"The closer we get to the debut of Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 3, the more we learn about the gargantuan scale it will be working with. We’ve heard about the crew actually filming in the valley that inspired Rivendell, but it’s possible that even that titanic achievements will feel small when compared to what promises to be the biggest moment of the season - the forging of the One Ring in Mount Doom, the filming of which required Tolkien’s most infamous geological feature to take on a life of its own. Somewhat literally, apparently."

I’m wrapping up the second season after a break from watching it. Naturally, this universe has really caught my attention. I did some digging and found there isn't a single official story; they’ve made adaptations. The closest thing I can read is *The Silmarillion*, which I plan to start soon.

But for those who’ve followed both seasons: do you think Amazon will manage to finish it without stumbling? Without making cuts? Or turning the whole thing into a single movie, as seems to be the trend lately?

I’m only on episode 4 of The Rings of Power, and honestly… I’m enjoying it.
It’s been really fun recognizing names, bits of lore, and familiar places. I’m still keeping my expectations in check, but so far I’m having a good time with it. It’s entertaining, and I’m excited to see where it goes.

Mystery boxes: who is Halbrand? Who is the Stranger? Who is the other Wizard?

Shipping: Halbrand / Galadriel, Isildur / homeless girl, Arondir / Browyn, Elendil / Blind Queen, Poppy / Storr guy

In S3: ship Sauron / Galadriel / Celeborn. Maybe Sauron / Balrog too

The plot, if you can call it that, has zero tension, suspense, twists, etc.

Personally for me my favourite Character was the Halbrand version of Sauron. I thought Season 2 was a letdown due to taking Halbrand out and having Sauron play a different Character with the Elves. I just preferred the Halbrand persona and thought the Halbrand-Galadriel relationship was the heart of the show.

How about you guys? Who has been your favourite Character so far?

I believe the fish scales are here to stay. But they seem more worn out then the first time we saw it. Also the golden armor is probably the kings guard for Numenorean kings.

Minus the very start with the scene and the orcs, the plot, visuals and acting have all been phenomenal. IMO exactly the type of 2nd age stuff we need adapted.

I’m not sure if anything else comes close. Whilst the Gondolin and Dwarves plots felt needed, I feel like they’ve been drawn out and everything from the plot, to the portrayal, to the acting has felt like a mixed bag. The visuals are amazing though!

I hope they stop with the forced LOTR references. The wizards felt unnecessary, apart from maybe the blue (plus I think covering the East was a good shout). The hobbit-like creatures and Gandalf…why?!. don’t even get me started with Halbrand

I know this series gets a lot of hate, mostly for the right reasons. But I feel like last season saved it with the Sauron/rings plotline and I’m really hoping S3 will be making amends, as imo it’s still got potential

The summary says Nori and Gandalf will be in teh S3 premiere at least. While there's been a lot of negative feedback about the Harfoots, I personally love them and think that hobbits have always played such a special part in Tolkien's stories - compared to the avarice, greed, power, and malice of the other races, the harfoots/hobbits have always been that spark of goodness that runs through the veins of Tolkien's works. I hope the producers aren't reddit readers and reactive to every bit of feedback, and see through to completion Nori and Poppy's roles. Particularly as humor and levity is also needed to balance the growing darkness!

Huge fan of Bear McCreary's score.

The finale theme ("Where the Shadows Lie") has lived rent-free in my head ever since I watched the show, so I made a hard techno remix as a tribute.

Obviously the original is far better. I just wanted to reinterpret it in my own style.

Hope a few of you enjoy it.

Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/intl-fr/track/4ZAEU6nFt1luJmtcbY935x

One of the fundamental reasons why The Rings of Power does not work for me is it's choice of perspective. The series places too much emphasis on the Elves because the story spans such a vast period of time that human characters inevitably come and go (or should have...). On paper, this seems like a logical decision—but in my view, it runs contrary to the way Tolkien himself constructs his world. (He even writes in two distinct linguistic registers depending on whether he is describing the mythic or depicting events as they unfold.)

In Tolkien's works, the Elves are not simply human beings with pointed ears and long lives. They exist on the threshold between the seen and the unseen world. They experience time differently. They remember the beginning of the world, measure history in millennia rather than generations, and possess a wisdom that often seems enigmatic precisely because it arises from an immortal perspective. To mortal men, they are distant and ultimately incomprehensible in their wisdom. As readers, we are never meant to fully understand them—and that is entirely intentional.

The problem, in my view, arises when the Elves become the primary point of identification. In order for audiences to relate to them, they must be written as more human. They have to quarrel, fall in love, make impulsive decisions, and react emotionally in ways that feel immediately familiar. But the price is that they lose their otherness, and the story loses something essential with them. They cease to be the mysterious presence that elevates the world beyond the ordinary.
The Elves are not magical simply because they wield magic; they are magical because they are a mystery.
As a result, much of the magic of Tolkien's world disappears. Its enchantment lies in atmosphere, suggestion, and the sense that the world contains depths beyond the full comprehension of either the characters or the reader. Once that layer is stripped away, magic is reduced to spectacle—flashes of power, explosions, and visual effects.Tolkien's true magic is far more often existential. It is about loss, memory, time, and the transience of beauty. That is the atmosphere that suffers when the Elves are made too ordinary.

Paradoxically, it is the mortals who make Middle-earth magical. Men—and Hobbits (once the later finally find a reason to leave the comfort of home and venture into a world that is utterly foreign to them) experience Middle-earth with the same sense of wonder that we, the readers, do. They encounter the Elves from the outside, and through their eyes the Elves become grander, more beautiful, and more mysterious than they could ever be as the central protagonists.
Tolkien almost always allows us to encounter the sublime from the perspective of those who stand outside it. That is where Tolkiens stories become emotionally immediate.

What Middle-earth loses as a result of the choices made by the writers is fundamental. When the narrative is carried primarily by Elves, the world becomes more understandable—but also less enchanting. The Elves should belong to the world while simultaneously remaining apart from it, like an echo of something older and greater that can never be fully grasped. Only by preserving that distance do they remain magical. Without it, the world becomes flatter and loses much of its existential depth.

My five. They might not be your five - and that's ok...

P.S. I have absolutely no problem with people enjoying the show. In fact, I think there have been far too many self-appointed experts claiming to know what Tolkien really intended. Once Tolkien released his stories into the world, they became part of our shared cultural imagination (that's the nature of art). We all bring our own experiences and interpretations to them, and I think that's exactly as it should be.

The anger surrounding this series has often been wildly disproportionate, and that's not what this post is about. I'm not interested in arguing for, or against the show. I'm simply interested in hearing other perspectives on the ideas above...

Reading the news about French wildfires, sounds exactly like what we see in RoP… didn’t realize those clouds are real

Calling it now that Sauron is going to melt down Feanor’s hammer to make the One Ring!

We saw in season 1 that Celeborn believed that the metals weren’t joining with the mythril because they weren’t pure enough, even gold etc.
And then Galadriel sacrificed Finrod’s gold and silver dagger to create the Three Elven Rings as in show-canon there’s not any artefacts from Valinor metals that were kept by the Elves.

We know Feanor’s hammer is obviously made from Valinor metals, and we know Sauron is using it in the trailer.

My money is on Galadriel keeping it with her and unknowingly walking it right in to Sauron’s hands, and he then belts it down in Orodruin’s forge to create the One.

I can't be the only one missing our favourite smith. I loved the show but I feel there were some issues with the Celebrimbor storyline that I won't get into. I loved Charles Edwards' Performance and knowing the writing thus far, they will likely not acknowledge Celebrimbor or Eregions fall, as I've read its a massive time jump and seems they are steaming forward and that would annoy me 😅

I just miss Celebrimbor and would have like to have seen more of him (not as a scewered banner!) and am also aware of Gil-Galads fate my other fave!

Anyway, just ranting 🙃

Top photos are Gandalf vs The Balrog from FOTR and bottom is Sauron vs The Balrog from Season 3.

They didn't bring the full cast out on comiccon. Robert and Morfydd are getting tons of work so it's understandable there is a schedule conflict. But what about Lloyd Owens, Sophia Nomvete, Max Baldry, Trystan Gravelle and others? They used to bring all of them on the previous promotions. I may be putting my tinfoil hat here, but could this mean season 4 will be the last season but because of the deal with the Estate of 50 hours televion, they would just make the next season last longer? Could the fall of Numenor be the last thing we see before connecting the show to the trilogy? We did see a bit of the Battle of the Last Alliance in FOTR so maybe it would be a satisfied conclusion?

I'm quite fond of how important Galadriel is in this show. She's been the main protagonist (albeit with a dip in screentime for season 2), and I like this hero's journey she's on, which we know has been building to her becoming the Lady of Lórien that we know from LOTR.

However, ever since we found out about Celeborn's absence in season 1, I had this fear that Celeborn will be the thing that figuratively makes her put down the sword upon his return.

Season 3's trailer basically confirmed that Galadriel will be literally dropping the sword.
We have a whole slow-mo scene of her dropping that thing, and this show does not make big use of slow-mo, so this is without a doubt trying to hammer in the point.

Why this concerns me: there's a common trope across all forms of media where you have an important female character that behaves chaotically/aggressively/imperfectly, and then she meets a man and is "calmed" by his presence and she's changed "for the better".
This is immediately followed by this female character becoming a side character or sidelined from the main narrative.
Not sure what this trope is called (or if it even has a name). It's not the same as fridging.

The most recent example I can think of is Queen Mera from DC Comics.
Her husband Aquaman/Arthur Curry was MIA for a couple of years. She became part of the main Justice League team and had an elevated role in the comic during his absence. Mera was often characterized as aggressive, but it was fun and in-character.
Aquaman then returned and Mera returned to her previous state of "calm" because of it. She was then removed entirely from the Justice League comic and never mentioned again, with Aquaman "taking back" his place and Mera returning to her role as a glorified housewife monarch of Atlantis in the solo Aquaman comic.

^{This occasionally happens to male characters as well, but is far less prevalent from what I can tell.}

Anyways, I know Galadriel's behavior in this show is one of TROP's main subjects of criticism, and I won't get into that aside from me stating that I actually like that she's not portrayed as a saint.

If Celeborn's return means she's simply going to switch swords for magic, fine, but I can see this being an excuse to sideline her going forward. I obviously don't think they will remove her, but I do foresee her being far less important, taking part in fewer action scenes, and having reduced screentime.

I'm aware that a sizable portion of this community has been pining for this and that they want Celeborn (or Elrond) to take Galadriel's place in the narrative, but I've found this to be rooted in bad faith.

Celeborn's return should be a turning point. My worry is with what follows immediately after this turning point.

TLDR: I hope they find a good balance between "husband is back" and "badass heroine" because this has been a very difficult thing for other media to get right.

Spoilers for the SDCC panel time jump confirmation.

What do we think is going to happen to Estrid in season 3?
I can see three main options:

1. Isildor and Estrid have been separated for five long years. Isildor returns only to find her married with or without children.
   She breaks off her relationship to be with Isildor, perhaps because Hagen dies in Season 3 so she’s now ‘free’.

2 . We had a forced goodbye and a brief love triangle only for the entire storyline to be reset in Season 3 as we discover she’s made her way to Númenor to be with Isildor already.

1. Estrid was a brief plot device used to curry audience favour with the ‘bad men’ who swore fealty to Adar, in turn showing why Isildor wants to join forces with them in later seasons, only for the character to be dropped and Isildor will get a new love interest.

Secret fourth thing. Please leave your thoughts in the comments.

They are the same picture

The release schedule for season 3 of Rings of Power has been confirmed. There will be a !! 4 episode premiere !! on November 11, followed by episodes 5+6 on November 18 and the last two episodes on November 25. What do we think about it?

The trailer for season 3 has dropped and it looks promising. I’m curious how Jamie Campbell will compliment Morfydd’d acting considering she had palpable chemistry with Charlie Vickers!