# Amazon Lord of the Rings series; The Rings of Power **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** middle-earth, amazon-prime, tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [March 3, 2019, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497 "2019-03-03T20:01:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 68
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/1343 "2022-10-17T15:59:09Z")
Well it is a west-country adjacent style drawl, I’ve heard broader (and better as well) and certainly more indistinct. I’m perhaps quite tolerant of bad accents. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/1344 "2022-10-17T16:28:04Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Well it is a west-country adjacent style drawl Yes, I know that (as my use of “Mummerset” should indicate), but once again, I’m not talking about his accent. Most of that is just fine, as far as I can tell. It’s just the Froh-Doh… well, that and his stupid face. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/1345 "2022-10-17T17:36:39Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > I gave RoP a 4. I am much stingier with my 5s. I agree with this. Very few shows or movies achieve a 5 in my estimation. That doesn’t make a ‘4’ a mark of failure, though. I’d give the LOTR trilogy a 4 overall and this season of RoP a 3.5. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/1346 "2022-10-17T18:06:19Z")
Complaining about Galadriel’s height? Come on. How would the show be different if she was taller? Her height drives zero plot in the books or LOTR movies. I certainly think there are problems with RoP, but complaining about an actress’s height is approaching parody of fanboy culture. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/1347 "2022-10-17T18:08:27Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > well, that and his stupid face. What are you talking about?! ![](https://media.tenor.com/p2o8wU9m1TkAAAAM/lotr-sam.gif) Oh, that. Point taken. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/1348 "2022-10-17T18:14:21Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > Complaining about Galadriel’s height? Come on. How would the show be different if she was taller? Her height drives zero plot in the books or LOTR movies. > > I certainly think there are problems with RoP, but complaining about an actress’s height is approaching parody of fanboy culture. > [@What\_Exit](#): > > I know it is silly complaint, but couldn’t they keep Galadriel tall? She didn’t grow between the 2nd and 3rd age. Or are they going to give her some Entdraught later in the series? Funny, in context, I myself admitted it was “silly”, but go ahead and take it in a negative direction. Galadriel’s height was actually significant, like her hair being Silver-Golden. _FTR, she is suppose to be 6’4" and maybe the tallest Elf Woman. I would have to go digging to verify that part._ And no one complained about the actresses height. This is a show with the Harfoot actors reduced in size vs. full-sized men. Making the actress taller is keeping with such. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/1349 "2022-10-17T18:18:10Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > FTR, she is suppose to be 6’4" and maybe the tallest Elf Woman. I would have to go digging to verify that part. Wikipedia concurs with you: > **[Galadriel | Characteristics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galadriel#Characteristics)** > > The Dúnedain said that her height was two rangar, or "man-high" – some 6 feet 4 inches (193 cm).\[T 14\] However, Galadriel's most striking feature was her beautiful long silver-golden hair. The Elves of Tirion said it captured the radiance of the Two Trees Laurelin and Telperion themselves.\[T 15\] This is sourced to the _Unfinished Tales_ book, and came from writings by Tolkien himself. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/1350 "2022-10-17T18:41:47Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Yes, I know that (as my use of “Mummerset” should indicate) I was aware that you knew that but I’d go no more specific than somewhere in the general west country, or an imagined area therein. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/1351 "2022-10-17T18:55:27Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > Complaining about Galadriel’s height? Come on. How would the show be different if she was taller? Her height drives zero plot in the books or LOTR movies. Maybe she stored her ring on a very high shelf? Or played one-on-one hoops with the Mouth of Sauron? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/1352 "2022-10-17T18:59:44Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > And what’s with the “this Galadriel is a ditz, not like the Galadriel in LOTR” complaints? She has millennia to achieve the level of wisdom shown by LOTR Galadriel. Wisdom that she can achieve by making mistakes and learning from them. Good point. > [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Perhaps try writing a coherent and interesting story first and see where that takes you. I watched two episodes, thought it was poor, wondered if I was being unfair. So I tried a third and if anything it got worse. If you did not watch the series, it is hard to judge. I found it coherent and interesting , but yes, the first couple of epis were slow. > [@Maserschmidt](#): > > About 29% of the people rating it on IMDb give it a 10, so I’d say some people are definitely liking it (about 20% give it a zero, so clearly some people have issues with it). > [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Rotten Tomatoes gives it a very low viewer score. Is that more representative of what the viewers actually think? A lot of zero stars bombing by fanboys. 😢 Even if you didn’t like it, no honest review could give it zero. > [@What\_Exit](#): > > Stranger/Gandalf wasn’t even suppose to be there. A couple have quoted JRRT as hinting he could be. > [@What\_Exit](#): > > I would give the 3 LotR movies 5s. They were really well done. The extended versions even more so. I have some complaints, but almost all minor. > > The Hobbit movies would have been 3,2,1. They last was truly awful. Yes. LotR was 5+. The three Hobbit films would be 5, 3, 2. The first is quite good, but the third… not so much. Jackson was screwed by the film company that demanded a trilogy. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/1353 "2022-10-17T19:17:34Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > A lot of zero stars bombing by fanboys. 😢 Even if you didn’t like it, no honest review could give it zero. I’ve seen way worse shows. Yeah, I have my issues with it, but it’s hard to see how it could honestly be rated 0. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/1354 "2022-10-17T19:39:38Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > If you did not watch the series, it is hard to judge. I found it coherent and interesting , but yes, the first couple of epis were slow. “Slow” isn’t a problem, not making sense or presenting me with likeable and/or interesting characters, is. > [@DrDeth](#): > > A lot of zero stars bombing by fanboys. 😢 Even if you didn’t like it, no honest review could give it zero. Well that’s a no true Scotsman argument if ever I saw one. I see no reason why a review with the lowest possible score can’t be every bit as valid as one with the highest possible score. Some will love it, some will hate it. With a source material as well-loved and well-founded as this you are certainly at risk of polarising opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/1355 "2022-10-17T19:51:34Z")
As a reminder, you kicked a bunch of this off by saying that the best the show had to offer was apparently representation, and then when challenged said that must be true because there wasn’t anything else to like except possibly the music. Then, when people said there are a lot of people that like a lot of parts of it, you either implied the scores were rigged, or argued otherwise that the show is bad. The short answer seems to be that you just can’t believe anybody likes it for reasons of quality. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/1356 "2022-10-17T19:53:00Z")
From what I’ve gathered…the greatest sin is a lack of imagination from inexperienced modern writers. Shipping plots, videogame tropes for things not needed (The creation of Mordor) and a failure to understand the source material. That would be my critique in a nutshell. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/1357 "2022-10-17T20:15:28Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > As a reminder, you kicked a bunch of this off by saying that the best the show had to offer was apparently representation I said > [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > If the best thing that can be said about your $1 billion series is that it is “more representative” (and maybe that it looks OK in parts) then you have royally screwed it up. Which was a response to an article that TroutMan linked to. It isn’t my opinion. But personally I don’t think the series has that much to commend it and I don’t think the increased representation is relevant to the quality in any way but there was a whole article saying that it is an important aspect of the show. > [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Then, when people said there are a lot of people that like a lot of parts of it, you either implied the scores were rigged, or argued otherwise that the show is bad. My personal _opinion_ is that it is a bad show or at least a very disappointing show for many people. As for “rigged” scores, IMDB is owned by Amazon and loads of negative reviews have been removed and Amazon’s own reviews are suspect as well. I clearly said I don’t know where you would go to get an unbiased review summary. Which site fairly represents honest opinion? I’d be happy for you to tell me. Also, I did say very early on > [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Judging by the comments of those I know who have seen it, there are a few who enjoyed it, many more who struggled to get to the end of the series and who’s general considered opinion was somewhere between eh? and meh! So I clearly have no problem accepting that some people like it, as they are perfectly entitled to do. They are friends and colleagues whose opinions I trust. I happen to think it is a mess, as do many others. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/1358 "2022-10-17T22:56:47Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Jackson was screwed by the film company that demanded a trilogy Huh. I swear I remembered Jackson _publicly_ lobbying NewLine or whoever to make the films a trilogy during production, but I can’t seem to dig up a cite. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/1359 "2022-10-17T23:14:30Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > Huh. I swear I remembered Jackson _publicly_ lobbying NewLine or whoever to make the films a trilogy during production, but I can’t seem to dig up a cite. Here he is, claiming it was only his precious idea, in order to give it a scope similar to LotR: [The Hobbit Trilogy: The REAL Reason It Was Made Three Movies (screenrant.com)](https://screenrant.com/hobbit-trilogy-three-movies-real-reason/) > Jackson, however, claims that the idea to split _The Hobbit_ into three parts came from him alone, with the director wanting Bilbo’s story to not feel any less epic in scale compared to his original [_Lord of the Rings_ trilogy]and proposing the adaptation of Tolkien’s appendices and wider notes. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/1360 "2022-10-17T23:19:48Z")
I think Jackson was just covering for the company to dispel the story that he was being forced to do it. Which is what I think was happening. He didn’t want to direct them at all, but he found him forced to do it. He wanted two movies, not three, but he was forced to do three. In those interviews, he is just helping save face for everyone. He doesn’t sound convincing at all. That’s my take anyway. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2022, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/1361 "2022-10-18T01:22:04Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I think Jackson was just covering for the company to dispel the story that he was being forced to do it. Which is what I think was happening. Interesting. I heard only that he planned for two, and had to do three. But you all have given some interesting insights. Still, the first film was pretty nice. While bringing in Tauriel to change up the sausage party was a Good Idea, having her love interest be one of the young dwarves was not. I though she could have a thing for Legolas, but forbidden by the King. _My_ idea was having Fili and Kili actually being female! 😱 ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2022, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/1362 "2022-10-18T02:14:34Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Well that’s a no true Scotsman argument if ever I saw one. I see no reason why a review with the lowest possible score can’t be every bit as valid as one with the highest possible score. Keep in mind that a good number of those low scores have been psoted by people whose primary complaint about the show is that there are black people in it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497.md?page=67) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497.md?page=69)