LOTR Rants | Mostly Aralas

everything i hated abt RINGS OF POWER

as i'm writing this i have my copy of the silmarillion and the rotk appendices open before me, i have my phone open to the (very full) notes page where i jotted down my thoughts on the first two episodes of rings of power while i watched them, several youtube tabs with the trailers open and other tabs w my prev. chapters where i talked abt rings of power open.

so yeah. its serious.

and yeah. i watched rings of power. and i have SHIT TO SAY. you can rely on an honest unbiased review bc unlike many others rn ✨i am not getting paid✨ to say this stuff, this is all my bare opinions <3

so let's get into it!!! this is part one of my review, the next chapter will be things i liked <3

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1) the portrayal of elrond and galadriel

this is a HEAVY one. and i don't want to go too intensely since this is the main thing the fanboys were upset about and one of the things i was actually happy about, or so it seems

yea, it's safe to say my opinion on galadriel and elrond in rings of power has CHANGED.

so let's start off by saying that this has nothing to do with the casting. i think morfydd clarke as galadriel was a great choice and her performance is pretty good. the actor for elrond could be better, but i'm not as mad abt it as a lot of ppl were, specifically abt his hair

HOWEVER, the way they were WRITTEN??

WHY IS ELROND SO MEAN 
AND WHY DOES GALADRIEL HAVE LIKE NO PURPOSE OTHER THAN BLOODLUST

LIKE IM SORRY BUT I AM A SECOND AGE ELROND STAN I CANNOT STAND BY AND WATCH THEM BUCTHER MY MAN LIKE THAT

elrond is also incredibly political and very involved in elven systems of government which is literally the opposite of who he was in the lore

like in the lore he was quite mellow and it was SPECIFICALLY stated SO MANY TIMES that he literally did not give a shit abt the ruling and he left political stuff to others, and he literally wanted to be uninvolved in that

the first two episodes actually made me like his casting more, even tho i'm still a little iffy abt that hair, but if his personality is THAT BADLY butchered?? im sorry this one's a no from me

but back to my girl galadriel.

i was so excited abt her portrayal as a badass warrior queen and showing the full scope of her power, etc, etc

bc the fanboys can say that she never wore armor and never lead armies all they want, but they are in fact WRONG. it was mentioned several times in the lore that she fought just as valiantly as any elf male in the second age

and anyone who says that clearly hasn't read tolkien's essays bc he literally states that elf men and women (and i've talked abt this before!!!) are EQUAL, so everyone can stfu abt that

HOWEVER THAT BEING SAID galadriel's portrayal within that badass warrior spectrum was a little exaggerated 

they definitely overdid how much she relies on bloodlust and that line "without my sword, what am i to be?" was very clearly meant to be the most melodramatic possible bc like??? what are you to be?? girl you're literally the most powerful elven sorceress EVER with the exception of MAYBE luthien, not even

and even at a young age (the age she is in rings of power) she showed very strong signs of that power and was recognized for it, and more importantly SHE recognized it in herself. they pretty much completely erased that (very important) part of her and replaced it completely by an bloodlust and need for revenge