolkien fans that I have spoken to or been acquainted with in the last few years. I just wanted to show that not everyone hated it or didnt even give it more than a couple of episodes before deciding that it was all terrible.