On reflection it's rather funny that the compressed timeline was done because otherwise all the mortal characters would keep dying. Because the following characters are all immortal:

Galadriel
Elrond
Gil-Galad
Celebrimbor
Halbrand/Sauron
Adar
Arondir
The Stranger

So you would only lose:

Nori
Durin
Bronwyn and Theo
Elendil
Isildur
Miriel

I can't help but feel that the compression was actually unnecessary, and that it would have been acceptable/better to have these characters just being around for maybe one season each, when their respective timelines came along.

 

I mean, it's kind of hard to make engaging television out of forging of the rings that takes 90 years. How do you show that? Fade to black, text overlay: 90 years later? How do you make it make sense to the audience that it takes that long to make some jewelry?

Tolkien timeline has the same issues as all other epic fantasy timelines in that the events in ancient history take way too long.

 

I don't know what all the fuss was about with the show supposedly looking cheap or being horribly terrible. Some of the dialogue was meh. Some of the runtime was boring (folksy Harfoots folksily folksying and Gandalf, cough the Stranger gesticulating at stars in confusion). Seems like complaining for the sake of complaining because there's a black elf and and a black dwarf. Some people apparently thought Galadriel was unlikeable? I'll take this Galadriel gal over Rey Skywalker Palpatine any day.

I shan't repeat all the points on lore conflicts that Taure and Steelbadger have raised before. As I said in my post on adaptations much earlier in this thread, I didn't go in expecting an exact translation of Tolkien to the screen, so all of that is fine.

This one person who complained about Pharazon's monologue in the plaza was completely wrong btw, the actor knocked it out of the park. More Pharazon pls.

Things I particularly liked:

The R's (NumenoRRRR, GaldRRRRiel, TaRRRR-MinyatuRRRR, ARRRRmenelos and so on)

Narsil

panning shots of all the great civilisations (Armenelos, Eregion, Lindon, Khazad, a glimpse of Valinor)

Durin's tree (fuck you Elrond I don't like you anymore, but this tree you gave me, yeah that's my baby, so I actually still like you... you're still
an asshole for missing my wedding)

Adar

Gil-galad (hands down best-looking elf on the show, dude must win the Middle-Earth's Best Dressed Elf Award every year)

Sauron reveal scene (he recounted everything he told Galadriel, afterwards she must have been feeling like "goddamnit, he literally gave me every clue"; I like how his eyes looked like the fire eye from the Jackson movies in the closeup, I like how once the jig was up and Galadriel went for the kill, he just blocked the strike like it was nothing AND Sauron had the best line in the whole show so far: "I have been awake since the breaking of the first silence" is up there with "Not idly do the leaves of Lorien fall", very melodic line, well-delivered, terrific stuff)

terraforming of Mordor

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I enjoyed it. I think waiting to binge the whole season was the right decision, I can't imagine how much more the Harfoots would have annoyed me if I couldn't fast-forward through some of those scenes to get back to the good stuff. Tbh I don't understand why the Gandalf storyline is in this show and I don't care about it. More Numenor and more Sauron please.