**Spoiler Warning** Rings of Power S1E4 - "The Great Wave"

[Boromir88]

Originally Posted by Tar Elenion

"...and upon his finger was a ring of gold with a great blue stone, Vilya, mightiest of the Three."
LotR, Grey Havens

I'm not sure your point here? I mean sticking to the lore isn't exactly a major obstacle for this series. I will even take the theory one step further and say that piece of mithril Elrond receives goes into the crafting of Vilya and the dwarf ring Durin receives.

[Tar Elenion]

The point is that Vilya is made of gold, not mithril.
But, as the showrunners are ignorant idiots, I would not be surprised if they used *mithril to make *Vilya.

[Boromir88]

Originally Posted by Tar Elenion

The point is that Vilya is made of gold, not mithril.
But, as the showrunners are ignorant idiots, I would not be surprised if they used *mithril to make *Vilya.

Well, there's more than one way to tell an interesting story. Without the Bakshi cartoon we wouldn't have viking Boromir, without Jackson's adaptation we wouldn't have Sean Bean in a strawberry-blonde wig. Neither adaptation looked like Boromir, and both portrayed Boromir differently from Tolkien, yet they worked within the context of the adaptations.

Using something Elrond was given as a token of friendship to go into the making of 2 rings the friends receive will cement the friendship between them. But what do I know? I'm just making guesses of what I think would be an interesting story.

[Oddwen]

(From LotR: FotR) The quality isn't super clear here and I can't tell if Vilya is gold or just a duller silver than Nenya - I can't find if a licensed Weta Workshop replica was ever made of it. It's more likely that Jackson/Weta will be copied than Tolkien, like it or not.

[Thinlómien]

Originally Posted by Boromir88

Legate, I believe you wrote a comment in the Episode 3 thread about the Meteor Man and not finding out anymore to uncover his mystery. Unfortunately, it might be one of the mysteries that get strung along. The actor playing him said in an interview, prior to the series, that the mystery of The Stranger and his purpose isn't revealed in Season 1. I don't think he gave anymore as far as when it's "revealed" but we're at least going to get 5 more episodes of clues, or red herrings, with no actual resolution.

Really? Well, a shame. That sounds like another example of the show's bad pacing. Doesn't sound like he's going to have much of an arc in season 1 then, and rather like he's just gonna be there. Which begs the question why did they even introduce him (or the harfoots) yet, if the plot has nowhere to go yet.

Originally Posted by Boro

My thoughts though are it could possibly put me off from the show if Halbrand is Sauron. It would completely ruin Galadriel's character, for me. Even more so than this "there is a tempest in me" and feeling like she's going to have some sort of tantrum every time another authority figure tells her no. I mean, Galadriel is someone we know who has remarkable insight into people (even before her ring) it's established she is known to be able to read people. They've already established will not rest in defeating Sauron, obsessively hunting for him after Finrod's death, rejected Annatar (because she's a superb judge of character). To have her fooled in a cheap "gotcha" Halbrand is Sauron, would butcher her character, imo. I don't think the showrunners are that terrible to pull a Halbrand is Sauron. At least they haven't shown they are yet.

Agreed. Also it would make the sexual tension between them even more cringy. (Fortunately they haven't really played that angle the way I was afraid they would. It seemed like that in episode 2 but they have seemed to take a step back since and I didn't really get that vibe from episode 4 anymore, thankfully.) But Galadriel coming back to rescue Halbrand to help him reclaim his throne seemed quite undeserved to me, and it would be worse if he was Sauron. I mean, currently I can buy it that she sees in him potential for greatness (or decency) that I just personally don't see.

[Huinesoron]

We've just watched it tonight. My wife initially enjoyed the show, but has dropped back to just admiring the visuals, having declared the plot and scenes "a bit too Game of Thrones" after episode 3 (specifically Halbrand's bezerker rage). I'm still more forgiving.

In the absence of the Harfeet, I felt the Southlanders were the "most LotR-ish" portion. Theo in particular hits a lot of Hobbit beats - hiding from evil, escaping through the woods, even using sunlight as safety and an end to the battle. Evil Butterbur feels like someone you could encounter on the grottier edges of Tolkien's writing, and even the whole "swear fealty or be destroyed" is an echo of the Mouth of Sauron.

So, Adar. He's not a god, so I don't think he's Sauron - my guess is we haven't seen Sauron yet, and that he will first appear as Annatar (probably not named as such). If he's not just Evil McElfy... I'm going to throw out two longshot options: he is either Maglor or Feanor.

Maglor I'm pretty sure is said to be alive in LOTR, while Feanor - I checked - is never said to be dead. We've been told a lot of lies, didn't he say? And Feanor has been name checked at least once. I would laugh so hard if he was Feanor.

I enjoyed the Moria scenes - Elrond's daddy issues make a lot of sense, actually, and the dwarves were... I mean, they're just fun. Durin and Disa are the actors who most seem like they're enjoying themselves, which is always positive.

I think the state of Numenor is becoming clearer. They rebelled against Tar-Palantir, so Miriel was given the sceptre as regent. The west of Numenor seems to be almost independent - the Faithful are out there, including Anarion, and nobody seems to be doing anything about it. I assume they gave Tar-Palantir one of the palantiri, and kept the others hidden. (Someone asked why Galadriel had handled a palantiri before - I mean, her uncle made the things, right?)

I read Miriel as secretly Faithful, but having to completely hide it to avoid another rebellion. Pharazon is trying to keep her under control, but also secure his own powerbase. I suspect his usurpation will be caused by the death of either Tar-Palantir, or his son Kemen, or both. His marriage to Miriel isn't mentioned in LOTR, but could still happen.

Halbrand is increasingly sketchy, though I'm not entirely clear on whether he told Pharazon where Galadriel was going (would he really let Miriel confront her in private?). I think the whole Southland is in an interesting moral place - the Elves have been wildly racist and oppressive towards them, so why *wouldn't* they turn to Sauron, especially if he shows up separately to the orcs? Especially especially if the elf-led Numenorean invasion leads to the canonical Numenorean slave economy.

hS

[Tar Elenion]

Originally Posted by Huinesoron

Maglor I'm pretty sure is said to be alive in LOTR, while Feanor - I checked - is never said to be dead. We've been told a lot of lies, didn't he say? And Feanor has been name checked at least once. I would laugh so hard if he was Feanor.

Maglor is not mentioned in LotR. And both are implied to be dead:
"The sons of Eärendil were Elros and Elrond, the Peredhil or Half-elven. In them alone the line of the heroic chieftains of the Edain in the First Age was preserved; and after the fall of Gil-galad the lineage of the High-elven Kings was also in Middle-earth only represented by their descendants."
LotR, App. A