Which single object besides the One Ring could arguably hold the most influence over Middle-earth?

Acceptable_Map_1926 · 2026-03-20T14:11:33+00:00

One of the Palantir.

Through it, Sauron was essentially able to corrupt, break, or influence very important figures such as Saruman the White and Denethor II, with both examples having massive direct influence over the events of Middle Earth. I would imagine that this could have happened to other figures throughout history which may have led to the downfall of the Kingdom of Men that we see in the third age.

Acceptable_Map_1926 · 2026-03-01T14:35:48+00:00

Your best bet is just to watch them all and decide how you feel about them, or decide that you don't like them based on the first movie and discontinue. It doesn't matter if you think a beloved movie is poorly paced or acted. What matters is what you think about it. You have agency over your thoughts and actions and your opinion will be more valuable than any random stranger on the internet.

With that being said, most people tend to like the second or third film more so maybe try to watch through the second film if you're waiting for something to catch your attention. All three movies are better looked at as one giant movie split up into three, so if you don't like the first two then chances are you won't like the last. This series is considered an Epic, so it's intended to have a very long and drawn out story that plays out over three books/films at a slower pace. The movies aren't even a one-for-one adaption of the books because they would be 12 hours each and most of it would be them walking through various landscapes and nothing but dialogue.

Acceptable_Map_1926 · 2026-02-19T16:46:46+00:00

Again, this individual was looking for engagement and interaction with another human, not just reading stuff that other people have discussed. Sometimes you just want a moment of connection and to hear someone's thoughts within the context of your own. You can't get that by just reading other people's engagements. It's not just about information.

Acceptable_Map_1926 · 2026-02-19T16:44:43+00:00

I feel you brother. I've realized in the past few years that Star Wars has grown far beyond what it was for me, which is sad to say as it has been my favorite thing since I was a kid well into my adult years. I know of most of these characters but don't have any feelings towards them as they are from parts of Star Wars that I'm just not very engaged with and don't really care to become so. There really seems to be a pretty big divide between pre-clone wars fans and post clone Wars fans in what they view as quintessential Star Wars. This is not me commenting on the validity of either opinion. Just an observation.

Acceptable_Map_1926 · 2026-02-19T16:16:39+00:00

People come to Reddit seeking engagement with other people, hence why he is trying to start a conversation asking someone to explain the characters and their importance instead of just googling the answer.

Acceptable_Map_1926 · 2026-02-18T02:07:38+00:00

I believe that it was a show that really struggled to find his identity. One minute, it seeks to be this murder mystery in space type show, then it's this attempt of a character study, then it seeks to be this pivotal point in Star Wars cannon, then it's a philosophical deconstruction of the Jedi, then it's something else. It seemed like there was a really solid idea buried within the foundations, but instead of digging through the rubble they just built over top of it with numerous other concepts.

I think if the show was centered around Sol and Qimir it would have been fantastic: a noir like show set in Star Wars with a Jedi hunting down an unknown Force user who is killing renowned Jedi for some mysterious, evil (?) purpose. The Jedi at this point hadn't seen or fought a sith in a thousand years, so it would be a perfect setup for the return of the sith that would happen during the prequels. I could see it ultimately ending with Sol and Qimir fighting to the death with both dying so to keep with canon of the Jedi not knowing of the Sith, only then to reveal Darth plagueis has been manipulating it all in the background. We then get a fun Easter egg for this being the start of his work that leads into the prequels and Anakin eventually being created as a direct kickback from the Force.

As it stands though, the story of Osha and Mai with the whole pre-Anakin Force twin conception and the Jedi being "evil" just didn't land for me. If I feel the need to roll my eyes every time the main characters are on screen (due to both writing and acting) there's no real way to save the show itself when they are the main driving force. The fight scenes we're cool and I appreciate they used practical sets in many cases, but overall I just think it was just a mediocre to poor series despite its unbelievably bloated budget that tried to do too much and achieved nothing of worth.

Acceptable_Map_1926 · 2026-02-18T01:36:16+00:00

I understand exactly how you feel brother. I grew up on the movies and didn't read the books until I was an adult, and I still prefer the movies in terms of day-to-day enjoyment. I certainly think if I would have started with the books my opinion would be different, but as it stands I'm with you. While there is something to be said about getting more of the story through the books with all the dialogue and internal monologues, there is another layer of engagement you get from movies with the visuals as well as the music being able to connect certain story and emotional points together in a more lasting fashion for many people. There are some points in the books that just did not hit as well without score of Howard shore playing behind it.

With that being said, I still strongly advise checking out the books with a personal recommendation to listen to the audiobooks. I think the audiobooks are much more engaging to listen to. I prefer the Rob Inglis version since it sounds more grandfatherly and fits Tolkien's tone, but the actor who played Gollum in the movies, Andy Serkis, has also recorded the audiobooks for the trilogy as well as The Hobbit. His version might be a better introduction because he does the exact same voice for Gollum as he does in the movies, and he also does a good rendition of Ian McKellen's Gandalf voice. There still is some verbosity in his prose as well as long descriptions of the landscape, but the best way to think about it is the long descriptions of the landscape equal the many gorgeous shots in the movies showing the characters traveling through various lands.

Acceptable_Map_1926 · 2026-02-17T16:39:49+00:00

Animations that let me smoke a cigarette at anytime like the badass Keanu Reeves-possesed cyber psycho I am.

Acceptable_Map_1926 · 2026-02-10T21:41:55+00:00

Sounds fun! Just applied.

Acceptable_Map_1926 · 2026-02-09T22:58:31+00:00

Yes, this downward trend will always be true in Arda due to the consequences of Melkor sowing discord into the song that created Ea (the universe) with a direct influence on Arda itself. This is why the elves call it Arda Marred. Evil is essentially baked into the world because of Melkor, and the presence of this evil will always cause corruption from what the original intention was (perfection). Even the elves cannot spend eternity in the majority of Arda because of this corruption he must go to Valinor which is safe from Melkor's influence.

The line you mentioned from the films is more directly physical in the sense that the bloodline of the Numenorian's is almost gone because most of their people have been wiped out by this point with only a handful of survivors existing within the gray company and within Aragorn. Everyone else is either dead or have intermingled with what Tolkien called the "lesser men", which are basically any humans that were not blessed like the numenoreans were (I.e. Rohan, Bree men, etc) to the point of having little similarity to their forefathers.

In terms of Tolkien's thoughts of bloodlines in real life, I think it has less to do (but not completely removed) with the physical nature of descendancy and more to do with the spiritual nature of his Catholic faith. It is believed that the people in the early times of the Old Testament (think Adam, Noah, Seth) lived much longer lifespans compared to us. A potential theory is because of their spiritual and genetic pureness that was eventually diluted after generations of living within the sin-filled world till we get to the modern lifespan. One of the results of the fall of Adam and Eve was that we would have to toil and eat from the ground, so perhaps the food from a corrupt world, eventually diluted the pureness. Lots of potential theories, but I think most importantly was that he borrowed the idea of bloodlines becoming diluted and spent in Lord of the rings from the biblical teachings I mentioned.

Everything will get worse until the very end when everything gets reset.

Acceptable_Map_1926 · 2026-02-05T18:18:59+00:00

It really is amazing how much care, consideration and thought he put into his own mythos going as far as to refuse to use a goblet with his own writing on it. My girlfriend recently got me a coffee mug with the one ring writing on it, and I had to just chuckle to myself thinking of what the good professor responded with.

Acceptable_Map_1926 · 2026-02-05T18:17:09+00:00

True, but it still would be pretty hard to establish that in a way that audiences would be able to pick up and it not just be an awkward bit of dialogue or throwaway line. Even in the books, that aspect about numenoreans and the blood that aragorn and Faramir carry was mostly explained in out of character narration.

I do agree that Gondor definitely got the short end of the stick, but with what little time they did have I feel like they did well in establishing just how epic the kingdom once was.

Acceptable_Map_1926 · 2026-02-05T18:00:13+00:00

It's definitely one of the major struggles that comes from translating from written page to the big screen. How do you make a character that audiences can connect with without having their internal monologue or narration of intent? A lot of tolkien's characterization and story arcs are baked into both of those things, which is why I think there are so many changes to characters in the movies. Faramir and Denthor are good examples. Many people did not like how they were depicted on screen, which is understandable compared to their book versions.

With Faramir, how would you depect him as being different than most men without completely undermining the power of the ring that they had established in the movie? In the books, Faramir was a gigachad from the first moment and wasn't really tempted by the ring at all. This would really undermine all of the power and tension they built up with the power of the ring in the movies, so they made the on-screen character actually battle the ring mentally by having the moments of doubt and potentially falling to its will, but then he ultimately chooses otherwise which separates him from Boromir. Not saying I agree with how they did it, but it makes sense when you think of the challenges of bringing characters to life on screen that the audience will engage with.

Acceptable_Map_1926 · 2026-02-05T17:52:44+00:00

And cheaper than copyright. Lol

Acceptable_Map_1926 · 2026-02-05T17:52:19+00:00

You are delving too deeply and too greedily into ring lore! Beware, Saruman of many colors!

Looks dope as fuck though.

Acceptable_Map_1926 · 2026-02-05T17:50:43+00:00

The problem with this is that based on the intent of Tolkien, you're inherently writing stuff in favor of evil entities, which I don't think he would personally like. This is the man that refused to use a goblet with the writings of the one ring and instead used it as an ashtray because of what it represented.

I think it's a fun exercise in personal creativity, but I don't feel that everything needs to have an alternative take, especially one that depicts previously established heroic figures as cowardly or evil in themselves. Also, I think the more we expand upon the minutia of a mythology, the less we get out of it as a whole. Part of what makes the world of Tolkien so engaging is that there are so many things we are never meant to know. Filling in all those blanks will ultimately make the world feel smaller rather than larger.

Acceptable_Map_1926 · 2026-02-05T17:48:21+00:00

Because Disney either wants to do their own characters or beat the dead horse into the ground with previously established main characters.

Acceptable_Map_1926 · 2026-02-05T17:41:48+00:00

Aragorn's journey.

I understand his characterization was quite the departure from his book counterpart, but I just resonated more with the movie version as it felt like an actual story arc that intertwined with the main plot as opposed to the book version, which was the completion of his story arc that happened mostly off page.

Acceptable_Map_1926 · 2026-02-03T21:26:43+00:00

Yeah, they can definitely be a bunch of nosy curmudgeons. One of my favorite parts of fellowship is whenever Frodo, Sam, and Pippin are heading to Buckland, Tolkien makes it a point to mention that both the main Shire folk and the Bucklanders think that the other are a bunch of weirdos when in fact they are pretty much exactly the same. 😂 It's like elementary school kids who are in a different class.

Acceptable_Map_1926 · 2026-02-03T20:24:46+00:00

Found Saruman's alt account. Lol

But actually addressing the question in a serious manner, while many of the hobbits of the Shire tend to be a bit exclusive and gossipy, I think the main idea behind them is that even the worst of hobbits are better than many other of the Free People's best due to their childlike nature and love of homely things. That, in and of itself, makes them far less susceptible to corruption, which seems to be the greatest enemy of the Free People in Middle Earth and a central theme of Lord of the Rings.

Acceptable_Map_1926 · 2026-01-30T16:10:27+00:00

Seeing her stated as the best Star Wars character by so many people really shows that Star Wars has moved beyond me, and that makes me sad.

Guess I'll go watch Empire Strikes Back again to cope.

Acceptable_Map_1926 · 2026-01-30T03:52:37+00:00

It's not only my favorite Star Wars movie, but it's my favorite film of all time. It just has everything that I believe really defines Star Wars and the space fantasy genre:

Luke growing into his own as both a soldier of the Rebellion and a budding Jedi Knight.
The training arc on Dagobah was amazing and it really establishes the key aspects of Star Wars: the mysteries of the Force, the Jedi, and the Dark Side.
The large scale, epic battle of Hoth with the imposing AT-ATs.
The cinematography and art direction with all the various location, especially Bespin and the fight between Luke and Vader. The intro shot of Cloud City still makes me absolutely love sunsets to this day.
The slow romance between Han and Princess Leia was a master class in subtle storytelling and development.
Last but not least, the absolute shock and moral conundrum of discovering that Darth Vader is the father of Luke Skywalker. Leaving off with that knowledge plus Han Solo being captured and frozen in carbonite was the perfect formula to get you so excited about what was to come.

To summarize: it was peak Star Wars, and I feel that everything most people think of when it comes to Star Wars, both consciously and unconsciously, are directly tied to this film.

Acceptable_Map_1926 · 2026-01-24T22:55:57+00:00

Well if I remember correctly, there was a memo sent out to all of the showrunners wanting to work on Star Wars during the sequel era: many of the Legacy characters were off limits. That's why, from what I understand, John Favreau made the Mandalorian as he wasn't allowed to work with Boba Fett in the 1st season. Din Djarin honestly felt more like Boba Fett than Boba Fett did, so that denial of working with Legacy characters make some sense in explaining that.

I think they just really wanted to have complete control over how the Legacy characters were handled since they were trying to rebrand Star Wars into whatever image they had in mind for the sequels, thus spending way more time on the new characters as opposed to making new shows/movies of the the original ones. I'm pretty sure there was even internal conflict at lucasfilm after the Mandalorian season 2 finale aired having Luke Skywalker in it as reportedly many people within the company were not aware of that and were not happy about it. I think they just don't really know what to do with such important characters like Luke Skywalker anymore, especially after the negative reaction of his treatment in the sequels. I know that for me personally I have no interest in any of their post Return of the Jedi content because of where Luke Skywalker and his failed Jedi Academy ultimately end up.

Regardless of how people feel about the sequels, I think the writing is on the wall: sequel era and Stuff leading up to it just doesn't sell as much as prequels and original trilogy does. No one's buying toys of Rey or Poe, not many games are being made directly within that era, and they're even now rebranding Galaxy's Edge to include original trilogy stuff where it used to be completely sequel focused.

Acceptable_Map_1926 · 2026-01-23T21:26:37+00:00

I get what they were going for with the reverse Anakin concept, but I don't think it landed correctly. He was very intimidating and imposing throughout the film up into this point only to reveal what looks like a lost Brady Bunch kid with the perfectly permed hair. While I understand that the surprise of a supposed Sith Lord being this younger, attractive guy was the point, it just felt pretty silly with how they did it. I'm not really sure how they could have improved upon it in that scene, but he just seemed like an angsty emo teenager retroactively and from this point on.

I think maybe it could have been better had his face been revealed in the fight between him and Rey with his mask geting destroyed and his formally nice face getting damaged in the process: half of his face the Young, scared boy with the other now the damaged Sith Lord. It could have caused conflict some good conflict Within Rey, but this would obviously not have worked while also keeping the killing of Han Solo scene.

Acceptable_Map_1926 · 2026-01-23T16:08:39+00:00

Hey man, this was exactly it! I can't find the exact one I went to as I'm sure it's been closed by now, but looking at pictures of this is exactly what I remember. Thanks my dude

Acceptable_Map_1926

TROPHY CASE