All of this story-hole-punching is exactly why I'm still shocked Raised By Wolves was canceled. Screw you HBO!
I don't have a problem with making adjustments to the story in order to better fit a narrative that can be told in an episodic manner. But just make it believable, you know what I mean. Spoiler The could have made it more about the Queen's self interest vs the leaves falling. They could have shown not everyone was happy with the decision. Create some tension for god's sake. This is what makes Game of Thrones so superior - there's just so much more tension.
Spoiler Given that Ar-pharazon is there as one of the major Numenorians my guess there will be more tension with Numenorians who don’t want to help the Elves. He will likely be causing some trouble in later episodes.
Maybe. I get that Tolkien has always been pretty cut and dry in terms of good vs evil, but it would be nice to see characters that were a bit more conflicted internally than what we've seen thus far. maybe GOT spoiled me.
Tolkein isn't big on nuance. There are some characters though that are more nuanced in the First Age that I've always thought would be more appealing to modern stories. The story of Turin Turambar I think would be great. The problem with First Age stories is that they are so removed from LOTR that producers probably feel it would be hard to appeal to casual Tolkein fans.
Yeah but even with the second age, they are going so far off canon why not make the characters more multidimensional?
Unpopular opinion - but the more the show moves away from the source material, the more I'm enjoying it. I like the mystery of the Stranger, the half man/half orc, and the idea of Galadriel going to Numenor, etc... But for me the best part is the Elrond/Durin story. I'm also interested in the 'cult' side of Sauron - the blond figure that hang out at the crater and the humans who want to join him. There is some stuff that isn't working, I don't think they hit the mark on the Numenor storylines, and the Harfoots (Harfeet?), and some inconsistencies of characters and motivations/actions. One issue they were always going to have is the time compression stuff. The Elves can literally wait around for thousands of years to do stuff, but in the meantime all the human and dwarf characters will just die. Also, the fact they can only use the Appendices from LOTR, and not the actual Silmarillion leaves A LOT of big gaps in the story telling process. I'm liking it.
Because these are amateur writers compared to Tolkien This is like Whitney Houston songs being sung by jack Harlow
They only have the story rights to the appendices and aren't allowed to change canon in a way that contradicts other material outside of it.
I watched Episode 4 last night and I think the show is hitting it's stride. It's holding my attention more and I think the buildup is getting better.
Is this show worth starting? I thought wheel of time was awful and I got halfway through first episode of this show before my kids said they were bored.
This show is really starting to grow on me. E5 was the most realest yet. Totally bought on on Elrond and Galadriel. Really enjoy Elrond's story arc. I'm not a Tolkien nerd so none of the inaccuracies or off timelines bother me.
Nobody can answer that except you. There are people here watching it that don't like it. There are people here who don't even watch it being morons. There are people here watching it who like it. After the first 5 episodes, I like it so far, but then I'm lenient on a lot of things. I could pick apart every show ever made probably, but that doesn't mean the show isn't good. If you're a stickler for "gotta stick to what Tolkien lived, breathed, ate, and believed", you may be disappointed. If you want everything to be resolved or in the climactic stages by 5 episodes, you're screwed. If you've got something against non-white elves and dwarves, welp... this probably ain't it. Watch the first season and see for yourself.
This show is much better than Wheel of Time. I quit watching Wheel of Time about a few episodes in. It seems like such standard fantasy story that I could anticipate what was happening and what type of characters. I’ve never read the book and knew nothing about the story before I saw the show.
I’m one of those who is a Tolkein nerd and have been critical of it. Even so it’s definitely not all bad and there is a lot good about it. The visuals are spectacular and while Tolkien might not have liked all the casting decisions the acting is good. Yes the story departs from what Tolkein wrote in several areas and parts of the story rushed and lazy but it does feel like it’s building to something better.
