Half As Well Podcast

Just a flower farmer from Appalachia who is obsessed with all things Tolkien. My wife and I have a Tolkien podcast, give it a listen!

[Half As Well Podcast @HalfAsWellPod]

Our Rings of Power Episode 4 reaction is up! Discussing Isildur and the Wild Men, hobbits, and of course the merry fellow himself!
(Warning: a lot of Stranger grumbling in this one!)

https://t.co/heyXpi6JYN

[Half As Well Podcast @HalfAsWellPod]

"Fierce hunger-haunted packs he had
that in wolvish form and flesh were clad,
but demon spirits dire did hold ;
and ever wild their voices rolled
in cave and mountain where they housed
and endless snarling echoes roused."

-The Lay of Leithian

[Half As Well Podcast @HalfAsWellPod]

"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."

A little late for Tolkien's birthday, but looking back on my life I marvel to realize how much that one quote has impacted me as both a farmer and musician. Thank you professor.

[Half As Well Podcast @HalfAsWellPod]

Saw Nosferatu last night. I've always felt that Bram Stoker's Dracula shared many similarities with the Lord of the Rings and that Tolkien was probably inspired by it.

Anyway, Count Orlok was almost exactly how I wish Sauron to be portrayed. A truly horrifying presence.

[Half As Well Podcast @HalfAsWellPod]

@teawithtrop Well deserved

[Half As Well Podcast @HalfAsWellPod]

A bottle episode of just Sauron stuck with Tom Bombadil sometimes during the War of Sauron and the Elves.

[tar mairon @therealmairon]

18. what is something you would do if you had the chance to help write the script for one episode with complete creative freedom?

[Half As Well Podcast @HalfAsWellPod]

Keep Charlie Vickers. Even with some questionable writing, he's absolutely killing it as the Lord of the Rings.

[tar mairon @therealmairon]

17. who should play sauron in upcoming plotlines?

[Half As Well Podcast @HalfAsWellPod]

The Dwarves of Moria, especially how they showed the Rings of Power working on King Durin.

[tar mairon @therealmairon]

24. which trop plotline is your favorite?

[Half As Well Podcast @HalfAsWellPod]

Forget the fandom, I just want the show runners, writers, and actors to all be on the same page about it. One ship in particular!

[tar mairon @therealmairon]

16. what do you think about the shipping discourse in the fandom?

[Half As Well Podcast @HalfAsWellPod]

GLORFINDEL. Or at least show Goldberry. Having Tom without her just feels wrong....

[tar mairon @therealmairon]

10. who is a canon character you would love to see in trop in the upcoming seasons?

[Half As Well Podcast @HalfAsWellPod]

I think Elendil and Miriel has potential. Didn't think I would enjoy it as much as I have.

[tar mairon @therealmairon]

8. do you like any non canon ships in trop? which one?

[Half As Well Podcast @HalfAsWellPod]

Well not to be too dramatic but revealing the Stranger is a Gandalf-origin story already happened, so...

Hoping they downplay that in future seasons and just really focus on Numenor.

[tar mairon @therealmairon]

25. what is something you think should absolutely not happen in the show or it would ruin it for you?

[Half As Well Podcast @HalfAsWellPod]

Depends. There's so much bad faith criticism rooted in misogyny and racism that any actual critique is often received with too much defensiveness and being lumped in with awful people. Like, I get the impulse, but it can be frustrating.

[tar mairon @therealmairon]

13. do you enjoy interacting with the trop fandom?

[Half As Well Podcast @HalfAsWellPod]

The origin of the Ringwraiths.

[tar mairon @therealmairon]

12. what upcoming plotline are you most excited to see on screen?

[Half As Well Podcast @HalfAsWellPod]

I really loved Charlie Vickers as Sauron, but I don't like how cold and alien he was written as Annatar, and the fact that Celebrimbor was the one with the knowledge to make Rings of Power, not the other way around.

[tar mairon @therealmairon]

7. which canon character do you think could/should have been portrayed differently?

[Half As Well Podcast @HalfAsWellPod]

Adar. He's a perfect example of being able to take a few lines from Tolkien here and there and craft a believable character that easily could've existed in his world. And in the absence of Morgoth, he's such a great foil for Sauron.

[tar mairon @therealmairon]

5. which trop original character is your favorite? why do you like them?

[Half As Well Podcast @HalfAsWellPod]

Elendil or Celebrimbor

[tar mairon @therealmairon]

6. which canon character do you think was portrayed the best?

[Half As Well Podcast @HalfAsWellPod]

I was nervously excited from the beginning. Soured on it over time.

[tar mairon @therealmairon]

3. were you unsure about trop at first or ready to watch it from the start?

[Half As Well Podcast @HalfAsWellPod]

3 things:
-Too much time spent on plotlines that shouldn't be in a Second Age show (like Gandalf and hobbits) and not enough time spent fleshing out the actual Rings of Power plotline.
-Time compression
-Too much adherence to Jackson's LotR rather than Tolkien's

[tar mairon @therealmairon]

2. what is your main criticism of trop?

[Half As Well Podcast @HalfAsWellPod]

"Yes, I think orcs as real a creation as anything in 'realistic ' fiction....only in real life they are on both sides, of course."

-Letter 71

[Half As Well Podcast @HalfAsWellPod]

@SpinksErik It seems a lot of folks have an issue with the animation, which was never an issue for me. I'm expecting a fine, but not amazing Middle-earth movie.

[Half As Well Podcast @HalfAsWellPod]

I still haven't seen the War of the Rohirrim 😬