The Lord of the Rings - Revision history

Pachinko Man: /* Amazon's Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power */

2025-07-26T20:33:41Z

Amazon's Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

imported>Administrator: 388 revisions imported

2023-06-23T14:47:27Z

388 revisions imported

← Older revision	Revision as of 14:47, 23 June 2023
(No difference)

1d4chan>A Walrus: /* Legacy */

2023-06-19T18:36:15Z

Legacy

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:36, 19 June 2023
Line 77:		Line 77:
	It's commonly accepted that the Lord of the Rings invented modern fantasy fiction, as everybody basically used it as a template for most, if not all, future stories that involved anything more than Knights, princesses, and dragons. That being said, most people tend to only pick up the surface elements of the stories without the nuances they originally came with, either to fit their own stories or because they just thought, "hey, orcs are cool, imma add them to my campaign." One example is that despite everyone basing [[elves]] on Tolkien's interpretation rather than the more pixie-like versions of previous generations, most stories' elves are universally depicted as arrogant and smug racists who were almost as commonplace as humans, whereas Tolkien hewed closer to the original mythological version of an alien, isolationist, though not outright hostile people, who seldom interacted with mortals (it helped that any racial supremacist tendencies they once had were basically stomped out of them after getting their asses kicked in the First Age, with humans giving them most of their support). On top of that, the books are pretty clear that Elven immortality isn't all sunshine and rainbows, as they are doomed to fade into wraiths unless they travel to the Undying Lands.		It's commonly accepted that the Lord of the Rings invented modern fantasy fiction, as everybody basically used it as a template for most, if not all, future stories that involved anything more than Knights, princesses, and dragons. That being said, most people tend to only pick up the surface elements of the stories without the nuances they originally came with, either to fit their own stories or because they just thought, "hey, orcs are cool, imma add them to my campaign." One example is that despite everyone basing [[elves]] on Tolkien's interpretation rather than the more pixie-like versions of previous generations, most stories' elves are universally depicted as arrogant and smug racists who were almost as commonplace as humans, whereas Tolkien hewed closer to the original mythological version of an alien, isolationist, though not outright hostile people, who seldom interacted with mortals (it helped that any racial supremacist tendencies they once had were basically stomped out of them after getting their asses kicked in the First Age, with humans giving them most of their support). On top of that, the books are pretty clear that Elven immortality isn't all sunshine and rainbows, as they are doomed to fade into wraiths unless they travel to the Undying Lands.

	The series took some time to find his audience. As mentioned it was cut up into three volumes mostly to save money on type setting and because ~~cutting up~~ it ~~up into smaller bits~~ made it more digestible. The early reviews were mixed and a fair number of critics just did not get what seemed to them to be an overblown children's story. The books did not flop on release, but neither were they a runaway success on day one. It took a few years of word-of-mouth to spread, gradually gaining readers and fans. It had a hard time crossing the Pond due to some nonsense involving Houghton Mifflin not printing enough copies stateside, trying to import british copies to keep up with demand and import rules leading to a bunch of unofficial bootlegs. Never the less, demand was there.		The series took some time to find his audience. As mentioned it was cut up into three volumes mostly to save money on type setting and because it made it more more digestible. The early reviews were mixed and a fair number of critics just did not get what seemed to them to be an overblown children's story. The books did not flop on release, but neither were they a runaway success on day one. It took a few years of word-of-mouth to spread, gradually gaining readers and fans. It had a hard time crossing the Pond due to some nonsense involving Houghton Mifflin not printing enough copies stateside, trying to import british copies to keep up with demand and import rules leading to a bunch of unofficial bootlegs. Never the less, demand was there.

	Even in his time, while Tolkien maintained a strong correspondence with his fans (he wrote enough letters that they essentially became a supplement on the Lord of the Rings stories), he felt that a lot of people simply didn't ''get'' his stories. Hippies declared Frodo to be an anti-establishment hero (as encapsulated in the "Frodo Lives" movement), despite Tolkien himself being strongly conservative and the story containing an explicitly pro-monarchy plot point in Aragorn's ascension. On the other end of the spectrum, Tolkien has also been a sadly popular target for accusations of racism even though his letters made his utter hatred for Hitler and Nazism pretty clear and he also explicitly rejected "race doctrine", to say nothing for things in the books themselves that contradict the charge, such as the Haradrim being respected by Gondor and Rohan, who make peace with them after the War of the Ring, Númenor's society going to shit the more oppressive of other men they became, and a dead Haradrim being shown sympathy by Sam (Faramir in the movie). People would claim it to be an allegory of WWII and nuclear war, despite being based on his own personal experiences during WWI (he also hated allegories in general). And if he were alive today, he'd probably call the travesty that was the Hobbit trilogy (see below) the very "disneyfied" crap that he sought to avoid. [https://limyaael.livejournal.com/181634.html/ Here's a list] of fantasy cliches attributed to Tolkien that are actually misrepresentations of what he wrote because the authors would miss the point.		Even in his time, while Tolkien maintained a strong correspondence with his fans (he wrote enough letters that they essentially became a supplement on the Lord of the Rings stories), he felt that a lot of people simply didn't ''get'' his stories. Hippies declared Frodo to be an anti-establishment hero (as encapsulated in the "Frodo Lives" movement), despite Tolkien himself being strongly if unconventionally conservative and the story containing an explicitly pro-monarchy plot point in Aragorn's ascension. On the other end of the spectrum, Tolkien has also been a sadly popular target for accusations of racism even though his letters made his utter hatred for Hitler and Nazism pretty clear and he also explicitly rejected "race doctrine", to say nothing for things in the books themselves that contradict the charge, such as the Haradrim being respected by Gondor and Rohan, who make peace with them after the War of the Ring, Númenor's society going to shit the more oppressive of other men they became, and a dead Haradrim being shown sympathy by Sam (Faramir in the movie). People would claim it to be an allegory of WWII and nuclear war, despite being based on his own personal experiences during WWI (he also hated allegories in general). And if he were alive today, he'd probably call the travesty that was the Hobbit trilogy (see below) the very "disneyfied" crap that he sought to avoid. [https://limyaael.livejournal.com/181634.html/ Here's a list] of fantasy cliches attributed to Tolkien that are actually misrepresentations of what he wrote because the authors would miss the point.

	All that being said, the influence of his books can't be denied. The funny thing though, is that despite being a source of inspiration for Dungeons and Dragons (one could argue that DnD codified fantasy tropes moreso than LOTR, but that's for another time), the actual story of the Lord of the Rings wouldn't make for a great roleplaying campaign; rewards for battles are scant, the vast majority of enemies are orcs, orcs, and more orcs <s>with a dash of goblins</s> that's just another term for orcs, the actual fighting done by Aragorn's team is of secondary importance to Frodo's mission to destroy the ring, Sauron never appears in the flesh so there's no final boss, etc. A webcomic called "[http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=612 DM of the Rings]" explores this concept quite humorously, as the tension between the player characters (as Aragorn's party) and the DM shows how frustrated they get when the story doesn't meet their hack-and-slash expectations.		All that being said, the influence of his books can't be denied. The funny thing though, is that despite being a source of inspiration for Dungeons and Dragons (one could argue that DnD codified fantasy tropes moreso than LOTR, but that's for another time), the actual story of the Lord of the Rings wouldn't make for a great roleplaying campaign; rewards for battles are scant, the vast majority of enemies are orcs, orcs, and more orcs <s>with a dash of goblins</s> that's just another term for orcs, the actual fighting done by Aragorn's team is of secondary importance to Frodo's mission to destroy the ring, Sauron never appears in the flesh so there's no final boss, etc. A webcomic called "[http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=612 DM of the Rings]" explores this concept quite humorously, as the tension between the player characters (as Aragorn's party) and the DM shows how frustrated they get when the story doesn't meet their hack-and-slash expectations.

imported>Administrator: 1 revision imported

2023-06-19T14:07:18Z

1 revision imported

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:07, 19 June 2023
Line 77:		Line 77:
	It's commonly accepted that the Lord of the Rings invented modern fantasy fiction, as everybody basically used it as a template for most, if not all, future stories that involved anything more than Knights, princesses, and dragons. That being said, most people tend to only pick up the surface elements of the stories without the nuances they originally came with, either to fit their own stories or because they just thought, "hey, orcs are cool, imma add them to my campaign." One example is that despite everyone basing [[elves]] on Tolkien's interpretation rather than the more pixie-like versions of previous generations, most stories' elves are universally depicted as arrogant and smug racists who were almost as commonplace as humans, whereas Tolkien hewed closer to the original mythological version of an alien, isolationist, though not outright hostile people, who seldom interacted with mortals (it helped that any racial supremacist tendencies they once had were basically stomped out of them after getting their asses kicked in the First Age, with humans giving them most of their support). On top of that, the books are pretty clear that Elven immortality isn't all sunshine and rainbows, as they are doomed to fade into wraiths unless they travel to the Undying Lands.		It's commonly accepted that the Lord of the Rings invented modern fantasy fiction, as everybody basically used it as a template for most, if not all, future stories that involved anything more than Knights, princesses, and dragons. That being said, most people tend to only pick up the surface elements of the stories without the nuances they originally came with, either to fit their own stories or because they just thought, "hey, orcs are cool, imma add them to my campaign." One example is that despite everyone basing [[elves]] on Tolkien's interpretation rather than the more pixie-like versions of previous generations, most stories' elves are universally depicted as arrogant and smug racists who were almost as commonplace as humans, whereas Tolkien hewed closer to the original mythological version of an alien, isolationist, though not outright hostile people, who seldom interacted with mortals (it helped that any racial supremacist tendencies they once had were basically stomped out of them after getting their asses kicked in the First Age, with humans giving them most of their support). On top of that, the books are pretty clear that Elven immortality isn't all sunshine and rainbows, as they are doomed to fade into wraiths unless they travel to the Undying Lands.

	The series took some time to find his audience. As mentioned it was cut up into three volumes mostly to save money on type setting and because it made it ~~more~~ more digestible. The early reviews were mixed and a fair number of critics just did not get what seemed to them to be an overblown children's story. The books did not flop on release, but neither were they a runaway success on day one. It took a few years of word-of-mouth to spread, gradually gaining readers and fans. It had a hard time crossing the Pond due to some nonsense involving Houghton Mifflin not printing enough copies stateside, trying to import british copies to keep up with demand and import rules leading to a bunch of unofficial bootlegs. Never the less, demand was there.		The series took some time to find his audience. As mentioned it was cut up into three volumes mostly to save money on type setting and because cutting up it up into smaller bits made it more digestible. The early reviews were mixed and a fair number of critics just did not get what seemed to them to be an overblown children's story. The books did not flop on release, but neither were they a runaway success on day one. It took a few years of word-of-mouth to spread, gradually gaining readers and fans. It had a hard time crossing the Pond due to some nonsense involving Houghton Mifflin not printing enough copies stateside, trying to import british copies to keep up with demand and import rules leading to a bunch of unofficial bootlegs. Never the less, demand was there.

	Even in his time, while Tolkien maintained a strong correspondence with his fans (he wrote enough letters that they essentially became a supplement on the Lord of the Rings stories), he felt that a lot of people simply didn't ''get'' his stories. Hippies declared Frodo to be an anti-establishment hero (as encapsulated in the "Frodo Lives" movement), despite Tolkien himself being strongly conservative and the story containing an explicitly pro-monarchy plot point in Aragorn's ascension. On the other end of the spectrum, Tolkien has also been a sadly popular target for accusations of racism even though his letters made his utter hatred for Hitler and Nazism pretty clear and he also explicitly rejected "race doctrine", to say nothing for things in the books themselves that contradict the charge, such as the Haradrim being respected by Gondor and Rohan, who make peace with them after the War of the Ring, Númenor's society going to shit the more oppressive of other men they became, and a dead Haradrim being shown sympathy by Sam (Faramir in the movie). People would claim it to be an allegory of WWII and nuclear war, despite being based on his own personal experiences during WWI (he also hated allegories in general). And if he were alive today, he'd probably call the travesty that was the Hobbit trilogy (see below) the very "disneyfied" crap that he sought to avoid. [https://limyaael.livejournal.com/181634.html/ Here's a list] of fantasy cliches attributed to Tolkien that are actually misrepresentations of what he wrote because the authors would miss the point.		Even in his time, while Tolkien maintained a strong correspondence with his fans (he wrote enough letters that they essentially became a supplement on the Lord of the Rings stories), he felt that a lot of people simply didn't ''get'' his stories. Hippies declared Frodo to be an anti-establishment hero (as encapsulated in the "Frodo Lives" movement), despite Tolkien himself being strongly conservative and the story containing an explicitly pro-monarchy plot point in Aragorn's ascension. On the other end of the spectrum, Tolkien has also been a sadly popular target for accusations of racism even though his letters made his utter hatred for Hitler and Nazism pretty clear and he also explicitly rejected "race doctrine", to say nothing for things in the books themselves that contradict the charge, such as the Haradrim being respected by Gondor and Rohan, who make peace with them after the War of the Ring, Númenor's society going to shit the more oppressive of other men they became, and a dead Haradrim being shown sympathy by Sam (Faramir in the movie). People would claim it to be an allegory of WWII and nuclear war, despite being based on his own personal experiences during WWI (he also hated allegories in general). And if he were alive today, he'd probably call the travesty that was the Hobbit trilogy (see below) the very "disneyfied" crap that he sought to avoid. [https://limyaael.livejournal.com/181634.html/ Here's a list] of fantasy cliches attributed to Tolkien that are actually misrepresentations of what he wrote because the authors would miss the point.

1d4chan>A Walrus: /* Legacy */

2023-06-19T14:07:07Z

Legacy

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:07, 19 June 2023
Line 77:		Line 77:
	It's commonly accepted that the Lord of the Rings invented modern fantasy fiction, as everybody basically used it as a template for most, if not all, future stories that involved anything more than Knights, princesses, and dragons. That being said, most people tend to only pick up the surface elements of the stories without the nuances they originally came with, either to fit their own stories or because they just thought, "hey, orcs are cool, imma add them to my campaign." One example is that despite everyone basing [[elves]] on Tolkien's interpretation rather than the more pixie-like versions of previous generations, most stories' elves are universally depicted as arrogant and smug racists who were almost as commonplace as humans, whereas Tolkien hewed closer to the original mythological version of an alien, isolationist, though not outright hostile people, who seldom interacted with mortals (it helped that any racial supremacist tendencies they once had were basically stomped out of them after getting their asses kicked in the First Age, with humans giving them most of their support). On top of that, the books are pretty clear that Elven immortality isn't all sunshine and rainbows, as they are doomed to fade into wraiths unless they travel to the Undying Lands.		It's commonly accepted that the Lord of the Rings invented modern fantasy fiction, as everybody basically used it as a template for most, if not all, future stories that involved anything more than Knights, princesses, and dragons. That being said, most people tend to only pick up the surface elements of the stories without the nuances they originally came with, either to fit their own stories or because they just thought, "hey, orcs are cool, imma add them to my campaign." One example is that despite everyone basing [[elves]] on Tolkien's interpretation rather than the more pixie-like versions of previous generations, most stories' elves are universally depicted as arrogant and smug racists who were almost as commonplace as humans, whereas Tolkien hewed closer to the original mythological version of an alien, isolationist, though not outright hostile people, who seldom interacted with mortals (it helped that any racial supremacist tendencies they once had were basically stomped out of them after getting their asses kicked in the First Age, with humans giving them most of their support). On top of that, the books are pretty clear that Elven immortality isn't all sunshine and rainbows, as they are doomed to fade into wraiths unless they travel to the Undying Lands.

	The series took some time to find his audience. As mentioned it was cut up into three volumes mostly to save money on type setting and because ~~cutting up~~ it ~~up into smaller bits~~ made it more digestible. The early reviews were mixed and a fair number of critics just did not get what seemed to them to be an overblown children's story. The books did not flop on release, but neither were they a runaway success on day one. It took a few years of word-of-mouth to spread, gradually gaining readers and fans. It had a hard time crossing the Pond due to some nonsense involving Houghton Mifflin not printing enough copies stateside, trying to import british copies to keep up with demand and import rules leading to a bunch of unofficial bootlegs. Never the less, demand was there.		The series took some time to find his audience. As mentioned it was cut up into three volumes mostly to save money on type setting and because it made it more more digestible. The early reviews were mixed and a fair number of critics just did not get what seemed to them to be an overblown children's story. The books did not flop on release, but neither were they a runaway success on day one. It took a few years of word-of-mouth to spread, gradually gaining readers and fans. It had a hard time crossing the Pond due to some nonsense involving Houghton Mifflin not printing enough copies stateside, trying to import british copies to keep up with demand and import rules leading to a bunch of unofficial bootlegs. Never the less, demand was there.

	Even in his time, while Tolkien maintained a strong correspondence with his fans (he wrote enough letters that they essentially became a supplement on the Lord of the Rings stories), he felt that a lot of people simply didn't ''get'' his stories. Hippies declared Frodo to be an anti-establishment hero (as encapsulated in the "Frodo Lives" movement), despite Tolkien himself being strongly conservative and the story containing an explicitly pro-monarchy plot point in Aragorn's ascension. On the other end of the spectrum, Tolkien has also been a sadly popular target for accusations of racism even though his letters made his utter hatred for Hitler and Nazism pretty clear and he also explicitly rejected "race doctrine", to say nothing for things in the books themselves that contradict the charge, such as the Haradrim being respected by Gondor and Rohan, who make peace with them after the War of the Ring, Númenor's society going to shit the more oppressive of other men they became, and a dead Haradrim being shown sympathy by Sam (Faramir in the movie). People would claim it to be an allegory of WWII and nuclear war, despite being based on his own personal experiences during WWI (he also hated allegories in general). And if he were alive today, he'd probably call the travesty that was the Hobbit trilogy (see below) the very "disneyfied" crap that he sought to avoid. [https://limyaael.livejournal.com/181634.html/ Here's a list] of fantasy cliches attributed to Tolkien that are actually misrepresentations of what he wrote because the authors would miss the point.		Even in his time, while Tolkien maintained a strong correspondence with his fans (he wrote enough letters that they essentially became a supplement on the Lord of the Rings stories), he felt that a lot of people simply didn't ''get'' his stories. Hippies declared Frodo to be an anti-establishment hero (as encapsulated in the "Frodo Lives" movement), despite Tolkien himself being strongly conservative and the story containing an explicitly pro-monarchy plot point in Aragorn's ascension. On the other end of the spectrum, Tolkien has also been a sadly popular target for accusations of racism even though his letters made his utter hatred for Hitler and Nazism pretty clear and he also explicitly rejected "race doctrine", to say nothing for things in the books themselves that contradict the charge, such as the Haradrim being respected by Gondor and Rohan, who make peace with them after the War of the Ring, Númenor's society going to shit the more oppressive of other men they became, and a dead Haradrim being shown sympathy by Sam (Faramir in the movie). People would claim it to be an allegory of WWII and nuclear war, despite being based on his own personal experiences during WWI (he also hated allegories in general). And if he were alive today, he'd probably call the travesty that was the Hobbit trilogy (see below) the very "disneyfied" crap that he sought to avoid. [https://limyaael.livejournal.com/181634.html/ Here's a list] of fantasy cliches attributed to Tolkien that are actually misrepresentations of what he wrote because the authors would miss the point.

115.70.44.117: /* Amazon's Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power */

2023-05-29T10:14:06Z

Amazon's Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:14, 29 May 2023
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	<div class="mw-collapsible-content">		<div class="mw-collapsible-content">

	Half a decade after ''The Hobbit'' trilogy's derpy conclusion, Amazon announced, with much fanfare, that they were going to make a streaming series based on Tolkien's Legendarium. Given the unreadable and generally obscure nature of the subject to mainstream audiences (moviegoers), fans reacted with wary interest and curiosity. The Second Age, while at least being somewhat familiar as the backstory to LOTR and given five minutes of depiction in the film's prologue, only takes up two chapters in the Silmarillion. That excitement quickly devolved into seething irritation and [[Rage\|rage]]. This began at the first major warning sign; the firing of Amazon's resident Tolkien consultant Tom Shippey (a British medievalist who has written six books and several academic papers on Tolkien's work, who even met and worked with Tolkien himself at the same university) and subsequent replacement by someone far less qualified, far less experienced and heavily invested in [[SJW\|modern identity politics]]. ~~Combined with~~ this happening shortly after the death of Christopher Tolkien - the one person in the Tolkien estate protective of his father's work - it was clear there was an agenda. ~~More bad news~~ came out ~~soon after;~~ Amazon '''didn't actually have the rights to any of the Legendarium works'''. They had spent several hundred million dollars only buying rights to the names, people, and events named in the Appendices, and are unable to reference anything else.		Half a decade after ''The Hobbit'' trilogy's derpy conclusion, Amazon announced, with much fanfare, that they were going to make a streaming series based on Tolkien's Legendarium. Given the unreadable and generally obscure nature of the subject to mainstream audiences (moviegoers), fans reacted with wary interest and curiosity. The Second Age, while at least being somewhat familiar as the backstory to LOTR and given five minutes of depiction in the film's prologue, only takes up two chapters in the Silmarillion. That excitement quickly devolved into seething irritation and [[Rage\|rage]]. This began at the first major warning sign; the firing of Amazon's resident Tolkien consultant Tom Shippey (a British medievalist who has written six books and several academic papers on Tolkien's work, who even met and worked with Tolkien himself at the same university) and his subsequent replacement by someone far less qualified, far less experienced and heavily invested in [[SJW\|modern identity politics]]. Given this happening shortly after the death of Christopher Tolkien - the one person in the Tolkien estate protective of his father's work - it was clear there was an agenda. Then it came out that Amazon '''didn't actually have the rights to any of the Legendarium works'''. They had spent several hundred million dollars only buying rights to the names, people, and events named in the Appendices, and are unable to reference anything else.

	Worse, ~~it was revealed~~ the showrunners had no screenwriting or directing credits to their name, only being hired after J.J. Abrams vouched for them. Their most famous work was uncredited rewrites to "punch up" the script of ''[[Star Trek\|Star Trek: Into Darkness]]''. Even if they were willing to write whatever Amazon demanded of them, it was seen as bizarre for Amazon to risk their literally billion-dollar investment on completely amateur leaders. One can only assume it was done to spite the showrunners originally attached to the project, who had been fired by Amazon Studio head Jennifer Salke and went on to produce the critically acclaimed ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire\|House of the Dragon]]''. Several of the main actors themselves were either inexperienced or complete newcomers, most noticeable with the actress playing Galadriel. Supposedly, ''The Rings of Power'' was the product of Jeff Bezos wanting to have his own ''Game of Thrones'' for Prime Streaming. There were rumors that the show would be incredibly violent and gratuitously sexual (early in production people spotted a job posting for an intimacy coordinator, and there's only one reason why you'd hire such a person), in stark contrast to Tolkien's works, and many expected the worst. Another popular theory is that Amazon simply bought the rights so that no one else can have them, and then spend the minimum effort required to fulfill their contractual obligations to the Tolkien Estate.		Worse, the showrunners had no screenwriting or directing credits to their name, only being hired after J.J. Abrams vouched for them. Their most famous work was uncredited rewrites to "punch up" the script of ''[[Star Trek\|Star Trek: Into Darkness]]''. Even if they were willing to write whatever Amazon demanded of them, it was seen as bizarre for Amazon to risk their literally billion-dollar investment on completely amateur leaders. One can only assume it was done to spite the showrunners originally attached to the project, who had been fired by Amazon Studio head Jennifer Salke and went on to produce the critically acclaimed ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire\|House of the Dragon]]''. Several of the main actors themselves were either inexperienced or complete newcomers, most noticeable with the actress playing Galadriel. Supposedly, ''The Rings of Power'' was the product of Jeff Bezos wanting to have his own ''Game of Thrones'' for Prime Streaming. There were rumors that the show would be incredibly violent and gratuitously sexual (early in production people spotted a job posting for an intimacy coordinator, and there's only one reason why you'd hire such a person), in stark contrast to Tolkien's works, and many expected the worst. Another popular theory is that Amazon simply bought the rights so that no one else can have them, and then spend the minimum effort required to fulfill their contractual obligations to the Tolkien Estate.

	The final nail in the coffin were Amazon's announcements that they wanted to "adapt" and [[SJW\|˝modernize˝]] Tolkien's work for the present-day. This proved that the ''Rings of Power'' was a prestige product for some studio suits and ~~amateur writers~~ rather than a passionate or faithful adaptation of Tolkien's work. [[Skub\|They revealed black elves, black/brown Numenoreans]], black and [[Derp\|'''beardless''']] dwarf women, and even [[What\|multi-hued hobbits]] that weren't even supposed to exist in the Second Age. Worse, it all looked cheap and lazy and was promoted by paid actors pretending to be "superfans" of Tolkien who could only speak diversity, equity, and inclusion catchphrases. The backlash to the "superfans" trailers (they made multiple trailers for multiple regions in different languages with different actors all speaking from the same general script) was so bad that Amazon chose to unlist the videos from Youtube and Prime.		The final nail in the coffin were Amazon's announcements that they wanted to "adapt" and [[SJW\|˝modernize˝]] Tolkien's work for the present-day. This proved that the ''Rings of Power'' was a prestige product for some studio suits and ideologues rather than a passionate or faithful adaptation of Tolkien's work. [[Skub\|They revealed black elves, black/brown Numenoreans]], black and [[Derp\|'''beardless''']] dwarf women, and even [[What\|multi-hued hobbits]] that weren't even supposed to exist in the Second Age. Worse, it all looked cheap and lazy and was promoted by paid actors pretending to be "superfans" of Tolkien who could only speak diversity, equity, and inclusion catchphrases. The backlash to the "superfans" trailers (they made multiple trailers for multiple regions in different languages with different actors all speaking from the same general script) was so bad that Amazon chose to unlist the videos from Youtube and Prime.

	''Rings of Power'' launched in direct competition with ''House of the Dragon'' and initial audience reception was not good. Despite '''literally paying''' for millions of premiere viewers by virtue of paying movie theaters to play episodes 1 and 2 for free, viewer numbers entered freefall with subsequent episodes and reviews were consistently, though not universally, negative among the audience. Critics were more favorably disposed to it, though even they were not particularly flattering unless they were reviewing for dedicated entertainment sites like IGN, in which case the show could do no wrong. Many of the initial reviews focused on the leaden acting and terrible writing, grave sins for anyone who'd watched Peter Jackson's trilogy or the original books (though perhaps it suited material allegedly based on ''The Silmarillion'') and the show's absolutely obvious cheapness; despite spending a rumored $60 million per episode, sets were often empty of crowds, costumes were noticeably bad, and CGI was glaringly obvious.		''Rings of Power'' launched in direct competition with ''House of the Dragon'' and initial audience reception was not good. Despite '''literally paying''' for millions of premiere viewers by virtue of paying movie theaters to play episodes 1 and 2 for free, viewer numbers entered freefall with subsequent episodes and reviews were consistently, though not universally, negative among the audience. Critics were more favorably disposed to it, though even they were not particularly flattering unless they were reviewing for dedicated entertainment sites like IGN, in which case the show could do no wrong. Many of the initial reviews focused on the leaden acting and terrible writing, grave sins for anyone who'd watched Peter Jackson's trilogy or the original books (though perhaps it suited material allegedly based on ''The Silmarillion'') and the show's absolutely obvious cheapness; despite spending a rumored $60 million per episode, sets were often empty of crowds, costumes were noticeably bad, and CGI was glaringly obvious.

2601:243:C500:E260:9183:D8B3:E478:4661: /* The Story */

2023-05-17T00:22:00Z

The Story

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:22, 17 May 2023
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	Despite having their own problems to contend with, somehow the members of the divided Fellowship seem to get involved with everyone else's mess and need to sort shit out. Their list of game achievements include, but are not limited to: surviving a ruined [[Dwarf Fortress\|dwarf city]] filled with an insane number of goblins and a big motherfucking demon lord with weapons made of fire (the backstory behind this inspired the aforementioned game); foiling the plans of Gandalf's wicked wizard counterpart and his orc army; saving not one but two human nations (and the entire world for that matter); winning a whole campaign's worth of scenarios and battles; and defeating the big bad evil guy of the setting (that is currently not imprisoned off the edge of the world, his old boss had a bigger resume) with enough time to go home for tea and crumpets.		Despite having their own problems to contend with, somehow the members of the divided Fellowship seem to get involved with everyone else's mess and need to sort shit out. Their list of game achievements include, but are not limited to: surviving a ruined [[Dwarf Fortress\|dwarf city]] filled with an insane number of goblins and a big motherfucking demon lord with weapons made of fire (the backstory behind this inspired the aforementioned game); foiling the plans of Gandalf's wicked wizard counterpart and his orc army; saving not one but two human nations (and the entire world for that matter); winning a whole campaign's worth of scenarios and battles; and defeating the big bad evil guy of the setting (that is currently not imprisoned off the edge of the world, his old boss had a bigger resume) with enough time to go home for tea and crumpets.

	Finally, after going around the most fuck-me way possible to get into Mordor (partially due to bad directions from Gollum, who was conflicted with his addictive desire for the Ring, and an encounter with the [[Arachnarok Spiders\|giant spider]]/spider-demon hybrid Shelob), Frodo reaches Mount Doom and is about to drop the ring into the lava when he can no longer resist the ring's allure. <s>Just as it had done at the end of the Second Age when it stopped Isildur from destroying it,(That was an invention of the films. In the Book Isildur never even went to Mount Doom with the Ring) the ring saved its existence from certain doom. But in an ironic twist, the ring's former owner Gollum attacks Frodo for it and bites it off of his finger, dances about happily, and falls into the lava, just as both Frodo and the ring itself had warned what would happen if Gollum betrayed him and tried to take the ring. With the ring destroyed, Sauron's power is all but gone forevermore and his armies scatter. The eagles can swoop in for MEDEVAC, getting Frodo and Sam back to civilization to rest and recover before the hobbits return to the Shire.		Finally, after going around the most fuck-me way possible to get into Mordor (partially due to bad directions from Gollum, who was conflicted with his addictive desire for the Ring, and an encounter with the [[Arachnarok Spiders\|giant spider]]/spider-demon hybrid Shelob), Frodo reaches Mount Doom and is about to drop the ring into the lava when he can no longer resist the ring's allure. <s>Just as it had done at the end of the Second Age when it stopped Isildur from destroying it,</s>(That was an invention of the films. In the Book Isildur never even went to Mount Doom with the Ring) the ring saved its existence from certain doom. But in an ironic twist, the ring's former owner Gollum attacks Frodo for it and bites it off of his finger, dances about happily, and falls into the lava, just as both Frodo and the ring itself had warned what would happen if Gollum betrayed him and tried to take the ring. With the ring destroyed, Sauron's power is all but gone forevermore and his armies scatter. The eagles can swoop in for MEDEVAC, getting Frodo and Sam back to civilization to rest and recover before the hobbits return to the Shire.

	But wait! The Shire's under new management, Chief Sharkey. Frodo and company help the hobbits rise up against Sharkey, who turns out to be Saruman, who has committed his greatest evil yet by trying to industrialize The Shire out of spiteful revenge. Frodo allows Saruman to leave the Shire, but his put-upon minion Gríma Wormtongue slits his throat (and is then riddled with arrows, nicely tying up that loose end). After compiling his memoirs and still feeling pain from the Nazgul attack all the way at the beginning of his journey, Frodo travels to the Grey Havens and is allowed to sail into the West, where he may find relief from his pain. The story ends on a bittersweet note as Sam (arguably the story's true protagonist and MVP of the closing chapters) finally settles back home with his family, writing the final pages to the Baggins' family saga.		But wait! The Shire's under new management, Chief Sharkey. Frodo and company help the hobbits rise up against Sharkey, who turns out to be Saruman, who has committed his greatest evil yet by trying to industrialize The Shire out of spiteful revenge. Frodo allows Saruman to leave the Shire, but his put-upon minion Gríma Wormtongue slits his throat (and is then riddled with arrows, nicely tying up that loose end). After compiling his memoirs and still feeling pain from the Nazgul attack all the way at the beginning of his journey, Frodo travels to the Grey Havens and is allowed to sail into the West, where he may find relief from his pain. The story ends on a bittersweet note as Sam (arguably the story's true protagonist and MVP of the closing chapters) finally settles back home with his family, writing the final pages to the Baggins' family saga.

2601:243:C500:E260:9183:D8B3:E478:4661: /* The Story */

2023-05-17T00:21:14Z

The Story

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:21, 17 May 2023
Line 41:		Line 41:
	Despite having their own problems to contend with, somehow the members of the divided Fellowship seem to get involved with everyone else's mess and need to sort shit out. Their list of game achievements include, but are not limited to: surviving a ruined [[Dwarf Fortress\|dwarf city]] filled with an insane number of goblins and a big motherfucking demon lord with weapons made of fire (the backstory behind this inspired the aforementioned game); foiling the plans of Gandalf's wicked wizard counterpart and his orc army; saving not one but two human nations (and the entire world for that matter); winning a whole campaign's worth of scenarios and battles; and defeating the big bad evil guy of the setting (that is currently not imprisoned off the edge of the world, his old boss had a bigger resume) with enough time to go home for tea and crumpets.		Despite having their own problems to contend with, somehow the members of the divided Fellowship seem to get involved with everyone else's mess and need to sort shit out. Their list of game achievements include, but are not limited to: surviving a ruined [[Dwarf Fortress\|dwarf city]] filled with an insane number of goblins and a big motherfucking demon lord with weapons made of fire (the backstory behind this inspired the aforementioned game); foiling the plans of Gandalf's wicked wizard counterpart and his orc army; saving not one but two human nations (and the entire world for that matter); winning a whole campaign's worth of scenarios and battles; and defeating the big bad evil guy of the setting (that is currently not imprisoned off the edge of the world, his old boss had a bigger resume) with enough time to go home for tea and crumpets.

	Finally, after going around the most fuck-me way possible to get into Mordor (partially due to bad directions from Gollum, who was conflicted with his addictive desire for the Ring, and an encounter with the [[Arachnarok Spiders\|giant spider]]/spider-demon hybrid Shelob), Frodo reaches Mount Doom and is about to drop the ring into the lava when he can no longer resist the ring's allure.</s> Just as it had done at the end of the Second Age when it stopped Isildur from destroying it, ~~<s>~~(That was an invention of the films. In the Book Isildur never even went to Mount Doom with the Ring) the ring saved its existence from certain doom. But in an ironic twist, the ring's former owner Gollum attacks Frodo for it and bites it off of his finger, dances about happily, and falls into the lava, just as both Frodo and the ring itself had warned what would happen if Gollum betrayed him and tried to take the ring. With the ring destroyed, Sauron's power is all but gone forevermore and his armies scatter. The eagles can swoop in for MEDEVAC, getting Frodo and Sam back to civilization to rest and recover before the hobbits return to the Shire.		Finally, after going around the most fuck-me way possible to get into Mordor (partially due to bad directions from Gollum, who was conflicted with his addictive desire for the Ring, and an encounter with the [[Arachnarok Spiders\|giant spider]]/spider-demon hybrid Shelob), Frodo reaches Mount Doom and is about to drop the ring into the lava when he can no longer resist the ring's allure. <s>Just as it had done at the end of the Second Age when it stopped Isildur from destroying it,(That was an invention of the films. In the Book Isildur never even went to Mount Doom with the Ring) the ring saved its existence from certain doom. But in an ironic twist, the ring's former owner Gollum attacks Frodo for it and bites it off of his finger, dances about happily, and falls into the lava, just as both Frodo and the ring itself had warned what would happen if Gollum betrayed him and tried to take the ring. With the ring destroyed, Sauron's power is all but gone forevermore and his armies scatter. The eagles can swoop in for MEDEVAC, getting Frodo and Sam back to civilization to rest and recover before the hobbits return to the Shire.

	But wait! The Shire's under new management, Chief Sharkey. Frodo and company help the hobbits rise up against Sharkey, who turns out to be Saruman, who has committed his greatest evil yet by trying to industrialize The Shire out of spiteful revenge. Frodo allows Saruman to leave the Shire, but his put-upon minion Gríma Wormtongue slits his throat (and is then riddled with arrows, nicely tying up that loose end). After compiling his memoirs and still feeling pain from the Nazgul attack all the way at the beginning of his journey, Frodo travels to the Grey Havens and is allowed to sail into the West, where he may find relief from his pain. The story ends on a bittersweet note as Sam (arguably the story's true protagonist and MVP of the closing chapters) finally settles back home with his family, writing the final pages to the Baggins' family saga.		But wait! The Shire's under new management, Chief Sharkey. Frodo and company help the hobbits rise up against Sharkey, who turns out to be Saruman, who has committed his greatest evil yet by trying to industrialize The Shire out of spiteful revenge. Frodo allows Saruman to leave the Shire, but his put-upon minion Gríma Wormtongue slits his throat (and is then riddled with arrows, nicely tying up that loose end). After compiling his memoirs and still feeling pain from the Nazgul attack all the way at the beginning of his journey, Frodo travels to the Grey Havens and is allowed to sail into the West, where he may find relief from his pain. The story ends on a bittersweet note as Sam (arguably the story's true protagonist and MVP of the closing chapters) finally settles back home with his family, writing the final pages to the Baggins' family saga.

2601:243:C500:E260:9183:D8B3:E478:4661: /* The Story */

2023-05-17T00:20:17Z

The Story

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:20, 17 May 2023
Line 41:		Line 41:
	Despite having their own problems to contend with, somehow the members of the divided Fellowship seem to get involved with everyone else's mess and need to sort shit out. Their list of game achievements include, but are not limited to: surviving a ruined [[Dwarf Fortress\|dwarf city]] filled with an insane number of goblins and a big motherfucking demon lord with weapons made of fire (the backstory behind this inspired the aforementioned game); foiling the plans of Gandalf's wicked wizard counterpart and his orc army; saving not one but two human nations (and the entire world for that matter); winning a whole campaign's worth of scenarios and battles; and defeating the big bad evil guy of the setting (that is currently not imprisoned off the edge of the world, his old boss had a bigger resume) with enough time to go home for tea and crumpets.		Despite having their own problems to contend with, somehow the members of the divided Fellowship seem to get involved with everyone else's mess and need to sort shit out. Their list of game achievements include, but are not limited to: surviving a ruined [[Dwarf Fortress\|dwarf city]] filled with an insane number of goblins and a big motherfucking demon lord with weapons made of fire (the backstory behind this inspired the aforementioned game); foiling the plans of Gandalf's wicked wizard counterpart and his orc army; saving not one but two human nations (and the entire world for that matter); winning a whole campaign's worth of scenarios and battles; and defeating the big bad evil guy of the setting (that is currently not imprisoned off the edge of the world, his old boss had a bigger resume) with enough time to go home for tea and crumpets.

	Finally, after going around the most fuck-me way possible to get into Mordor (partially due to bad directions from Gollum, who was conflicted with his addictive desire for the Ring, and an encounter with the [[Arachnarok Spiders\|giant spider]]/spider-demon hybrid Shelob), Frodo reaches Mount Doom and is about to drop the ring into the lava when he can no longer resist the ring's allure. </s>Just as it had done at the end of the Second Age when it stopped Isildur from destroying it,</s> (That was an invention of the films. In the Book Isildur never even went to Mount Doom with the Ring) the ring saved its existence from certain doom. But in an ironic twist, the ring's former owner Gollum attacks Frodo for it and bites it off of his finger, dances about happily, and falls into the lava, just as both Frodo and the ring itself had warned what would happen if Gollum betrayed him and tried to take the ring. With the ring destroyed, Sauron's power is all but gone forevermore and his armies scatter. The eagles can swoop in for MEDEVAC, getting Frodo and Sam back to civilization to rest and recover before the hobbits return to the Shire.		Finally, after going around the most fuck-me way possible to get into Mordor (partially due to bad directions from Gollum, who was conflicted with his addictive desire for the Ring, and an encounter with the [[Arachnarok Spiders\|giant spider]]/spider-demon hybrid Shelob), Frodo reaches Mount Doom and is about to drop the ring into the lava when he can no longer resist the ring's allure.</s> Just as it had done at the end of the Second Age when it stopped Isildur from destroying it, <s>(That was an invention of the films. In the Book Isildur never even went to Mount Doom with the Ring) the ring saved its existence from certain doom. But in an ironic twist, the ring's former owner Gollum attacks Frodo for it and bites it off of his finger, dances about happily, and falls into the lava, just as both Frodo and the ring itself had warned what would happen if Gollum betrayed him and tried to take the ring. With the ring destroyed, Sauron's power is all but gone forevermore and his armies scatter. The eagles can swoop in for MEDEVAC, getting Frodo and Sam back to civilization to rest and recover before the hobbits return to the Shire.

	But wait! The Shire's under new management, Chief Sharkey. Frodo and company help the hobbits rise up against Sharkey, who turns out to be Saruman, who has committed his greatest evil yet by trying to industrialize The Shire out of spiteful revenge. Frodo allows Saruman to leave the Shire, but his put-upon minion Gríma Wormtongue slits his throat (and is then riddled with arrows, nicely tying up that loose end). After compiling his memoirs and still feeling pain from the Nazgul attack all the way at the beginning of his journey, Frodo travels to the Grey Havens and is allowed to sail into the West, where he may find relief from his pain. The story ends on a bittersweet note as Sam (arguably the story's true protagonist and MVP of the closing chapters) finally settles back home with his family, writing the final pages to the Baggins' family saga.		But wait! The Shire's under new management, Chief Sharkey. Frodo and company help the hobbits rise up against Sharkey, who turns out to be Saruman, who has committed his greatest evil yet by trying to industrialize The Shire out of spiteful revenge. Frodo allows Saruman to leave the Shire, but his put-upon minion Gríma Wormtongue slits his throat (and is then riddled with arrows, nicely tying up that loose end). After compiling his memoirs and still feeling pain from the Nazgul attack all the way at the beginning of his journey, Frodo travels to the Grey Havens and is allowed to sail into the West, where he may find relief from his pain. The story ends on a bittersweet note as Sam (arguably the story's true protagonist and MVP of the closing chapters) finally settles back home with his family, writing the final pages to the Baggins' family saga.

2601:243:C500:E260:9183:D8B3:E478:4661: /* The Story */

2023-05-17T00:19:17Z

The Story

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:19, 17 May 2023
Line 41:		Line 41:
	Despite having their own problems to contend with, somehow the members of the divided Fellowship seem to get involved with everyone else's mess and need to sort shit out. Their list of game achievements include, but are not limited to: surviving a ruined [[Dwarf Fortress\|dwarf city]] filled with an insane number of goblins and a big motherfucking demon lord with weapons made of fire (the backstory behind this inspired the aforementioned game); foiling the plans of Gandalf's wicked wizard counterpart and his orc army; saving not one but two human nations (and the entire world for that matter); winning a whole campaign's worth of scenarios and battles; and defeating the big bad evil guy of the setting (that is currently not imprisoned off the edge of the world, his old boss had a bigger resume) with enough time to go home for tea and crumpets.		Despite having their own problems to contend with, somehow the members of the divided Fellowship seem to get involved with everyone else's mess and need to sort shit out. Their list of game achievements include, but are not limited to: surviving a ruined [[Dwarf Fortress\|dwarf city]] filled with an insane number of goblins and a big motherfucking demon lord with weapons made of fire (the backstory behind this inspired the aforementioned game); foiling the plans of Gandalf's wicked wizard counterpart and his orc army; saving not one but two human nations (and the entire world for that matter); winning a whole campaign's worth of scenarios and battles; and defeating the big bad evil guy of the setting (that is currently not imprisoned off the edge of the world, his old boss had a bigger resume) with enough time to go home for tea and crumpets.

	Finally, after going around the most fuck-me way possible to get into Mordor (partially due to bad directions from Gollum, who was conflicted with his addictive desire for the Ring, and an encounter with the [[Arachnarok Spiders\|giant spider]]/spider-demon hybrid Shelob), Frodo reaches Mount Doom and is about to drop the ring into the lava when he can no longer resist the ring's allure. Just as it had done at the end of the Second Age when it stopped Isildur from destroying it, the ring saved its existence from certain doom. But in an ironic twist, the ring's former owner Gollum attacks Frodo for it and bites it off of his finger, dances about happily, and falls into the lava, just as both Frodo and the ring itself had warned what would happen if Gollum betrayed him and tried to take the ring. With the ring destroyed, Sauron's power is all but gone forevermore and his armies scatter. The eagles can swoop in for MEDEVAC, getting Frodo and Sam back to civilization to rest and recover before the hobbits return to the Shire.		Finally, after going around the most fuck-me way possible to get into Mordor (partially due to bad directions from Gollum, who was conflicted with his addictive desire for the Ring, and an encounter with the [[Arachnarok Spiders\|giant spider]]/spider-demon hybrid Shelob), Frodo reaches Mount Doom and is about to drop the ring into the lava when he can no longer resist the ring's allure. </s>Just as it had done at the end of the Second Age when it stopped Isildur from destroying it,</s> (That was an invention of the films. In the Book Isildur never even went to Mount Doom with the Ring) the ring saved its existence from certain doom. But in an ironic twist, the ring's former owner Gollum attacks Frodo for it and bites it off of his finger, dances about happily, and falls into the lava, just as both Frodo and the ring itself had warned what would happen if Gollum betrayed him and tried to take the ring. With the ring destroyed, Sauron's power is all but gone forevermore and his armies scatter. The eagles can swoop in for MEDEVAC, getting Frodo and Sam back to civilization to rest and recover before the hobbits return to the Shire.

	But wait! The Shire's under new management, Chief Sharkey. Frodo and company help the hobbits rise up against Sharkey, who turns out to be Saruman, who has committed his greatest evil yet by trying to industrialize The Shire out of spiteful revenge. Frodo allows Saruman to leave the Shire, but his put-upon minion Gríma Wormtongue slits his throat (and is then riddled with arrows, nicely tying up that loose end). After compiling his memoirs and still feeling pain from the Nazgul attack all the way at the beginning of his journey, Frodo travels to the Grey Havens and is allowed to sail into the West, where he may find relief from his pain. The story ends on a bittersweet note as Sam (arguably the story's true protagonist and MVP of the closing chapters) finally settles back home with his family, writing the final pages to the Baggins' family saga.		But wait! The Shire's under new management, Chief Sharkey. Frodo and company help the hobbits rise up against Sharkey, who turns out to be Saruman, who has committed his greatest evil yet by trying to industrialize The Shire out of spiteful revenge. Frodo allows Saruman to leave the Shire, but his put-upon minion Gríma Wormtongue slits his throat (and is then riddled with arrows, nicely tying up that loose end). After compiling his memoirs and still feeling pain from the Nazgul attack all the way at the beginning of his journey, Frodo travels to the Grey Havens and is allowed to sail into the West, where he may find relief from his pain. The story ends on a bittersweet note as Sam (arguably the story's true protagonist and MVP of the closing chapters) finally settles back home with his family, writing the final pages to the Baggins' family saga.

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:33, 26 July 2025
Line 120:		Line 120:

	===Amazon's Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power===		===Amazon's Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power===
	~~{{Fail}}{{HurfDurf}}~~		{{Topquote\|The Shadow that bred them can only mock, it cannot make: not real new things of its own.\|Frodo Baggins, ''The Return of the King''}}

	{{Topquote\|~~There is no curse in Elvish~~, ~~Entish, or the tongues~~ of ~~man for this treachery~~.\|~~Tolkien fans~~}}

	<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">		<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">
Line 128:		Line 126:
	{{Topquote\|Give me the meat, and give it to me raw!\|Durin, speaking to Elrond once he got away from his wife}}		{{Topquote\|Give me the meat, and give it to me raw!\|Durin, speaking to Elrond once he got away from his wife}}

	'''TL;DR:''' Amazon's made a new show that, due to their own actions and statements, basically killed any goodwill long-time fans may have had towards it before before the first episode aired. It~~'s been~~ to ''Lord of the Rings'' what ''Netflix's Cowboy Bebop'' was to ''Cowboy Bebop.''		'''TL;DR:''' Amazon's made a new show that, due to their own actions and statements, basically killed any goodwill long-time fans may have had towards it before before the first episode aired. It is to ''Lord of the Rings'' what ''Netflix's Cowboy Bebop'' was to ''Cowboy Bebop.''

	'''ABANDON ALL HOPE, ALL YE WHO ENTER HERE'''		'''ABANDON ALL HOPE, ALL YE WHO ENTER HERE'''
	<div class="mw-collapsible-content">		<div class="mw-collapsible-content">

	Half a decade after ''The Hobbit'' trilogy's derpy conclusion, Amazon announced, with much fanfare, that they were going to make a streaming series based on Tolkien's Legendarium. Given the unreadable and generally obscure nature of the subject to mainstream audiences (moviegoers), fans reacted with wary interest and curiosity. The Second Age, while at least being somewhat familiar as the backstory to LOTR and given five minutes of depiction in the film's prologue, only takes up two chapters in the Silmarillion. That excitement quickly devolved into seething irritation and [[Rage\|rage]]. This began at the first major warning sign; the firing of Amazon's resident Tolkien consultant Tom Shippey (a British medievalist who has written six books and several academic papers on Tolkien's work, who even met and worked with Tolkien himself at the same university) and his subsequent replacement by someone far less qualified, far less experienced and heavily invested in [[SJW\|modern identity politics]]. Given this happening shortly after the death of Christopher Tolkien - the one person in the Tolkien estate protective of his father's work - it was clear there was an agenda. Then it came out that Amazon '''didn't actually have the rights to any of the Legendarium works'''. They had spent several hundred million dollars only buying rights to the names, people, and events named in the Appendices, and are unable to reference anything else.		Half a decade after ''The Hobbit'' trilogy's derpy conclusion, Amazon announced, with much fanfare, that they were going to make a streaming series based on Tolkien's Legendarium. Given the unreadable and generally obscure nature of the subject to mainstream audiences (moviegoers), fans reacted with wary interest and curiosity. The Second Age, while at least being somewhat familiar as the backstory to LOTR and given five minutes of depiction in the film's prologue, only takes up two chapters in the Silmarillion. That excitement quickly devolved into seething irritation and [[Rage\|rage]]. This began at the first major warning sign; the firing of Amazon's resident Tolkien consultant Tom Shippey (a British medievalist who has written six books and several academic papers on Tolkien's work, who even met and worked with Tolkien himself at the same university) and his subsequent replacement by someone far less qualified, far less experienced and heavily invested in [[SJW\|modern identity politics]]. Given this happening shortly after the death of Christopher Tolkien - the one person in the Tolkien estate protective of his father's work - it was clear there was an agenda. Then it came out that Amazon '''didn't actually have the rights to any of the Legendarium works'''. They had spent several hundred million dollars only buying rights to the names, people, and events named in the Appendices, and are unable to reference anything else.

	Worse, the showrunners had no screenwriting or directing credits to their name, only being hired after J.J. Abrams vouched for them. Their most famous work was uncredited rewrites to "punch up" the script of ''[[Star Trek\|Star Trek: Into Darkness]]''. Even if they were willing to write whatever Amazon demanded of them, it was seen as bizarre for Amazon to risk their literally billion-dollar investment on completely amateur leaders. One can only assume it was done to spite the showrunners originally attached to the project, who had been fired by Amazon Studio head Jennifer Salke and went on to produce the critically acclaimed ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire\|House of the Dragon]]''. Several of the main actors themselves were either inexperienced or complete newcomers, most noticeable with the actress playing Galadriel. Supposedly, ''The Rings of Power'' was the product of Jeff Bezos wanting to have his own ''Game of Thrones'' for Prime Streaming. There were rumors that the show would be incredibly violent and gratuitously sexual (early in production people spotted a job posting for an intimacy coordinator, and there's only one reason why you'd hire such a person), in stark contrast to Tolkien's works, and many expected the worst. Another popular theory is that Amazon simply bought the rights so that no one else can have them, and then spend the minimum effort required to fulfill their contractual obligations to the Tolkien Estate.		Worse, the showrunners had no screenwriting or directing credits to their name, only being hired after J.J. Abrams vouched for them. Their most famous work was uncredited rewrites to "punch up" the script of ''[[Star Trek\|Star Trek: Into Darkness]]''. Even if they were willing to write whatever Amazon demanded of them, it was seen as bizarre for Amazon to risk their literally billion-dollar investment on completely amateur leaders. One can only assume it was done to spite the showrunners originally attached to the project, who had been fired by Amazon Studio head Jennifer Salke and went on to produce the critically acclaimed ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire\|House of the Dragon]]''. Several of the main actors themselves were either inexperienced or complete newcomers, most noticeable with the actress playing Galadriel. Supposedly, ''The Rings of Power'' was the product of Jeff Bezos wanting to have his own ''Game of Thrones'' for Prime Streaming. There were rumors that the show would be incredibly violent and gratuitously sexual (early in production people spotted a job posting for an intimacy coordinator, and there's only one reason why you'd hire such a person), in stark contrast to Tolkien's works, and many expected the worst. Another popular theory is that Amazon simply bought the rights so that no one else can have them, and then spend the minimum effort required to fulfill their contractual obligations to the Tolkien Estate.

	The final nail in the coffin were Amazon's announcements that they wanted to "adapt" and [[SJW\|˝modernize˝]] Tolkien's work for the present-day. This proved that the ''Rings of Power'' was a prestige product for some studio suits and ideologues rather than a passionate or faithful adaptation of Tolkien's work. [[Skub\|They revealed black elves, black/brown Numenoreans]], black and [[~~Derp~~\|~~'''~~beardless''']] dwarf women, and even [[What\|multi-hued hobbits]] that weren't even supposed to exist in the Second Age. Worse, it all looked cheap and lazy and was promoted by paid actors pretending to be "superfans" of Tolkien who could only speak diversity, equity, and inclusion catchphrases. The backlash to the "superfans" trailers (they made multiple trailers for multiple regions in different languages with different actors all speaking from the same general script) was so bad that Amazon chose to unlist the videos from Youtube and Prime.		The final nail in the coffin were Amazon's announcements that they wanted to "adapt" and [[SJW\|˝modernize˝]] Tolkien's work for the present-day. This proved that the ''Rings of Power'' was a prestige product for some studio suits and ideologues rather than a passionate or faithful adaptation of Tolkien's work. [[Skub\|They revealed black elves, black/brown Numenoreans]], black and '''[[Extra Heresy\|beardless]]''' dwarf women, and even [[What\|multi-hued hobbits]] that weren't even supposed to ''exist'' in the Second Age. Worse, it all looked cheap and lazy and was promoted by paid actors pretending to be "superfans" of Tolkien who could only speak diversity, equity, and inclusion catchphrases. The backlash to the "superfans" trailers (they made multiple trailers for multiple regions in different languages with different actors all speaking from the same general script) was so bad that Amazon chose to unlist the videos from Youtube and Prime.

	''Rings of Power'' launched in direct competition with ''House of the Dragon'' and initial audience reception was not good. Despite '''literally paying''' for millions of premiere viewers by virtue of paying movie theaters to play episodes 1 and 2 for free, viewer numbers entered freefall with subsequent episodes and reviews were consistently, though not universally, negative among the audience. Critics were more favorably disposed to it, though even they were not particularly flattering unless they were reviewing for dedicated entertainment sites like IGN, in which case the show could do no wrong. Many of the initial reviews focused on the leaden acting and terrible writing, grave sins for anyone who'd watched Peter Jackson's trilogy or the original books (though perhaps it suited material allegedly based on ''The Silmarillion'') and the show's absolutely obvious cheapness; despite spending a rumored $60 million per episode, sets were often empty of crowds, costumes were noticeably bad, and CGI was glaringly obvious.		''Rings of Power'' launched in direct competition with ''House of the Dragon'' and initial audience reception was not good. Despite '''literally paying''' for millions of premiere viewers by virtue of paying movie theaters to play episodes 1 and 2 for free, viewer numbers entered freefall with subsequent episodes and reviews were consistently, though not universally, negative among the audience. Critics were more favorably disposed to it, though even they were not particularly flattering unless they were reviewing for dedicated entertainment sites like IGN, in which case the show could do no wrong. Many of the initial reviews focused on the leaden acting and terrible writing, grave sins for anyone who'd watched Peter Jackson's trilogy or the original books (though perhaps it suited material allegedly based on ''The Silmarillion'') and the show's absolutely obvious cheapness; despite spending a rumored $60 million per episode, sets were often empty of crowds, costumes were noticeably bad, and CGI was glaringly obvious.