The Rings of Power Season 2 starts this week

[Teresa Edgerton]

Some of you will remember that I had decidedly mixed feelings about Season 1, though on the whole I found more to like than to dislike (some weeks the ratio of liked to disliked was very close—though what I admired generally had more to do with acting, cinematography, sets, etc. than it did with the scriptwriting or the story they were telling—except for the very last episode where there were a few scenes that really drew me in.

Season 2 starts later this week, with the first three episodes released on the same day, August 29. After that, it will be one episode a week for five weeks. As of now, there have been four trailers (available on Amazon Prime and here and there around the internet) and a few "featurettes" (available on the internet if you do some googling and poking around) about the making of the production. And then there are some articles from various magazines etc, as well as interviews from cast members at San Diego Comic Con.

If I had mixed feelings before, they are a lot more mixed based on the information released so far. It sounds like they are going to be focussing a lot of time on battles and monsters, which, personally is not what I am looking for. But the production values continue to look very good. And the showrunners were so deceptive about what was coming during the previous season, I can't be sure that the things they are promoting to viewers who aren't me will really dominate the story to anything like the extent I fear. It is a sad thing when one's hopes for a show are stoked by distrust of the producers. I mean, "Yay, I don't trust them!" hardly makes a stirring pronouncement, but it's the best I've got.

So I am looking forward to the new season with a mixture of anticipation and . . . well, dread would be too strong a word. My quality of life will in no way suffer if the show sucks—I just won't watch in the weeks to come if the first night is a huge disappointment—though it may be enhanced if I like the show and have something enjoyable to look forward to each week for its brief run.

So has anyone else here seen the trailers, articles, or interviews? What did you think? Will you be watching Season 2? Will you watch the first episodes and make up your mind then, or has what you already know put you off entirely? Are you among those who have liked what has been teased and expect this season to be much more satisfactory than the one before?

 

[Culhwch]

I'm someone who really enjoyed the first season overall, and I have watched a number of the trailers for season two and am looking forward to it. But I don't mind monsters and battles.

I am not steeped in Tolkien lore outside LotR and The Hobbit, so perhaps that helps with my enjoyment and expectations. Regardless, I tend to go in to any adaptations these days with an open mind. Even if I have expectations of what I think should or might happen, I'm a lot more accepting now than I once was of the creative license that a given adaptation may take, and look instead for those parts I enjoy or that I think have been executed well. If it's not for me, it's not for me; the original invariably still exists, and there is plenty of other media to enjoy. One thing I really dislike about the current media landscape is the fixation of certain elements of fandoms on what is bad. Almost anywhere i see a discussion about this show, the comments are generally overrun by those 'fans' essentially telling others that they aren't allowed to enjoy it.

I think your approach is very healthy. Hopefully this season is good, and does keep you tuning in!

 

[Lady of Winterfell]

Hello to you both! It's been a while since I was around these parts.

I did watch the first season, and I liked it enough that I plan on watching the second season as well. I can't say I remember much from the first season though. I'm finding this happens more and more these days, where books, tv's, and movies don't stick with me the way they used to. This may be due to what was going on in my life at the time, or perhaps just due to getting older. Either way, I'm the person who usually needs the recap videos/articles/etc.

I just watched 2 of the trailers for Season 2. One did focus more on the battles/fighting while the other seemed to focus more on the story. I can say that it looks like it will be another visually stunning season. And I do enjoy learning more of the backstory of the LOTR world. I absolutely loved the original trilogy when it came out. I can remember waiting hours in line at the movie theater to see them, and I purchased all the extended editions on DVD. I hope to discuss it more when it comes out!

 

[Culhwch]

I did watch the first season, and I liked it enough that I plan on watching the second season as well. I can't say I remember much from the first season though. I'm finding this happens more and more these days, where books, tv's, and movies don't stick with me the way they used to. This may be due to what was going on in my life at the time, or perhaps just due to getting older. Either way, I'm the person who usually needs the recap videos/articles/etc.

Don't worry, me too! It doesn't help that there seems to be longer gaps in between seasons of shows these days - not great for those of us that are already memory challenged!

 

[Swank]

Is it true that this season has an Ent that dresses as a Furry?

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I don't mind battles and monsters, so long as they don't overwhelm a plot that is supposed to contain so much more (as they did in The Battle of Five Armies).

However, I am just about to watch the first episodes, after which I anticipate having a better idea what to expect.

 

[Elckerlyc]

I have been looking forward to season 2 as well, despite the flaws that marked season 1. Amazon Prime admitted some of the shortcomings (if I remember correctly) and promised to do better with the following seasons. We'll see! I haven't read back my synopses of the first season, but I know I expressed my criticism freely at times. Maybe overly so. But, new season, new chances. I'm ready for it.
I haven't seen any trailers. I generally don't watch trailers of new seasons of series I already am following. I don't need them as an appetizer. But they can be wrong-footing and create false expectations.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I've watched the first three episodes, one after the other, and I can't say that there is anything that strongly affected me either way, that either struck me as particularly good or particularly bad. Which is a bit of a disappointment. Since there are so many matters where (for anyone who has a fair amount of familiarity with the source material) the ultimate outcome is already known, it seems to me that they need some scenes that are particularly engaging in order to hold our interest, and so far this season I've seen nothing like that. For those who don't know much about that era in Middle Earth, who may feel some suspense on behalf of some of the characters and situations, there may be enough to keep them interested. I'll be interested in what others here have to say about that. As for me, I will probably tune in for another episode or two before I make up my mind whether to continue, but I can't say that I am looking forward to next week with any degree of eagerness.

Also, by the end of episode 3, I felt like they were still setting things up, rather than kicking the plot fully into motion. OK, so it's only three episodes, but if you count the 8 in season 1, that is eleven episodes of setting the stage, which strikes me as too slow. Not that the pace exactly drags, but I'd expect at least a bit more momentum by now.

Visually, it was still quite good, so there is that.

 

[Lady of Winterfell]

Don't worry, me too! It doesn't help that there seems to be longer gaps in between seasons of shows these days - not great for those of us that are already memory challenged!

I'm so glad I'm not the only one! And I agree, the time between seasons does seem to be longer...which is weird, when I feel like time itself is going by faster.

And thanks for your initial take Teresa. I'm not sure when I'll get around to watching the first episode. Hopefully this evening, but we'll see. It's movie night in our household!

 

[farntfar]

I've just finished episode three, and I pretty much agree with Teresa.
At least I hope that this is all just set-up and it's going to get going soon.

It's definitely heavier than the last series, and so not nearly so engaging.
But maybe now that the people are all in place it'll get more interesting.

I'm finding Gil-Galad to be a very uninteresting character, but maybe that's deliberate. In the Silmarillion he was pretty much dismissed as "Thingol's Heir", and little else.
In the LOTR he only appears in a short description of the battle where Isildur cuts off Sauron's finger, but pretty much just as an "also on stage" character. Was there a song sung about him at Imladris? I don't remember.
I suppose he had big boots to fill. He got to be High King without any real preamble.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I'm finding Gil-Galad to be a very uninteresting character, but maybe that's deliberate. I

I don't like him. He makes stupid decisions (against good advice) and then when things go wrong it's always somebody else's fault. But you are right that Tolkien's writings don't give the people plotting the series much to work with. If he is boring, it's their own fault, because mostly they are inventing him as they go along.

 

[Elckerlyc]

I watched the first episode yesterday. And I must agree. It's OK-ish; the imaging is eye-candy and the acting is fine, but as a whole it leaves me somewhat underwhelmed and already brimming with multiple huh?, how? and why?'s. And indeed; who is responsible for making this Elf High-King?
It may be the narrative style, that has to remain Tolkienian, That's all well and good and made TLOR the classic it is today. But so far with The Rings of Power it lacks... I don't know. Substance? Vibrancy? Something.

 

[farntfar]

Just finished episode 4. Eldest.
I felt that they had nicked too many things from LOTR, particularly concerning the Eldest himself. * The actor who played him (Rory Kinnear) was pretty much perfect, but there were too many bits which appeared to me to be in the wrong time period both with him and elsewhere.

* Some of what he said was copied verbatim from the LOTR and sort of shoehorned into the conversation.
(I know I used to accuse my father (and my girls accuse me) of saying the same things over and over again; but not verbatim.

Spoiler: spoilers

Why would he have an old man willow lookalike in Rhun?
How could the Barrowdowns already be there when they were the barrows of Numenoreans? (weren't they?)
And just toss in a few ents (and entwives?) for good measure

Otherwise it continues to be difficult to really engage with the characters.
even Galadriel and Elrond are starting to lose my sympathies.

Oh. And lastly, the closing song. The words are fine. They're Tolkien's. But the tune is just pathetic.

 

[HareBrain]

(weren't they?)

At least some of those buried in the barrows (and as far as we know, all) were those of a kingdom destroyed by the forces of the Witch King of Angmar (remember Merry's blade in LOTR was enchanted against him), which couldn't have been before about 1500 THIRD Age (not Second). So I'm not sure what's going on there.

 

[farntfar]

That's what I thought. (When I said Numenoreans, I really meant Dunedins.)

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I agree about the characters failing to be engaging. Also, so many scenes were filmed in the dark or in dim light, I couldn't always tell what was happening. I am on the verge of giving up on the whole thing. If Episode 5 does not show a marked improvement I may do just that. Not because it is bad, because it isn't particularly bad (at least not in my opinion) but because it is so relentlessly mediocre, when, considering the source material, it could have been so good. I wouldn't mind the changes to the lore (or the strange borrowings, like putting Tom Bombadil in Rhun) so much, if they were changes that made the characters deeper, the action more thrilling, or for any other reason that made sense. But that never seems to be the case.

Someone on Facebook said this adaptation is pretty good fan fiction. But to me it is not even that. All the "Easter eggs" they've inserted into the story, presumably to excite fans, fall entirely flat and often seem weirdly inappropriate to the scenes where they appear. There are more hints that the Stranger is going to turn out to be Gandalf, when the only thing that would have made sense would have been for him to be one of the "Blue Wizards." (Not only would that have been more in line with the source material, but it would have taken a character that Tolkien barely mentioned and brought him to life, rather than taking a character already known and loved and changing his history drastically . . . and why? To please fans? If he is Gandalf that is more likely to do the opposite.)

Everything that is done well, the acting, cinematography, sets, locations, music, etc. is continually brought down by the poorly conceived scripts.

If there is a third season I hope that they fire the showrunners (or if they can't contractually do that, shuffle them aside to positions where they can do no harm) and hire some better scriptwriters. (Although maybe the scriptwriters are not so much at fault, since they have to follow the story the producers have concocted. Given better people at the top, they might be able to do better work. Maybe.)

 

[farntfar]

And so on to episode 5. (Beware of spoilers if you haven't seen it yet.)

And not much more to say, since my comments on episode 4.

Whether the characters conform in any way to those created by JRRT (let alone the story) is largely left in the shadows due to the continuing absence of any engagement I can find with them.

Elrond, Elendil and even Sauron have now become people about who's lives I could not give a whit, joining the two dimensional Gi-lGalad in such a state.
Galadriel and the possible Gandalf didn't appear this time. So no engagement there either.
I managed to muster up a slight dislike of Ar-Pharazon, but more for the actor than the king, and the betrayal of Elendil by his child was so weak that I almost missed it.
The dwarf story and the controversy of the creation of the 7 and the 9 were equally weak.
I'll keep watching until the end, but mainly out of some form of inertia

Oh. And although they say that tons of money was spent on the sets, they seem to have a very low budget for buying any lighting. Or is it a problem with my screen?

 

[Droflet]

I finally gave up on it a couple of weeks ago. Just meh.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

it lacks... I don't know. Substance? Vibrancy? Something.

Sincerity.

 

[HareBrain]

It's just occurred to me that Guy Gavriel Kay is still alive. In fact he's not yet 70, and he helped compile the Silmarillion, and he's an established fantasy author with a great track record. Amazon could have paid him $10M to write this and it would have made only the smallest dent in the budget. Imagine what we could have had.