By popular demand, my wife agreed to appear to answer your specific questions about Season 1 of Rings of Power, and I provide my final thoughts on the season as a whole with some constructive criticism on how the show could have been so much better than it was.

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Just before the collapse of the Soviet Union, a made-for-television production of “The Lord of the Rings” was begun.  Called “Khraniteli,” it never got further than The Fellowship of the Ring, and it was...interesting to say the least.  But it’s low quality is a bit forgivable when you know the story behind it.

For some more details on the history, check out this Variety article: https://variety.com/2021/film/actors/russian-lord-of-the-rings-khraniteli-1234968603/

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A lot of people lately have been using Faramir’s remarks about High, Middle (or Twilight) and Wild Men (or Men of the Shadow) as evidence that Tolkien and/or The Lord of the Rings is racist, since it shows he or at least the Numenoreans who developed the classification considered themselves superior to other men.  But is it really that simple?  Or does the classification reflect something more nuanced and less bigoted?

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This episode was significantly better than many others in the sense that it was engaging, kept my interest, and things really happened.  But there are still logical issues and the lore breaking goes so far as to destroy much of the underlying logic of The Lord of the Rings….

Previous episode reviews:

Episodes 1 & 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3bJTDxHRY0&t=1389s

Episode 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6Nw0Gi_h0o&t=3187s

Episode 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDYxVsk6Y9s&t=0s

Episode 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgXpK3pcO5g

Episode 6: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z37IlsaRpvo

Episode 7: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTkwnzSzPaM

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Amazon’s “The Rings of Power” has generated a lot of debate, and one aspect of that is the common criticism that much of the show is unrealistic.  Equally common, seemingly, is a rebuttal to the effect that the show is fantasy and therefore doesn’t need to be realistic.  But Tolkien would very much disagree with this statement.

I’ve done some other videos on elements of Tolkien’s “On Fairy Stories” in case you’re interested:

On Fairy Stories: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnMG5HhKK50&t=1s

Eucatastrophe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqYeBmw4ORY&t=25s

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Amazon finally did it—they turned me into a hater of the show.  Up until now it was bad writing and lore changes that I could sort of live with, but now they’ve broken with the legendarium in a way that was completely unnecessary except to serve some poor story-telling choice of their own, and I’ve had it.

If you want more info on the Galadriel and Celeborn story and its many variations, check this video: https://youtu.be/X8c33_qTQ_E

For my other episode reviews:

Episodes 1 & 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3bJTDxHRY0&t=1389s

Episode 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6Nw0Gi_h0o&t=3187s

Episode 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDYxVsk6Y9s&t=0s

Episode 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgXpK3pcO5g

Episode 6: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z37IlsaRpvo

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Discord server invite link:  https://discord.gg/EVKynAj2m9 (If link is expired contact me at [email protected]and I’ll send a fresh invite link).

In an “Appendices” video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMwwUsirc3w), TheRedBook (https://www.youtube.com/c/TheRedBook) addressed a comment I left on this video about whether Sauron took the Ring to Numenor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBSgELkQNlg.  My comment built somewhat on my own video on a related topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKzuKSus8FI.  The question ultimately is whether Sauron’s ability to corrupt or influence other minds is enhanced by his own Ring, and in this video I wanted to explain myself a bit further since I think TheRedBook’s responses to my comment showed that I wasn’t sufficiently clear in my point.  Always love a good back and forth with another great channel!

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Episode 6 is much better than 5, with a focused story and some nice character moments, but the writing is still clunky despite many overt attempts to capitalize on the Peter Jackson trilogy and even Tolkien himself.

Prior reviews:

Episodes 1 & 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3bJTDxHRY0&t=1389s

Episode 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6Nw0Gi_h0o&t=3187s

Episode 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDYxVsk6Y9s&t=0s

Episode 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgXpK3pcO5g

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Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tolkiengeek

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We finally finish our strange journey through John Boorman’s drug-fueled script for a Lord of the Rings movie, and the ending is just as bizarre as the rest of it.

For the other parts of my overview, check these links:

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhKX7VdMiZU

Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbxZU3mVRsc

Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7BqeOwPcSE

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Discord server invite link:  https://discord.gg/EVKynAj2m9 (If link is expired contact me at [email protected]and I’ll send a fresh invite link).

For about 30 minutes I was kind of enjoying this episode, then the writers decided to have a collective aneurysm and deliver the most nonsensical garbage I’ve ever seen.

Prior episode reviews:

Episodes 1&2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3bJTDxHRY0&t=1389s

Episode 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6Nw0Gi_h0o&t=3187s

Episode 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDYxVsk6Y9s

Other Links:

Utreon: https://utreon.com/c/TolkienLorePodcast/

Rumble at https://rumble.com/c/c-355195

Odysee: https://odysee.com/@TolkienLore:f

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Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tolkiengeek

Discord server invite link:  https://discord.gg/EVKynAj2m9 (If link is expired contact me at [email protected]and I’ll send a fresh invite link).