Rings Of Power Finale - The Final Insult

By the way, if any asshole claiming to be me replies to your comments saying you've won an amazing prize or some similar nonsense, ignore and report them immediately. Its a scam, and its happening everywhere on YouTube right now.

In Fellowship of the Ring, Sean Bean has about 25 minutes of screen time. In that time, Boromir is initially established as a dutiful servant of Gondor, a battle weary warrior fed up with the lords of the lands kept safe by his people, a doubter of Aragorn, and someone with honorable desires upon The Ring. He's dismissive, weathered, prickly, and even a bit defeatist when the scale of the task is laid before the group. He's then shown teaching Merri and Pippin to fight, through encouragement and light-hearted instruction. He's horrified when he accidentally hurts Pippin, because his intention is to teach not humiliate or discourage them. So he's absolutely joyous when the hobbits gang up, shrug it off, and tackle him in good humour. This tells us a lot about Boromir as a person without needing to lean on dialogue-heavy explanations. Heck, it isn't even the main focus of the scene, but it's there, happening nicely in the background, laying the groundwork for his and the hobbits' characters. It shows us, gently, that even though he's doubtful about their mission, Boromir takes the initiative and recognises where his party needs to level up, and does it without making them feel small. He builds bonds that he knows will make the group stronger. Bear this moment in mind when you consider Galadriel's scene in RoP, where she, as the superior swords person, is tasked with instructing the Numenorean recruits and what her actions tell us about her character. Anyway, Boromir falls deeper under the influence of the Ring, but the film also shows him standing his ground and being brave against the Moria hordes and at every turn when the group need him. When the Fellowship is fleeing the Balrog and the staircase is collapsing, he instinctively grabs Merri and Pippin and, without a word, he leaps them both to safety, again establishing his big brother relationship with them. It's such a small detail but it's so consistent as it quietly builds his bond with those hobbits in particular and it's especially interesting to see him do it after Legolas, and even Gandalf, have jumped alone. All shown to you through small details and interactions that involve very little dialogue. All action. All intent. All with purpose and meaning. After Gandalf falls, Boromir pleads with Aragorn for more time just to let the hobbits grieve. He's compassionate, emotional, and caring. He is miles away from the dismissive, prickly presence he was at the Council of Elrond. He's truly a part of this Fellowship now, and he has a bond with the hobbits that goes beyond duty. It shows Boromir, while a good leader, also maybe thinks with his heart when he should think with his head, whereas Aragorn is more pragmatic and, in a way, ruthless. Both display different sorts of strength, but the situation calls for one over the other. And while Boromir protests, he doesn't argue further once Aragorn has made his reasoning clear. THAT also tells us a lot about both men. Boromir is revealed to be an incredibly layered human being, one who is brave, loyal, caring, passionate and patriotic, but the burden of his father's failing rule and the pressure of protecting his people is crushing him. Haunting him. That is on full display at the Council, during his first temptation on the mountainside, and when he breaks down after Galadriel looks right into his soul and shakes him to his core. And it's that very thing, that incredibly noble desire to see darkness and ruin expelled from Gondor that is his undoing. That desire is the ring's way in. He finally falls to temptation and this one moment of weakness almost destroys him, but rather than wallow in his failings, he rallies. He does all he can do to repent, and rescues Merri and Pippin in a desperate attempt to regain who he was. And he is struck down. His first words to Aragorn while he lies dying are to alert him that the Uruks have Merri and Pippin. His second statement is his confession that he tried to take the ring. He is broken, dying, and guilt-ridden, but still trying to protect the hobbits and act with honor. Then before he dies, in his last breath, he accepts Aragorn as his king and makes sure Aragorn knows it. Because Boromir has only ever wanted one thing - the strength to defend his people. And now, he sees that strength might exist in Aragorn, and he knows saying the words will help make Aragorn a stronger leader going forward. He now has hope even in his darkest moment, when he began the story defeatist, bitter, and hopeless. Boromir does all he can until the end, despite his flaws and failures. He's no longer the dismissive and doubtful captain of Gondor, but a man who calls Aragorn his brother, his captain, and the king he trusts to bring glory back to his people. It's a breath-taking moment. Resonant. Earnest. Earned. They accomplish all that, that entire emotional journey, that rise, fall, and rise again for his character, in 25 minutes of screen time. Now look at RoP. Galadriel is exactly the same callous, single-minded, revenge-driven asshole at the end of the series as she was in ep1. Actually, no. She's worse. Because now, she has actually discovered who the enemy is and smoked out his intentions... and chooses to tell no one. All to protect her own reputation. All so she can maintain an air of authority and superiority over her peers, because if they knew the truth, her name would be mud, and she'd be nowhere near the decisions taken to forge the rings, how many there'd be, and who'd get to bear them. She shouldn't be like this. I don't think they meant for her to be like this. Her character writing feels shallow, rushed, and poorly thought out and now, there's a big disconnect between how the audiences feels about her and what the writers intended. She tells other characters to be humble, while she's brash, condescending, and arrogant. She tells others not to pursue vengeance when that's all she cares about pursuing. She talks about the importance of saving lives in the Southlands, but she's never shown saving a single person. She's shown threatening to torture and murder Adar's orcs if she doesn't get her way and she's shown walking away from the volcano blast when others are screaming around her, begging for help. Then the showrunners assert that if you don't find yourself liking her, or find yourself uninterested in her character, it's your fault. You're the problem. She's not like Boromir. Not written like him. Not developed like him. Not treated with the same care, thought, and humanity his character was treated with. She's a statue, standing still in spiteful, vengeful self-righteous self-service. Just like she was at the beginning of the series. Nine hours ago. With over THREE hours of screen time just for her where her character barely moves at all, and the actress is given nearly nothing to do in terms of range, humanity, or even basic heroism. This issue isn't unique to Galadriel. In fact, no characters in RoP have changed or grown or shown any depth at all throughout this first season. How could they? We know so little about most of them to begin with, never mind how they might have transformed or grown, that they come off as one-dimensional NPCs who exist to move the plot along, who make baffling decisions because the story has to happen, with no agency or impetus to their actions. Except maybe Durin, I'll give them Durin. He does seem to go through something of a journey with his father, Disa, and his place in the kingdom... and then his storyline is ignored in the finale. And then of course, there's the bloody bad guy. Sauron gets more development and "growth" than Galadriel, Elendil, or Isildur. That's... wow. Some of the actors are trying their hearts out and their natural talent and charm helps elevate the material, but the writing itself is a anchor around their necks. In a world and with characters created by JRR Tolkien, the characters are being failed at every turn, and so is the story. That's criminal. That's a fucking criminal excuse for storytelling when a prestige franchise is in your hands.

"A character is only as smart as the person writing them." That one sentence alone explains so much.

The most important take from this video: "Characters are only as intelligent as the people writing them" - The Critical Drinker, 2022

"The Lord of the Rings is a monument to the power of one man's imagination, while Rings of Power is a monument to corporate greed and hubris." Sums it up perfectly.

“Evil cannot create anything new, they can only corrupt and ruin what good forces have invented or made." - JRR Tolkien

I can't believe that the guy we all predicted was Sauron before the show even aired, turned out to be Sauron. Truly a historic day for fiction and entertainment.

I love how just Bilbo's chainmail could have save the whole Elven race several times over.

Suddenly, The Hobbit trilogy looks like a masterpiece!

I love how they tried to make Galadriel "strong" but instead they ended up making her a complete idiot 😂

"So focused on an audience that doesn't exist" - absolutely NAILED it with that remark.

"They've awoken their very own drunken Balrog." Very nice.

The saddest part is thinking about how many potential new fans were turned off by this series and will never read Tolkien’s work because of it. 😢

The ROP writers turned out to be way more talented than we gave them credit. They managed to make the protagonists more unlikeable than Sauron. That takes skill.

Aragorn is actually the lovechild of Sauron and Galadriel's doomed love affair. This sets up the epic scene in LOTR where Sauron utters the immortal words, "Aragorn, I am your father!"

Plot point: Sauron's whole 'reveal' could have been outplayed if he'd just looked at the parchment and said something along the lines of: "Yeah, that was a thousand years ago. That might seem like a long weekend to you, but it's over 25 generations of us mere mortals. Did you expect us to just remain leaderless for all of time just because that one last king couldn't find himself a queen and 10 minutes of private time in a bedchamber? No. One line of kings ended, so we founded a new one. It's a mortal thing, I guess I can understand it if your immortal mind can't really grapple with having to live with death as a fact of life, not just an unfortunate occasional event, but that's how it goes for us 'lesser races'. Now, are we done here?"

but.....why do boats float ? yeah the moment i heard that line i went cross eyed and nearly became brain dead from the stunning and brave writing

This amazon series was simply an abomination. It reveals how empty and dumb our culture has become. BUT It gives me hope that you are pursuing your own independent film and I am honored to support it. Thank you.

The moment Sauron whispered in Galadriel's ear "I am a feminist" was so beautiful, I cried.

I've not watched 1min of this show but the amount of entertainment it has brought me via these reviews is immense. I'm kinda very glad it was made for this reason ^ ^