"The Rings of Power" Vanity Fair article

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

When I saw the article (I have not been keeping tabs on the news at all, but there are people around me who tend to keep up more with the pulse of the time), I knew this might be the time 'Downs might liven up a bit and decided to take part in the anticipated trend.

I will try to be brief (good luck to me...). My reaction to the article can be summed up succintly like this:

Seeing the pictures of Galadriel and other Halbasomethings: knee-jerk reaction that this is going to be terrible. The Dwarf and Pseudo-Aragorn are straightaway unimaginative copies from PJ, while Galadriel & Disa look like generic fantasy women from a D&D handbook illustrations (something like human [!!] paladin/dwarf fighter or maybe cleric, respectively). Elrond may be the only one who seems okay (but also kind of "meh", nothing in particular either way). But seriously Galadriel's armoured look must be the most "why?" to me (to be fair, her "water" look too. My first reaction upon seeing the article's featured photo was "do they have Goldberry?!??"). Like Hui said, Galadriel being young and somewhat more in-action and even brazen and all is very much in character, but the first impression is... not like this, PJ's Haldir of Tarth.

But.

But these are all aesthetics and we all know that aesthetics differ, and *I* know that *nothing* will ever be up to my aesthetics, likely. It could likely be worse. (But it could be more imaginative, if nothing else.)

Upon reading the text, however, my impressions became... better? Mostly because they seem like they are trying hard and there was the reassurance that this won't become "a Game of Thrones", plus various things fans have feared (even here). At the same time, it will, inevitably, be "a Game of Thrones" at least in the "generic fantasy nowadays" (my assumption), "political plotting" (actually stated in the article)-sense.

Still. It can be good, it can be bad. Very little to judge, objectively, and I emphasise once again, considerably LESS threatening than I anticipated. Those who know my absolute aversion to all adaptations may wonder what that means. I am wondering too. Or perhaps I am getting soft.

Originally Posted by Huinesoron

- She's named under this photo as "commander of the Northern Armies". Of Lindon? Of Eregion? Of Nargothrond? Unclear, but probably not the latter.

I am very curious about it, and sounds like some sort of haphazard generic name invented for the purpose of providing the show-viewers with some simple blanket term for the "good guys". I also think, given that it aims at the past, it may simply mean "Beleriand" (but also that "commander" may not mean "THE commander", but simply "one of the commanders").

Originally Posted by Hui

"As the series begins, Galadriel is hunting down the last remnants of [Morgoth and Sauron's] collaborators, who claimed the life of her brother."

Not a bad plot, per se, and this is what actually made me do a semi-Legate 180 after first seeing the pictures and then reading the first few paragraphs of the article. Certainly a start on the more original side of things, while not totally off-spirit and all.

Originally Posted by Hui

... ... um, I think they killed all her brothers, actually, but none in a context which would lead to that phrasing. Maybe it's just a clumsy way of saying "she's really angry at the Enemy because of her family's deaths in the War", but if they muck about with Finrod's death (we all know it'll be Finrod), I'm going to be really cross.

I hope it will be okay. I guess we'll have to see. (Wait, since when am I talking like I am actually intending to watch it? This sounds disturbing.) As for the potential reduction of brothers to one... well, of all things I would not be *that* disturbed by it, I mean, the films have always been reductionist. Especially if the brothers in question are dead, and if it is mentioned like once in the show... But I also at the same time think that while it is not a problem, I think "dumbing down for clarity" is not really something one should do - especially if it doesn't really matter. (But maybe also the article-writer just really didn't "get it", and may be exactly the victim of not-dumbing-down.)

Originally Posted by Hui

- She's implied to be the only one who suspects Sauron is returning. This fits with her portrayal in the Hobbit movie (though hopefully she'll do less teleporting and flirting with wizards here), and also with her status as the one who turned Annatar away at the gates of Lindon in the Legendarium - an act that mirrors her uncle's rejection of Melkor, come to think of it. The first episode seems to be named for this - it's called Shadow of the Past.

Absolutely agreed on this - this seems like a decent move and if they were to reduce Galadriel to one archetypal quality or function, this is pretty much fine.

Originally Posted by Hui

- In Episode Two, she winds up half-drowned on a raft in the middle of the Great Sea, with a scruffy mortal. His name is Halbrand, which is probably Sindarin, and hilariously could mean "Tall, really tall".

"Really, why" was my reaction, but... well, of all people, I am okay with that it's Galadriel who might not have problems hanging out with a mortal (but at the same time, young Galadriel, again, I would imagine to be a bit more... well, sticking rather with her own kind than Men?).

Sidenote: I wonder how many people are going to "ship it", especially those who don't know about Celeborn.

Originally Posted by Hui

- They describe a scene that I think takes place on the raft: "We’re doing this close-up where Galadriel’s face fills the screen and she cries, and she decides: I have to fight." Not gonna lie, that doesn't sound great.

No, that sounds absolutely terrible. But to be fair, THIS was to be expected. Sadly.
When the era comes that movies won't be full of these terrible "Hollywood pathos"-quotes, I will rejoice.

***

Which incidentally brings me - and this is a more major sidenote - to one realisation, with which I could conclude: the PJ films, for all that I disliked about them, even The Hobbit, had one tremendous advantage. Large part of the script were things quoted straight from Tolkien, written by Tolkien himself. This TV adaptation won't have the same advantage at all. It likely might attempt to emulate the FILM way of speaking, for that matter, at best. Unless of course Mr. Bezos managed to dig up some blessed talent, but somehow I am not holding my hopes high.