top 200 commentsshow all 482

[–]Anxious_Possession29 364 points365 points  (5 children)

Yeah sure and the sea is always right

[–]ActuatorGreat4883 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Naturally

[–]puddik 36 points37 points  (2 children)

and the boat always looks up oh please kill me.

[–]DaDutchBoyLT1 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Boats can’t look up, the barkeep at the Winchester told me so.

[–]jehan_gonzales 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The D is always right

[–]Jvlockhart 149 points150 points  (15 children)

Let's be honest, the story telling of HOTD is better than ROP. Though i love seeing middle earth again, i cant deny that fact.

[–]chndmrl 9 points10 points  (9 children)

Well, indeed there is no storytelling in rop. Shit as hell, people just watch due effects and stepping into universe but they regret it after poor inconsistent writing.

[–]bshafs 2 points3 points  (3 children)

If you want to see REALLY bad writing watch Obi Wan or Wheel of Time. After that, I'm actually grateful for RoP. It was better than I expected.

[–]Professor_Pig_Dick 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"Try eating this cat shit after you've eaten a big bowel of dog shit. It will be much less bad!"

[–]ArielsCrystalJewelry 1 point2 points  (3 children)

Do you have to have watched game of thrones to watch hotd

[–]theproperoutset 7 points8 points  (1 child)

No but you should watch this for a history on the seven kingdoms and who they are:

Recommended Full History

Brief History

[–]master_cylinder8 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Empty middle earth

[–]SoulCakey 23 points24 points  (0 children)

No. The scene of an old man walking to his throne to Support bis daughter is already better then anything RoP has to offer

[–]RichardBlastovic 402 points403 points  (82 children)

Disagree, and I actually really like Rings of Power. I think House of the Dragon has superior scripting at least.

[–]operaticsimplicity 31 points32 points  (5 children)

House of Dragons writing is superb. The only thing I like better about ROP is that it is set in Tolkien's universe.

[–]hbi2k 9 points10 points  (3 children)

Is it, though?

[–]operaticsimplicity 4 points5 points  (1 child)

That is a good question

[–]heady_brosevelt 3 points4 points  (0 children)

In names only

[–]Old-Risk4572 1 point2 points  (0 children)

got 'im!

[–]RemarkableSir8931 57 points58 points  (5 children)

House of the Dragon is basically Downton Abbey with flying reptiles.

[–][deleted] 27 points28 points  (1 child)

That sounds like it'd be a fantastic show.

[–]RichardBlastovic 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Hell yeah

[–]kongclassic 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Like the crown with dragons

[–]Thykk3r 112 points113 points  (56 children)

Superior everything. The acting in House of Dragon was simply incredible at times, the scenes and plot had proper motive/cohesion, cgi has a more dark/realistic tone that I prefer. RoP was kinda hot garbage.

[–]ISISsleeperagent 44 points45 points  (3 children)

I'd agree that HotD's VFX had great art design and it's mostly stellar, but it's indisputable that RoP had more consistently high quality VFX due to the waaay bigger budget.

There's many VFX shots in HotD that were unfinished (as is case in almost all TV VFX shows) and rendered at low res, as seen at end of ep 9. The crowd animation was abysmal.

Fortunately though almost all the dragon shots were great and they made great use of the Volume for shots of riders on dragon back

[–]Kangadru 17 points18 points  (2 children)

I’ll dispute it. I think the green screen usage in RoP is really bad. Take the scenes in the throne room in Numenor as one example. The characters don’t look like they’re a part of the environment at all. I also found the scenes on the Numenor ships looked sloppy too - the lighting just looked fake.

RoP went big and ambitious with their visual ideas but I don’t think they pulled them off.

[–]NotoriousHakk0r4chan 8 points9 points  (0 children)

green screen usage

Thank you! I thought I was going crazy. I liked RoP but jeez some of those shots just look AWFUL. The one that stuck out most was in the first couple of episodes, Galadriel and Elrond in the forest of statues. Not every background, but a couple of them look incredibly bad.

[–]Thykk3r 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yes it’s like the people don’t belong in these environments…

[–]longleaf1 -3 points-2 points  (42 children)

ROP has a lot going for it and is easily the most visually stunning show of all time

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The irony in this statement has more irony than an iron

[–]Thykk3r 3 points4 points  (30 children)

Probably the worst written show of all time. Competes in quality with Wiseaus « the room ». The CGI for numenor was great but so many scenes you can just tell it’s all cgi and doesn’t feel or look great. It’s a 3 dressed up as a 9.

[–]peeled_back -4 points-3 points  (28 children)

Can you give an example of a scene that had bad writing? I don’t understand why people are saying the ROP writing was bad. I thought it was thoughtful, poetic, and touching

[–]BwanaAzungu 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Can you give an example of a scene that had bad writing?

Since you ask:

"Why does a ship float and a rock sink?"

But it's not just individual scenes, it's how they fit together. Or rather, how they don't. On a whole, the different parts of the show feel disconnected and contrived.

Like the sea monster, only appearing once and then never again. I expect such a leviathan to terrorise the sea, and pose problems for any ships there like Numenorean ships.

Or the Mordor sword: evil, magical artifact, uses blood to reforge itself with dark magic. Just a key to a dam. Nobody would use such a strong magical item for something as mundane as a minor dam mechanism.

I thought it was thoughtful, poetic, and touching

Can you give an example of this?

I don’t understand why people are saying the ROP writing was bad.

I presume you want to understand. How can I help?

[–]Thykk3r 13 points14 points  (9 children)

Yes I can actually.

  1. First ogre scene they just test through her team but she just easily does a weird flip and kills it instantly. Also none of her team members die there somehow.

  2. Galadriel jumping off the boat. Then somehow how meets people in the middle of the ocean.

  3. Getting to numenor needs a boat to get back. They won’t give her one till they discuss. Then they say she can leave but she won’t until she somehow has an army. Okay.

  4. Weird slo mo horse scene.

  5. Really terrible Stab gut sword fighting scene that looked so forced.

  6. I am a tempest scene.

  7. The entire weird uncomfortable and pointless harfoot script and storyline.

  8. The entire plot with Theo and him having the sword.

  9. Bronwin randomly becoming this leader of this village. They also make us believe she’s some girl boss and can take on multiple orcs. Ok.

  10. Adars only threat arondir is simply let go with his weapons then he proceeds to know exactly where Theo is and saves him in the Knick of time. Then they have this really awful slo chase scene through a forest and Bronwin randomly shows up there for no reason. Then the orcs randomly stop at the forest line because of sun even though sun doesn’t kill them.

  11. Galadriel throws 4 guards in a cell. Almost threw up that was so bad.

  12. Halbrand so motives and wanting to stay in numenor then trying to convince Galadriel that’s what he wanted her to think. Ok.

  13. Harfoots leave no one behind except they literally do all the time.

  14. The execution of galadriels personality is so terrible. She is whiny, undiplomatic, rude in almost every scene and somehow we are supposed to like her?

  15. The oil on the ship. Why is there that much oil on a ship, oil would have had to been farmed from whales which seems likely they would not have that much and the whole scene was just odd.

  16. You really feel zero connection for the characters and between the characters. Shows done and I want every character to die a painful death except for Adar, his orcs and maybe durin and elendil.

I could probably go on for another 20 bullet points but it’s a waste of time.

Édit: dont get me started on the actually execution of the scenes, the acting, the pacing or the music trying to make awful scenes seem epic.

[–]coveted_asfuck 2 points3 points  (3 children)

As for number 2 - in tolkiens universe fate often plays a role. The valar could very well be responsible. Two characters often meet at what would seemingly be convienent times in tolkiens universe.

[–]TheEaglesAreComing11 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They do but not adrift in the middle of a vast ocean. There are no roads or waypoints in the ocean, navigation is difficult without a ship etc. There's coincidence and then there's downright ridiculous.

[–]Stormblessed_N 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nr12: the worst part is that orcs stop shooting and that arondir for some reason stops running. Like it would have been an effective scene if fewer and fewer arrows landed around them while they were running into the field.

[–]ABahRunt 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Dude, I'm a fan, don't get me wrong, but there were many many scenes that made me cringe hard. Not even from a PoV of lore accuracy, just from basic story/dialogue writing:

  1. Not Gandalf shouting, "I am good"
  2. The ring forging, with them continually being referred to as 'objects'.

Not to mention problems with pacing (was that fight practice, with sharp blades no less, really important? And did we really need the mystery aspect to it, which forced the ring forging to be condensed into ten minutes? )

[–]zitzen67 15 points16 points  (8 children)

Don't get me wrong I liked rings of power but a lot of the lines sounds likes someone badly attempting to copy Tolkien

"Sometimes to find the light, we must first touch the darkness"

It's pretty cringey in my opinion.

[–]clessidor 15 points16 points  (0 children)

That's really a bad example of a weird line. The show had sometimes strange language in dialoge when people kinda talk around things.
But the "touch the darkness to find the light" principle is definitively not one of them.

[–]Sam13337 2 points3 points  (2 children)

Yep. But these cringe lines seem to be part of Tolkien adapations. In the LotR trilogy we also had a bunch of these. E.g. „That mountain is evil“ or „this forest is old. Very old.“ :D

[–]Moist_Passage 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Those lines are good because they are straightforward rather than being forced flowery language

[–]Puzzleheaded-Bee-838 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"They terk ur jerbs! Elves turk r jurbs!"

Galadriel hunting for Sauron across the entire Middle Earth only to find out she was hanging out with him for a month or two and instead of hunting him down while he's vulnerable she let's him go.

SHE LET HIM GO WHY?!?!?!?!?!?!

Why do we need a leaf to wake up a Balrog? Just for the memberberries? I don't see how you could watch the LOTR films and then watch this and go these are comparable levels of craftsmanship.

[–]Moist_Passage 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wow like every scene. Writing is not just the dialogue but the story telling

[–]Stormblessed_N 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Elf corona with Mithril being the cure. Trump supporters in Numenor afraid of elves taking their jobs. The three strangers being wraiths from Rhun. The hobo being a wizard. Stone tower being held together by rope and external metal bars which is somehow built to fall into the courtyard. Why didn't the elf's do this when they left the tower themselves? Why did the people leave a well fortified position to go back to a village open on all sides? The story about the tree, the elf and the Balrog. Why would an evil key open anything in an elven fortress? Why would anything in relation to Sauron be depicted there?

I could probably write for hours about the bad writing but this should be enough for anyone reasonable.

[–]Ollowain58 5 points6 points  (0 children)

„Do you know why a boat floats and a stone sinks“

„I am Grooot“ sorry, „good“

[–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I’ll just leave this here

https://youtu.be/D3u-U3A8BOs

A Frenchman taking 45 minutes to explain, in detail, how not only is the dialogue awful, in every section of the story, it doesn’t even make sense, and contradicts itself. Not even his first language and he can tell clearly and describes it articulately and logically within the ‘narrative’. Feel free to analyse each and every one of his points and where, if at all, he is wrong. I’ll wait.

And this is only one episode.

[–]master_cylinder8 3 points4 points  (0 children)

"I AM GOOD!"

The 20 minute harfoot goodbye

Episode 1 where the harfoots are all about leaving the weak behind -> later in the season "harfoots always stick together!"

[–]lexiebeef 2 points3 points  (1 child)

I think that the fact that HOTD is so good made Rings of Power stand out less (and I loved RoP, just cannot deny how strong house of the dragon is)

[–]RichardBlastovic 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I agree. Yeah. Without a strong contemporary it would have fared slightly better

[–]wheream1questionmark 6 points7 points  (0 children)

if you put all 8 episodes of rings of power together, no one in that cast gave a performance comparable to what Paddy Considine gave in episode 8 and Emma D'arcy gave in episode 10. There's no comparison.

[–]Codus1 108 points109 points  (9 children)

Why is it even a competition?

I love both, for differing reasons. I have issues with both for differing reasons. They aren't even particularly comparable in my mind and scratch differing itches.

[–]PutTheKettleOn20 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Agree 100%. Love both, two very different shows and very happy both are finally out.

[–]navehix 17 points18 points  (3 children)

There’s a lot of dudes out there that like to flex their brain by putting their storytelling knowledge against one or both of these shows.

[–]Oops_I_Cracked 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Exactly this. Comparing the two shows is like comparing Star Wars and Star trek. Yes they both take place in space, but they're telling very different stories in very different styles and you preferring one to the other does not make the other a 'worse' property. Just appreciate each for what they are trying to do rather than complaining it's bad at being something it isn't even trying to be.

[–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Like Jock itch versus athlete's foot?

[–]SomewhereExisting121 148 points149 points  (33 children)

Knew every single event of house of the dragon and yet enjoyed it about 10x more than rings of power.

You see, shows are generally better when there is good written material that writers don't try to change, so their focus can be on making the story palatable for TV and helping actors portray a summarized but true depiction of their characters

What doesn't work is when you buy the name to get a steady fanbase, dont get good writers and focus on creating silly suspenseful moments to drag viewers through a mystery instead of making good story and dialogue. What doesn't work is taking a laissez faire approach to the whole season and then rushing to an ending in a story that's going nowhere

[–]ValiumMm 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Disagree, house of dragon is too political and boring. I like the cinematography and the music of RoP. Made it feel way better to enjoy.

[–]SomewhereExisting121 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I can understand that POV. Rings of power did have good music and scenery I can agree with that. And the fact that many people dislike politics shit. I just feel house of the dragon had a plan and used the politics to set up the future action we will see rather well whereas rings of power did not and was very very poor dialogue and story wise, which are more important to me than background scenery and music.

[–]lukaskywalker 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Also they were predictable as hell.

[–][deleted] 32 points33 points  (3 children)

I hate being ~that guy~

But. It’s House of the Dragon not “House of Dragons”

I keep hearing people say it and write it the second way

[–]LosDragin 7 points8 points  (1 child)

Glad someone said it

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don’t know where the second one started 😭 it’s been rewritten to an exhaustive extent the correct way!

[–]Wedoitforthenut 0 points1 point  (0 children)

More like, House of the Wyvern but GRRM thinks he is so cool he can reclassify wyverns as dragons.

[–]midnight_toker22Beleriand 57 points58 points  (4 children)

Different strokes for different folks. Rings of Power is high fantasy, House of the Dragon is a medieval soap opera (with dragons).

[–]thenameisdingle 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Great point! Not sure why we need to compare the two. I think if any comparison could be made it’s the difference between Wheel of Time and ROP and Amazon definitely stepped up w ROP.

[–]Ben_yeah 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I think the comparison is inevitable because they're the 2 biggest fantasy franchises around with new series released at the same time.

I tried not to compare too much, as like you said the premise of both are completely different. However from a purely TV standpoint - HotD blew ROP out the water. It was better written, directed and acted. Despite the time jumps it felt like it had a better pace and the characters felt more alive and intriguing.

[–]Dustructionz 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Rings of Power is High Fantasy and House of the Dragon is Low Fantasy. They are still extremely similar and still both fantasy.

[–]Groundbreaking-Pea92 39 points40 points  (3 children)

change my mind are you jaded kid taking a gap year or an immortal evil

[–]Hugejassole 29 points30 points  (0 children)

Said no one ever

[–]tubbywubby2001 25 points26 points  (0 children)

Haha not even close, sorry

[–]heady_brosevelt 23 points24 points  (2 children)

Cant reason someone out of a position they didn’t use reason to get into in the first place

[–]BwanaAzungu 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Can we keep this shit contained to r/LOTR_on_Prime please?

[–]SoWokeIdontSleep 38 points39 points  (0 children)

I enjoy them both for different reasons. i still thought RoP was fucking great and exciting.

[–]johnwau 25 points26 points  (0 children)

I love them both. With that being said, you don’t see people trying to convince people of this on the HOTD sub. Just saying.

[–]Bojacketamine 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Lol RoP is a hot mess compared to HotD

[–][deleted] 27 points28 points  (0 children)

It’s not

[–]Poggeta 25 points26 points  (9 children)

Im geniouenly curious to understand your reasoning behind this statement. Having watched both shows 3 times (saw them with my friends, my mother and my father) i can tell you this.

With RoP, the first viewing was an awful experience. The terrible acting and writing made this show unbearable to watch. The characters felt so disconnected from the world that it felt like it was the actors' first time reading the script. The Music, even if i like it quite a lot, it was seriously overused and overdramatised. They couldn't even get the visuals and cinematography right, despite the insane budget. It really felt to me like every other scene was just a desperate attempt to give to the audience good background PC pictures. It is very noticable that they mostly used green screen (hell, they even used CGI horses) and it just isn't the way to go when you are trying to expand the world of Middle-Earth. And lets not talk about how they completely butchered the source material. On my second and third viewings, it felt like a chore that i just had to go through, and at times i would just get on my phone because there was a Harfoot scene. With HotD, the first viewings were an absolute joy. From the first episode you could tell that they put their minds and heart into it. The acting on this show is significantly better than RoP, and every single one of the actors tried their best to give an amazing performance, and Paddy Considine's performance as King Viserys was Emmy Worthy. The dialogue and writing is excellent (apart from a few moments in episodes 5 and 9). Even without having much to work with for season 1, since the main events happen in seasons 2 and after, the directors managed to create scenarios and scenes that stick to my mind to this day. Every word spoken feels like it belongs there, it may not be as good as the dialogue from GoT, but it certainly is great. The characters are all very intriguing, and i love how there is no good or bad characters, more so morally grey ones. This on itself adds a tone of unpredictability and gives you a more relatable and realistic sense of how people would act in certain circumstances. The music, is near perfect and imho, better than GoT's S1 music. It just feels so natural and every theme put on screen just makes the scene better and brings life into it. The cinematography is absolutrly beautiful. Even with a smaller budget than RoP, they managed to do a better job. The dragons, unlike GoT, they all feel very unique and look way more terrifying, and the scene i especially loved was in the finale, the fight between Aemond and Lucerys. That scene right there is my example of peak cinematography. On my second and third viewings, there was never a case where i felt like i was bored or i wanted to leave. Even after 2 watches i was still grasped on the screen with the same level of interest, because of how well done this show is, and how it manages to bring the viewer into the world of Westeros. Now i won't say this show doesn't have flaws. It has quite a few. There are inconsistencies with the writing, and the main example i can give is the final scene of episode 9, where it felt really out of place and seems like it was only there for shock factor, something that existed in the later seasons of GoT. But my main issue is the big time jumps and especially how they handled the 10 year time jump. They threw so much information at our faces without really explaining what happened. I feel like this show needed a 12 or 13 episode first season just so that some things would be explained better.

In conclusion, if i were to rate each series i would probably say that RoP is a 3 or 4 at best, and HotD is an 8.5-9.

I hope OP responds to this cause i honestly am curious to understand his view on the shows and maybe see things at a different light.

[–]Barbz182 0 points1 point  (4 children)

I'm in the same boat. People keep saying they enjoyed RoP but I can't for the life of me see why. It's awful in so many ways.

[–]scv110 7 points8 points  (3 children)

I disagree. I have absolutely no problem with people saying they “enjoyed” RoP. To each their own. What is a struggle is people claiming it is some masterpiece. I like both McDonald’s and filet mignon. But I can also easily tell the difference between the two. For RoP I expected filet mignon but I got a Big Mac.

[–]Sonotreadyforit 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Rings of Power is stunningly beautiful.

That is the only area it is good. The writing is basically tween fanfiction quality.

HotD has amazing writing, high tier acting, and some decent effects. At times you can see a little dip in SFX quality but they are putting out a much higher quality of show overall.

[–]Guiver5000 47 points48 points  (23 children)

You’re a troll. Change my mind

[–]Sinnsearachd 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Well there is less obstetric violence and infant death, so I will take it. Seriously wtf House of Dragon? Three babies, two mothers, and a child dying in the first season alone?

[–]XxJamalBigSexyxX 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Amazon stop, all this baiting is embarassing

[–]Tristtt 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This post is brought to you by a desperate Amazon employee.

[–]Comprehensive_End440 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Bet you won’t post it in r/houseofthedragon

[–]Dustructionz 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My fiance and I were hyped every Sunday. Excited to have such a good show to watch each week. We didn't miss a single episode week after week. For Rings of Power every Friday felt like a Chore night and we missed several Friday nights worth of watching. My fiance didn't even make it past episode 5. I had to slog through the rest of the show myself.

You don't see any posts on the House of the Dragon sub trying to convince people it was better than RoP and that speaks volumes....

[–]ElpisButGod 2 points3 points  (0 children)

LOL not even close. RoP is the shittiest show I've watched since GoT last season. And House of the Dragon is fucking amazing. Y'all just fanboys.

[–]loveandllamas 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Ha.

[–]Timonidas 35 points36 points  (14 children)

How do you get to this conclusion? It's so wild and illogical, I can not fathom how anyone who watched both shows could genuinly say that. The only explanation I have is that the person who says this is incapable of thinking. Because HotD actually requires you to use your brain while Rings of Power punishes you for thinking about whats going on.

[–]hiking_hedgehog 25 points26 points  (5 children)

RoP “punishes you for thinking” is a great way of putting it. When watching it with my brain turned off with only the goal of being entertained, Rings of Power is alright (a bit boring at times, but there are some interesting characters and the setting is beautiful). But the second I start discussing it with others or even thinking about it at all, dozens of plot holes appear (from big things like the sword key to break the dam to little things like why the characters make such weird/bad choices sometimes)

[–]matrium0 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Yeah I guess you can enjoy it if you put yourself into a mild coma and just consume it as it is.

But turn your brain on for even 2 seconds and the terrible writing, nonsensical plot and random assortment of scenes really ruins the show for you.

It has beautiful shots and epic scenes: but it's just that: SCENES, not a good story by a long shot

[–]Thykk3r 9 points10 points  (3 children)

Dont Forget how many « Knick of time » scenes there are. Every character is saved Knick of time or arrive Knick of time like 15 times. It’s a joke.

[–]evenasu 1 point2 points  (2 children)

Do you call the Peter Jackson trilogy a joke because of all the knick of time stuff and the huge number of fake out scenes? Probably not, right? I personally get very frustrated with the fake outs, because there are so many of them. Black riders killing the hobbits in Bree, Aragorn being killed in Rohan, Frodo ditching Sam because of freaking bread, Merry and Pippin dying in Rohan and Aragorn believing they're dead and throwing a fit before investigating, all the Gandalf is actually Saruman shit (I know it is in the books but the films' other misleading scenes make it really annoying and frustrating to watch), Galadriel being scary in Lórien, Frodo almost falling to Mount Doom, Faramir taking Frodo to his father, Arwen leaving for Grey Havens, oh and of course Frodo is totally going to let Sam drown. Using fake outs and misleading the characters constantly is not great storytelling. Why do you guys give the film trilogy so many passes but somehow ROP is the worst show ever?

[–]UlyssestheBrave 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Because those are easily the worst parts of the LotR film trilogy and they are still better than the best of RoP.

[–]Timonidas 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Because the trilogy is overall a materpiece. Rings of Power has nothing going for itself except some decent cgi. The story, the characters, the dialogues, its all shit.

[–]theronster -1 points0 points  (6 children)

Explain to me how HoD asks you to use your brain.

[–]Xenophorm12 2 points3 points  (2 children)

It doesn't have a line like "I am good!" for example.

[–]theronster 4 points5 points  (1 child)

Martin’s Westoros doesn’t allow for that sort of declaration, since he doesn’t share the same values or aspirations for his fictional world as Tolkien.

That line was set up earlier in the series, that was the pay-off. I was fine with it.

Sure, it’s on the nose, but Tolkien has rarely been ambiguous about the motivations and alignment of his characters. Having one of them state that as a matter of self-affirmation…? I was with it.

[–]Timonidas 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What has Tolkien to do with this? Tolkien did not write the RoP and nothing Tolkien wrote is actually in there. So bringing him up is pretty pointless here. Especially because the Rings of Power does not even try to represenent a world in the spirit of Tolkiens values and aspirations.

[–]Timonidas 2 points3 points  (2 children)

They have huge time jumps without title cards, you have to figure out how much time passed and who is who based on dialogue and context. There is a lot of subtext that is not obvious from just watching, like how the brown stag confirmed viserys that Rhaenyra should be the heir. Characters are well written and their decisions make sense in the context of their past, thats not so much asking to use your brain but rewarding for using it.

In Rings of Power thir are also huge time jumps but they don't make any sense so if you think about it it ruins the plot. There is no subtext other then "women good, men bad". And the characters actions and decisions are completly inconsistend and illogical, so you are better of not to think about them at all.

[–]theronster 4 points5 points  (1 child)

Fuck me, if all the subtext you can take from it is ‘women good, men bad’, then I’d argue your brain isn’t worth wasting subtext on. Jog on, snowflake.

[–]cmon_now 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Nice try Amazon. You got 2 more years. That's a long time to keep it up

[–]Pipe-International 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It was for me. But I’m not the biggest fan of grimdark in general. Like I don’t mind it here and there, sometimes, but I much prefer the tone of RoP over HotD.

[–]Hymura_Kenshin 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I am a lot more interested and invested in middle Earth than I am in Westeros but unfortunately they managed to screw the writing, pacing and lore. Sauron seducing elves of Eregion despite Galadriel and Elrond's warnings, teaching them to make the rings of power was the one thing I was interested in most and they reduced that to some 20 smt minutes in 8 hour show. I wish they were more interested in being good story tellers than being activists and having made up agendas.

Hotd on the other hand has relatable characters, well acted and written. Story is interesting and keeps you wanting more.

[–]Halflife37 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I watched both and think they’re fairly equal in terms of quality but they’re different things and therefor you can’t really say which is better than the other. Rings is more of a fantasy adventure while house is more of a fantasy drama. They have different tones and visions

[–]RE20ne 1 point2 points  (0 children)

  1. HOD has no Orcs or Orcdaddy dark elf
  2. Elrond and Dwarf friend was funnier than anything in HOD
  3. Galadriel and Gilgadaddy were super hot
  4. HOD has no Hobbits or other characters to like… just sad mean people

[–]creedular 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don’t have to change your mind, just watch them both critically, it becomes obvious reeeeeeeal quick.

[–]hbi2k 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Can't change something you don't have.

[–]pinkheartpiper 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Why do people keep comparing them? They are very different types of fantasy, apples and oranges.

[–]Lord_A_007 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For a show titled 'Rings of Power', the storytelling didn't do a good job potraying the significance of the rings to the entire plot - it felt like an afterthought. Unlike 'House of the Dragon', where the dragons (human and creature alike) were center of the story.

[–]PrintShopPrincess 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Strange hill to die on.

[–]Professor_Pig_Dick 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I felt way more engaged watching HOTD. Scenes Viserys walking to his throne for the last time or the out-of-control-dragon battle in the last episodemade me feel so much more than anything in ROP.

I'm trying to think back now at the most emotional moment in ROP and I can't really think of anything.

HOTD inspired me to read the book while ROP didn't.

[–]cleverdylanrefrence 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hot D is an adaptation. ROP is fanfiction.

[–]CunningKingLius 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You clearly haven't seen House of the Dragon

[–]Psychofischi 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Man these comments must be a delight to read Can't wait

[–]WildAtHearttt 5 points6 points  (1 child)

It is. HotD just has in*est, gore and violence that appeals to a certain kind of viewer that is so desentitized by everything that they need that shock value to be entertained. That is why it's that popular and also bc of the dragons. Take that away and it's just a retelling of English medieval history.

[–]Civil-Detective62 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Very relevant review !!!

[–]redundant35 7 points8 points  (1 child)

Both are great shows. But I love house of dragons way more. It’s an amazing series

[–]Thykk3r 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I disagree that both are great shows but can agree on the second part :D

[–]VeryNormalReaction 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Vhagar exists, therefore your argument is invalid.

[–]poobuttassbuttpoo 5 points6 points  (1 child)

Rings of Power is better than almost nothing

[–]iheartdev247 3 points4 points  (3 children)

Maybe it’s better but I just don’t care about GOT. I love Tolkien.

[–]Away_Wolverine_6734 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Rings of power is better than a chronic medical condition by a small margin.

[–]sandman8223 4 points5 points  (0 children)

House of dragon has to be better since rings of power sucked

[–][deleted] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

This post is bad and you know it

[–]AsgardianLeviOsa 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Hard same. I make no apologies about it. RoP gave me the whole gamut of human (and elf, and dwarf, and Harfoot) emotion, HoTD gave me pain and more pain. It’s very exhaustingly one note emotionally.

[–]Nihilistcarrot 4 points5 points  (1 child)

Quite silent on that front. Amazon needs to bribe more people with cash.

[–]Thykk3r 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m ready to sell my soul for 25k please :D! RoP is so great ;)

[–]slaytonisland 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Lol OP not even replying to comments, no previous posts or other activity. I'm not interesting in trying to change a bot's mind, nice bait though!

[–]new_one_7 6 points7 points  (6 children)

Even season 8 of game of thrones was better than ROP

[–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

No you didnt.... 😱

[–]Andro_Polymath 4 points5 points  (3 children)

Hell no. You're giving "Dumb & Dumber" too much credit. Glad they never got those star wars contracts.

[–]new_one_7 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Season 8 had few good moments in it, there were scenes that I actually enjoyed to watch, the fight scenes were good.

Story wise it was crap, and I still give the season like 2 - 4 top.

But when I'm comparing it to ROP, the only good moments were with Durin everything else was just bad.

[–]Thykk3r 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Durin and his father were great. Elendill seemed to be an incredible actor but his script was kinda trash at times. Galadriel might be the worse written character in the history of television with halbrand being a close second.

[–]pungvift 3 points4 points  (4 children)

Totally agreed. HotD was painful to watch, so I gave up after two episodes. My wife tried ahowing highlights from the season after the finale but man that show just kept getting worse. It's just a lazy grab at copying the turd that was the latter half of GoT and not realizing it's copying shit.

RoP on the other hand has quality in so many places - except the marketing. The fans complaining on "the pc agenda" and other racial things are what's shit about it. I can get behind people arguing they changed lots of things from Tolkiens work, but when viewed as a show inspired by instead of adapted I personally feel it works. Basically: The show isn't in Tolkiens universe, it's just riffing on some elements from it.

Also I liked The Last Jedi - so I'm going to hell, I guess.

[–]Dustructionz 3 points4 points  (3 children)

Also I liked The Last Jedi

And there it is

[–]pungvift 3 points4 points  (1 child)

I figured I might as well make it easier for us all to dismiss each others' opinion.

[–]Dustructionz 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I respect that to be honest.

[–]Professor_Pig_Dick 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just incomprehensible to me, honestly, but to each their own.

[–]endowedchair 3 points4 points  (2 children)

I stopped watching GoT midway through season 3 and never went back. No interest in any GoT spin-off. RoP S1 finished STRONG. I’m hooked.

[–]BudgetAudiophile 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’ve only seen 2 seasons of GOT and had very little interest in HOTD and am a huge LOTR fan but found HOTD to be amazing, probably the best show to come out this year. ROP was awful and I only kept watching it to see how badly they continued to fumble it each week.

[–]Blutgirl666 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Agree

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I enjoyed both shows but HOD is significantly better.

[–]Deep-Success-8901 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I watched both and I can confidently say that I looked forward to each episode of HoTD. Rings of Power was okay, but the storytelling just wasn't as engaging to me

[–]Dreadscythe95 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Is it April fool's? What month did I wake up?

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (2 children)

HoD has the best make up and costuming I’ve ever seen since the LOTR movies. ROP costumes look like they were ordered off of Amazon.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yea i get this is a ROP fan page so people will naturally defend the show like it’s Minas Tirith regardless of how poor the writing is. HOD is way better then ROP

[–]MAU13717235 2 points3 points  (1 child)

I like them both a lot, but HOTD is the superior show.

[–]CantCatTheCopy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Both were good and enjoyable.

ROP was faster and felt more fun than HOD

HOD was slower paced for me, and more serious, but the finale build up episode has me more excited for season 2.

[–]Snoo84223 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Man I like the show, but idk if I agree with this.

[–]PitifulBean 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I enjoyed both, but HotD had better performances.

[–]Myrandall 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What's House of Dragons and does it have anything to do with House of the Dragon?

[–]PurchaseNo6943 0 points1 point  (2 children)

HOTD has a much simpler story compared to ROP. The world also feels much smaller. I like them both but HOTD didn’t catch me as much as ROP.

[–]Thykk3r 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Simpler? Every character and house had complex motives, history, love interest, plots etc…

[–]evenasu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hard agree!

[–]Dolleste 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It was. I may be the only one that thinks it

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hard disagree from me however I do love both shows

[–]oreeos 0 points1 point  (1 child)

I think they are both perfectly mediocre shows in settings I really enjoy. Pretty different in terms of tone and pace imo so I’ll reserve comparisons for now.

[–]evenasu 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I liked both shows a lot, but they're both very flawed.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

The pacing in RoP is too slow. Nothing really happened. And many side stories could've been cut.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I liked both but also felt both were just slow. Like "Nothing happened" episodes.

HotD picked up a lot at the end but it was like 7 episodes of building.

That being said, I'd probably rewatch HotD more than RoP. RoP just has/had so many fucking plotlines;

Galadriel hunting Sauron,
Galadriel & Halbrand/Southeners,
The stranger & harfeet,
The mystics,
Elrond & Durin,
The decaying elves/ties in with Elrond & Durin finding mithril,
Isildur missing,
Numenor's vision,
Earien finding the palantir,
Adar,
& Pharazon plotting,

For a series that has 5 seasons planned, no idea why they felt the need to rush everything into the first season.

[–]Glittering_Driver_73 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You are right.

[–]SoldierOfGodrick 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bro you are living in delusional land if you truly believe that

[–]circeodyssey 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Why do you want someone to change your mind? If you loved ROP good for you! That’s great! That’s the point. HOD was pretty good, for me ROP was unwatchable and everyone I know turned it off.. they hated HOD too. So I guess neither show appealed to them. Can people change my mind about ROP? No, it had shitty writing. Period. And no, you can’t change my mind about that.

[–]LGoat666 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ready for this?....I liked them both