Spoilers Lord of the Rings TV series

[StarMan]

Wait, the show is really in that much trouble? I thought this was just the usually idiots being idiots, and not any actual threat to the show's longevity.
EDIT: I just saw on IGN that this 25 million viewers in the first 24 hours and is the most watched premiere in Prime Video history. That's not enough to keep it around?

Not a shock it would draw in huge numbers. I know a few people who watched I didn't expect to. One guy was expecting something Game of Thrones-y (yeah, I know) so won't be back. My mother watched the first episode and called it a day. Both mentioned the price tag, so I wouldn't underestimate the curiosity in seeing what the most expensive show in television history looks like.

Also, you've got a record army of hate watchers chomping at the bit to see it and confirm all their Worst Fears Realised - I imagine they'll be sticking around longer than many casual viewers.

I was underwhelmed personally, but my curiosity locks in my viewership stat for Amazon.

 

[Mudd]

The problem is, you're discussing financial concerns and transient legal matters (Amazon isn't going to hold onto this lease forever), whereas I'm focused on artistic integrity/quality (y'know, the stuff that endures).

Well, you're waving it as a flag but you haven't made a case. Just because you don't like something doesn't mean there's something wrong with it. Shocking, I know, but true.

 

[Ragitsu]

Well, you're waving it as a flag but you haven't made a case. Just because you don't like something doesn't mean there's something wrong with it. Shocking, I know, but true.

Whereas your philosophy boils down to "If you can do it, do it."

 

[JD]

This all sounds like theory and opinion, did we actually get Bezos or Jennifer Salke (the person in charge of Prime Video) saying they're not making more? I just find it hard to believe they've already given up on the show when it's a) just broken the record for most viewers in their entire history and b) has only been out for 3 days. It seems like they usually give streaming shows a lot longer than that before they make a desicion. And then there's the insane amount of money they spent on this, I find it hard to believe they'd be so quick to just write it off after investing so much in it.

 

[Jedi Marso]

Isn’t there a mention of Galadriel’s ring (can’t recall it’s name, sorry) emitting a light or glow that was similar to one of the Silmarils in Appendix A? Perhaps this is it, or a piece of one of them?

Just a thought… (I broke out my battered and worn copy of LOTR after watching these first episodes to look for stuff.)

Cheers,
-CM-

The Rings haven't been forged yet on the show.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

This all sounds like theory and opinion, did we actually get Bezos or Jennifer Salke (the person in charge of Prime Video) saying they're not making more? I just find it hard to believe they've already given up on the show when it's a) just broken the record for most viewers in their entire history and b) has only been out for 3 days. It seems like they usually give streaming shows a lot longer than that before they make a desicion. And then there's the insane amount of money they spent on this, I find it hard to believe they'd be so quick to just write it off after investing so much in it.

I doubt anyone is cancelling anything after two episodes. Even if they were, there wouldn't be much to gain by announcing the decision. The anti-woke crowd likes to prematurely declare something to be DESTROYED in all caps as they're always looking for their opinions to be justified and carry weight.

 

[saddestmoon]

Yeah - there’s a lot of hyperbole abounding - on both the interwebs and this thread - and rumours of the shows ‘demise’ are unfounded and not accurate.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Agree to disagree, then.

I find Galadriel to be the highpoint of the show thus far ... and feel like she's carrying it so far. I find her character to be believable, strong, and her flaws stem from her empathetic motivations.

Without her, this would be a hollow endeavor indeed.

It's perfectly fine for a character in a show to be unlikable and have flaws. If it's the main character, at least she can go through the process of gradual transformation into the being we know from Peter Jackson's movies. Those of us who know the books will have to choose either to overlook the (major) discrepancies or just stop watching this series.

They do seem to have gone for a rather vengeful Galadriel given that her brother Finrod was allowed to reincarnate in the Halls of Mandos (in the literary canon). Of course, she might believe that he was excluded as he died in the First Age before the Valar's ban was lifted. If it were revealed later in this series that his spirit had been re-embodied, that might help to push her to reconsider her zealotry.

Elrond and Galadriel are the absolute high point for me. Durin a close second. The Hobbits are less interesting.

For me, it's the Dwarves, Harfoots, followed quite a way behind by the Elves. We haven't seen many Men yet apart from Halbrand, Bronwyn, Theo (but is he Peredhil?) and assorted yokels. Next episode I think we will.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

I'm not sure I like a state of affairs where something of bad quality (an opinion, not necessarily my own) will persist because someone has the money to burn; it's fine when the work in question is of good quality (also an opinion), because it is then capable of weathering inept marketing/bad timing/rotten luck/et cetera that would have otherwise caused it to fail, but...I'd rather a creative endeavor thrive or decline solely on the merit of its actual quality.

I didn't say anything about carrying on a series of bad quality just for shits and giggles, I said it was silly to be all doom and gloom about cancellation due to some aholes review bombing it because it's too "woke" or some such nonsense, especially because Bezos has the kind of money that he doesn't need to concern himself with false review bombing making it look like the series isn't doing well.

And to presume that just because something is cancelled means it was of poor quality and deserving of cancellation has been disproved numerous times over. Most stuff that gets the ax is for good reason, but a lot of gems don't find an audience or get shunted into a bad timeslot or get their season broken up into irregular air dates due to sporting events or get delayed into oblivion due to pandemics, so it's not as if it's automatically a bad idea to fund a series that under-performed at first and give it a chance to grow.

Not that any of this relates to the actual show, since there's no indication whatsoever that it is doing poorly or in danger of cancellation.

 

[crookeddy]

Isn't a season 2 already ordered? Any kind of cancellation would have to happen after that.

 

[saddestmoon]

[saddestmoon stabs blade of sword into ice]

Gonna call it now: Rings of Power won’t be cancelled, and all five seasons are gonna to air.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

The anti-woke crowd likes to prematurely declare something to be DESTROYED in all caps as they're always looking for their opinions to be justified and carry weight.

Typical of that approach:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[Mudd]

Whereas your philosophy boils down to "If you can do it, do it."

I'll allow that. No problem.

I don't have to watch what I don't like. And I'm not entitled to having someone make entertainment that I like.

Neither are you or anybody else.

 

[Gov Kodos]

Whereas your philosophy boils down to "If you can do it, do it."

That's how anything gets done. Artistic integrity is a vacuous position. Integrity to what? Tolkien was in an ongoing artistic endeavor creating his Middle Earth. He was rewriting it constantly. There was no definitive Middle Earth, just a work in progress. To that purpose, his artistic integrity was creating his work to the best of his ability, something which is entirely subjective. Subjective to himself as a writer, subjective to subsequent readers interpreting his work, and subjective to the people translating Tolkien's work to film, TV, radio, what have you.

Amazon is creating its idea of Middle Earth, so did Bakshi ages ago, heck so did Nimoy with his ditty about Bilbo. All of it has artistic integrity to their artists particular vision of Middle Earth.

Yeah, if you can do it, do it. That's the only way art or anything else gets done. The only person any artist need have artistic integrity toward is the artist themselves that they have in their judgement created their work to the best of their abilities.

 

[eschaton]

So far so...okay as far as I'm concerned.

I don't want to sound like an alt-right troll, but I really don't get how this show is treating race in casting though. I'm 100% in favor of more diversity in fantasy, but why couldn't they just have made all of the Harfoot black? Or the entire human village? Just peppering random black actors in every single role (even in isolated communities like the Harfoot, where everyone should have interbred to the same level of brownness) just breaks immersion for me a bit.

 

[Nerys Myk]

So far so...okay as far as I'm concerned.

I don't want to sound like an alt-right troll, but I really don't get how this show is treating race in casting though. I'm 100% in favor of more diversity in fantasy, but why couldn't they just have made all of the Harfoot black? Or the entire human village? Just peppering random black actors in every single role (even in isolated communities like the Harfoot, where everyone should have interbred to the same level of brownness) just breaks immersion for me a bit.

Fantasy genetics works in different ways.

 

[TimeIsAPredator]

This all sounds like theory and opinion, did we actually get Bezos or Jennifer Salke (the person in charge of Prime Video) saying they're not making more? I just find it hard to believe they've already given up on the show when it's a) just broken the record for most viewers in their entire history and b) has only been out for 3 days. It seems like they usually give streaming shows a lot longer than that before they make a desicion. And then there's the insane amount of money they spent on this, I find it hard to believe they'd be so quick to just write it off after investing so much in it.

Sadly it seems to be true and much like Discovery this is sadly another show that won't make it past 1 season

 

[crookeddy]

Sadly it seems to be true and much like Discovery this is sadly another show that won't make it past 1 season

They ordered it for 2 seasons...

 

[crookeddy]

Looks like there's is now a "Galadriel is a Mary Sue" discussion blowing up... Of course if she was a male doing the exact same things nobody would have a single complaint about it...

 

[fireproof78]

Fantasy genetics works in different ways.

Indeed. It's not a scientific treatise.