Current Events > Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Episode 4 Topic *SPOILERS*

(+) Yeah! (+)

Comes out tonight at 12AM EST/9PM PST

Hyped.

After the development with the boy at the end Im now sure

that the Harfoot man from the stars is Sauron

Xerun posted...

After the development with the boy at the end Im now sure

that the Harfoot man from the stars is Sauron

Actually I think it points more to it being not. Neither the man nor Theo said the "star fall" itself was Sauron. Just that it means he's near. An Istari coming to stop him because he's near would fit too. The Istari coming in a meteor would then itself be signaling that Sauron is near.

This show is so bad. Im no Tolkien purist and havent read much of his work so Im not someone who gives af about that. Its just genuinely boring and the dialogue is bad.

I have to say that was the most boring episode so far, but I still like the show. I like the world building and the amazing visuals, but its moving at a snails pace. At the end of the day..its interesting to be in tolkiens world and see it come to life.

This episode was certainly a slog. Quite a bit of suspension of disbelief required as well for this one.

Definitely a slow episode. But the pieces are definitely moving. Interested in seeing where it goes.

Xerun posted...

After the development with the boy at the end Im now sure

that the Harfoot man from the stars is Sauron

I still think it's Halbrand

As a Tolkien fanboy I was expecting to be immediately disappointed and am surprisingly not hating it at all.

show looks great, theyre actually taking time for lore building, and there hasnt been anything too insanely lore breaking as of yet, if anything the Durin situation is something I dont recall

And yeah definitely not Sauron IMO, is not implied that Sauron has already approached the elves about the rings? Or is celebrimbor working on something else

The more I think about this show the more I think it has amazing potential to be a show (spoilers for first 4 episodes and some posturing) of immense tragedy

I think they are obviously building towards the battle and having Isildur cut off Saurons finger as the season 5 ending.

But they have so much more potential to build these characters up for a huge tragedy. Basically every storyline is doomed already. Elrond and Celebrimbor and the one Ring. Galadriel failing. The south lands becoming Mordor. Halbrand becoming the Witch King. The Dwarves unleashing the Balrog. Im confused about where the boy with the magic sword is going but I guess well see.

its like the Empire Strikes Back of LotR. I think Im more excited for what this show represents than what it is. The idea of them setting every character up to fail, but knowing itll all be resolved by the trilogy is a risky idea if thats what they are going for. But with some more quality writing I think they could definitely pull it off

Xerun posted...

The more I think about this show the more I think it has amazing potential to be a show (spoilers for first 4 episodes and some posturing) of immense tragedy

I think they are obviously building towards the battle and having Isildur cut off Saurons finger as the season 5 ending.

But they have so much more potential to build these characters up for a huge tragedy. Basically every storyline is doomed already. Elrond and Celebrimbor and the one Ring. Galadriel failing. The south lands becoming Mordor. Halbrand becoming the Witch King. The Dwarves unleashing the Balrog. Im confused about where the boy with the magic sword is going but I guess well see.

its like the Empire Strikes Back of LotR. I think Im more excited for what this show represents than what it is. The idea of them setting every character up to fail, but knowing itll all be resolved by the trilogy is a risky idea if thats what they are going for. But with some more quality writing I think they could definitely pull it off

Are they really heading towards waking Durin's Bane? I thought he was awoken a couple of thousand years later.

Anyway, yeah, I get what you're saying. I think that's an interesting way to go. I think at the end, they will end with the implication that all this is eventually lost to history till Smeagol finds the Ring and starts the chain reaction that leads to Sauron's final end.

Also, I think Theo will somehow be sacrificed, like blood sacrifice. Either to make the blade whole permanently, or some kind of essence put into the creation of the One Ring. The reason will be because he's Halbrand's son.

HornyLevel posted...

Are they really heading towards waking Durin's Bane? I thought he was awoken a couple of thousand years later.

Anyway, yeah, I get what you're saying. I think that's an interesting way to go. I think at the end, they will end with the implication that all this is eventually lost to history till Smeagol finds the Ring and starts the chain reaction that leads to Sauron's final end.

Also, I think Theo will somehow be sacrificed, like blood sacrifice. Either to make the blade whole permanently, or some kind of essence put into the creation of the One Ring. The reason will be because he's Halbrand's son.

my knowledge of the timeline is rough. But from what I understand they are condensing the timeline because it would be super annoying for tv adaption if all the dwarf and human characters died every few episodes because they skipped 300 years.

So in my mind everything is technically on the table because it is its own thing.

Narratively it makes sense for Durin's Bane to kill off all the dwarves we know but not sure it fits with the timeline, pretty sure that happened well into the Third Age and this show will end with the end of the Second Age I would think.

DarthAragorn posted...

Narratively it makes sense for Durin's Bane to kill off all the dwarves we know but not sure it fits with the timeline, pretty sure that happened well into the Third Age and this show will end with the end of the Second Age I would think.

They already incorporated the Straight Path even though thats not supposed to exist until after the Changing of the World and the destruction of Numenor and they have already introduced Elendil, Isildur, Ar-Pharazon, etc. even though the Rings of Power were supposed to be crafted more than a thousand years before they were even born, so I dont think they will see it as too big of a departure.

Personally Im not convinced yet that will actually see Durins Bane in the series, but I dont think that the timeline will be a concern for them if thats the direction they are going in.

Its possible that Sauron is Halbrand but I buy more heavily into the theory that Halbrand is a future Nazgl, possibly the Witchking of Angmar himself and that Sauron is the old man who fell from the sky.

In any case I didnt find this episode a slog like other people didalthough the absence of the Harfoots was pretty noticeable. We got a lot of pretty important character building moments (Halbrand with Galadriel, Durin with his father, Adar and the orcs, Ar-Pharazon) that were pretty intriguing. The only characters who I find kind of boring are, ironically, Elendils family, and the kid with the hilt whose name escapes me at the moment.

I also really, REALLY liked the song Durins wife sang. Really beautiful and evocative.

I'm loving this fuckin show

I don't think we've seen Sauron yet.

I don't understand the negative reaction this show is getting. Long, beautiful episodes in a fantasy world. Yes please! My only real complaint is that despite the length, we don't see every group each episode. This week we were missing the not-Hobbits, and last week it was the dwarves.

Also not gonna lie, it's got me tempted to get back into Lord of the Rings Online. If it gets that rumored graphical update sometime I definitely will.

I was worried because Amazon, but I'm really happy with the show so far. It's been a long time since a show had me hooked enough to be waiting for the next episode.

Like others said, I didn't find this episode boring. Though I may be biased because I love every minute of the extended editions, so slow building like this is great for me. I can see others being turned off though.

I think so far the show is amazing. It's a worthy extension of Tolkien's live action world so far. However, I was pissed that they're going with alternating the storylines every week like many shows like GoT do. Having to wait two weeks is pretty annoying, especially if it's left on a cliffhanger.

As for Haldbrand, I think he's probably gonna be the Witch King and the old man is probably some OC wizard. I don't think we're gonna be seeing Sauron at all this season. I think Adar (Uncle Benjen from GoT) is gonna be the main villain for the time being.

Btw, whats the speculation on Adar? One of the first Elves experimented on by Morgoth to create Orcs?

Xerun posted...

The more I think about this show the more I think it has amazing potential to be a show (spoilers for first 4 episodes and some posturing) of immense tragedy

As someone who regularly goes back and re-reads Akallabth.... oh man is it ever.

Side note, did yall know that partial quoting breaks spoiler tags?

i mean obviously they're setting the stage for next episode (where a lot of people will die). Even a little bit of the scene with the orcs chasing in the forest that is just a small tease of what's to come

InfinityMonster posted...

Btw, whats the speculation on Adar? One of the first Elves experimented on by Morgoth to create Orcs?

That's the only speculation I've seen that kind of makes sense.

Which is an interesting way to go. The part where he kills the orc is probably the most sympathetic look at an orc in Tolkien based material. Tolkien did not really want to dwell on the implications or origin of orcs because it didn't really line up with his view of how Middle Earth should be, he just needed villains for the narrative to work.

It could also just be some other Maiar that happened to serve Morgoth who was lesser than Sauron.

I don't think we've actually seen Sauron on screen yet, none of the suspects line up 100% with him.

Twiroach posted...

I don't think we've actually seen Sauron on screen yet, none of the suspects line up 100% with him.

Doesn't that guy Elrond is working for basically have to be Sauron? Because the elf king sent Galadriel away and declared the war over so he could pivot their civilization to building that giant forging tower the guy wants? You know, the sort of thing that would be great for making magic rings?

But maybe I'm getting the lore messed up because it has been years and years since I read any Tolkien. I'm still not sure if the guy who is with the not-quite-Hobbits is Gandalf, Radaghast, Sauruman, or an original character. And I keep expecting one or both of the Blue Wizards to pop out of nowhere and help Galadriel.

I have only seen dude hobbits

darkmaian23 posted...

Doesn't that guy Elrond is working for basically have to be Sauron? Because the elf king sent Galadriel away and declared the war over so he could pivot their civilization to building that giant forging tower the guy wants? You know, the sort of thing that would be great for making magic rings?

But maybe I'm getting the lore messed up because it has been years and years since I read any Tolkien. I'm still not sure if the guy who is with the not-quite-Hobbits is Gandalf, Radaghast, Sauruman, or an original character. And I keep expecting one or both of the Blue Wizards to pop out of nowhere and help Galadriel.

Celebrimbor? Hes definitely not Sauron

darkmaian23 posted...

Doesn't that guy Elrond is working for basically have to be Sauron? Because the elf king sent Galadriel away and declared the war over so he could pivot their civilization to building that giant forging tower the guy wants? You know, the sort of thing that would be great for making magic rings?

But maybe I'm getting the lore messed up because it has been years and years since I read any Tolkien. I'm still not sure if the guy who is with the not-quite-Hobbits is Gandalf, Radaghast, Sauruman, or an original character. And I keep expecting one or both of the Blue Wizards to pop out of nowhere and help Galadriel.

Celebrimbor is a canon character who helps Sauron forge the rings

Basically I'm expecting some sort of reveal late in the season that Celebrimbor is knowing or unknowingly working with Sauron to forge the rings.

darkmaian23 posted...

Doesn't that guy Elrond is working for basically have to be Sauron? Because the elf king sent Galadriel away and declared the war over so he could pivot their civilization to building that giant forging tower the guy wants? You know, the sort of thing that would be great for making magic rings?

But maybe I'm getting the lore messed up because it has been years and years since I read any Tolkien. I'm still not sure if the guy who is with the not-quite-Hobbits is Gandalf, Radaghast, Sauruman, or an original character. And I keep expecting one or both of the Blue Wizards to pop out of nowhere and help Galadriel.

Celebrimbor is the Wraith from Shadows of Mordor. In the actual lore, he was tricked by Annatar to create the rings.

If they go with that, then Annatar (Sauron) can be a totally different character not introduced yet.

Yeah, I don't think we've seen Sauron yet, but I reckon Halbrand will definitely become The Witch King.

I really loved the most recent episode. I don't want to be mean, but I think the lack of Harfoots was a positive for me - I've found their sections more of a slog than the rest of the storylines to be honest.

TomClark posted...

I think the lack of Harfoots was a positive for me - I've found their sections more of a slog than the rest of the storylines to be honest.

true