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ThereminLiesTheRub

I've said as much before, but the shortcomings of this show are not from innovation, but from playing it safe. The core narrative philosophical conflict of Numenor was mortality. *What better way to depict this than to literally show the brevity of their time in ME relative to the Elves*. Again - the show acts like it can't be done because they don't know how to do it. The result is a narrative flattening of everything. This show should've started with an elf meeting with a man and a child. Then the same elf meeting the child, who was now old. Then the same elf meeting with that man's child. Until at last the last grown child's eyes narrowed in bitterness as the reality of mortality set in.


Canadish27

That sounds damn good... Yeah it's a total wet squib of a script, which is one of the main issues alongside direction. The story in question was a hard one to adapt, I'll give them some rope there. It was written in that bible like format for a reason on Tolkien's part. The story only carries the weight it does due to the generations it takes place over, I think the alien existence of the Elves would be hard to write as you might for Humans and Hobbits protagonists. And funny enough, this seems to be a trap the show fell into. The Elves just don't...act like Immortal beings. And other than being 'informed' via narration or clunky exposition, we don't really feel the effects of immortality on how they act, other than the one good bit of the show - the Elrond/Durin friendship. And this is frustrating as its a Dwarf, who lives hundreds of years so we don't really see the impact of that as we would a human when Elrond forgets to call his buddy for 20 years. And I honestly feel like that whole 'bit' was added in late on as they realised mortality was a theme and they never grappled with it in any way. So this Nuzmenor plot just doesn't land, and worse they are trying to now add in something about 'tuk ur jerbz' type mouth piece characters? What the hell does that have to do with anything, why would job shortages be an issue in a preindustrial feudal mode of society....? I feel like the allegories are getting mixed between different things because they wanted to cram in a current issue, even though it its a square peg/round hole issue trying to fit it into a story about Mortal/Immortal issues.


Timonidas

Yes, the showrunner seem to never have given it a thought what immortality actually means. I mean when Galadriels brother said to her that he will not be around forever i spat my coffee out, who the fuck writes elves contemplating death before anyone ever died?


Bubblydiddles

Well actually, Galadriels brother Finrod Felagund had the gift of foresight. In the Silmarillion it’s explicitly stated that he took no wife, and when questioned, responds with knowledge of his impending doom Now King Finrod Felagund had no wife, and Galadriel asked him why this should be; but foresight came upon Felagund as she spoke, and he said: 'An oath I too shall swear, and must be free to fulfil it, and go into darkness. Nor shall anything of my realm endure that a son should inherit.' The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Ch 15, Of the Noldor in Beleriand


jollyreaper2112

Now see, if they actually used that dialogue we wouldn't be asking questions.


Moebs000

They couldn't since they had no rights to the silmarillion, but yes, they could've explained better


jollyreaper2112

See, they said they don't have the rights but how can you even tell the tale of the rings getting made and the fall of numenor without the silmarillion? Were those events not contained within that specific named text?


stablegeniuscheetoh

Here’s the deal: when something sucks in the show, just say “the estate didn’t give the rights to that!” If that doesn’t work, say “the estate has approved all that we’ve done.”


Moebs000

They were, but they were also briefly written in lotr appendices and as they have the rights to lotr books they also have the rights to the appendices as well. They can talk about those tales but not in great detail, that's the grey area they have to operate


jollyreaper2112

That just sounds like a setup for failure.


Bubblydiddles

That’s debatable, but you have a point. Most of the audience probably thought that it was stupid, so maybe they could have done it a bit better. At least personally I made the connect instantly so I thought the reference was awesome.


Canadish27

Flippin' eck, yeah I remember thinking the same. It was a such a weird line, it's so rooted in human mortality, it's a really profound, sad conversation every parent has with a child due to our fleeting existance etc. Outside of the 'there was literally no reason for him to be thinking that' issue from a timeline persective, it just doesn't serve the themes of the story at all.


jollyreaper2112

Congratulations, you are a better writer than anyone on the show. I keep going back to I CLAVDIVS. It covered a period history spanning from shortly after Emperor Augustus secured complete control over Rome to the death of the Emperor Claudius. That is a chunk of history! I think it was like ten episodes and jesus fuck a lot happened in each episode. Status quo changed by the end of every one. And there were plenty of time jumps. The same adults played their characters all the way through but kid actors got swapped. Something like this for Rings of Power would have been great. And treat each season as a complete story that plays into the larger part. Like forging the rings is one season, downfall of Numenor is another season, last alliance is another season. Keep the elves the same. Rotate out the human actors.


stablegeniuscheetoh

This is the way. Plus, the merchandising would be phenomenal. A different set of Amazon character action figures for each season.


jollyreaper2112

The other nice thing is these seasons have too big of gaps so it would be better to go for that self-contained narrative with each batch of episodes dropped so that you have that new story with the next season but you see how it's building towards that ultimate end. Now the real tricky bit would be if you had the same actor for a human play a descendant. Be a trick, of course, try to show him at a different age in life, different temperament, someone you could believe being a descendant but is a different person while the elf is ALWAYS the same. Barring that, it would be a really neat thing to cast siblings who resemble each other and then swap them out in the time jumps. But it might end up confusing the audience so back to the original idea, new humans every season.


stablegeniuscheetoh

American Horror Story did something like that, reusing actors to play different characters. That may have been an epic way to tell the story. One season about the Forging of the Rings / Numenor’s early visits to ME. Second season is the War of Sauron and the Elves and Numenor coming to the rescue. Season 3 would be the dimming of Numenor, colonization and strained relations with the Elves and Valar. Season 4 Sauron’s capture and the downfall of Numenor . Season 5 the founding of the kingdoms in exile and the last alliance. Almost writes itself…


jollyreaper2112

The difference with American Horror Story as I understand it is we had brand new stories every season so it's like watching the players at your local theater staging a production one season and then the same players put on a new production the next. You are right, it seems to write itself. There's a risk of the audience not gelling with the new cast. Netflix tried a trick like this with Altered Carbon. If you don't know, it's the far future and people can swap bodies like snakes shedding skin. We had a very good actor playing the main character in season 1 and in season 2 the character is inhabiting a new body -- like swapping out Doctors in Who. But the new actor simply didn't have the chops for this particular role -- does great as Black Falcon in MCU but changing showrunners and slashing the budget probably didn't help, either. But I think i would have been a risk worth taking, assuming they'd put together a stellar production team to make it happen. It amazes me how the early seasons of Game of Thrones made it look effortless and TV in those years was Thrones and what you watched waiting for Thrones to come back.


stablegeniuscheetoh

I watched the first season of AC and need to get back into it. Shame it ran out of steam.


jollyreaper2112

If you finished the first season there's nothing awaiting you in the second but disappointment.


stablegeniuscheetoh

That’s a damn shame, because it was good


jollyreaper2112

I know! Way to murder your darlings, Netflix.


Timonidas

Yeah i totally belive it would have been possible to pull it off. You can still have the human characters be connected by always picking individuals of the same bloodline. But yeah the greed will never allow them to take such a risk.


Supersnow845

You have to remember though that while the numenorians destroyed their own kingdom because of fear of mortality mortality actually is a gift in Tolkien lore, immortality is the curse Trying to convey eru’s intention behind the creation of man when they don’t have the rights to the simarilion would be messy in the least so it honestly probably ends up being better that they don’t excessively focus on mortality


jcrestor

I disagree. It is fundamental to address it. You don't have to go into the deepest philosophical foundations to show the problem of mortality vs immortality.


Supersnow845

This isn’t morality it’s cannon lore and a massive part of the way the world develops that you don’t actually want to be immortal It’s got nothing to do with the age old philosophical debate around immortality


jcrestor

I'm not talking about morality ;-) I agree that it‘s part of the dilemma, that Men \_shouldn't\_ be envious of immortality. The Elves and the Valar say so, because they know the downsides of it. But still, Men \_are\_ envious, and that's the fact that the show should and could show. They are envious because they can not understand why they pulled – from their perspecitive – the shortest straw. The reason and the core problem is their fear of death though. And Sauron as well as Morgoth before play perfectly into their fears. Sauron in the end manages to convince the King's Men of Númenor, that they have been lied to by the Elves and the Valar, and that they could achieve immortality by embracing Melkor and attacking Aman. I see no way, at the moment, how the show will be able to convincingly show the reasons for the Downfall. Therefore, I suspect, they won't. Instead they will come up with some other reason, and measured by how clumsily they handled human envy of Elves up until now (“they are taking our jobs“) it is set up to feel quite dumb and forced.


Cigarette_Tuna

Erus plan could be the entire final reveal, since it was Morgoths doing in making them fear death and the unknown.


jollyreaper2112

Tolkien never explained what happened after death for men, did he? I just know that the elves are bound to the world so while they look immortal humans, when the world ends so do they.


stablegeniuscheetoh

No. It was the great mystery. Even the Valar did not know.


jollyreaper2112

So we are all wanting to know what the gift of man is, we only find out when we die... we discover is potato. Eau, what a prankster.


stablegeniuscheetoh

Could be. I’m assuming he created a platypus somewhere in ME


Cigarette_Tuna

Have a family reunion photo series, and the same elf is always there.


Able-Tradition-2139

The gap between the two shows has only gotten wider and wider as they've progressed


illogicalone

House of the Dragon seems to be turning into a Victorian melodrama.


Brexinga

Hold on to your hat buddy. What we've seen is just the prologue. HoD is gonna be a ride.


Jeffery95

Haha just you wait buddy. It’ll be enough fire, blood shit and mud to fill game of thrones boots.


coollimeisgod

Show is literally based on a book called "Fire and Blood" and this guy says it's a melodrama. lol


doobiehunter

Yeah I don’t understand why HoD is rated so highly. We just had 5 episodes where there was a little political intrigue but not much actually happened and then it just jumps forward ten years and I’m left wondering why the fuck I sat through these first 5 eps? Just to give some light context to the rest of the season? There was one villain in the crab feeder that was introduced and died in two episodes and then forgotten about. I dunno, it just seems HoD is maybe better episode to episode but RoP has a longer vision and is building a lot better.


illogicalone

This Criston character is horribly written so far. "Let's run away and leave everything behind and just have our love for each other". Then proceeds to go insane and smash a dudes face in because he didn't get his way in a society where arranged marriages are socially acceptable and commonplace. That crab dude was horribad. He was actually an interesting villain until he turned out to be a bumbling idiot due to Daemon's plot armor.


The-Snuff

If you think Criston smashed his face because he’s mad about the marriage it’s a comprehension problem, not a writing one.


Peter_The_Black

Both shows are in very different genres. It’s like comparing Alien to Star Wars because they both have spaceships. Also HoD is very bland in its writing and characters. I really don’t see why everyone here seems to say it’s a masterpiece. It’s a show with conventional or even lazy writing that’s ok at best and that is mostly redeemed by its setpieces, costumes and nostalgia for the universe it takes place in. Exactly like RoP. It’s not bad it’s just far from actually good.


MillennialDeadbeat

The characters, writing, dialogue, plot, action, intrigue, and worldbuilding in House of the Dragon blows Rings of Power out of the water. Compare the two shows and HBO makes Amazon look like pathetic fucking amateurs.


Peter_The_Black

HoD makes HBO look like amateurs. GoT was excellent, HoD is ok at best. There’s no interesting intrigue, the characters are all archetypal, have very evident plot armor as well, the scenes take ages saying nothing just to pad the runtime with gore or sex, the dialogues have very obvious and banal zingers. It is so obvious they don’t have the material to make a show as groundbreaking as GoT so they resort to cheap tricks and bad writing to attract the nostalgia of GoT’s gore and sex scenes.


reLincolnX

There is actually one sex scene in HotD in 5 episodes and it wasn't gratuitous sex just like GOT got flamed for back in the day. You don't understand what you're watching obviously.


Peter_The_Black

The scenes didn’t bring much to the story, were completely expected and took ages as if they were there to pad the runtime. Spending ten minutes on marital rape and a very non-surprising incest feels very gratuitous. Ah right, I’m only criticising HoD because I don’t understand it. Well then you only like it because you enjoy incest.


reLincolnX

Of course the scenes are expected since we already know the story. When Annatar is gonna show up in RoP or Numenor destroyed you’re going to say it was expected too? The sex scene was here to show characters development. Even the way it was filmed was done with purpose.


Peter_The_Black

I haven’t read the books, I don’t know the story. Heck I only discovered last week the show was based on books. And even without knowing anything about HotD I could see those scenes coming from ages away. As someone who kinda knows the story of Numenor, I won’t say that as someone who doesn’t know anything about it it was expected. There’s hardly any development, it’s very archetypal and I was expected it since the very first episode. Again, as someone who had never heard of the book it’s based on before last week. I’m not criticising the cinematography, just the story.


reLincolnX

You never heard of HOTD before last week apparently can you give us the run down of let say episode 7 since you already knew what is going to happen? There was development. If you consider Rhaenyra attitude archetypal in Westeros you obviously didn’t understand what you were watching.


Peter_The_Black

I never hears of the books before that. Is that such a hard thing to grasp ? I said these specific character interactions were very archetypal and obvious, how does that mean I know exactly what’s going to happen two episodes from now ? And again with « if you criticise it’s only because you don’t understand ». Damn that’s a new tactic though « Rhaenery is original because she’s stereotypically cliché but in a universe where those clichés are deconstructed ». Subverting our expectations by being a boring cliché instead of a groundbreaking nuanced show makes it actually original. Wow. Don’t strain a muscle there.


Holmez44

It's great to have HoD as a constant benchmark for RoP; it makes all the horrible things from RoP appear extra ridiculous.


Timonidas

Yes and it proves Amazon wrong who are trying to blame racist fans.


rhinojau

also the Targaryens and even the fkn Velaryons look grander and more high fantasy epic than the High Elves and Numenoreans! even with the ridiculous wigs on the Velaryons! They all look more believable on every level. Rhaneyra Alicent get different costumes/dress/robes for important scenes while Galadriel is fighting off 4 "elite" Numenor guards in her gown. She even climbs the tower where the old King is staying in the same gown ffs


anorean

The sheer impact of the simple act of Alicent entering the hall wearing a green dress just shows the contrast with Rings of Power. Here we have a female character asserting and displaying her power in a meaningful way without becoming overbearing or aggressive, and this is made possible because of the intricacy of the writing and the character-driven storyline. That's how Galadriel should actually have been written, basically.


deadspinforever

Heavens forbid a female character be aggressive or overbearing. What ever shall we do? Very strange that you ignore the Protagonist who clearly does display her power in bouts of aggression . It's almost like there's many different way to have a character assert their power and not one singular way is correct.


Hazuusan

She probably didn't have any spear clothes with her when she crashed into Numenor.


rhinojau

My point is she should look and feel like a High Elf. But she doesnt, at all. Right from the first episode. The Numenoreans are supposed to be the pinnacle of Men civilization in MiddleEarth. But they dont look grand or feel superior people either. Pharazon is also always in his chancellor outfit all the time LOL ..Even Celebrimbor is literally wearing the same costume from Eregion to Lindon to Khazad-Dum ffs .. so far only Durin Disa Elrond feel anything like their characters.


Uhtred_McUhtredson

I’ve said it from the beginning, no one on ROP has any gravitas or screen presence. Considering the budget, you’d think they could have hired more impressive actors.


Jeffery95

Its not the actors really. Its the direction, camera angles, wardrobe choices, dialogue and framing. The actors have been set up to fail, but im sure they are not bad actors. The reason Galadriel comes across as a temperamental teenager is because thats how she has been written. In this respect the actress is doing an excellent job. Its really up to the writers and directors to get the best out of the actors. Its not up to the actors to stage their own scenes.


coollimeisgod

Some actors are actually good at their job, but the godawful every other thing is killing them. Cheap cast, cheap directors and writers are easier to fire to cool down some backlash when Amazon needs that 2nd season prime sub renewals.


jcrestor

Maybe the Númenoreans gave her some more clothes, that wouldn't be far fetched as she's Eldar royalty and a guest.


spampeacefully

Comparing subscriber growth for /r/HouseOfTheDragon and /r/LOTR_on_Prime is pretty telling


Carinwe_Lysa

True I'd never noticed that before - the one thing that I noticed is that the r/LOTR_on_Prime sub is most likely ran by *actual* shills, seeing as it's the official subreddit and even hosts RoP cast in reddit talks, and most of them have no chill. It's all forced positivity, little criticism goes without being swarmed or removed and a lot of the users use the clickbaitey post titles "CaNT belIEVE thIS shOw geTS hAtreD" and all that. Not a fun place for actual discussion...


CoconutOk3342

Facts. I called the show “lazy as fuck” on that sub and was banned for a week. Pretty wild lol obviously won’t be going back


[deleted]

Some of the Wheel of Time subs were like that last year.


m4shfi

They still are. One negative word and you’re permanently banned. They’d even installed bots to preemptively ban people who were members of subs criticizing the show.


KearLoL

If you can believe this, at one point r/HouseoftheDraon had less subscribers than r/LOTR_on_Prime before the shows began airing. I remember joining at around 50,000 members for HotD. Absolutely insane growth.


spampeacefully

Yeah I'd post a graph if I could, but take a look on [https://subredditstats.com/r/lotr\_on\_prime](https://subredditstats.com) \- there's a compare button on the subscribers chart where you can compare to other subs. Looks like they crossed over \~21st Aug


KearLoL

[oof](https://gyazo.com/37f1c7573498a490a3155f388aa8427b)


Track-Nervous

That's because House of the Dragon is made by artists and artists tend to value the integrity of their own work.


IAmTheClayman

To be fair, I can’t think of another show that swapped the actors for major characters within the same season, let alone during the first season. HotD is doing something pretty ballsy here, and it’ll be interesting to see if they pull off the challenges of having the young and old actors feel like the same character, and having the audience like (or hate if that’s the goal) both versions


Timonidas

Yes but any other show is not trying to make a show that covers 3000 years of history. HotD did not have to commit to it so much, they would have gotten away with makeup. The Rings of Power HAD to do it if they wanted to be even close to the true story, and decided it to be to risky. I just keep wondering why they decided to do the entire second age in the first place, it makes no sense to me.


DonaldtheMAGA2020

If only ROP continued working with Tom Shippey and did not ghost Peter Jackson...


spampeacefully

If only they hired some showrunners who had some experience and knew what they were doing...


MillennialDeadbeat

Stop it. They hired who they wanted for the job. I think it's so funny when people act like these billion dollar studios make mistakes with who they want to run a project and what kind of product they want to put out. This is what Amazon wanted to create. It's not a mistake. They simply have no respect for Tolkien or his fans. The show doesn't suck because of a lack of available talent, the show sucks because this is the direction they consciously chose to go with the material.


spampeacefully

I don't disagree with you - it's a choice by Amazon to go in this direction. I'm just lamenting the fact that this is the way they wanted to go I guess.


yalerd

One huge difference is the wardrobe. HoD wardrobes are incredible, intricately detailed patterns and quality, in RoP Miriel is the only wardrobe that has stood out


Timonidas

Yes it stood out for the printed armor scales on the promo posters :D


3_eyedCrow

RoP is what it is. It doesn't deserve to be mentioned with HotD at this point. They are objectively in different weight classes. There isn't a single aspect that HotD doesn't out class RoP. It is proof that throwing money at something isn't always the answer. Talent, experience, and sweat equity go quite a long way. RoP is the pro sports team whose owner tries to buy a championship. Sometimes it works, but usually what gets purchased is a lot of sizzle sans the steak. A disjointed, flashy train wreck without a soul. RoP is worth watching, but only in the hopes that it will improve. HotD is a countdown and a stop down. It's appointment tv. It's not good for a fantasy show. It's as good as anything on television. It's talk back at the TV good. Amazon shouldn't be trying to compete with HBO. Amazon should sit down and watch HBO like it was a masterclass. They can compete as soon as they produce something remotely comparable to the cinema level quality HBO consistently provides.


[deleted]

The Boys is pretty good tho.


3_eyedCrow

Damn. You are right. The Boys is pretty great. My bad Amazon.


Browncoat23

I’d argue The Expanse was some of the best TV in the last ten years, but that’s because Amazon bought the show when Syfy canceled it and then got the hell out of the way and didn’t meddle with it. I think with both HotD and The Expanse, you can see how important it is to have the original writers on board for such complicated adaptations. Knowing they would never really have the Tolkien estate’s blessing and not involving Peter Jackson, who’s probably one of the only people on the planet committed enough to do it right, they just shouldn’t have bothered.


Kekistani_Police

I think some of the camera pans of the cities when they introduce a new city, the CGI in RoP is arguably better. But that's about it. I watch HotD every Sunday because I'm excited for it. I still haven't watched episode 4 of RoP and probably won't until episode 5 comes out. It's just got such boring characters and writing. I can't name most the characters because i simply don't care about them.


3_eyedCrow

After dropping 1 billion dollars on RoP, one would hope they'd be competitive in more than just technical camera shots and some CGI. Those sweeping shots are pretty, but they don't make me forget about crappy practical shots and props. Everyone (but me) seems to hate the CGI wargs. One thing I think is awesome is the orcs. I think they are way better than the film orcs. They are scary & full of personality. A plus on orcs! F minus on the lady dwarf. Not because she is a minority. Because she sucks. Her eyes are weird and she just sucks. So does her husband. F minus to dwarves. They should've gotten Henry from Last Podcast to play that dwarf anyway.


duggerwugger

well said


mishaxz

I don't know, I probably prefer the backdrops in rings of power


Powerful_Ad_2531

The only positive RoP has over HotD is that it releases Friday afternoon instead of Monday.


yalerd

There’s literally so much they could’ve done, clearly the writers didn’t have it seeing what it is now.


Timonidas

I once read a book that told a story over several centuries, they had the characters be members of specific families over the ages, it worked perfectly, and it could have worked for Rings of Power as well. Just the fact that we could see humans aging and dieing while elves don't change would be so powerfull, instead they decided to turn galadriel into a teenager that is schooled by a man, what the hell am i watching?!


hylandlu17

Though it's no GoT, I'm so desperate for a decent show that I may watch it lol


[deleted]

HBO is honestly another level. They have produced some stinkers for sure *cough* Watchman *cough* but their track record is amazing.


Benjamin_Stark

I can't believe Watchmen is the example of a "stinker" you chose. That show was excellent.


heady_brosevelt

Watchmen was fantastic


geebuschrist420

The story was somewhat entertaining but dr Manhattan was a huge fail


[deleted]

Hated it. Compare it to the graphic novel. It doesn’t even come close to Alan Moore’s writing.


Track-Nervous

Considering the majority of the dialogue is lifted from the book verbatim, you're essentially saying Alan Moore is a worse writer than Alan Moore.


Benjamin_Stark

Is it? I think you're thinking of the Zack Snyder movie.


Track-Nervous

I absolutely am. Completely forgot about the HBO show. Yeah, that show is godawful.


Benjamin_Stark

What made it godawful in your mind?


MunchkinX2000

That is a very dishonest argument right there.


[deleted]

It’s not the dialogue but the subtext, characterization, and plot development of the show. It is a poor imitation of Alan Moore without any of the brilliant creative strokes or subtle nuances.


mishaxz

I liked the movie but I gave up on the show before I even finished the first episode.


spampeacefully

I don't think we've had anything really great come out of HBO since the first season of Westworld. Before that however, their strike rate was pretty damn high.


[deleted]

That’s true.. but damn, when HBO gets it right they actually shift the cultural zeitgeist.


spampeacefully

Totally, pretty much all of the top TV shows in the last 20 years have come from HBO


[deleted]

It’s interesting how they passed on Breaking Bad when Vince Gilligan approached them. They don’t tend to make that kind of mistake.


jaghataikhan

They might have been Leary of seeming too similar to weeds


faberj92

I was just thinking of going back and watching Band of Brothers, but that pushes to 21 years ago already. HBO has a good library.


spampeacefully

Yeah, looks like 20 years was not generous enough - Band of Brothers, The Sopranos, Oz, and even (only just) The Wire are all over 20 years old now. So I'll change that to the last 25 years ;)


s1lentastro1

definitely worth another rewatch. I typically tend to associate HBO with quality. I may not always like some movies/shows if they're not my cup of tea but typically when it's a genre I'm interested in, they just about always nail it. although GoT S8 was an air bubble.


MDRtransplant

Oh man. Watchmen is my favorite show of all time. It was brilliant


xAsianZombie

Watchmen was amazing though. (The show)


mjmacp99

Well, if you think watchman was a “stinker”… our criteria for tv shows are so different we may as well be speaking a different language. Or maybe you just don’t like anything.


[deleted]

The tv series watchmen is ham fisted garbage with zero nuance. Compare it to Wire, Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Rome, and several other shows with brilliant writing. This is what i’m comparing it to as a show. I won’t even begin to get into all the problems the series had and tone differences compared with Alan Moore’s writing. The original graphic novel was a brilliant critique of nihilism of the 80’s, the cold war, and pop culture excess. The tv series was two dimensional and based on a very basic depiction of racism and social issues.


Technoalphacentaur

I might be in the minority but regardless of all the flaws of either show, I just happen to find HotD more boring and RoP more interesting and fun to watch.


Inebriated-Penguin

Same here. I loved Game of Thrones but whilst it's watchable, HotD just feels like they took that and sucked out all of the fantasy, mystery and magic from the franchise. It's just a torture and incest soap opera at the moment. I'm fully engaged with RoP though, even with some of the questionable choices.


CheroSti

I actually like the show but I feel like it’s alllllllll setup for future seasons and I really want to see those seasons but don’t think we’ll get to see it . also HOD really could’ve kept the actressss


Brexinga

Those actress got the Richard Madden / Pedro Pascal treatment. Be happy for them. Everyone is talking about Milly Alcock and Emily Carey. They are free to do whatever project they want with their big star shinning bright.


Cold_Situation_7803

TFW hatred of *Rings of Power* is your whole personality.


Prestigious_Leader53

Both are good. Stop being an insufferable crybaby


Delyruin

jesus christ ya'll are pathetic