tv show The Rings of Power | Prime Video | Season Finale: 'Shadow and Flame' | LotR Prequel

[flower moon]

This ep was fine. yall really wanna be mad for nothing
I come in here hoping to see a discussion about the episode and just see whinging and complaining again (even by those that haven't seen it )

Anyway, i really loved the harfoot this ep honesly theyre so pure and cute
Honestly if you just take this for what it is, it's a fantastic fantasy show and its crazy we can have such a thing as a tv show like

[Liafen]

Harfoots imho are the better part of the story. They at least serve emotion. I thought that they would be the most boring and a chore to get through but it turns out I'm an OB&AH

[TaylenaStan]

Tbh it was a good transition episode, but i get why ppl are a bit underwhelmed with this episode.. we only have ONE episode left. If we had 3 episodes left this episode  would have felt a lot nicer. 

Personally im fine with a slow burning plot and taking the time to properly introduce everything, but even for me some plot lines felt a bit too slow (especially the Harfoot plot). Feels like everything they did so far could have been done in 5-6 episodes instead of 7.

Some scenes like the text transition at the end (Southlands -> Mordor) were a bit too cheesy imo
 

[BNF91]

3 hours ago, flower moon said:

This ep was fine. yall really wanna be mad for nothing
I come in here hoping to see a discussion about the episode and just see whinging and complaining again (even by those that haven't seen it )

Anyway, i really loved the harfoot this ep honesly theyre so pure and cute
Honestly if you just take this for what it is, it's a fantastic fantasy show and its crazy we can have such a thing as a tv show like

This. I'm so tired of everyone whining about every god damn thing. Everything! Everyone is this sophisticated critic now and needs the world to hear how much they dislike something, writing these essays. It's so bloody exhausting. 

 

 

 

 

[Europe]

3 hours ago, BNF91 said:

This. I'm so tired of everyone whining about every god damn thing. Everything! Everyone is this sophisticated critic now and needs the world to hear how much they dislike something, writing these essays. It's so bloody exhausting. 

 

 

 

 

If people don't like it they don't, as simple as that. The sluggish pace is even worse when you realize that the next season won't even be released in 2023. Two years of waiting after next week and for what.

[Happylittlepunk]

Yeah I agree with most ppl. This episode was kinda eh. I don’t mind seeing the harfoots. The story is slow hopefully next season things get better with writing and pacing. 
 

on a side note 

Elrond look the hottest this episode. 

[Cloröx]

The finale trailer is here, more like a recap. It seems the stranger is Sauron but I don't buy it yet since they do not show it.

 

 

 

[Jotham]

I can't believe the finale is already next week. I honestly don't even know who can be Sauron anymore. I actually won't be surprised if we don't get a reveal next week and they just build it up further in the show.

 

The episode was definitely slower than the last episode but I liked it. I find Theo really annoying but his scenes with Galadriel were very touching. I'm getting concerned for the dwarf arc though since I really wasn't expecting a downfall of Khazad-dum this early in the show. Hopefully the Balrog reveal is just a foreshadowing of what happens later in the Third Age.

[Jotham]

Also, I wonder if this means we'll see Celeborn in the next season. They better cast a hottie for him.

[Blue Rose]

@Eóghan what are your thoughts and takeaways from this episode? 
ive enjoyed reading your previous “recaps” 

Edited October 8, 2022 by Blue Rose

[Matangi]

It was kind of a filler episode, but also what was needed after the last intense one. Its way too early for the Balrog though.

Edited October 8, 2022 by Matangi

[SpankGangsta]

I finally watched the ep thinking it'll be as bad as the pilot with the way yall acting here  its not even bad. Just an expected slow episode for the aftermath of war episode. 

 

Sad that the Numenor good guys probably hating Galandriel over the dead of Isildur (I dont think he'll die though). 

 

Harfoot storyline is too fast paced imo, we as the audience is still yet to care about them yet.

 

I still cant believe the finale is next week.....they need more than 8 episodes I truly hate this trend 

 

I think the most shocking thing is that Galandriel has a husband, who was never mentioned/hinted before, but thats probably more on me being lore blind

[SpankGangsta]

Theo and Galandriel scenes were the highlight to me this week!

[nathanspears]

6 hours ago, SpankGangsta said:

I finally watched the ep thinking it'll be as bad as the pilot with the way yall acting here  its not even bad. Just an expected slow episode for the aftermath of war episode. 

 

Sad that the Numenor good guys probably hating Galandriel over the dead of Isildur (I dont think he'll die though). 

 

Harfoot storyline is too fast paced imo, we as the audience is still yet to care about them yet.

 

I still cant believe the finale is next week.....they need more than 8 episodes I truly hate this trend 

 

I think the most shocking thing is that Galandriel has a husband, who was never mentioned/hinted before, but thats probably more on me being lore blind

I guess a spoiler if you’ve never watched LOTR:

 

Isildur is a character also mentioned in Lord of the Rings with more story to come so I’m 99.9% sure he’s not dead

[drmkng]

I'm trying so hard to hold myself back from shading some of you  when you guys talk about Isildur or Celeborn  

 

I know, not everyone has to know everything about lotr trilogy but still

 

as a massive lotr fan, I haven't liked this show so far

[Cloröx]

14 hours ago, SpankGangsta said:

I finally watched the ep thinking it'll be as bad as the pilot with the way yall acting here  its not even bad. Just an expected slow episode for the aftermath of war episode. 

 

Sad that the Numenor good guys probably hating Galandriel over the dead of Isildur (I dont think he'll die though). 

 

Harfoot storyline is too fast paced imo, we as the audience is still yet to care about them yet.

 

I still cant believe the finale is next week.....they need more than 8 episodes I truly hate this trend 

 

I think the most shocking thing is that Galandriel has a husband, who was never mentioned/hinted before, but thats probably more on me being lore blind

Wait you have not watch LOTR yet? 

[SpankGangsta]

6 hours ago, Cloröx said:

Wait you have not watch LOTR yet? 

I watched it once forced by my friend who was very distracting  I only remember Frodo being an annoying kid and Sam being too nice of a simp. 

[Cloröx]

30 minutes ago, SpankGangsta said:

I watched it once forced by my friend who was very distracting  I only remember Frodo being an annoying kid and Sam being too nice of a simp. 

Duh you should and must watch LOTR and the Hobbits trilogy before watching Rings of Power 

[Eóghan]

Just got time to watch the last one @Blue Rose

I actually think from a character perspective this was the best episode. Not my favorite, episode 5 remains my fave this season. I think it will grow on me with multiple viewings. It was way more character heavy than plot heavy, which is what I expected; they pulled it back to give characters time to reflect. They did a great job of depicting the devastation also.

 

my takeways:

* Galadriel was basically talking to theo as much as she was coming to her own realizations. she did seem to give off the aura of older Galadriel in this episode. I'm happy for that. theo was really the the right outlet/mirror for her to reflect on, and realize the error of her ways. And next week she’ll come to see even more clearly. I think.

* the medical tent scene surprised me the most ... that was really gnarly for a Tolkien adaptation. Perhaps influenced by the scenes Tolkien himself saw in WWI.

* the way the Harfoots just said YOLO had me screaming 

* Miriel being blinded confirms her father's warning that "only darkness awaits her in Middle Earth". eek at the foreshadowing
* the mystics were both scary and beautiful. Love the moonlit shots of them by the tree in profile. Very…Biblical and otherworldly. I do wonder if they are corrupted . maia

 

* Lol Halbrand being gravely injured and Galadriel taking him to be healed adds even more meaning to ''she might have inadvertently kept alive the very evil she sought to defeat.'' Not saying anything else  we'll see what they give us with the finale next week.

* best line is from King Durin: “But the fire embraces truth. That all things must one day be consumed, and fade away to ash.”

 

 

It was a major step forward storywise when I think about it. It set up that the Numenoreans will be back as an aggressive interventionist power. Elendil’s faith in elves is shaken after losing Isildur. Galadriel is finally coming to terms with her mistakes and is going back to elvendom. The mithril plan didn’t workout, leaving the rings of power as the next step for the elves. Prince Durin is de-princified. The balrog is revealed but the mines are sealed so we won't see him anytime soon, not until the current King is dead anyway. The harfoots band together to protect the Stranger, who will have a confrontation with the Mystics from the East next week. 

 

 

This shot is so Tolkien, I love it.
 

 

 

 

 

[Eóghan]

On 10/8/2022 at 6:57 AM, Jotham said:

I'm getting concerned for the dwarf arc though since I really wasn't expecting a downfall of Khazad-dum this early in the show. Hopefully the Balrog reveal is just a foreshadowing of what happens later in the Third Age.

On 10/8/2022 at 12:03 PM, Matangi said:

It was kind of a filler episode, but also what was needed after the last intense one. Its way too early for the Balrog though.

The way I took it is that the balrog is not going to wreak havoc on Moria yet because Papa Durin seals the shaft up?

It seems like they won't be any Mithril trade with other races for a while, not until the current king is alive. That's what Disa hinted at Prince Durin, they'll just wait until he becomes king and then they'll start to mine mithril. We might get a time jump next season.

 

 

On 10/8/2022 at 6:59 AM, Jotham said:

Also, I wonder if this means we'll see Celeborn in the next season. They better cast a hottie for him.

On 10/8/2022 at 1:35 PM, SpankGangsta said:

 

I think the most shocking thing is that Galandriel has a husband, who was never mentioned/hinted before, but thats probably more on me being lore blind

 

I think they definitely have plans to have it all make sense within her overall arc. I think episode 7 was proof her being obnoxious at the beginning of the seasons was exactly the point. we weren’t really supposed to like her. In E7, I felt we saw the galadriel from LOTR for the first time. the way she talked to Theo…similar to her convos with frodo imo. she’s starting to have some wisdom. Celeborn will be the next stage of healing for her, so I definitely think we're gonna get Celeborn next season. They didn't mention Celeborn here for nothing, it will be interesting to see how they bring him back into the picture, especially since she thought he was dead. 

also reading an interview with the actress who plays Galadriel, I felt that she buried her grief for Celeborn so deep inside that she herself doesn’t dare go there. To her, Finrod’s revenge was an easier way to cope.

And the grief is so deep that she can’t talk to anyone about the loss of Celeborn. Only when talking to a kid, in the aftermath of a catastrophe she believes is of her making, can she say anything about it. And to a kid. I thought that was very smart writing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On 10/8/2022 at 1:40 PM, SpankGangsta said:

Theo and Galadriel scenes were the highlight to me this week!

yeah those scenes were 10/10.

I could hear professor Tolkien in those scenes with Galadriel and Theo, an old soldier advising a young one to perhaps not charge into their own destruction … I probably just think of the trenches every time I see characters in these scenes in these stories, and Tolkien transposing his experience in WWI into the books.

also galadriel's arc is really great so far. early on we were supposed to find Galadriel arrogant, prideful and single-minded. the showrunners went with a much more challenging main protagonist than most big shows or big films would. with episode 7 behind us, I’ve come to admire just how bold and dangerous a choice that was. there’s nothing mediocre about that approach. And it certainly wasn’t playing to the "incel bros".
 

[Eóghan]

And I don't know about y'all but the whole Mithril thing with the elves had me confused af 

but after episode 7 now I think I understand what they're goin for.

 

so basically to make it simple, the Rings of Power will be the cure but Mithril is the vaccine that they aren't allowed to have access to.

the Elves are fading. they believe that mithril is the cure. Celebrimbor has a plan to saturate every elf in the light somehow. to do that, he needs vast quantities of Mithril. the dwarves will not provide mithril to the elves. so the Rings of Power will have to become the solution.
they only have a nugget from Elrond. so we are about to enter a stage of Celebrimbor's plan NOT WORKING. so another way of saving the Elves using something other than a tiny quantity of mithril will need to be found.
so the Rings of Power will become the solution to elven fading with Sauron showing  them what they're missing to make it happen. but perhaps with a touch of mithril as an aid? 

 

[Drowned8World]

23 minutes ago, Eóghan said:

 

 

 

the purists are really mad with that scene. I follow this very well known spanish tolkien fan and he keeps making jokes about it. Sad he became a troll like those people

[Blue Rose]

1 hour ago, Eóghan said:

Just got time to watch the last one @Blue Rose

I actually think from a character perspective this was the best episode. Not my favorite, episode 5 remains my fave this season. I think it will grow on me with multiple viewings. It was way more character heavy than plot heavy, which is what I expected; they pulled it back to give characters time to reflect. They did a great job of depicting the devastation also.

 

my takeways:

* Galadriel was basically talking to theo as much as she was coming to her own realizations. she did seem to give off the aura of older Galadriel in this episode. I'm happy for that. theo was really the the right outlet/mirror for her to reflect on, and realize the error of her ways. And next week she’ll come to see even more clearly. I think.

* the medical tent scene surprised me the most ... that was really gnarly for a Tolkien adaptation. Perhaps influenced by the scenes Tolkien himself saw in WWI.

* the way the Harfoots just said YOLO had me screaming 

* Miriel being blinded confirms her father's warning that "only darkness awaits her in Middle Earth". eek at the foreshadowing
* the mystics were both scary and beautiful. Love the moonlit shots of them by the tree in profile. Very…Biblical and otherworldly. I do wonder if they are corrupted . maia

 

* Lol Halbrand being gravely injured and Galadriel taking him to be healed adds even more meaning to ''she might have inadvertently kept alive the very evil she sought to defeat.'' Not saying anything else  we'll see what they give us with the finale next week.

* best line is from King Durin: “But the fire embraces truth. That all things must one day be consumed, and fade away to ash.”

 

 

It was a major step forward storywise when I think about it. It set up that the Numenoreans will be back as an aggressive interventionist power. Elendil’s faith in elves is shaken after losing Isildur. Galadriel is finally coming to terms with her mistakes and is going back to elvendom. The mithril plan didn’t workout, leaving the rings of power as the next step for the elves. Prince Durin is de-princified. The balrog is revealed but the mines are sealed so we won't see him anytime soon, not until the current King is dead anyway. The harfoots band together to protect the Stranger, who will have a confrontation with the Mystics from the East next week. 

 

 

This shot is so Tolkien, I love it.
 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for sharing.
I agree this episode wasn’t as bad as some said, but definitely one of the slower ones. I think the fact there’s only one episode left kinda took us by surprise, especially since it felt like they were finally kicking things into high gear. From a writing perspective, everything made sense. I can’t wait to rewatch this episode this week

[Eóghan]

pretty cool stuff I found about the "opening theme" by howard shore 

 

 

 

 

Quote

<<Then the voices of the Ainur, like unto harps and lutes, and pipes and trumpets, and viols and organs, and like unto countless choirs singing with words, began to fashion the theme of Iluvatar to a great music; and a sound arose of endless interchanging melodies woven in harmony that passed beyond hearing into the depths and into the heights, and the places of the dwelling of Iluvatar were filled to overflowing, and then the music and the echo of the music went out into the Void, and it was not void.>>

From "Silmarilllion" by JRR Tolkien

 

 

"The opening theme is a visual representation of the creation story of Middle Earth (Ainulindalë). The singing of the Ainur with the black sand entering during the discords of Melkor (Morgoth). There are two themes in the piece, the chaos of the music of Morgoth invading, mirrors the singing by Eru Ilúvatar that created middle earth. The first one being in a minor key and the second one being in a major key. Minor key represents the Ainur, delicate and emotional, while the major key is Melkor."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Making Of

 

 

[Elusive Chanteuse]

According to the interview with the two show runnerss it will take TWO years to film season 2. I feel like that will kill all hype and momentum for this show.