I have a feeling the Lord of the Rings series is going to be bad.

The amount of money involved is vast. Dwarfs the budget of GOT.

And the Tolkien estate are involved as advisors for the story etc.

It doesn’t mean they can’t fuck it up but it would be astonishing if they managed to.

don't forget they are doing at least 3, and I think more, spinoff series from GoT

Fair point.

Can anyone see them getting to the level in the public conciousness that Thrones has though?

No, but by the sheer popularity of GoT, they will at least be very successful for a season or so.

It will be interesting to see if the one that lasts the longest is the one with the most:

1) Violence
2) Intellectual plot
3) Titties

I'm hesitant to post too many thoughts on the premiere episode because so much ink has already been spilled on it and I feel like I wouldn't have any coming close to an original thought. I agree with the many who have spoken about how the most important notes of the premiere were the ones that weren't struck (it's just like jazz, baby!) or the discordant notes that were peppered along the way to make us feel uneasy. Some of these were swallowed up in the moments that everyone expected (Jon hugging Arya, Sansa being chilly to Dany, Jon disbelieving the truth but begrudgingly accepting it), but when you start to peel back the layers, it does offer some interesting storytelling beats to come. Lost in some discussions of the Jon/Arya hugfest is the brief moment where she pushes back on his criticism of Sansa--maybe we are going to get some payoff for their weird homicidal bonding over Littlefinger from last season. And while the "Bran stare" has already been meme'd to death in less than two days, it really carries a resonance that will hang over the entire season: so much of the show has been built of secrets, inner struggles, hidden alliances, intrigue, and so forth, and Bran's disarming gaze is a reminder that that sort of privacy both does not exist anymore (since he can see basically anything) and no longer matters. Also discussed quite a bit has been the rules of Bran's sight--I mean, my dude, you couldn't have told young Umber, "Um, yeah, you might want to hang around here actually..."? I think the show should tackle this head-on with someone--Sam, Jon, whoever--asking Bran why he reveals some things and not others, why he knows some things and not others, just to answer these questions.

Imagine if I wasn't hesitant to post about this episode?

My crackpot prediction for Episode 2 is: Jaime is put on trial for regicide (of both Aryes and Robb) and Dany sentences him to death--she killed the Tarlys for much less, and since that was brought up so plainly in the last episode, it's going to be hard for her to back off of it. One of two things happen: Tormund & Edd & Co. bust through the door just as she's passing the sentence, and they realize they don't have time for this. Or--much more interesting--Jon pulls rank and chooses this as the moment to reveal his lineage to Dany, saving Jaime's life. He's an oathbreaker too ("And now my watch has ended") so understands why Jaime did what he did to save so many people.

My predictions for Episode 1 weren't too, too far off, but I feel much less confident moving forward.

Bran can see the present and past, but he’s not omniscient; he needs direction on what to see a la Sam mentioning Lyanna’s wedding

Thats is what I think the show has pointed towards, but he knew the dragon knocked down the wall--I assume due to his connection with the NK? Why couldn't he see him at the Last Hearth?

I don't mean to be nitpicky, I don't want every single small thing explained. But I think with the show obviously building towards Bran's power being a central element in the endgame, it will help.

He was monitoring the wall

I'm fine with that. But wouldn't he monitor, uh, the army of the dead that's coming to kill them all? Led by the man/ice creature that he has a psychic bond with?

Stop pushing me to nitpick! I wasn't one of those people who was upset with how quickly characters traveled in Season 7. But this does seem like a big enough issue for the characters to comment on, even if Bran has a perfectly good explanation.

Regarding the travel complaint, I rewatched the series for a 3rd time before the start of season 8, and throughout there has been some questionable / inconsistent travel times. Maybe not as bad as s7, but throughout there have been some example of people getting places either very fast or slowly. Long story short, season 7's time to travel gripes aren't as bad as people make them out to be.

wasn't he watching the wall and the ww's thru his ravens? not thru some connection to the Night King.

Yup. ST should leave the nitpicking to the professionals

the worst one in Season 7 had to be the opening of (I believe it was) the last episode where bronn and jamie are standing on the ramparts of casterly rock looking down on the unsullied, and literally the next scene cut to bronn walking in to the dragon pits at kings landing where he sees tyrion for the first time. it was just so weird.

You mean Kings Landing?

Wasn't it Highgarden?

i think it was highgarden.

i just couldn't understand it. there was absolutely no segue. it was almost as if they cut a scene out between the two.