'The Rings of Power' season 2

I couldn’t even get through the first season, I won’t be back for the second.

The first season was definitely a disappointment to me.

But I'll still struggle through the second. The LOTR fan in me is going to force me to watch til the bitter end.

Sauron/Annatar's awful wig lol

I enjoyed the first season a lot, but there was definitely room for improvement. The showrunners admitted they made some mistakes, but also that they listened to the feedback and will adjust going forward. So it'll be interesting to see how different it is from the first one.

The first season was painful. Galadriel was insufferable.

No, thanks.

Gandalf looks to be in an arid land of sorts. Harad? But what would he be doing there?

Delivering magical weapons to the global south as an act of Valarian imperialism probably

I wanted to like it, as it was such a beautiful production.

But for some reason, it couldn't hold my attention.

Why. Is. The. Lighting. So. DARK?!?

I can't even remember what happened in the first season.

That's the problem with many streaming shows. You're lucky if you get one season a year.

Because the CG isn't finished possibly, R9.

The comments section is good.

"how did you let Sauron slip into enemy lines a second time?!", "Well he wore a wig and some pointy fake ears completely undetectable"

"One wig to prank them all"

Them: bet you can't fool them again, Sauron: hold my wig

r8 Yes, it really was beautiful. I'll never forget that shot in the premiere when Galadriel gets frustrated with Elrond for a second and takes a step towards him – it suddenly cuts to a bird's-eye view of them both and there's a wave crashing into the cliffs, mirroring her temperament. So, so pretty.

Related to that scene was Elrond's look at Galadriel in the very final moments of the last episode, which might have been my favourite part of the whole first season. He saw her thirst for power even back then and he was wise before she was wise, even though she's held up as the wisest of them all by the time of The Hobbit.

r11 Yep, it's definitely because the CG is still being worked on. There are still more than three months to go, they'll be polishing that aspect right up until the premiere. What we're seeing here will look a lot better in the finished product. It's the same with the Furiosa movie.

r12 Those comments are an improvement over that Tolkien (mis)quote being spammed endlessly in Russian a couple of months before the war in Ukraine started when the first season teaser dropped. People pretended like it was the most normal thing in the world and wouldn't listen to those of us who were saying it was clearly an organised Russian trolling campaign to try and incite a race war in the US. I think seeing that black dwarf broke people's brains or something, there's really no other explanation.

Hopefully, it won’t be as inert as the first season.

Tom Bombadil, played by Rory Kinnear! Imparting some ancient wisdom to Gandalf, I assume.

[quote]“There’s a reason why he hasn’t been in prior adaptations, because in some ways he’s sort of an anti-dramatic character,” Payne tells Vanity Fair for this exclusive first look.

I imagine Gandalf will be worried about the new Mordor, etc. and Tom will explain the importance of slowing down, leaning back and lighting up a fat one when things look dire.

It's been such a long time since I watched it, but I'm pretty sure they never revealed Gandalf was Gandalf, even though the audience worked it out from the beginning. So I wonder if they still plan to reveal it this next season in a "OMG you never guessed this" type way.

One of the things I dislike about modern TV programmes is how long everything takes. The TV show doesn't have enough special effects to warrant a two year break between seasons. Even Game of Thrones did the same towards the end. They went along merrily having one season a year for the first seven seasons, then we had to wait two years for the last season.

The latest season of Doctor Who started filming in 2022, yet is only being released now in 2024. Severance season 1 aired in early 2022, yet here we are in May 2024 and no airdate for season 2 has been set. Get a fucking move on.

Or sucking a fat one, r17.

DL fave Ben Daniels IS Círdan the Shipwright!

[quote]Círdan is a font of wisdom, even among the High Elves, and will serve as a mentor to the younger elf Elrond in season 2.

He's the one who gives his ring to Gandalf by the time we get to LOTR.

It will be cool to see Cirdan, he was not really in Peter Jackson's movies.

Though he gets to be a wise elf character. I'll never forgive these writers for portraying Galadriel as a hot blooded young thing in Season 1, she is already a very old elf by the time of this show.

I wonder if Celebrimbor wore the ring for a bit and then gave it to Círdan, or if he gave it to Círdan straight away. He looked like he was licking his lips in the first season finale, there's no way he didn't at least try it on.

r21 I disagree. She's a power hungry bitch even by the time of the LOTR movies, hence her passing the final test in Fellowship when she lets go of her egoic ambitions for good. In that sense, the show got her right. She may be old, but you see her true face in the movies when she banishes Sauron and in the aforementioned Frodo scene. She craves power and control, and in the books keeps needling Sauron telepathically using the power of her ring for no reason.

It honestly looks pretty good. Al Pharazon with the palantir was beautiful CG

I've had more than enough of Guyladriel - no thanks.

Wake me when it's done.