True. But it’s still one of the best adaptations.
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The film adaptation of lord of the rings is one of the best ever for me. I read the books multiple times as a kid and never in my 20+ times of watching the movies did I ever see anything that broke canon in a way which made either experience poorer.
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It is. I love it.
But it is strange that despite Peter Jackson taking enormous liberties with the source text, it is universally beloved, even by Tolkien purists. Whereas Rings of Power was subject to a fan backlash before a scene had even been shot.
Sadly, I think it comes down to black characters and women in a prominent role. For all the brilliance of Peter Jackson’s adaptations, there isn’t a black character, and the women are mostly background characters.
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I’m hugely hesitant about watching a movie/series adaptation of a great book. So many times I have got burnt, it started with Little House on the Prairie. I only watched Lord of the Rings after several people testified that it’s not an abomination of the book.
I think the Éowyn part was inevitable. You can’t have a mainstream and commercially successful movie without a notable (and beautiful, if not sexy) female character. The Tom Bombadill part was only possible in an animation movie. I just can’t visualize actors and normal cinematography depicting those stories.
I’ve noticed the people in Rings of Power are the most fickle ever, swing voters by heart that are incredibly easily swayed. I’m guessing in their world Scholz or Truss would be considered master political orators.
Rings of Power Spoilers
Summary
So, we have the Stranger, Adar, and now the character they are calling the Dweller, all seemingly pivotal characters whose identities are mysterious. Obviously they’re baiting us into thinking each of them are Sauron, but my money would be on it being none of them.
Adar - No idea, but I think they shut down the Sauron thing in that last episode
The Stranger - Still seems likely that it’s Gandalf but maybe as a curve ball could be Sauruman or even Radagast.
The Dweller and crew - In early teasers it seemed like this was the Anatar version of Sauron, so that’s still a possibility, but then who are there rest of the crew? Could they collectively be the Blue Wizards with the Dweller being one of the other wizards who isnt the stranger?
rings of power guesses and... unknowns
Ah… are we watching the same show 
?
The stranger i get (boring guess Gandalf, not as boring sauromon).
Is Adar the elf/orc that can go in sunlight? My uneducated probably far wrong guess is Galadriel’s brother who she thinks is dead. I’m assuming this goes against all Tolkien cannon.
…and which character is the dweller? Or did i confuse Adar and the dweller?
If any of them are Sauron, i think it’s the stranger (depending on dweller character), but not the orc thing. Maybe the dwarves will dig him out of the mountain while trying to save the elves.
The dweller is that dude that looks at craters and then stares creepily.
I think Isildur’s sister will turn out to be Sauron and then the internet will explode.
The group of mystic looking people who showed up to investigate the crater, the show is calling the leader of that group “the Dweller.” The character was prominently featured in the teaser trailers and I think a lot of people assumed it was the Annatar version of Sauron, but now the character has been introduced Im not so sure.
The Adar suggestion is an interesting one. The death of that character is already meaningfully changed from the books so I guess I wouldnt rule it out.
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I don’t know any of the characters names, so this is going to be hopeless.
Summary
~ Obviously Isildur and his dad have to become the line of kings at some point. I think the dad already has Narsil, right? This means Not-Aragorn can’t hold on to the throne for long, if he ever takes it. I think he is going to end up becoming King, taking a ring and ending up as the Witch King, leader of the Nasgul
~ Me and Mrs Mascot can’t quite work out what we think is going on with the beardy hippy, but it seems that it would be too obvious if it were Gandalf. They are obviously trying very hard to make us think he is Gandalf. I think strictly according to the books this is a bit early for Gandalf to turn up? But on the other hand I can totally see an Amazon exec going ‘I don’t give a fuck about Tolkien - put the cool wizard in it!’
~ I don’t think the Orc leader dude is Sauron, because he went a bit mental when the sinister barman asked him. And I think Sauron is meant to be beautiful, isn’t he? Rather than all messed up and a bit Orc-ish.
~ Those lads who turned up to look at the crater have only been in one scene right?
@Mascot The Kingdom Elendil will go on to set up in middle earth is not related to the kingdom this new character is supposedly the ruler of. We don’t have to worry about how their timelines as kings of their respective kingdoms intersect, but I agree that that guy is a good shout at becoming one of the Ringwraiths.
That was my take on the Adar situation as well. It was like they were acknowledging the likely fan theory and shooting it down. To clarify though, the class of being from which the wizards and Sauron can basically pick any physical form they want to, and Sauron was known to have more than 1.
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to me its more simplistic and innocent than that, there might be a tiny bit of the audience that are that concerned about race that it affects their stance, but i think the majority are above that now, especially in geekdom(meant as complimentary)…
basically, its the internet and the age of picking shit through everything…
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I think the evidence of the post-gamergate era suggests otherwise. I mean, one of the driving beliefs in the “gamer” community is that a cabal of [not sure who] and the game designers are colluding to remove white cis men from game as a prelude to doing so from society. I know lots of people are inclined to ignore gamergate as a silly niche thing that has no baring on the real world, but the throughline from that to the worst of the Trump era is very clear,
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i didnt even know gamergate was a thing.
TBH I’ve been thinking to myself why nobody is talking about people and not fairies and elves?
Mrs CDO and myself like a good crime series. I hesitate to recommend them as I (or Mrs C) has usualky worked out the ‘Whodunnit’ before it’s finished. 
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Any recommendations? 
Just finished The Capture on iPlayer, very good. Same vibes as Line of Duty.
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We’re watching ‘The Suspect’ on ITV.
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I like aussie movies and tv shows,i don’t know why but always have.Every now and then i check online for the type of series and movies you’ve mentioned.
I liked the Jack Irish series(3 movies followed by 3/4 series).They’re slow paced but worth a watch,not for everyone though as not too much thought needs to go into them.Jack Irish - Wikipedia
Mystery Road(2 movies and 2/3 tv series) i also found to be decent but again slow paced not like the gritty,tense dramas we might see from other countries.Mystery Road (TV series) - Wikipedia
In both cases the storyline carries for the series rather than for each episode only.
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