Great cinematography especially the fight with Ishtar and that weird eyed witch but also the dialogue between and ‘Hallbrand’
8.5/10 - I cannot really keep up with things on my own but it's awesome! :)
"We come to serve you, Lord Sauron."
Damn, that did suck. I wasn't sure if he's good or bad and that seemed to seal his fate without a way out. I'm super glad that they've been wrong and he isn't Sauron!
"Only you can show what you are. You choose by what you do." - that's right Nori! :)
The result was quite epic:
I did fear that the Elves might seek war with the Dwarves to save their race but I'm relieved that theiy're better than that!
Galadriel and Elrond really have a strong friendship as well.
Halbrand and Lord Celebrimbor were interesting.
"You should not be standing here at all." xD
So Halbrand is Sauron?!? What a twist... :o Seems like Galadriel touched the darkness quite literally :o
Tbh I'm still unsure if that giant stranger is Gandalf or not... He does at least seem to be a wizard (/ wise one). IIRC there were 5 wizards but I only remember 3 of them. It would make a lot of sense if he's Gandalf but there are also things that don't really seem to quite fit.
"You're part of something bigger now. He needs ya. And you belong out there."
And I still wonder if that horse will save Isildur.
Going to be honest I did somewhat expect the two big character reveals and twists in this finale but I still think they were both very impactful, with the main one being very powerful and emotional. There were lows and slow points this episode sure, but there were also some great high points and moments that I loved, some of the best of the series. And the visuals throughout are of course captivating. Overall I thought this finale executed a great twist and it hooked me into getting excited for the next season.
I can't say that I enjoyed this series but that was a good season finale because it leaves you looking forward to where the storylines are going.
The plot of this episode ain't bad. There are some flaws and some writers' decisions I still don't understand but I refuse to overanalyze this. This doesn't try to be a multi-complex show and thus I refuse to watch this like I would watch -let's say - The Sopranos. Nice that some of the loose ends are explained though. And finally someone questions Halbrands legitimacy and skills! All in all it's a worthy and quiet peaceful season finale. What I can't get used to: the non-stop bombastic score, dramatic slow motions and all the BS dialogue loaded with overbearing pathos. It pretends gravitas but it's not really clever, is it? To be fair, the bombastic pathos is one of the reasons why I don't like the LoTR trilogy. There! I said it: I don't like'em - but I totally understand that millions of people like LotR and they might not even understand that I take issue with the overly dramatic pathos in this show.
Good song in the credits. Does that mean we will witness the creation of all the rings mentioned in this song? Next season tells the story about the seven rings for the dwarves then? (If this question sounds stupid: I don't know Tolkien's works and - as I said before - I was never really into the LotR movie franchise either).
Best show this year, fanboys need to stop crying
59% rating, despite not airing yet. Get a life.
Calling this show stupid is still a compliment in my opinion. Writers needs to understand that people are fan of Tolkien’s work not theirs. Stop doing stupid dialogues and why the hell would you rush Sauron manipulating elves to a single episode. This show needs better writers.
This finale should've been the whole season. How come in a show about the Rings of Power the forging of the three rings felt like a 10-minute throwaway plot whereas harfoots' goodbye took so long and got so much attention?
The two character reveals were not a surprise and a huge disappointment. The biggest let down to me was not seeing Sauron in his fair disguise, manipulating the elves of Eregion. They could've spent EPISODES exploring Sauron's power and deceit, building up his friendship with Celebrimbor, so that later the betrayal would actually hurt. Why rush Sauron living in Eregion and the forging of the rings plotlines but spend several episodes on the harfoots????
What i did enjoy were the visuals, especially the shots reflecting Sauron and Galadriel in the water, and the final shot of Sauron in Mordor. I thought Charlie Vickers' performance was particulary good in this episode and he's the one I'm most curious about going into season 2.
I don't know if this show is in the spirit of Tolkien and quite frankly I don't care. It's a darn good show and that's all I care about.
We have reached the end of the season. And even knowing only the Jackson movies I can already see a path leading towards them. But it has barely started yet and there is so much more to come. Having to wait for a year for the continuation, I sure will watch this season at least once more.
kinda goated not gonna lie
Loved it. A ful fat episode that answered some questions and raised others. A solid 8 from me.
Now THAT'S how to make an EPIC finale!! The greatest achievement of this show so far is that it finally made me care about Middle Earth lore, which the movies never did. Also having a STELLAR score and being the BEST looking show on tv can't hurt haha. Can't wait for next season already!!
"There is no curse in Elvish, Entish, or the tongues of Men for this treachery."
For such an expensive show, I really really hoped for better. Show does need far better writers and less flirting with WOKE culture. It needs to resonate more with Tolkien's spirit to be worthy.
Hoping for a better 2nd season.
I wish the rest of the season had been as good as this episode.
There are always haters and people who believe even making this series is sacrosanct and just not cricket. Well I loved it and thought the casting, the writing, the plot, the imagery, the music everything was brilliant. Having been a huge Game of Thrones fan until the final season I currently have 4/5 unwatched episodes as not that fussed anymore. Long live the new Queen in Galadriel. I am now going to rewatch all the Peter. Jackson films I have on DVD that I haven't touched since I bought them all back in the early 2000's so this series will bring a whole new army of fans I hope of this incredible alternative world.
I loved the way this season ended. While overall there were areas I wish they had gotten to quicker, I think the build up was worth it so that we were fully familiar with these characters when everything came together in the end. Having only watched the movies, I am excited to see what's going to be happening after this!
Best episode of the season - I actually enjoyed this one. It's still gushing with issues, but this one held my attention and was entertaining.
In a world where it is important to reflect the actual world we live in parents let their daughter leave with a guy they've known for just a little while? The guy who was repeatedly dragged into unwanted situations manipulated the situations to his advantage?
This episode was an improvement on the all others in the show, it seems there was less nonsense than in the earlier parts, and some vistas were really visually stunning, I love the forges of Eregion, they are definitely beautiful to look at. There is nothing at all about dwarves, which is a bit of a pity since the making of the dwarven rings could have been shown as well, but the focus is on the Elven smiths of Eregion and the forging of the Elven rings. Soon after being healed, Halbrand starts taking shop with Celebrimbor and giving him advice about forging the one piece of mithril the Elves have, soon they start to work together but Galadriel gets suspicious of him and gets intel on the kings of the Southlands. When she confronts him about his identity, Galadriel gets a strange mind trip in which Halbrand reveals himself to be Sauron and even offers Galadriel to be his queen and rule Middle-Earth alongside with him (using the words Galadriel says in FotR when tempted by the ring). She rejects him and goes to warn the smiths. By this time, Sauron is already gone on his way to Mordor. It is Galadriel's idea to make three rings to help Elves stay the decay, which are created out of Galadriel's dagger and Elrond's mithril piece. The forging scenes are visually impressive and a total eye-candy, though perhaps they don't have much in common with the real smithying business. Galadriel was much less irritating now, though it was silly of her to risk a direct confrontation with Sauron, it could have ended much worse for her than it actually happened. I guess Sauron must have had some soft spot for her as he didn't hurt her in any way even though she discovered his identity.
The sauronists find the Stranger and first they hail him as Sauron but when he does not live up to their expectations, they decide to bind him. This is when the hobbits find him and want to rescue him, and it is Nori who finally talks him into standing the side of the Good, as a result he banishes the sauronists to the darkness (they look a bit like the Nazgul then but there had been no Nazgul back then) and is revealed as one of the Istari. Finally, Nori's family encourages her to go on an adventure with the Stranger, and there are long goodbyes with her family and her bestie Poppy, which could have been shorter, the showrunners apparently wanted to mirror the long ending of RotK, but it didn't work this time. As they set off, the Stranger uses Gandalf's words about always following your nose, known from the scene in FotR in the Mines of Moria, suggesting he might be Gandalf.
Minor Numenorean things:
- Pharason orders the painting of the dying king to be done, and Elendil's daughter is the one to hear his last words, in which he mistakes her for Miriel and warns her of the fall of Numenor, if they would not return to the ways of the Faithful;
That was probably the most underwhelming season finale I have ever seen. Had such high expectations especially after seeing Sauron in full armor and the Balrog at the end of the previous episode and we got neither. The only things we got was Galadriel exposing Helbrand as Sauron, Celebrimbor forging the three rings, the man who fell from the stars turning out to be of the Istari and Nori leaving her family behind. All through the entire 70 minutes of watchtime I was hoping for some action only to be hit with disappointment and a few loose ends being tied. As always, the vistas, the music, the dialogue and everything else felt very Lord of the Rings but the pacing lacked again which made it quite a prosy episode. I really hope we get to see some more action in season 2 cause I do not want to give up on this show. :(
I had literally zero expectations about this show. It had ups and downs through the season. But I've liked the season finale.
A side note: we still don't know if the guy is really Istari, but in one of Tolkien's draft (WHICH YOU KNOW MOST OF HIS BOOKS WRITTEN ON) mentions that Istari have been to Middle earth before Third age.
pure hot garbage whatever the woke fans say it's a ruined show, lack of respect for a story written with heart and dedication
Not to brag, but I usually expect plot twists and I figure out what they are going to be, but this episode caught me off guard lol.
Question to Tolkien's fans.
Was the monarch butterfly symbolism in the books or was it added by the scriptwriters?
EDIT I've seen a lot of hate about this series. I didn't apparently pay as much attention as the people who dislike it and listed all the things that were wrong in it.
I still like it, but I'm no Tolkien's fan, I'll probably re-watch the series but first see the movies again too.
And the Sauron watch ends now
People with no patience don’t like this show. It is very faithful and gave me goosebumps in this season finale.
The stranger may or may not be Gandalf though some say it is too soon for him. I am glad he isn’t really Sauron though.
WHERE THE SHAAADOOOWS LIEEEEEEE thank you fiona apple
The story focus realigned, we got some nuanced facial expression (not a lot, blink and you'd miss it) from Galadriel, and the Hobbit's, excuse me, the Harfoot's story really brought it home. I'd say it was a satisfactory conclusion to the season. Maybe a 7/10 because the episodes were unnecessarily long due to too many cut-aways and filler silences.
Right, looking forward to next season where we'll get some answers to these bloody cliffhangers, topped off with more questions to be left unanswered until season 3. As they do. Anyway, I'll still be here for the aesthetics.
Just how naive can you be? Sauron manipulated his way into Galadriel's favour, into the Numenors' favour, lets himself be proclaimed king, and Galadrial leads right into the heart of the elven kingdom. Maybe the elves truely deserve to die out/go into the west. The question remains, what he had to gain by the elves forging the rings? So that the power of the rings and stones can be diluted enough for him to forge a master ring down the line? Looking at the rings, making a connection between the deterioration of the elven tree with evil growing stronger... they should throw the rings back into the fire fast... but it doesn't look as though that's going to happen.
Of course, the stranger's Gandalf (the thing about following your nose nailed it for me, prior to that I wasn't sure which Istar he's supposed to be, although his being enarmored by the hobbits is pretty obvious now as well), and of course Nori's going to join him (urgh).
Not sure if I'll watch the second season... maybe my memories will turn fonder the more time passes since watching the first episode...
The show is OK, not great or amazing.
But one thing which puzzles me, where the heck did they spend 1 billion dollars on, unless it is because of inflation?
This show is as boring as a documentary that no one is interested in. Weird to read the positive reviews people have. Definitely feel like we didn’t watch the same show . To each his own i guess
One decent episode out of 8. Probably most boring show of all time. I don’t understand the hype & i loved the books.
A decent enough finale for what was a mediocre season of television.
LMAO, they copied the plot of Shadow and Bone, and Sauron is just as pathetic as the Darkling.
Nori being allowed alone with an old man made me very uncomfortable.
After watching ALL 8 episodes of this series I think I need to comment now!
WOW!! is what comes to mind on such a brilliant well thought out and constructed story and the acting was excellent too.. Thank you guys ;-)
hurray, finally we got the point that we've been expected for long time. too bad thw show is slow, it really hurts what could have been an awesome show. hopefully the creative team takes that in consideration for the next season.
This season finale felt like the end of a movie. in most cases this would be considered a bad thing, but it should also be considered that this episode is nearly the length of an entire movie.
Few things in this episode are technically bad except for the pacing, which is sluggishly set. My favorite part--a confrontation between two characters which leads to a shocking revelation--was done in what k perceive to be a poorly chosen method, that of the dream sequence. Even that, however, could have been redeemed if the pacing of that sequence wasn't even more jarringly slow that the previous scene.
If the show was a typically show-paced show, this would certainly be forgiveable. However, over the past three weeks, the pace has been delightfully picking up, and I expected the season finale to be exciting and thrilling, but it felt like more of the same suspense fantasy we were getting early this season.
1x08 - Alloyed: 6.7/10 (Fair)
The finale, like the preceding episode, is disappointing. As if having an uneven season wasn't bad enough, they managed to even make the season finale dull. Was the show really as terrible as some fans claimed? Certainly not, but neither is it that good. The season as a whole has lacked any sort of heart, and this includes but is not limited to the show's sluggish tempo, its very thin characterization, and its wooden acting. The final result gives the impression that the only goal was to cash in on a well-known IP, and it comes across as being dishonest, as if the creators weren't really invested in the show. Beyond its stunning visuals, “The Rings of Power” hasn't really accomplished anything. There were certainly some high points to the first season of “The Rings of Power,” but they were more homages to the Peter Jackson trilogy than original creations. This was a decent way to kill time, but otherwise leaves one wanting more. With more seasons to go, there's hope that the show's creators will iron out the kinks. They have everything they need; they just need to put it together in the right order. If a season finale is done successfully, it should leave you feeling something at the end of it. Unfortunately, I felt barely anything after seeing this. I won't miss the show, but it had enough positives for me to return for a hopefully better next season.
How can the stranger be Gandalf? The Istari were sent to middle-earth in the third age…
I loved it! It is the first episode I truly enjoyed from the start till the very end with that song of the rings.
The final scenes are very good cliff-hangers for the next season.
They tell a lot and still leave you wondering what's more to come.
One extra episode to cement the forging of the rings and how Sauron played the elves would be great, but...
I loved the twists to the story and the metaphors used.
Once I knew that the Stranger was Gandalf, by how he rebuts the 3 wanderers and how he talks with Nori, I imagined that Sauron would have to be some elf already in the story, but who? Didn't occur to me that Halbrand would be him... he's missing the ear tips, but ok.
Numenor's queen returning not only blind, but to a harbour of black flags, that was an omen almost to the letter of what her father said - and it was incredible. The unfolding of Numenor's fall is on the works - not that I like it, cause Numenorians, but it's how Tolkien wrote!
I am curious how the dwarves story will continue, since the ending was a bit open. But good, very good.
All the races and cities got their finalle and I'm eager for the next season!
I really enjoyed the the whole season and this season finale especially. Big reveals, great acting and beautiful visuals make this a very entertaining episode. Can‘t wait for new episodes, which hopefully arrive next year.
Season finale. We liked. In the technical section, it is the best we have seen. waiting for season 2
Good finale episode now waiting 2 years for the next season
Not too bad honestly. Had a little slow pacing at times, some of the action scenes could have been better, and some scenes are a little cliche but overall enjoyable. Now with Sauron unveiled, Season 2 might be generational (here’s hoping)
omg, the 3th act plot twist that no one was expecting.... it was amazing. a solid end for the season too.
Shout by Sam Abdel HamidBlockedParent2022-10-14T16:55:10Z
It's always nice to be able to enjoy a show without being nerdily familiar with the history of the story and the origins of everything from the books.... later on true fans and readers of the series will explain everything and I'll be just fine :grin: