The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Elven Kings Under the Sky
August 29, 2024 11:33 PM - Season 2, Episode 1 - Subscribe
Season Premiere. Sauron bargains with Adar. The Stranger and Nori venture into new lands. The Three Elven Rings face judgment.
I watched the last season a few weeks ago and loved it. From the reviews and general chatter I was expecting absolute slop but it did a great job of making me feel happy to be back in LOTR world. This season is doing the same so far.
posted by Cpt. The Mango at 8:01 AM on August 30 [2 favorites]
posted by Cpt. The Mango at 8:01 AM on August 30 [2 favorites]
My partner and I watched it two years ago and then did a rewatch coming in to this series. We loved the production and the way it showed different areas of Middle Earth. Most of the actors were great, agree that Gil-Galad seems to be a notch below others. The writing isn't as good as Tolkein or as Peter Jackson's team's LOTR, but is way better than the Hobbit films.
The show is really good at setting up the story to have lots of points where people are making principled decisions that will result in tragedy. Unfortunately a few of them require some strained setups like Galadriel trying to grab the pouch off of Elrond's horse in this episode.
I can't wait to see if Theo still has that godawful bowl cut hiding his ears. The actor also seemed to be at an age where kids grow and change rapidly. He might be totally different looking!
The colors and cinematography seemed quite a bit different from the first series. The colors might have been because I watched it in SDR rather than HDR, though. I wonder how much of the crew changed going from New Zealand to England.
posted by Emmy Noether at 12:28 PM on August 30
The show is really good at setting up the story to have lots of points where people are making principled decisions that will result in tragedy. Unfortunately a few of them require some strained setups like Galadriel trying to grab the pouch off of Elrond's horse in this episode.
I can't wait to see if Theo still has that godawful bowl cut hiding his ears. The actor also seemed to be at an age where kids grow and change rapidly. He might be totally different looking!
The colors and cinematography seemed quite a bit different from the first series. The colors might have been because I watched it in SDR rather than HDR, though. I wonder how much of the crew changed going from New Zealand to England.
posted by Emmy Noether at 12:28 PM on August 30
I was very confused when the guy says "I'm Sauron!" but he definitely wasn't the Sauron from the recap we just watched. Did they pull a Bewitched? Am I'm misremembering the reveal? I had to pause and find a recap that explained this was a flashback and that he changes forms sometimes.
posted by autopilot at 2:00 PM on August 30 [1 favorite]
posted by autopilot at 2:00 PM on August 30 [1 favorite]
I was very confused when the guy says "I'm Sauron!"
Right? Especially since the actor that plays Adar changed, too! I was kind of hoping we'd see that first orc that tried to stab him get embedded in the wall since they showed his remains in the first season.
posted by Emmy Noether at 2:59 PM on August 30
Right? Especially since the actor that plays Adar changed, too! I was kind of hoping we'd see that first orc that tried to stab him get embedded in the wall since they showed his remains in the first season.
posted by Emmy Noether at 2:59 PM on August 30
The actor who played Sauron in the flashback is the guy who plays River Cartwright in Slow Horses.
posted by the duck by the oboe at 8:26 PM on August 30 [3 favorites]
posted by the duck by the oboe at 8:26 PM on August 30 [3 favorites]
That Caesar scene, all I could think was - so many damned HP and resists in that room.
Yeah! Gooeyfied Sauron seeping into the foundations/ water table is a great visual metaphor.
> River Cartwright
With vastly inferior hair to. Ha, I should make an alt account called River Cartwright's Hair.
I liked Sauron's little hedge (I swear to serve the master of Mordor...). Yeah, it was kinda confusing; the Sauron that we've known so far is not the OG Sauron, whom the Cartwright Sauron was. I think it might have been clearer without a recap at the beginning of the episode.
posted by porpoise at 12:34 PM on August 31
Yeah! Gooeyfied Sauron seeping into the foundations/ water table is a great visual metaphor.
> River Cartwright
With vastly inferior hair to. Ha, I should make an alt account called River Cartwright's Hair.
I liked Sauron's little hedge (I swear to serve the master of Mordor...). Yeah, it was kinda confusing; the Sauron that we've known so far is not the OG Sauron, whom the Cartwright Sauron was. I think it might have been clearer without a recap at the beginning of the episode.
posted by porpoise at 12:34 PM on August 31
I finally finished the episode and the scene afterward the Adar/sauron conflict at least made it clear that halbrand was Sauron. But now we don't understand Galadriel motivation at all. She had spent the whole first season saying "Sauron is still here!" And nearly got banished for it. Then she learns he's Sauron and doesn't tell anyone? What sort of idiot ball is she carrying?
posted by autopilot at 1:36 PM on September 1 [5 favorites]
posted by autopilot at 1:36 PM on September 1 [5 favorites]
I swear at the end of the previous season, it was definitively revealed that The Stranger was Gandalf. Did I imagine that? Because it seems like everyone's back to not knowing who he was.
posted by jordemort at 7:10 PM on September 1
posted by jordemort at 7:10 PM on September 1
> The Stranger was Gandalf.
I'm in the ambiguous camp, but I still think that it' Someone Other Than who shall be called Grey.
posted by porpoise at 10:52 PM on September 1
I'm in the ambiguous camp, but I still think that it' Someone Other Than who shall be called Grey.
posted by porpoise at 10:52 PM on September 1
The Stranger said "if in doubt, always follow your nose" at the end of the first season, so it seemed like a really strong indicator, but we haven't had any more identifying information since then, as far as I can tell.
Also re: why did Galadriel not immediately tell everyone it was Sauron? This also bothered me, but it comes down to a mix of: wanting the rings completed so the elves don't have to leave, being humiliated that she was tricked, and wanting to personally take revenge on Sauron for killing her brother.
This does come off as quite unsympathetic, but there's a few counter weights: firstly, the only person who actually wanted to get rid of the 3 rings was Elrond, literally everyone else just shrugs off his involvement and think the rings are worth the price. Even though there are many signals that the time of the elves is meant to end, they're all complicit in resisting that. Secondly, no one believed her in the first place that Sauron was around, so even if she started telling people, they'd be inclined not to believe her. And there's no doubt Sauron would be able to take advantage of that.
posted by Alex404 at 12:23 AM on September 2
Also re: why did Galadriel not immediately tell everyone it was Sauron? This also bothered me, but it comes down to a mix of: wanting the rings completed so the elves don't have to leave, being humiliated that she was tricked, and wanting to personally take revenge on Sauron for killing her brother.
This does come off as quite unsympathetic, but there's a few counter weights: firstly, the only person who actually wanted to get rid of the 3 rings was Elrond, literally everyone else just shrugs off his involvement and think the rings are worth the price. Even though there are many signals that the time of the elves is meant to end, they're all complicit in resisting that. Secondly, no one believed her in the first place that Sauron was around, so even if she started telling people, they'd be inclined not to believe her. And there's no doubt Sauron would be able to take advantage of that.
posted by Alex404 at 12:23 AM on September 2
Also re: why did Galadriel not immediately tell everyone it was Sauron?
I thought it was implied in S1 that Galadriel, for a moment or two, felt something like a romantic spark for Halbrand/Sauron, which would also give her a reason to conceal the circumstances surrounding his betrayal.
posted by jquinby at 5:56 AM on September 2 [1 favorite]
I thought it was implied in S1 that Galadriel, for a moment or two, felt something like a romantic spark for Halbrand/Sauron, which would also give her a reason to conceal the circumstances surrounding his betrayal.
posted by jquinby at 5:56 AM on September 2 [1 favorite]
The House of R podcast with Mallory Rubin and Joanna Robinson has a deep dive into the first three episodes (it's over 3 hrs long) and will cover it through the season. I strongly recommend tuning in because they have awesome insights and do the work into the background of things. Some of my answers below are probably influenced by my listening over the weekend, even, so I take no credit it for them.
Regarding the different face of Sauron. Sauron is a shape shifter, but also, if he had the same face when playing off Halbrand, then he would have been recognizable by Adar (and anyone else, I guess, who might recall what 1st Age Sauron looked like). So that was a very temporary recast.
Gandalf the Stranger?
They really lean into the visual cues that the Stranger is Gandalf. The only thing confirmed at the end of Season 1, was that the stranger is one of the Istari, essentially, the wizards who were sent to Middle Earth for purposes. There were five Istarii. Saruman the White, Gandalf the Gray, Radaghast the Brown, and then two nameless "blue" wizards who wandered off into the east. Joanna (above) is of the mind that that the Stranger is one of these, in part because he is going to the East. I think there's a decent chance of that - but she also offers a note that if you look at how Tolkien structured Gandalf's name, that "gand" is from staff, and "alf" is for elf, it basically means "staff elf" (something like that). And the Stranger is kind of focused on finding a staff in this season, so....it's confusing.
Galadriel and Sauron
I think there is room for the idea that Galadriel was embarrassed and/or conflicted with emotions over revealing Halbrand's true nature. It was one thing when Sauron was this great evil who killed her brother, it's another when he's someone who has been her companion through thick and thin for the X amount of days. I appreciate this conflict because Tolkien's elves were never quite meant to rise above their emotions or always do the logical thing. The elves' presence in Middle Earth are in a big way in debt to Faenor being a bit hot headed and disobeying the powers that be.
That said, it would have been a lot better for her to just spit it out! Elrond's reaction was the right one, imo.
Having watched all three new episodes, my mind is blurred in terms of what happens where, so I'll remain generalist and just note that I felt the episode started everything off on a good footing. I'm willing to give the Adar recast a chance, but I really liked the previous actor in his role.
posted by Atreides at 8:39 AM on September 3 [1 favorite]
Regarding the different face of Sauron. Sauron is a shape shifter, but also, if he had the same face when playing off Halbrand, then he would have been recognizable by Adar (and anyone else, I guess, who might recall what 1st Age Sauron looked like). So that was a very temporary recast.
Gandalf the Stranger?
They really lean into the visual cues that the Stranger is Gandalf. The only thing confirmed at the end of Season 1, was that the stranger is one of the Istari, essentially, the wizards who were sent to Middle Earth for purposes. There were five Istarii. Saruman the White, Gandalf the Gray, Radaghast the Brown, and then two nameless "blue" wizards who wandered off into the east. Joanna (above) is of the mind that that the Stranger is one of these, in part because he is going to the East. I think there's a decent chance of that - but she also offers a note that if you look at how Tolkien structured Gandalf's name, that "gand" is from staff, and "alf" is for elf, it basically means "staff elf" (something like that). And the Stranger is kind of focused on finding a staff in this season, so....it's confusing.
Galadriel and Sauron
I think there is room for the idea that Galadriel was embarrassed and/or conflicted with emotions over revealing Halbrand's true nature. It was one thing when Sauron was this great evil who killed her brother, it's another when he's someone who has been her companion through thick and thin for the X amount of days. I appreciate this conflict because Tolkien's elves were never quite meant to rise above their emotions or always do the logical thing. The elves' presence in Middle Earth are in a big way in debt to Faenor being a bit hot headed and disobeying the powers that be.
That said, it would have been a lot better for her to just spit it out! Elrond's reaction was the right one, imo.
Having watched all three new episodes, my mind is blurred in terms of what happens where, so I'll remain generalist and just note that I felt the episode started everything off on a good footing. I'm willing to give the Adar recast a chance, but I really liked the previous actor in his role.
posted by Atreides at 8:39 AM on September 3 [1 favorite]
I hope the rest of the series happens mostly in the daytime.
I enjoyed this episode, but it was just impossible to make out the dark scenes.
(My projector was $100, so this is probably just a me problem)
posted by Acari at 8:22 PM on September 4 [1 favorite]
I enjoyed this episode, but it was just impossible to make out the dark scenes.
(My projector was $100, so this is probably just a me problem)
posted by Acari at 8:22 PM on September 4 [1 favorite]
Worst Oregon Trail death
posted by hototogisu at 10:23 PM on September 4 [2 favorites]
posted by hototogisu at 10:23 PM on September 4 [2 favorites]
Joanna (above) is of the mind that that the Stranger is one of these, in part because he is going to the East. I think there's a decent chance of that - but she also offers a note that if you look at how Tolkien structured Gandalf's name, that "gand" is from staff, and "alf" is for elf, it basically means "staff elf" (something like that). And the Stranger is kind of focused on finding a staff in this season, so....it's confusing.
It's also confusing with regard to the lore, because, if I recall correctly, Gandalf (Olorin) first sailed to Middle Earth and arrived at the Grey Havens, where Cirdan gave him the ring Narya to aid him in his quest.
So I'm on the side of guessing the Stranger is one of the Blue Wizards, at this time.
posted by Fleebnork at 5:46 AM on September 6 [2 favorites]
It's also confusing with regard to the lore, because, if I recall correctly, Gandalf (Olorin) first sailed to Middle Earth and arrived at the Grey Havens, where Cirdan gave him the ring Narya to aid him in his quest.
So I'm on the side of guessing the Stranger is one of the Blue Wizards, at this time.
posted by Fleebnork at 5:46 AM on September 6 [2 favorites]
I've thrown up posts for all the other episodes, though, ironically, doing so left me no time to discuss them. Go figure.
posted by Atreides at 6:49 AM on September 6 [1 favorite]
posted by Atreides at 6:49 AM on September 6 [1 favorite]
I was very confused when the guy says "I'm Sauron!" but he definitely wasn't the Sauron from the recap we just watched. Did they pull a Bewitched? Am I'm misremembering the reveal? I had to pause and find a recap that explained this was a flashback and that he changes forms sometimes.
Yeah, I have no idea what's going on. I was doing a group watch and people kept asking me things based my level of intermediate Tolkien knowledge, but I'm bad with faces and the first season was a long time ago. All the male actors just look....interchangeably British?
posted by grandiloquiet at 8:22 PM on September 6
Yeah, I have no idea what's going on. I was doing a group watch and people kept asking me things based my level of intermediate Tolkien knowledge, but I'm bad with faces and the first season was a long time ago. All the male actors just look....interchangeably British?
posted by grandiloquiet at 8:22 PM on September 6
She had spent the whole first season saying "Sauron is still here!" And nearly got banished for it. Then she learns he's Sauron and doesn't tell anyone?
Maybe the answer is in your question?
posted by biffa at 4:12 AM on September 7
Maybe the answer is in your question?
posted by biffa at 4:12 AM on September 7
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- I dug Sauron turning into evil worms.
- The recast Adar is good, but Season 1's Adar was one of the highlights, so too bad. Hopefully he'll grow more into the role.
- I liked all the core actors from the first season, e.g. of Galadriel, Halbrand/Sauron, and Elrond, but I feel like they've upped their game. Halbrand/Sauron in particular is bringing a lot of depth.
- Except for the elf king. I find him rather tiresome.
- It's nice that mystery Wizard can talk now. He's also doing well. Having wizard + two hobbit friends on a quest feels a bit boring (like, we're doing that again) but we'll see how it goes.
- I still hope it's not Gandalf.
- At first it did seem like Elrond had little ground for mistrustring the rings (I can't remember how exactly season 1 left off there), but I guess in the end if they'd destroyed the 3 rings, the rest would not have been made so Elrond was right? Is that from the original lore?
- Nothing outright annoyed me so far, so it's staying on the right side of 7/10.
In the lead up to the release I also skipped around the LoTR films and wow those movies are still incredible, and has so much authentic pathos. This show is not and does not, but it's still way more my style of story telling than the vast majority of what's out there (and IMHO it's much better than the hobbit trilogy, which I find unwatchable). Looking forward to watching with everyone.
posted by Alex404 at 12:56 AM on August 30 [3 favorites]