Welcome to the forty-seventh episode of The Daily Rings of Power Podcast!

I'm a week late but here is the recording of last Wednesday's livestream, where I was joined by Anna as we did one of our usual marathon-length discussions and breakdown of the first three episodes of Season 2.

The video version of the livestream is of course available on the DailyRoP YouTube channel, but this is here for all my podcast listeners who prefer the audio-only version.

Timestamps

• Introduction & Reading: 00:10
• Discussion of Episodes 1-3: 03:58
•  Outro: 03:57:27

Thank you to all my Narya and Nenya Patreon Producers! Their generous support allows me to keep bringing you these episodes: May, Anne, Andreas, Jørgen, Jennifer, Victoria, Carol-Lavendah, Stephen, Eryn Lasgalen, Debra, Berek, Jessica, Benjamin, Emsie V, Jake, Brandon, The Blue Wizard On Wheels, Lynn Ford, Frida, Diomedëa, Claudia, Dunedain65Patrick, Kenneth, and Linda.

Support the Daily Rings of Power podcast on Patreon

Follow us on Twitter for more Rings of Power content: @DailyRoP

And subscribe to the podcast on your favourite app: https://linktr.ee/dailyrop

Intro & Outro Music : She Moved Through the Fair by Sláinte | https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Slinte  Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/  Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Welcome to the forty-sixth episode of The Daily Rings of Power Podcast!

Oh we're so back, after 685 days we have new episodes of The Rings of Power and that means it's time for some spoiler reviews of Season 2's opening episodes!

We're starting off with the first two episodes today, and then I'll be following up with another episode reviewing the third one that was released yesterday.

I cover the overarching story arcs across the episodes, pick out some of my favourite moments, discuss some fun Tolkien easter eggs, and highlight any criticisms or concerns that I had.

Timestamps

• Introduction & Reading: 00:10
• The Prologue: 04:13
• Manipulation in Mordor: 10:52
• Lies in Lindon: 13:56
• Rambling in Rhûn: 27:54
• Chaos in Khazad-dûm: 34:28
• Emissary in Eregion: 39:14
• Closing Thoughts & Outro: 45:10

Thank you to all my Narya and Nenya Patreon Producers! Their generous support allows me to keep bringing you these episodes: May, Anne, Andreas Møller, Jørgen, Jennifer Morris, Victoria, Carol-Lavendah, Stephen Rees-Carter, Eryn Lasgalen, Berek, Jessica, Benjamin K, Emsie V, Jake T Brown, Brandon SanGiovanni, The Blue Wizard On Wheels, Lynn Ford, Frida Johanne Childs, Diomedëa, Claudia Bailey, Dunedain65Patrick, and Kenneth Whitley.

Support the Daily Rings of Power podcast on Patreon

Follow us on Twitter for more Rings of Power content: @DailyRoP

And subscribe to the podcast on your favourite app: https://linktr.ee/dailyrop

Intro & Outro Music : She Moved Through the Fair by Sláinte | https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Slinte  Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/  Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Welcome to the forty-fourth episode of The Daily Rings of Power Podcast!

It's finally here, after being invited by Prime Video to attend the Season 2 world premiere in London last week, I can finally give you my full spoiler-free review of the first two episodes.

So enjoy my thoughts on these episodes as I talk about the overall feel, the production design, as well as some high-level thoughts on the cast and characters.

Just like last year, I am not describing any scenes and only reference material we've seen in the trailers and promo footage, so you can go into these episodes unspoiled! 

Thank you to all my Narya and Nenya Patreon Producers! Their generous support allows me to keep bringing you these episodes: May, Anne, Andreas Møller, Jørgen, Jennifer Morris, Victoria, Carol-Lavendah, Stephen Rees-Carter, Berek, Jessica, Benjamin K, Emsie V, Jake T Brown, Brandon SanGiovanni, The Blue Wizard On Wheels, Lynn Ford.

Support the Daily Rings of Power podcast on Patreon

Follow us on Twitter for more Rings of Power content: @DailyRoP

And subscribe to the podcast on your favourite app: https://linktr.ee/dailyrop

Intro & Outro Music : She Moved Through the Fair by Sláinte | https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Slinte  Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/  Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Welcome to the forty-fourth episode of The Daily Rings of Power Podcast!

Today’s episode is a very rough and ready reaction to Bear McCreary's soundtrack album for Season 2, which was released at the end of last week.

This will be a similar episode to the two-parter I did for the Season 1 album, in that it won’t be a detailed analysis of the individual tracks and all the musical nuances contained within. However, I hope you enjoy my joyful and enthusiastic review of these 25 tracks.

Timestamps:

• Introduction & Reading (Singing): 00:10
• Old Tom Bombadil: 05:10
• Rhûn: 6:04
• Concerning Stoors: 7:32
• Golden Leaves: 8:57
• Círdan’s Perfection: 10:39
• Stone Singers: 12:09
• Sandstorm at the Well: 13:12
• Eregion: 14:52
• Emissary at the Forge: 16:18
• Shelob: 18:10
• The Pyre: 19:25
• Estrid: 20:46
• The Great Eagle: 22:35
• The River-daughter: 23:53
• Barrow-wights: 24:41
• Forgiveness Takes an Age: 25:51
• Candles on the Tide: 27:20
• Army of Orcs: 28:56
• The Last Ballad of Damrod: 30:46
• Battle for Eregion: 31:15
• Durin's Bane: 34:48
• Last Temptation: 37:27
• The Staff: 39:55
• Old Tom Bombadil Reprise: 41:34
• The Sun Yet Shines: 42:21
• Outro: 44:07

Follow us on Twitter for more Rings of Power content: @DailyRoP

And subscribe to the podcast on your favourite app: https://linktr.ee/dailyrop

Intro & Outro Music : She Moved Through the Fair by Sláinte | https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Slinte  Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/  Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Welcome to the forty-third episode of The Daily Rings of Power Podcast!

We’re back with another special episode, as I am joined by Sarah Westvik for an unprecedented deep-dive into of the Siege of Eregion, comparing Tolkien’s own limited account of the battle with what we know about how The Rings of Power is approaching the siege.

Our discussion gets into the nitty gritty analysis of the books’ account of the different faction’s objectives and outcomes, before we use every frame from the show’s trailers and promo to try and piece together how the siege will play out on screen.

Timestamps:

• Introduction & Reading: 00:10
• Welcoming Sarah to the show: 04:45 
• Overview of our discussion: 26:26
• Book Siege's Timeline: 30:44
• Strategic Objectives: 39:21
• Operational Objectives: 54:37
• Tactical Objectives: 01:06:20
• Outcome of the Siege: 01:20:42
• Show Siege's Prelude & Sauron's Motivations: 01:27:58
• Strategic Objectives: 01:41:48
• Preparatory Phase: 01:51:50
• The Siege Begins: 01:58:17
• Removing a River: 02:10:59
• Assaulting the Walls: 02:17:16
• Elrond's Forces Arrive: 02:22:35
• Battle Below the Walls: 02:31:48
• The Final Act: 02:41:52
• Setting up S3: 02:55:07
• Outro: 03:09:13

Follow us on Twitter for more Rings of Power content: @DailyRoP

Follow Sarah on Twitter: @srwestvik

And subscribe to the podcast on your favourite app: https://linktr.ee/dailyrop

Intro & Outro Music : She Moved Through the Fair by Sláinte | https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Slinte  Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/  Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Welcome to the forty-second episode of The Daily Rings of Power Podcast!

On August 14th the final trailer for Season 2 was released and to mark the occasion, I decided to host the first ever DailyRoP livestream on YouTube. I was joined as usual by Anna to discuss and analyse the trailer, with the added bonus of getting to interact with the viewers in the liver chat offering their own insights.

As I know some of you don't use YouTube or instead prefer an audio-only format, I have put together the recording from the livestream as the latest episode. Please bear in mind this is not a tightly-edited episode like you're used to, but all the same for those who have been waiting for this, I hope you enjoy the discussion.

The link to the YouTube recording of the livestream is in the show notes below.

Timestamps:

• Introduction & Reading: 00:10
• Live Discussion: 05:01
• Outro: 03:39:07

YouTube Livestream VOD

Follow us on Twitter for more Rings of Power content: @DailyRoP

Follow Anna on Twitter: @MyElessar

And subscribe to the podcast on your favourite app: https://linktr.ee/dailyrop

Intro & Outro Music : She Moved Through the Fair by Sláinte | https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Slinte  Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/  Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Welcome to the forty-first episode of The Daily Rings of Power Podcast!

We're back for another solo episode as I take a look at the Season 2 Soundtrack Album announcement, and do some speculation about the 25 titles that were revealed on the album

Today, we're analysing the titles themselves rather than the music yet to be released, and trying to work out what scenes, characters or thematic beats they might correspond to.

Timestamps:

• Intro & Reading: 00:10
• Album Overview: 03:25
• Old Tom Bombadil: 06:49
• Rhûn: 07:51
• Life in the Canyon: 09:26
• Golden Leaves: 10:31
• Cirdan’s Perfection: 11:40
• Stone Singers: 13:04
• Sandstorm at the Well: 13:56
• Eregion: 14:47
• Emissary at the Forge: 15:54
• Shelob: 17:33
• The Pyre: 18:26
• Estrid: 19:50
• The Great Eagle: 21:11
• The River-daughter: 21:59
• Barrow-wights: 23:21
• Forgiveness Takes an Age: 24:07
• Candles on the Tide: 25:14
• Army of Orcs: 27:15
• The Last Battle of Damrod: 28:28
• Battle for Eregion: 29:55
• Durin's Bane: 30:43
• Last Temptation: 31:24
• The Staff: 32:36
• Old Tom Bombadil Reprise: 33:53
• The Sun Yet Shines: 34:51
• Closing Thoughts & Outro: 37:45

Follow us on Twitter for more Rings of Power content: @DailyRoP

And subscribe to the podcast on your favourite app: https://linktr.ee/dailyrop

Intro & Outro Music : She Moved Through the Fair by Sláinte | https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Slinte  Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/  Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Welcome to the fortieth episode of The Daily Rings of Power Podcast!

We’re back today with a rather special episode, as it marks the return of the format where I invite guests on from the Tolkien community to come on and chat about a topic of their choosing.

Today I am bringing you a conversation with my good friend Geo (@kingslayars), who is a font of knowledge when it comes to all things medieval literature. We spent a good 3 hours talking about all things Medieval, the influence of that time period on Tolkien’s work, and how The Rings of Power has continued to draw upon Medieval tales and ideas.

We cover everything from the role of oaths, to the significance of swords, and the place of rings in the tradition of gift giving. On top of that, we also touch on some of the Medieval influences we see in The Rings of Power’s costumer, set, and prop design.

Timestamps:

• Introduction & Reading: 00:10
• Welcoming Geo to the show: 4:39
• Geo's Introduction to Tolkien: 08:14
• Geo's View on TROP: 12:58
• What do we mean by Medieval?: 23:39
• Medieval Literature, Tolkien & Fantasy: 27:35
• Oaths & Chivalry: 45:57
• The Oath of Fëanor: 55:59
• Oathbreakers: 01:10:08
• Ringbearers & Oaths: 01:20:24
• Elrond & Durin's Oath: 01:23:08
• Míriel's Expedition as a Crusade: 01:35:14
• Swords as Symbols: 01:41:30
• Galadriel, Her Sword & Chivalry: 01:47:50
• Míriel's Gift of a Sword to Elendil: 02:00:56
• Galadriel's Gift of a Sword to Theo: 02:04:53
• Veils: 02:11:25
• Galadriel, Blackwork & Chaucer's Wife of Bath: 02:18:42
• Manuscripts, Tapestries & Paintings: 02:23:25
• Rings, Gifts & Sauron the Sceadugenga: 02:36:37
• Closing Thoughts: 02:53:13
• Outro: 02:55:28

Follow us on Twitter for more Rings of Power content: @DailyRoP

Follow Geo on Twitter: @kingslayars

And subscribe to the podcast on your favourite app: https://linktr.ee/dailyrop

Intro & Outro Music : She Moved Through the Fair by Sláinte | https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Slinte  Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/  Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Welcome to the thirty-ninth episode of The Daily Rings of Power Podcast!

San Diego Comic-Con arrived, and with it came the best trailer we have ever seen for The Rings of Power. Nearly 4 minutes long and every second of it filled with incredible scenes to pour over and analyse.

And the DailyRoP podcast is up to the task, as Anna and I breakdown every single line, every single shot in the trailer! Come for the detailed analysis and stick around for the usual nonsense stories of my obsession with rocks, fans getting caught thirsting by an actor's father, and Anna barking at Elendil.

Timestamps:

• Introduction & Reading: 00:10
• Our Initial Reactions to the Trailer: 04:53
• Three Rings Prologue: 18:08
• Elrond & Galadriel's Quest: 58:15
• All This May Be His Design: 01:07:12
• Cirdan & Elrond Bonding Time: 01:11:21
• Grumpy Gil-galad: 01:14:56
• High King Sings: 01:21:57
• Annatar & Celebrimbor: 01:26:10
• Rhun Time: 01:46:59
• The Stranger's Task: 02:02:51
• Palantir Party: 02:10:44
• Stupid Powersliding Balrog: 02:15:02
• Durin vs Durin: 02:22:16
• Miriel Goes Swimming: 02:27:37
• Anna Betrays Bombadil: 02:30:29
• Celebrimbor's Rage & Sauron Struts: 02:41:29
• Et tu, Adar?: 02:53:33
• Promise me, Elrond: 03:02:02
• Thirsting over armoured Elves: 03:06:05
• Indiana Bombadil & Entwives: 03:13:27
• Elrond & Durin BFF Reunion: 03:19:37
• Elendil Walks, Anna Barks: 03:22:11
• Scary Spiders & Fighting Dwarves: 03:31:15
• Celebrimbor's Last Stand: 03:44:15
• Death to our Foes: 03:53:55
• Bingo Review & Final Thoughts: 04:04:25
• Outro: 04:16:00

Follow us on Twitter for more Rings of Power content: @DailyRoP

Follow Anna on Twitter: @MyElessar

And subscribe to the podcast on your favourite app: https://linktr.ee/dailyrop

Intro & Outro Music : She Moved Through the Fair by Sláinte | https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Slinte  Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/  Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Welcome to the thirty-eighth episode of The Daily Rings of Power Podcast!

We're back to our traditional episode format as I briefly cover the non-spoilery insights from the Total Film magazine feature.

Then we bring back one of my favourite segments as I take questions from the listeners on anything and everything about Season 2!

Timestamps:

• Intro & Reading: 00:10
• Total Film feature: 03:33
• Listener Questions: 12:09
• Where is Anarion?: 12:44
• Will Amandil appear?: 20:32
• Will Isildur return in S2?: 23:22
• Portraying the Nazgûl: 26:56
• Witch-king & Oathbreakers: 29:53
• Elrond & Galadriel's relationship: 35:26
• Celebrimbor's reaction to Sauron: 39:13
• Distributing Dwarven Rings: 40:43
• Magic Ringcraft: 43:09
• Galadriel to blame?: 45:57
• Círdan and the Rings: 50:36
• Sauron, Adar & the Orcs: 53:09
• Say your name, Stranger: 55:06
• Bombadil Speaks: 57:01
• The Narrative beyond Season 2: 59:11
• Which original characters survive?: 01:05:56
• Outro: 01:07:44

Follow us on Twitter for more Rings of Power content: @DailyRoP

And subscribe to the podcast on your favourite app: https://linktr.ee/dailyrop

Intro & Outro Music : She Moved Through the Fair by Sláinte | https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Slinte  Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/  Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/