A Long-expected Review: The Rings of Power Season 1

Intro It’s finally here folks - my review of the first season of Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Like I said shortly after the season ended, I wanted to take some time to detach from the conversation around the show before doing a full season rewatch and writing this review. And yeah, I took a bit longer than expected, I got distracted by my personal favorite show of the year in Andor, went on vacation for a week (sea is always right clip), started a Star Wars channel, and then the holidays hit, etc etc That being said, I’m ready to dive in and share..a LOT of thoughts on this show that was, in short, a mixed bag for me. There’s some things I really enjoyed, some things I wasn’t fond of - some things I was totally wowed by and some things that make no sense to me whatsoever. Before we start, let me state the obvious here - what I’m sharing today is my opinion. No doubt there will be things that I like that others don’t. And things that drive me crazy that other people enjoy. This is just my two cents - and my opinion is no more or less valid than anyone watching this video. As I’ve said many times - discussions and even disagreements within fandom can be fun if we allow it to be, so hopefully this video is a productive conversation starter. The Score First off, let’s start with something that I loved - the music. As I looked at today’s topics, I’ve tried to look back on not only how the story within the show unfolded - but the story of the show’s production unfolded. The first rumors we heard was that Howard Shore and Bear McCreary would both be working on the show - and no disrespect whatsoever to the incredible artist Bear is, but I was most excited about the idea of Howard Shore returning. Come to find out, Shore was only returning for the title theme, with Bear doing the composing of the episodes themselves. In retrospect, it can be easy to think - well of course the music is good. Bear is an award winning composer and amazing at what he does. But I definitely had my reservations. Listening to his God of War work, I never questioned that he would nail the dwarves. But I wondered if he could produce themes that captured the feel of Middle-earth and evoked emotions the way Howard Shore did. It’s no small feat that, in my opinion, Bear created themes that stand well alongside the great themes we’ve had of Middle-earth thus far. While I doubt any single score will ever match the achievement that is The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, I’m now likely to be found humming the themes of Khazad-dum, Numenor, Galadriel, and the Faithful alongside old favorites like the Fellowship, the Shire, Isengard, the One Ring, Rohan, and well, yeah, there’s a lot of Howard Shore in the rotation. The Faithful theme in particular is one I think will be versatile in the way the Fellowship theme is from Lord of the Rings. It’s been shown to be grand and heroic, while also carrying a ton of emotional weight - like we saw in the scene where the leaves of the white tree fall. Not to mention fans have already put the theme with Elendil’s death from the Fellowship prologue with amazing results. *clip* Bear even confirmed that he had this moment in mind when composing the theme, and it shows. Long story, short - the music is unquestionably a major strength of this series. Geography & Fast-Travel For a show that had some terrific usage of maps, the sense of scope was remarkably poor. Lindon, Eregion, and Khazad-dum may as well be 3 houses on the same block rather than realms days apart from each other. Characters like Elrond seem to casually stroll from Lindon to Eregion to Khazad-dum multiple times. ***Text mileage Another example is when Galadriel rides day and night for 5 days to bring an allegedly mortally-wounded Halbrand to Eregion - which all takes place between episodes. Now, do we need entire episodes of people traveling from point A to point B? No, not necessarily. But in a believable world with travel being limited to horse, boat, or foot - having characters just pop up hundreds of miles away with little to no perceivable change in time does nothing in favor of making this all feel believable and epic. When you look at the season, which seems like it may occur over the span of a couple weeks, Galadriel bounces around like she’s in a Middle-earth pinball machine. One of the things I loved about the Peter Jackson trilogies is that you felt like you were going on this journey with the characters and when you returned to the Shire in the third films, it was bittersweet not only because the story was coming to an end, but because you were reminded of how long you’d been away - like the characters, you’re returning from a long adventure. The closest Rings of Power comes to this is the reunion of Galadriel and Elrond. We see them together in the first episode, they have some good scenes that establish their friendship, and then they are reunited in the finale. There’s just so many other instances where distance and travel don’t seem to matter. It’s not only due to the fast-travel the show has unlocked that makes it feel small, but also because places like Lindon and Eregion seem to have a combined population of a couple dozen elves. Smaller things like Halbrand’s fight with these guys and Isildur’s conversation with his friends happening in the exact same alleyway - within what we’ve seen to be an immense city - just serve to undermine any sense of grandeur. Likewise, in the Southlands, it feels as though the entire realm is made of a single village with a population of a few dozen, and watched over by a garrison of elves numbering…maybe 5? The one exception I think is some of the Harfoot scenes. They have the advantage of being a much smaller civilization to begin with, they live outdoors, and their travels are more reasonably paced. Now, again, I wouldn’t be surprised if some real-world factors were at play in some of this and it’s far from my biggest issue with the show, but I really hope it’s something that is improved upon for season 2. The sense of this being a wide world with people, and life, and things happening should definitely be improved going forward. There’s some other geographical things that bug me on a more detail-focused level - like the fact that Arondir says he was born in Beleriand, but according to the map in the prologue sequence, Beleriand never existed. And for all the great map transitions, the fact they didn’t use one for the transition of the Southlands to Mordor was an easy miss - and it took no time at all for fans online to create a more compelling, less hokey version. Tone Another thing that I really appreciated in this show was the tone. It can be easy to forget all the rumors and fears we once had that a streaming show based on Middle-earth would be made into a Game of Thrones-esque world full of gratuitous violence and nudity. I had my hopes that this wouldn’t be the case, as I fully believe taking such an approach to Tolkien would be adaptational malpractice. For all the preemptive outrage that stemmed from the hiring of an intimacy coordinator - it turned out that was for the show’s like, two kisses. Now, in a couple moments we do see the most basking in violence we’ve ever seen in a Tolkien adaptation. Not that that’s a terribly high bar to begin with, but a couple key moments come to mind from episode 6 in particular. Here, we see some villagers slowly having swords plunged into their stomachs, blood oozing from Bronwyn’s wound, and an abundance of blood gushing from an orc’s wounded eye. These of course are no comparison to the brutality seen in other shows, and to just have a few such moments over the course of a season isn’t bad, but I’m hoping they don’t go further down this path. Now I know I’ll get some comments calling me a prude for my thoughts here and that’s fine. Some folks really like violence or think it’s necessary to show things like this to convey things are “serious” or “grown up.” Personally, I just look at moments like a villager being stabbed and ask - is it necessary to the story - that we see this blade going through someone? Or would a closer reaction shot of the actors face with the same sound effects been just as sufficient? At the end of the day, I think Tolkien is the best guide when it comes to depicting violence of his world. It’s true, bad and violent things happen in the books, but I would always encourage one to take a good look at how Tolkien describes and how long he dwells on such things and adapt appropriately. In my opinion, the Lord of the Rings films nailed the balance of violence depiction and would be a great measuring stick for this series, which is clearly trying to emulate much of what he did elsewhere. The Peter Jackson Problem Speaking of Peter Jackson, The Rings of Power is a show that seems to struggle with how it wants to handle the beloved Lord of the Rings trilogy. The marketing definitely wants you to associate the two, but in the lead-up to the series release, we were told that this show was it’s own thing and we shouldn’t compare the two - which, who can blame them - being constantly compared to arguably the greatest movie trilogy of all-time is a heavy burden to bear. Though, I would say this was a burden this show was always going to bear and its approach can either be to embrace it or shrink from it. Either way - that burden will be upon this show throughout its run. But for not wanting to be compared to the Peter Jackson films, this show sure seeks to remind us of those films a LOT. Some of these moments come organically and logically, serving a purpose in the story and providing what I call connective tissue. The palantir in Numenor, Elendil’s future sword Narsil, and the eruption of Mount Doom, are a few that I feel are earned moments that make sense in the story and the world. Even an off-kilter Aragorn had some good momentum and I was excited to see where the character would go…until I saw where it went - but we’ll get there in a minute. On the flip side, there’s things like the wizard saying “always follow your nose”, four hobbits volunteering for a journey, and does anyone for a moment think Isildur’s horse isn’t going to go find him ala Aragorn in the Two Towers? The climax of the biggest battle of the season has even been compared to what came before due to the last stand within a hold and being saved at the last moment by a cavalry ride. It’s a tricky balance to be sure - for a show to try to be its own thing, that honors the original thing, but to not become an imitation of the other thing that captured the feel of the original thing so well. That being said, I think this is one area where there were just too many similarities that felt more like copying homework than connective tissue. And I must say there were times when I saw a Peter Jackson reference and rather than the show making bank on my nostalgia, it just reminded me how much better those films are in the moments they’re referencing. The Writing This kind of leads into another thing I thought was really uneven and at times downright bad - the writing. Some things that really fell short were small moments - like the quippy meet cute between Earien and Kemen that sounded like it came from a modern rom com, or the infamous “the elves will take our trades” - which has not gotten any better with repeat viewing. I’m sticking with my earlier sentiment that it makes no sense in-world for this to be the thing that riles up the men of Numenor. While I totally appreciate that the Numenorean prejudice would be a fear-based one, having it be a fear of the elves lording over men - as they did in the first age - makes infinitely more sense within the world. Numenor, afterall, is the first land the Edain had that was truly their own, their first age realms having all been under the larger rule of an elven lord. At best, the elves taking their trades is lazy writing. At worst, it was them using modern political rhetoric for inspiration - neither are things I care to see in a Middle-earth adaptation. Another thing I find almost comical is how often we are expected to be in awe of Galadriel’s job title: *“commander of the northern armies” montage*. It feels like they expect this to land with the same weight as “heir of Isildur” in the Lord of the Rings, but without having done anything to establish why this title is so important. Now while I’ve heard plenty of folks make a blanket statement writing off the entire season as bad writing, I think it is more accurate to say the writing is uneven. There’s highs and lows. The highs however, often come in smaller scenes and not in the big rousing speeches that the show so desperately wants to resonate. And the lows…well, they’re pretty low. Which I think skews people to thinking the entire show can be written off as bad writing, which I don’t think is true whole-cloth. The writing and storytelling both good and bad will weave its way throughout everything we talk about in this review, so for the rest of the video, we’ll cover the categories of characters, realms, and storylines I feel most pertinent to cover in a review of season 1. Khazad-dum We lead off with what is, in my opinion, the strongest segment of the show by a longshot. The entire storyline of Khazad-dum absolutely works. Durin IV is the beating heart of the show. His relationships with Elrond, his father, and his wife Disa all have depth, emotion, and heart. The Khazad-dum storyline destroys all others when I conduct polls on favorite aspects of this show, and without fail, it is mentioned by fellow fans I talk to in person - both casual and die hard - as a bright spot in this show. My one knock against the dwarven storyline is the inclusion of the balrog. It felt pretty tacked on for something that shouldn’t pay off within the time period of this show. But that of course is taking the showrunners words at comic-con to heart when they said they felt there was plenty of story to be told within the Second Age without pulling things in from the Third Age. It remains to be seen, but things like wizards of the non-blue variety and the fall of Khazad-dum are 100% third age things. Not to say these two things can’t be pulled into this show effectively - I actually think they can - but, I’m just going off what the showrunners themselves have said on the topic - which of course could’ve been misdirection. Either way, showing a fully awakened balrog in this manner felt like an instance of “hey, remember this thing that was epic from Lord of the Rings?!” and could’ve been done with more subtlety. Back to the dwarves and Khazad-dum, though. I have to say every relationship featured here works for me. And they all center around Durin IV. I love that we get parents of young kids in this show - especially in Durin & Disa, and Bronwyn & her son’s father-figure Arondir. While the parental relationships we’ve seen in the Lord of the Rings are of adult children, being parents of young kids does pop up in Tolkien’s stories elsewhere, so it’s interesting to see that dynamic at play here. The relationship between Durin and his father is also a highlight of the series. Any time Peter Mullan is on screen as Durin III, he seems like one of the dwarviest dwarves to ever dwarf. Random side note because it was bugging the heck out of me for a while - you likely know him as Yaxley in Harry Potter. The lines between these two characters are great. Moments like “ever am I with you my son” are fantastic and the way their relationship develops throughout the season and ultimately fractures feels organic and absolutely earned. Following-up on one of my pre-season mini-rants, I still haven’t been given any reason for this show to have this father and son be Durin III and Durin IV. There was a hint that these might not be their true names, as Durin IV nearly reveals his to Elrond. My hope here is that to outsiders, all their kings and heirs go by the name of Durin, but within the society only those believed to be reincarnations are truly Durin. And it could honestly be really awesome if we see a dwarf emerge who is genuinely believed to be a reincarnation and to play with what that means for the society as a whole - and the dwarf himself. So that aspect is still TBD. Another intriguing possibility would be if Durin IV’s true name turns out to be Narvi - the dwarf who creates the Doors of Durin alongside Celebrimbor. Honestly, it’s a testament to how good this relationship between father and son is that I was able to set aside my feelings on simultaneous Durins and just enjoy their story. The relationship between Durin and Elrond is another huge highlight of the show. It’s a totally original creation to the show, and I absolutely love it. The show does the work of giving you reasons to care about these two characters and their friendship with one another. I could probably do an entire video on how depictions of friendship like this one will likely always feel more at home in Middle-earth than a run-of-the-mill romantic one, but for now, I’ll just say that this friendships and its trials and tribulations is one of, if not the, strongest part of the entire series. And let’s not forget Durin’s wife Disa, who completes this great trifecta of characters. The relationships and dynamics among these three characters give a depth to this storyline that stands out within the show. There’s a couple episodes in the season that don’t have the dwarves at all - including the finale - and their presence is very much missed in those cases. Even on rewatch, I was amazed at how much I adored everything about Khazad-dum. These characters, this story, and the writing in this realm stand above all else in the show. At times, the contrast is so stark that it feels as if it's from an entirely different show. The Southlands The majority of the Southlands arc worked pretty well in my opinion. I was very pessimistic about the whole elf-human romance thing because I feared they would simply rehash the Aragorn/Arwen tale or do something so similar it would cheapen that story. I think they did it the right way by not making either of these characters some massively important person - like an heir to a throne, or some great elven leader. They’re just “normal” people who fall in love and are thrust into extreme circumstances. There’s a bit of Aegnor-Andreth vibe to their relationship and it could be really cool if that’s the inspiration they go with. Arondir specifically is another of the highlights of the show. He has a couple of what I call “Legolas” moments, but he’s unquestionably not a carbon copy. To me, Arondir feels like a First Age elf from The Silmarillion, more stoic and perhaps more contemplative than our beloved Third Age Legolas - or at least the version we’ve seen on screen - but his stoicism doesn’t go so far as to make him flat. His line about telling Bronwyn how he feels 100 times in every way but words is one of the best lines in the show that truly carries the deeper meaning it’s meant to. At the time of writing this, Ismael Cruz-Cordova is the only nominee for any acting award from this show, and I’d say that’s a good solid pick. After chatting with some of the orc actors about him and learning about his work ethic and how much he cares about the character, it certainly makes me root for him all the more. One specific Southlands scene that I really changed my opinion on on rewatch is the scene where Arondir and Theo are fleeing the orcs. In the moment when I watched it live, it felt it dragged on with too much slow-mo, but on rewatch without being concerned with how far the story would progress in the episode, I was able to just enjoy the absolute beauty of this scene. One thing that didn’t change was my opinion that having Disa’s singing overlap with the end of this scene makes for the absolute best audio transition in the entire show. The southlands does feature two painfully generic pre-battle speeches that do not land with any kind of weight intended. On rewatch especially, I listen to this speech by Arondir *clip: “Do you believe it?!”* and it is a total waste of Ismael Cruz-Cordova. And immediately watching something like Andor after Rings of Power brings into sharp focus the incredible divide between great writing and writing like this. Clips: “a sunrise I’ll never see” “one way out” “fight the empire” It’s the difference between a series that has worked toward and earned these great moments of culmination, and one just kind of checks the boxes and fills them with forgettable words. Back to the Southlands characters themselves, I think the relationships between Arondir, Bronwyn, and Theo were really solid. I actually think that Arondir and Theo specifically could’ve used more screen time together to better establish Theo’s animosity toward elves more personally toward Arondir and their eventual mutual respect to be given more screen time as well. Rings of Power is a very crowded show - the marketing made a big deal about having 22 main characters, and I think cases like this show that they may have spread the screentime a bit too thin among all the players. Mithril And here we arrive at one of my least favorite aspects of the show - the elves and their entire…deal. The whole premise has a grain of Tolkien within it - the Second Age elves were indeed concerned with the decay of their realms. It’s the whole reason Annatar’s deception regarding the Rings of Power is successful. The elves want to preserve their realms and Annatar gives them a means to do so. However, in The Rings of Power, we are given a rabbit hole of what-if scenarios: What if Mithril is part of the equation? Ok, sure, we know one of the elven rings at least was made of mithril, it’s kind of a mysterious metal with special properties. But what if Mithril actually derives from a silmaril. Oh, umm, I guess that could work, one of the silmarils was buried in the earth, so… And what if the silmaril was in a tree? And that tree was fought over between an elf and a balrog? And lightning struck the tree, infusing the good and evil of the warriors with the light of the silmaril, creating mithril veins in the mountain? Oh, and this metal is salvific for the elves, so if they don’t get it, they die… Now, there’s a sliver of hope that this is all BS - Elrond calls the tale apocryphal after all. That was the hope I was clinging to myself for a while. However, in my mind that all went out the window when Durin slides the mithril to the leaf, which is instantly healed. Now, after the finale, the showrunners did say that Elrond is the lore master and we should trust his opinion on such things. But in another quote, they talk about a grand unification theory to connect the light of the trees to the rings. And while technically the first comment leaves the door open for this to be more palatable, I really don’t care for instances where story reveals happen - outside the story. If such a pivotal part of the story has to be clarified in an article or interview, I’d say it wasn’t adequately told within the show. The way the story was presented, complete with amazing visuals explaining the origin of mithril, and the leaf actually being healed left no doubt in my mind that this was indeed the story they were telling. Why go so far as to create such an elaborate flashback for this while leaving things like the creation of Numenor to an info-dump by Galadriel, or Galadriel saving a young Elrond as an info-dump by Elrond? Perhaps there will be a S2 reveal that Sauron was behind this deception all along, though I have my doubts that this would feel like an organic development of the story, and more of a retcon - though one I would be in favor of. In the books, the elves fall for the Rings of Power scheme out of hubris - they want to create realms of their own that rival that of Valinor and forestall the decays of time. What we got in Rings of Power was a far more sympathetic reasoning - they want to stay in Middle-earth to combat the darkness for the sake of all Middle-earth and they’re all gonna die at a semi-specific time because of…reasons. Now, it may seem that I’m harping on this plot point a lot, and I suppose I am, but it’s a pretty big departure to stomach as a book fan. Even within the world the show has set up, this whole issue doesn’t make sense. Mithril will save the elves because it derives from a silmaril, which itself has the light of the two trees - what they refer to as the light of Valinor. Without this mithril, the elves will die, so if they don’t get mithril, they’ll have to return to Valinor. But…what good would that do exactly? We saw in the prologue of this very show that the two trees are dead because of Morgoth…ergo, the light the elves allegedly need to survive doesn’t even exist in Valinor itself. On top of this, Celebrimbor even talks about the creation of the sun - an object that, along with the moon, is ALSO made from the light of the two trees. So the light they’re after, the key to their survival, makes the rounds every single day. And what about the elves NOT from Valinor? Arondir says he’s from Beleriand. Is he good to go? is he also doomed to die? Does he need one of Gil-galad’s golden tickets to go to Valinor? Oh geez, I didn’t talk about Gil-galad being Grey Havens Willy Wonka. Let’s just say, that’s another choice that is, at best, questionable and like this one, the more you look at it and the more you ask questions, the less sense it makes. For now, I’ll drop what is a topic I could probably rant on for some time, but needless to say, this central plot point of the series was a big miss for me. Casting On the flip side, a huge positive of the show in my opinion is the casting. I’ve seen a lot of comments of folks thinking the cast was a weak point, but more often than not, I find this is from folks not differentiating the performance from the story. After watching the show in full again, it’s plain to me that this is actually a tremendous cast that is only capable of elevating an average story so much. This is true across the board from the main characters to those who only pop up a couple times. For instance - look at the performance of Will Fletcher, who portrays not only Finrod, but Sauron posing as Finrod. He’s wonderfully creepy in the finale, and his warmth and performance in the premiere help elevate what is a pretty nonsensical talk about rocks sinking because they look down and boats floating because they look up. It’s dialogue that is meant to sound sooo deep and philosophical, but actually makes no sense whatsoever. I’ll mention some specific characters and plot points that worked well for me and some that didn’t, but know that even the characters I feel were not effective in the story, I don’t think it was necessarily because any were miscast, but merely weighed down by the story they’re in. Galadriel and Elrond These next couple sections go hand in hand. I said long ago when it was announced this show would cover the Second Age, that the two characters I would be looking at most for the show to get right were two of my favorites - Galadriel and Elrond. I never understood the folks completely losing their minds over Galadriel being a warrior - I’ve always seen elves in general as being pretty capable beings and if one of their maidens were to be a commander, Galadriel is an easy choice. That being said, when we found out she would be hunting Sauron, I was concerned that her character traits would start and end with “vengeful warrior” and her traits from the books wouldn’t get the attention they deserve, which…turned out to be a pretty valid concern. Aside from a couple moments that hinted there might be more to her character, she’s pretty one-dimensional through the first 6 episodes of the season. With the exception of Elrond, everyone who Galadriel runs into seems to tolerate her at best - and her actions give us no reason to not have the same reaction. In an X-ray bonus feature, Morfydd Clark says Galadriel is losing her connection to what makes her an elf. Which I think is not what we are presented with, because we never see that this is what’s at stake for Galadriel - we don’t truly get to know her before she is obsessed with vengeance. So rather than seeing Galadriel in her current state as her slipping downward, it comes off as this is just who she is. As far as we know within this show, she’s just always been like this - which is a big reason she’s largely unlikable and bears little resemblance to her book counterpart. It makes me wonder - what if we had met Galadriel pre-war enough to know she was once closer to the character we know? Not the exact same as in The Lord of the Rings mind you, she’s quite prideful throughout much of her pre-Third Age life and naturally has to grow into that character. But seeing her as someone less… Feanorean, would have been great to establish early on. It would certainly give the audience more of a reason to root for her to turn from her dark path. Right now the only reason for the audience to root for her not to go down this dark path is because of how far she has strayed from the character we know her to be in LOTR films or from the books - not because of any fall from grace actually depicted in the show. As far as the series has shown us, there was no such fall. She’s kind of violent as a kid and dials it up to 11 in adulthood. It seems Elrond is pretty much the only character who genuinely likes Galadriel. Even the ones she kinda sorta gets along with she has either insulted, threatened to kill, barged in on their dying relatives - or a combination thereof. I legitimately started to wonder…why does Elrond like this person? We get a small hint of it in the final episode, but only in dialogue. With Galadriel holding a knife to him, Elrond reveals it was she that discovered him as an orphaned youth. And while this is an original creation for the show, it’s a change I’m totally on board with. I legit LOVE the idea of Galadriel saving a young Elrond during the War of Wrath in the First Age. It would be a great setup for their close personal relationship…if only we had seen it. It could’ve been a great moment - far more personally impactful to the characters in the show than the myriad of shots of battle and exposition in the prologue. Seeing both Galadriel and Elrond as victims of war, with Galadriel helping a young and frightened Elrond would have been a great moment to set the stakes of her downward spiral and given us something to hang onto and root for. And when she asks Elrond to trust her later in the finale, we would have an understanding for why Elrond would do so. Now a quick note - that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the prologue. There are a lot of great moments in that sequence - Morgoth destroying the two trees, fell beasts battling eagles, the aftermath of the War of Wrath, and visual references to things like the Oath of Feanor were great. The reveal of Valinor and the two trees as the music swells is among the greatest moments I’ve experienced in Middle-earth adaptations. The prologue is great, we just needed to see more of Galadriel prior to her downward spiral. Later in the finale, Galadriel giving up her dagger is supposed to be symbolic of some transformation of her character. I’ve heard people say it’s her giving up her crusade of hunting darkness - but is it? Aside from a few bits of wisdom and an apology to Miriel, I’ve seen no evidence that this Galadriel is any different from the one we met in episode 1. She’s gone on some journeys and done some fighting, but it doesn’t seem to have changed her in any perceivable way. And it wasn’t until the Seventh episode of the season that we finally got a glimpse of anything that resembles the real Galadriel - that’s right - seven episodes into an eight episode season, we are shown that the main character may indeed experience other emotions than anger in a way that fits within the story - not via super random horse-riding joy that comes out of nowhere. Sidenote - I thought for certain when this shot popped up in slow-mo that we were about to get some flashback to Finrod and Galadriel riding horses in Valinor that would explain this random moment of joy. In the aftermath of Mount Doom erupting, Galdriel suddenly shows some wisdom. I really enjoyed the pairing of Galadriel and Theo. It plays into the strength of an ancient being giving wise counsel to a young mortal - without being a carbon copy of her future conversations with Frodo. She says things like “guesswork hollows the mind”, “wars are fought both within and without”, and “calling dark deeds good darkens the heart”. These are all fantastic original lines that feel like great Tolkienien lessons to be learned. And the way she talks about Celeborn is kind of sweet - he’s totally not dead by the way, and yeah, I’m not a big fan of our new “Mystery of Celeborn” either. I will say, I would not be at all surprised if these lines were pickups because the Celeborn moment feels so detached from all else in the show. Despite the wise words from Galadriel, the fact we’ve seen her roll a nat 1 on diplomacy in the royal court of Numenor and threaten to kill Elendil makes all of this ring kind of hollow. Don’t get me wrong, I loved seeing this side of Galadriel. It was the first time she felt more than a one-dimensional character since the premiere. That being said, all this wisdom from Galadriel is undermined by the fact that she has spent the past 6 episodes doing the exact opposite of all these wise things. Her single-minded pursuit of Sauron involves plenty of guesswork, and the manner in which she threatens Adar with the extinction of orcs is pretty dark. And when it comes time for Adar to face off against Galadriel in their battle of words, there’s no question who is the winner. In this moment, I was torn because I was totally on board with this version of Galadriel being called out for being the lunatic that she is. My problem is that this should have never been the case. I’m sure some will call me too much of a purist, but in my opinion if you’ve landed at a place in your Tolkien adaptation where the most evil character in the show is seen as more heroic than your main hero, you’ve fallen off the Middle-earth map entirely. Don’t get me wrong - I’m NOT saying all heroes have to be 100% good and all villains 100% bad. Tolkien makes it very clear the elves are not wholly good or pure in their motivations, which leads them to fall for Sauron’s Rings of Power scheme - but we’ll cover how that scheme is adapted in a bit, as it actually passes up the opportunity to convey this about the elves. And I’m also not saying everyone has to be exactly the way they are in the books.. One such example of deviating from the books is Aragorn in the LOTR films. When push came to shove, they realized that book Aragorn wasn’t as relatable a hero as the films needed him to be. Giving him trepidation that he would fail the way Isildur had made the audience empathize with him in a way we otherwise wouldn’t have. There is certainly room to make changes to characters from the books, though it would be nice if they were recognizable in ways other than name. When looking at Galadriel in Rings of Power, it seems they want us to care for her the way we care for Aragorn.However, I think the Galadriel we are given is most similar to Feanor. Feanor, known for his anger and rash behavior, is very skilled and “great” in some ways, but he’s arguably more of a villain than a hero. I think the problem here is that when Tolkien heroes act like villains (like Feanor), there is a price to pay, and we’ve seen very little price for Galadriel’s dark streak so far. Sure, Galadriel feels guilty for the mass destruction of Mount Doom, which isn’t actually her fault, and apologizes to Miriel, but aside from a mean comment by Elendil, there’s no consequences for Galadriel. Miriel and her kingdom are still committed to her. She’s disrespected, threatened, and manipulated her way into an alliance with Numenor and when the situation falls apart, they’re all still peachy. And as we conclude the season, she’s kept Sauron’s identity a secret to go forward with the rings of power plan without confiding in her best friend. Now, it’s possible there is still a reckoning on the way for Galadriel. Surely Elrond at least won’t be happy about being kept in the dark about Sauron. And if Galadriel doesn’t tell the elves about Sauron, then Annatar coming to Eregion to forge the remaining rings (which I’m guessing will happen in Season 2), could play out as entirely her fault. So there very well could be some massive consequences for her character going forward - which would feel right with her actions thus far. However, it’s going to be a tricky balance here. The consequences of acting Feanorian should be substantial - they certainly were for Feanor - but the rise of Sauron and his subsequent evil deeds being the fault of Galadriel is a lot to put on a character we want to be a hero. Now, on the flip side, I feel like the show gives us an Elrond whose portrayal is both in line with his literary roots and has original story elements that give depth to him simply as a character. It’s easy to make connections to this portrayal and the description: “He was as noble and as fair in face as an elf lord, as strong as a warrior, as wise as a wizard, as venerable as a king of dwarves and as kind as summer.” From the get-go in episode 1, we see that like Galadriel, he doesn’t get the respect we might expect one of the two greatest elves from Lord of the Rings to receive. However, where Galadriel is sent on a 6-episode arc of threatening, bullying, and tempest-ing her way back to Middle-earth, Elrond repairs the best relationship in the entire show, and is forced to navigate his allegiance to his people and to his friend. We also see him use both a unique elven skill and his knowledge and observational skills to solve a rare instance of an unforced mystery within the show. As I said going into the show, Elrond was the other character I had my eyes on. He’s my favorite Second Age character and possibly my favorite of all of Tolkien’s characters. Sure, I was a bit underwhelmed when we saw his hair for the first time, but as I said at the time - it’s just a cosmetic choice. Like many others, the image of elves has been shaped by the decades of incredible artwork depicting elves with long hair, and it felt kind of unnecessary to go against that grain. But as I also said at the time, it's amazing how a good portrayal, compelling story, and heart can make cosmetic things like hair not matter all that much. Real quick - while we are talking about cosmetics that proved not to matter - I’ll mention once more that I LOVE Charles Edwards as Celebrimbor. Of all the characters revealed in the lead-up to the show, his was the look I was most skeptical of. The Feanor 2.0 design from the Shadow of Mordor games was peak Celebrimbor for me (despite their bonkers lore, his appearance and demeanor was awesome). I will happily admit, I was wrong to doubt Charles Edwards - this guy, like so many in this cast, is obviously a gifted actor, and there were moments in this show where I internally screamed “YES - THIS is Celebrimbor”. He portrays a thirst for knowledge and greatness, and an ambition that is absolutely crucial to this character. The only thing lacking for him was screentime - I wish we had more time with him leading up to the creation of the rings - it should’ve felt far more important to this character than it did. But more on that in a bit. Let’s get back to Elrond. There’s a warmth to this Elrond that wasn’t present in The Lord of the Rings version of the character. I don’t really fault Lord of the Rings for that, as it wasn’t 100% essential to tell that story. (And for the record, I much prefer him as supportive of Aragorn from the get-go like in the books, though I understand why it was changed.) That being said, I - like Hugo Weaving himself - was pleased to see a warmer version of the character pop up in the Hobbit films, and I’m really glad to see that aspect of the character present in Rings of Power as well. Now, you can take this however you’d like - I am after all the person who once upon a time made an entire video on why Elrond should be the main character of this series - so maybe I’m biased. But after having seen season 1 of Rings of Power, I am convinced this should have been the case. Even within this very show, Elrond is such a more interesting character and easier for the audience to empathize with. As I play out my own what-if scenarios, I can’t help but wonder - what if it was Elrond who went to Numenor - not through a contrived abandon ship moment, but through Gil-galad sending a warning to Numenor as he does in the books - how much more meaningful would that have been? Numenor was, after all, founded by his brother who has long since died. What would it be like for him to see what his brother’s kingdom has become - not only in its majesty, but in the brewing darkness? What reaction would the Numenoreans have had to someone who looks just like their great king of old walking their streets? How would he have reacted to seeing the King Tar-Palantir on his deathbed - perhaps in the very royal chamber where his own brother died a mortal death - something Elrond himself will never do. How much more connective tissue and deeper meaning would’ve come from having Elrond meet and bond with Elendil - the last great king of his brother’s people? Or think of the depth that could be given if Elrond meets and starts a friendship with or becomes a mentor to Isildur - given what is to come. Surely having Galadriel establish connections with the dwarves would’ve made equally as much sense and setup a future storyline as well. We know that in the books she and her daughter escape the War in Eregion via Khazad-dum and make their way to the future Lorien. When compared to this version of Galadriel, it’s easy to see this version of Elrond more closely resembles a Tolkienian hero, he wants desperately to do what is good and right and we see he struggles as that isn’t always an easy decision, but we don’t doubt that he has a strong moral compass. That’s not to say he will never stumble, but he would not “choose darkness.” Now, I think it’s also important to note that I don’t think any of what we’ve talked about here in regards to the shortcomings of the character is due to Morfydd Clark’s performance. Like so many characters in the show, I think she’s held back by the story and script she is given and can only elevate it so much. As Galadriel is unquestionably the main character of the show, it’s natural that she will be at the forefront of a lot of these discussions. She’s obviously a very talented actress given her body of work, and I don’t think she’s been given material she or Galadriel deserve. Another thing I’ve seen brought up in a lot of conversations regarding Galadriel is her (and others) surviving the eruption of Mount Doom. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…I could not care less about pyroclastic flow. I didn’t care about it when Frodo and Sam survived the eruption of Mount Doom, and I don’t care about it here either. I’ve seen so many comments about pyroclastic flow, I thought for certain I had missed a new David Attenborough nature documentary on volcanoes or something. I thought Mount Doom’s eruption looked really cool. Though, I will say the fact it was launched by a sword key mcguffin and Sauron had nothing to do with the creation of Mordor does feel out of place. Look, I could probably talk for like 3 hours on just the characters of Sauron, Galadriel and Elrond, unpacking more of this and going down conversational rabbit holes - and maybe we’ll do that in a future stream - but for now, let’s move on for the sake of brevity. Set Design & Costumes A quick break from characters for just a moment. I know Set Design and Costumes often fall under blanket statements like “the effects were good” or “the look of the show is great”, but I want to highlight some of the set design in this show because it’s truly amazing. First off, the post-eruption Mordor set is simply incredible. It reminded me in the best way of Boromir’s description in Fellowship of the Ring - a barren wasteland filled with fire and ash, where the very air you breathe is a poisonous fume. Of course, we have some amazing sets throughout - Numenor, Khazad-dum, and Lindon all look as they should and go a long way in making this world feel like Middle-earth. There is so much incredible detail in Khazad-dum and Numenor in particular. Khazad-dum is full of life and every bit the living breathing great kingdom I hoped to see. Numenor has some incredible details and layers in its design - things like the fact that the older architecture is elven and it’s been gradually replaced by Numenorean architecture may just seem like a cool detail, but it shows some incredible intentionality in having these seemingly small details help tell the story. We’ll cover the Harfoots in their own section in a bit, but the design of their carts and how they hide from the big folk is delightful as well. Much of the praise for the set design applies to the costuming as well. There are incredible costumes in this show that pay homage and contribute to the story and background of the characters All in all, the Set Design, the costuming, and so many other categories that so often fall under the “effects” umbrella were really well done. This world we see definitely looks like Middle-earth and it certainly looks like the most expensive show ever made. You don’t have to grade on any kind of TV effects curve when talking about this show looking incredible. Halbrand and Sauron I’m just going to cut to the chase here - I hate that Halbrand turned out to be Sauron. Sauron is the one character in the show that, in my opinion, should’ve just been straight-up evil. I get it, it’s all the rage to have sympathetic villains nowadays. But if there is one character who should’ve been straight-up evil in this story, it’s Sauron. And yes, Sauron may have truly repented at the end of the First Age - but the line about his repentance: “And some hold that this was not at first falsely done.” isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement of the goodness of Sauron. And leaning too hard on that line ignores other quotes about who Sauron is, like: Sauron was become now a sorcerer of dreadful power, master of shadows and of phantoms, foul in wisdom, cruel in strength, misshaping what he touched, twisting what he ruled, lord of werewolves; his dominion was torment. Now I will absolutely admit - a repentant Sauron is not without merit. Tolkien indeed says Sauron’s “temporary turn to good and benevolence ended in a greater relapse” and was not “wholly evil” at the beginning of the Second Age. And there’s no small amount of personal preference at play here. Some people will really enjoy seeing a softer side of Sauron, and that’s ok. Personally, I think it’s misplaced being put within this series and would be more effective in a show where Morgoth could take an active role. Or at the very least, a second age series featuring time jumps instead of time compression. According to the show itself, we are 1000 years into the Second Age. Judging by the ages of mortal characters like Pharazon, Elendil, and others, we may have what, 40 years left at most? The idea that Sauron has been a relative good guy for 1000 years and is just now going to launch back into evil over a few decades just seems like the balance is very out of whack and puts too much weight on Galadriel’s rejection of him. Now there is still hope that season 2 will reveal that Sauron has been pulling strings and manipulating everyone all along. It would certainly be a welcome surprise for me if this were the case. Indeed, a Sauron who is pulling all the strings and manipulating people across the board would be far more in-line with the character I expected to see in the Second Age. Now, I must say, for as much as I hate that Halbrand turned out to be Sauron, Charlie Vickers played the part really well - and he absolutely crushed it when it came time for the reveal. When he flips the switch from Halbrand to Sauron, it’s the start of one of the best sequences in the show. The way he effortlessly blocks Galadriel’s dagger and puts her through this mind bending illusion gives us a hint of what Sauron can do. It’s this kind of manipulation and trickery that I was hoping to see from Second Age Sauron. His line “I have been awake since before the breaking of the first silence.” and Charlie’s delivery of it, is freaking great. While him using Galadriel’s temptation speech lacks subtlety and wasn’t my favorite, the moment Sauron loses his cool and asks what happens when the elves discover Sauron lives because of Galadriel and his eyes go all dark and crazy was awesome. It gave us a glimpse and a hint of the monstrous form that lies beneath the visage. I gotta say, I was totally on board with Halbrand when there was still the chance he would turn out to be someone like the witch-king or another Nazgul. This show clearly wants sympathetic villains - and having Halbrand - a likable king of men - fall to the allure of a ring of power and become the Witch-king would’ve been a great opportunity for just that. It would’ve been interesting to see a character clearly setup to be a king-in-exile like Aragorn to have the opposite result. In an even bolder move, I think it also would’ve been interesting if Halbrand truly died in the Southlands. If this character, who has been built up to be this important hidden king the entire season, is killed because he was reluctantly coaxed into battle by Galadriel, it would give Galadriel some much needed consequences for her reckless choices. Galadriel having to live with causing the death of a king-in-exile not only makes her arc and decisions going forward more interesting, but gives a new weight to the line: “You have your own choice to make, Aragorn… to rise above the height of all your fathers since the days of Elendil, or to fall into darkness… with all that is left of your kin.” It would add just a bit of extra weight to this moment in The Lord of the Rings films, without changing the meaning of the moment itself - unlike they arguably did with Sauron using her “stronger than the foundations of the earth” phrase. Now, there will be some who really like that Halbrand is Sauron - and that’s cool. They did at least show Sauron’s shapeshifting ability and his power of illusions, and like I said, Charlie Vickers is great performance-wise. For me, the price of having a sympathetic Sauron and maintaining this particular mystery box came at too great a price for the character. As they proved with Adar, there are other opportunities for sympathetic villains who themselves are victims of Sauron. There are nine ready-made tales to be told, there are the peoples of Rhun and Harad who he manipulates into his service. We have no shortage of options here. For as much as this show likes to name-drop Morgoth - who is THE big bad of Tolkien’s world - he won’t come into play for this show in any meaningful way. To put it in Star Wars terms - this show treats Sauron like he is Darth Vader and Morgoth is the Emperor. When in reality, Sauron is the Second Age Emperor and those he manipulates and uses - those we can feel sympathy for - they are the Vaders of the Second Age. So I know it’s been debated on whether Galadriel and Sauron’s relationship is supposed to be romantic, but I’ll just say my stance on it hasn’t changed on that. To paraphrase Stanley Hudson from The Office: “when I'm at home drinking red wine watching my Middle-earth stories, the last thing in the whole godforsaken world I want to see is a love story between Sauron and Galadriel." The Stranger There are many things I love about the Stranger. For starters, his theme is one of the most unique and beautiful of the entire score. Also, I think Daniel Weyman does some of the best acting in the series. He conveys warmth, sorrow, and this deep power brewing beneath the surface while spending most of the season being nearly non-verbal. I’ve covered it before, but I truly hope he turns out to be a blue wizard - it would not only fit better with the source material, and give the show a lot of freedom in adapting this character, but it would give Weyman a chance to create a character all his own. I still think him arriving in Middle-earth via meteor is pretty silly, but I like that there are some straight-from-the-book aspects of the wizards that they’re adapting with him. In particular, I think the way he’s a higher being unaccustomed to this physical form he’s bound to is done really well. Having a learning curve when it comes to his form and powers is something Tolkien tells us the wizards faced. I do think they went a bit too far with the amnesia aspect - though, I guess if you’re hurled in a meteor you may get your brain scrambled a bit. Dialing this back a bit would’ve actually worked well with Tolkien’s writings. “For it is said indeed that being embodied the Istari had need to learn much anew by slow experience and though they knew whence they came the memory of the Blessed Realm was to them a vision from afar off, for which (so long as they remained true to their mission) they yearned exceedingly.” I think the story of a wizard sent to do good, but not yet knowing how to take action, or even how much of his power he can use in his bodily form is a really interesting one. Unfortunately, this appears to be another story that is more concerned with maintaining a mystery. The showrunners were quoted on the Stranger’s name not being revealed in season one saying: “But that's part of the exploration in Season two, the mystery of this character and his journey of becoming a wizard continues." They’re clearly still holding onto this Stranger mystery, and the longer it goes on, the more likely it is he will be someone we’ve seen before so it can be “a moment”. Continuing one of the trends of this show, I can’t help but think he’s bound to be Saruman if for no other reason than for the shock value and so we can sympathize with yet another character who goes bad. On the plus side, Saruman going to the east and planting the seeds for his eventual turn to evil would be cool to see, and ties well into the canon. It will likely cause some issues story-wise with pulling this from the Third Age, but it would give us a chance to see a pre-fall Saruman who eventually becomes yet another piece on Sauron’s board. Ok, so one super random thing - ever since I noticed how often this gets used, I can’t help but smirk when someone says “I am _____” and then blows away the bad guy. *I am Iron Man, I am all the Jedi, I am Good* And even then, Lord of the Rings beat all of these by 17-20 years: *I am no man* Well at least the Witch-king didn’t disintegrate I guess. Harfoots When it was announced that there would be hobbits in the series, I was one who rolled my eyes. My take was - the Second Age has no hobbits, the Second Age needs no hobbits. My assumption was - and still is - that they were scared to death about not having hobbits in a Lord of the Rings adaptation. There’s even a showrunner quote that says “would it be a Tolkien adaptation without hobbits”, to which the answer for anything not adapting the Third Age is - YES. While the inclusion of hobbits feels more like a tactic to bring in casual fans than a necessity of the story, I will say I found more to enjoy about the harfoots than I expected. I think Nori is another of the really solid performances in the show. Her relationship with the Stranger is unquestionably the highlight of this segment of the story. But in the penultimate episode when it comes to what should be a real moment with Largo proclaiming their hearts are bigger than their feet, it rings hollow, and just really reminds me of what we’ve actually seen of the Harfoots. Sure, we’ve seen moments of heart within Nori’s family, and between Nori and the Stranger, but that’s not how these proto-hobbits operate. We’ve learned that these harfoots look out for themselves - they adhere to the pirate code - anyone who falls behind is left behind. This Malva lady openly advocates that they take the wheels off the Brandyfoot cart and leave them for dead. Likewise, when they read names from the book - one can’t help but wonder how many of those lives would’ve been saved if these hobbits gave a crap about each other. Right after the speech about hearts bigger than their feet, we get four hobbits volunteering for a journey, complete with a paraphrase of Sam’s “not going anywhere without me” line. Moments like these attempt to play on this theme that hobbits are creatures with amazing heart and unique courage. The problem is, this approach is banking on our knowledge and nostalgia for characters and moments that don’t yet exist and aren’t in this show. Chronologically, this is our first introduction to their entire race - nothing this show has shown us has given us evidence their hearts are bigger than their feet. I was watching a podcast episode where author Brandon Sandersen had a great point - even when the Harfoots other than Nori come to care the slightest bit for The Stranger - it’s only because he is useful. There’s no heart behind it at all. If you truly wanted to show the harfoots having heart, they would take the Stranger in because it’s the right thing to do, despite the peril he may bring. In Tolkien’s text, he describes when Gandalf first met the Hobbits: “But that was the time to see their courage, and their pity one for another. It was by their pity as much as by their tough uncomplaining courage that they survived.” This show takes the biggest thing we know about hobbits - their heart - and takes it away, and now…they’re heartless. Sidenote, I will say that the montage of Nori’s family traveling set to Poppy singing “This Wandering Day” is one of my favorite scenes of the entire show. So while the mere presence of hobbits is one that didn’t grate on me the way I anticipated, I remain unconvinced that their presence is at all necessary to the greater story. Indeed, you could remove the entire Harfoot/Stranger storyline and it would affect the rest of the story surprisingly little - if at all. The biggest difference? It would mean one less candidate to be Sauron. Despite the showrunners saying "We're really not about the big twist, the big surprise, the big shocker and that was never the goal here.”, there seem to be a lot of elements of this show made to serve the mysteries it presents. Adar, Orcs & Practical Effects Ironically, it’s one of the characters original to the show who is one of the best. Adar is unquestionably a villain in the show, yet there is dimension there. He, more than any other, proves the potential of showing both heroes and villains as victims of Sauron. And though we may not root for characters like Adar and the orcs, seeing them as pawns in Sauron’s game gives them a bit of flavor while boosting Sauron’s stock as the main villain. Some of the best potential for this dynamic will come in the days ahead in the form of the people of Rhun and Harad. There’s only so much sympathy I think you can portray for the orcs before it undermines the larger story, but the division Sauron causes in these lesser known realms of men could yield some incredible results. Speaking of orcs, this show also features some of the scariest orcs we’ve ever seen. Some of that is thanks to how formidable they’re portrayed early on, like in the kitchen scene and the pit scenes. I also really enjoyed the reveal that the orcs made the southlanders who had joined them fight their fellow men first. It was a surprise moment that felt organic, earned, and in-line with the characters it involved. Unquestionably, a big reason the orcs are consistently listed as one of the high points of the show is the triumphant return of practical effects. While I tend to be more lenient than most toward some aspects of The Hobbit films, there is no question - I am 100% on the side of practical effects orcs. There’s a depth and life within the performance of an actor that I don’t think was captured in characters like Bolg and Azog. That’s not to say CG characters can’t be amazing - just look at Gollum - but when it comes to creatures like orcs that are meant to be brutal and scary, there’s just something about actors in suits that bring them to life that CG versions haven’t replicated. Bringing back WETA and veteran orc actors from previous Middle-earth films was a great move and an absolute win. While it may have seemed like a no-brainer, the choice to make the orcs with practical effects was still a choice that had to be made, and it was a great one. Along those same lines, I would certainly praise the effects in general throughout the show - as I mentioned earlier when talking about set design, it’s a big category and encompasses a lot of things, but they’re easy to take for granted when they’re done well and as a huge fan of the behind-the-scenes work that goes into these productions - and especially the wizards at WETA - I have to give a shoutout to the great effects work on this show once more. The First Test - Forging the Rings As anyone who has heard me talk about this show over the years, I try to be level-headed when it comes to this adaptation - and all adaptations for that matter. So why am I going into such depth on some of these changes to the lore? I can already hear people screaming, Peter Jackson’s films made changes to the lore, this is no different. And yes, Peter Jackson certainly made changes to the lore in both his trilogies. But I also look at why the changes are being made and if they are understandable from a story perspective. Aragorn experiences self-doubt in Lord of the Rings - that’s different, but it makes him a more relatable hero. Kili and Fili die separately, not defending their fallen uncle - that’s different, but the reasoning is…so that the ham-fisted love triangle can have a final moment? Hard Pass. And that’s where a lot of my frustrations lie with Rings of Power - clearly I can see the changes they’ve made, but for the life of me there are some where I cannot understand the WHY. The biggest of these is the creation of the Rings of Power. Even the reasoning with the mithril we went over earlier pales in comparison to creation of the rings on my list of gripes. Rather than Annatar, the lord of gifts, coming to Eregion posing as an emissary of the Valar and giving the elves secret knowledge and magic to create great rings to forestall the decays of the world, we instead get Halbrand - fake human dude, brought by Galadriel, who stumbles his way into the forge and gives Celebrimbor - the greatest smith of the age - the hidden knowledge of…alloys. I don’t understand why, but the show seems to be afraid for anyone to wield magic that isn’t a wizard, or whatever the heck those nazgals are. I liked that they went for the effect of portraying elven vision for the first time, and would’ve loved it if we got some similar magic from someone like Galadriel. But in the case of the rings, like the mithril, the show falls into this trap where they try to explain it to death. Just as even casual viewers could accept that Mithril has magical properties without an elf-balrog infused silmaril-tree struck by lightning, it seems over the top to hem and haw about things like “well, the object has to be circular so that the power will build in an endless loop”...like, we know you’re going to make rings man…it’s the title of the flipping show. In the books, Annatar brings the magic…why can that not be the case here? One of the great things about Tolkien’s world is that it has these mysteries - not everything needs full explanation. Between the mithril and the rings made from it, it’s a total mithrilclorian situation - explaining what doesn’t need to be explained. I’ve long said, I can handle a good amount of originality in adaptations - especially in a story like the second age where the writings are so sparse - IF they nail the canon moments. Everything up until the finale was essentially original to the show and the creation of the rings of power was their first opportunity to nail a canon moment - and it felt like a near total miss. As with most of the series, it was stunning visually - and it provided some great moments for Celebrimbor, which would’ve hit much harder if we got to know him better beforehand. But oddly enough, the creation of The Rings of Power in the show The Rings of Power felt tacked on and half-baked. While taking hundreds of years like the books was understandably never going to happen in this show, this process is so crammed into this final episode that it feels like it takes them…a few hours maybe. The only indication it takes longer than this is a line delivered by Elrond that they have a few weeks left - I haven’t even gotten into this point, but another common thing that happens is they tell rather than show us things. Because the creation of the rings is crammed into the finale, they have to drop verbally that it’s taking a while and they’re experiencing setbacks. Sure, they’re solving a problem that was setup in the premiere, but it feels like they’ve been actively working to solve the problem for about a day. How much better could this have been - and how much more meaningful - if Celebrimbor would have been toiling away at this creation for most of the season before finally achieving his dream in the finale? I know there will be those who say I’m clinging too closely to the books on this topic - and maybe that’s fair, maybe it’s not. But ever since I heard a clip from a showrunner interview talking about the change, this has been an even harder aspect of the show to get out of my head. “We wanted him to come into the narrative in an unexpected way. If you sort of think about the obvious way, it’s okay, a tall, mysterious, beautiful demi-god named Annatar shows up and says ‘you know, let me help you will all your problems by making you some rings.’” “Who’s gonna fall for that? “Yeah, exactly.” Now, just as I don’t care to give much in terms of bonus points for things not portrayed in the show, I don’t want to overreact to soundbites from interviews either. However, I do find the way they discuss the story of Annatar concerning. They spent an entire season trying to keep the audience guessing on whether The Stranger and Halbrand were good or evil, and part of the season guessing whether Adar was Sauron. (Not to mention the mysteries of Sauron’s symbol and the broken sword.) They’re so fond of these mysteries they’ve created, but find the ready-made mystery character unbelievable? And so what if Annatar wasn’t a mystery? There would be plenty of drama to be had in the audience knowing Annatar is Sauron but people like Celebrimbor not knowing. It is possible to have tension that doesn’t rely on deception of the audience. There’s another quote from the showrunners about not wanting book fans to be 5 or so episodes ahead of the story, to which I simply ask…why? Why change such a massive part of the story purely to create a mystery? If the story you’re writing is compelling, you don’t need the crutch of a mystery. And changing a story because the diehard fans will know what is going on? What kind of reason is that?! Imagine if in Fellowship of the Ring the hobbits meet a mysterious stranger named…Justin…because book fans will know who he is if we call him Strider. Oh, and because book fans are expecting him to be at the Prancing Pony, let’s instead have them go to Amon Sul so it’ll be a surprise! Fans of book series dream of the day when they can see their beloved stories visualized. Such adaptations will always come with changes - but to see the fans’ familiarity and love of the material as a negative and seek to trick them isn’t clever - it’s deceptive and leads to disappointment. I feel like I could do an entire video just on this aspect of the finale, but needless to say, this was my first huge checkpoint for the show and it did not pass the test. Numenor One realm that I think shows promise in the show and is on a great trajectory for the future is Numenor. The great island realm of men was one of the things I was most excited to see and like so much of the series, it looks absolutely incredible. The sequence where Numenor is revealed with the swelling epic music is one of the most jaw-dropping moments of the show. I also think that, among a well-cast series, Numenor may be the best of the bunch. Lloyd Owen feels like he is Elendil, Cynthia Addai-Robinson has this great regal elegance as Miriel, and one of the low-key standouts in the show is Trystan Gravelle as Pharazon. We don’t see a whole lot of Pharazon in the show, but the moments we do set him up really well for the story to come. Pharazon’s speech to calm the crowd sews a seed that should reap rewards down the line. I also really enjoyed the scene where Pharazon explains the political and practical advantages of letting Miriel march off to war. It also features a fairly rare use of “show don’t tell” when at a mere nod of the head, Pharazon clears the room for their conversation. It’s not an original method, but it's effective and a lot better than people saying “wow, that Pharazon sure is a powerful guy”. Perhaps my favorite scenes with Pharazon come at the end of the season, when we find he is commissioning a great monument to Tar-Palantir. We’ve long known that due to the time compression they’ve chosen for this show, the massive burden of telling the Fall of Numenor story - the story of why Numenor falls, will be placed on Pharazon’s shoulders. And I think they’ve set Pharazon up incredibly well to tell that story. His commissioning of this monument plays directly into the Numenorean obsession with their own mortality. Tolkien tells us even those who survive the downfall - those who aren’t resentful of elven immortality - build great monuments because it is the nature of mortals to want to build these things that will last long after they are gone. A sort of artificial immortality. The tears of Pharazon at the king’s passing are loaded with meaning for fans of the books, and I think this scene will be one with great significance as the show plays out. In fact, of the entire finale episode, my favorite scenes were two of the shortest and most overlooked among viewers. The second is Pharazon’s tears at Tar-Palantir’s passing. The first is the conversation between Miriel and Elendil about the cost of living the life of a Faithful Numenorean. Going into this show, I was a bit unsure of an Elendil who questions his allegiances. He’s such an incredible hero - almost mythical in his greatness. But in the end I think the destination was worth the journey. He’s had this struggle within his heart, and as far as he knows he’s just lost his son, and it would’ve been so easy and trendy to take him to a dark place before allowing him to become a hero - but instead, despite his losses, he becomes resolute that he will ensure the end is worth the price. And going back to my earlier comments on the writing, I think scenes like this are proof that calling this show bad writing whole-cloth is inaccurate. Last, but definitely not least of my Numenorean trifecta is Miriel. This was a character I was very curious about going in. There is so little written about her in Tolkien’s text, which like the Second Age itself, is a double-edged sword - on one hand, it allows freedom for the show to craft a compelling story. On the other hand, we’ve seen instances within this very show, and previous adaptations, where people taking such freedom can bring some pretty rough results. That said, I’ve been really pleased with the Miriel we’ve gotten so far. They went with a Miriel also teetering between the Faithful ways of her ailing father and Pharazon’s King’s Men. All the while she’s carrying this burden of not only her father’s impending death, but the knowledge that Numenor is on a course for destruction. Incidentally, the depiction of the Great Wave is phenomenal - the decision to depict this from Miriel’s point of view was a great one and watching this on my home theater conveyed this sense of impending doom incredibly well. While seeing a powerful figure navigate a complex political landscape is something we’ve seen executed quite well in another recent show, I’m excited to see this play out going forward with Miriel in a different way - after all, she is no mere senator, but by rights, the heir to the Numenorean throne. The decision to blind Miriel was one I totally didn’t see coming and I’m actually really interested to see how this will play into the power dynamics in Numenor. We’ve already seen that they aren’t going to depict this as some minor obstacle - she’s going to run into challenges with this disability and I’m honestly really really looking forward to seeing how Elendil and Miriel must trust and depend on one another to navigate and even survive in a Numenor that will only become more hostile to their faith. For as much as I felt the show lost the core story of the elves and the creation of the rings of power, there’s plenty of reason to have faith in the Fall of Numenor storyline. Conclusion I’m no screenwriter or professional critic - I’m just a fan with his own opinions. But as a person who adores this world, its characters, and stories, it just feels like there’s too many missed opportunities in Rings of Power. It kind of feels like there were decisions made early on that dictated how they worked in Tolkien at their convenience - like the books were treated not as the base of the recipe, but rather a seasoning to be sprinkled in. At the end of the day, there are some things I absolutely love about season 1 of the Rings of Power and there are some things that drive me nuts. I rated the premiere smack in the middle of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, which I absolutely stand by. The premiere, while not without some minor flaws, gave us glimpses of what this show could achieve, all while looking and sounding incredible. Now that the entire season is behind us, however, and in light of the way it stumbled to the finish line, I think this show lands about even with The Hobbit films for me. And this isn’t the most scientific of metrics, but if it comes to putting one of the two on my tv on a given night, I’m more likely to pick The Hobbit. My favorite moments from The Hobbit are more momentous and meaty than those in The Rings of Power, which tend to be smaller, shorter character moments. Of course, there’s still some time here. There’s still four more seasons of Rings of Power on the way and there’s some big opportunities for great moments in the war in Eregion, the Fall of Numenor, and the Last Alliance. But, in my opinion, this show has to be better than this if it’s going to have any lasting impact. And if it aspires to earn anywhere near the level of adoration of what’s come before, it needs to leave the gimmicks and mystery boxes in the rear view and focus on telling the best possible adaptation of Tolkien’s Second Age. When all is said and done, this show will - and has - introduced more people to Middle-earth for the first time, which is a wonderful thing. And while the first season was a mixed bag for me personally, it’s brought about a ton of great conversation with fellow fans old and new. While I think the show should be better and needs to be better going forward, it’s still been fun to talk about the qualities and pitfalls with other Tolkien fans and I’m sure it will be for other seasons and other adaptations to come. Now, it's worth repeating - if you don’t agree with my opinions on the show - that’s cool. Discussions about our praise and criticism of adaptations are part of the fun of fandom, if we allow it to be. Personally, I believe the best place to experience Tolkien’s world will always be the books - and no adaptation good, bad, or in between will change that. With every new adaptation, there will come new fans - which I absolutely love. And I for one am looking forward to going on these journeys with fellow Tolkien fans - new and old - whatever may come. Now that I’ve rambled quite long enough, let me know in the comments your thoughts on season 1 - and if there’s things from this video - or left out of this video that you’d like me to cover, let me know that too. Thanks so much for watching, and we’ll see you next time on Nerd of the Rings.

Channel: Nerd of the Rings

Views: 1,014,032

Keywords: tolkien, lord of the rings, lotr, hobbit, the hobbit, nerd of the rings, silmarillion, rings of power, rings of power review, lotronprime, lotronprime review, rings of power honest review, lord of the rings review, amazon lord of the rings review, rings of power season 1 review, rings of power s1, lotrrop, the rings of power, the rings of power review, amazon lotr, amazon rings of power, amazon rings of power review, rings of power season review, nerd of the rings rings of power

Id: NK8Mj4eBjcI

Length: 73min 7sec (4387 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 18 2023

Reddit Comments

[u/huddycrisp]

Was looking forward to this and can say I can't find much I disagree with!

It's really troubling to see and hear blanket statements everywhere like "the writing is bad" or it doesn't "feel like Tolkien" when it's obvious to see in videos like this, actor interviews, or just the general lore knowledge in this sub that's not the case. Cherry picked lines like "I am good", "The sea is always right", or "whats an alloy" (which is not actually the case in that scene and isn't whats said...) do a disservice to amazing scenes where the dialogue blows me away (Elrond's thoughts on Earendil, Durin III and Durin IV, Miriel and Elendil, etc.)

I think I saw a good summation of the issues I heard somewhere is that the issues aren't with the lore breaks or representations, but in the modern show-making tropes alone. The plotholes or mystery boxes aren't disrespecting lore so much as they are causing just general storytelling confusion. I also agree with your juxtaposition of Elrond's character with Galadriel's, but I also believe (or hope) that what we see from her in Season 1 will be vastly different than her character in the future.

In the end, I want those big sign post moments in the different writings of the Second Age to be hit, and I want those moments at the end, like with Isildur's decisions, to really feel like the culmination of everything we see in the first 4 seasons. I've always thought this show was a sort of reverse Game of Thrones. GoT ran out of source material and thats where it tailed off, but this show had to start with that disadvantage, and it has those clear goal posts at the end it is aiming for.

All in all I agree that it would feel like a disservice for a story like this to just be "okay", when we know that it can be amazing. Let's hope that it will be!

[u/snicketbee]

This is a really nuanced and balanced take Matt. I was more positive on the show than you are, but a lot of my hang ups are resting on how things play out in season 2. Your video is a textbook example of criticism without inciting a flame war. You could have so easily become a thumbnail outrage YouTuber with thousands of more views but have chosen not to. And thank you for that.

[u/yesrushgenesis2112]

Some things I disagree with here, but I appreciate how thorough you got.

One thing I find intriguing as a possibility is the changing ways that Elrond and Galadriel might take precedence as “main” characters in future seasons. A part of me feels like Galadriel very well could still make connections with the dwarves, and Elrond very wel could still end up as a messenger to Numenor, though exactly how I don’t know.

The difficulty this season faced in being set up for the stories we “know” may lead to some twists in relationships down the line. The Dwarves relationship with the elves does need to be rebuilt, but maybe not with Elrond who did transgress their laws. Likewise, at some point Gil-galad will need to send word to Numenor about the fall of Eregion or rise of Sauron generally, and Elrond, being a herald, would still be the person for that assignment.

I guess my thinking is, the decision and the relationships one character began in this show may be expanded on by another.

Edit: one other thing that we disagree on that I find worth mentioning:

Sauron is not an empathetic character. At no point in the show is he mistreated in any real way, he never has some injustice done to him to make him evil. At no point does the show try to say “hey can’t you see why Sauron turned to evil?” He’s a flawed character who chooses to be evil even when he knows he doesn’t have to, and that IS unquestionably evil. Just because you don’t KNOW he’s evil all along doesn’t mean he’s not unquestionably so once the reveal is made.

[u/Few_Box6954]

I always enjoy your show. I don't agree with some (many?) Of the things you had to say about the show but I really enjoy your analysis of it.

One specific item I don't agree with is your discussion about not seeing galaderial as a better person early in the show. I thought having her be pretty awful and very proud highlighted that how bad the pride of the elves is. The elves in the show believe that they need to stay in order to keep the darkness at bay. Even if that is true talk about pride. A feeling of only we can save the world. That is exemplified with the commander of the northern armies. It isn't until Mt doom erupts that we get the person that we all hope is inside her. I found that transformation very moving.

Again I love the show and appreciate your views and feedback. It is great to be able to disagree in a civil manner

[u/Rperez8747]

Honestly, the show has many faults that you illustrated very well in your review. My biggest complaint is overall writing but the biggest was how unnecessarily long the goodbye for the Harfoots was in comparison to the ACTUAL CREATION OF RINGS. It just seemed like the rings were added in post production. “Oh shoot, we forgot to add the rings.”

The best moments were definitely any scene involving Elrond and Durin, except the balrog and the mithril theory, not a fan of that.

Great review that honestly tries to remain neutral, something I feel hasn’t been done. Most people online either love the show and find no faults, or hate the show and find no positives.

[u/conradcamel]

I agree with so much here, you are 100% right in your opinions on Galadriel and the ridiculous break from the lore with mithril and Elves.

However, the critique about the relationships that could have been between Elrond and the Numenoreans seems unnecessary. There is so much more time for that to happen and I am SO looking forward to it.

EDIT: I hope we see a flip in season two where Galadrial goes to Khaza-dum and Elrond interacts more with Numenor

[u/fanghorn_forest]

First off, love your work

Second off, I love that you say what you like AND don't like in a way that is balanced and rational, with support to your reasoning. Your maturity is refreshing.

[u/P-R-I]

I really liked what you said about the showrunners using the source as seasoning, but without getting into too much specifics, I actally undertand the decision. There were so many elemnts to explain in terms if worldbuilding and so many blans to fill.

I also dont put too much emphasis on time compression being a problem, though I admit your point might be a solid one depending on how season 2 goes.

My main problem was indeed with the missed oportunities and a couple of changes in the lore that I found dubious at best. I blame those on the showrunners being not as experienced and on the relative isolation over three years of production without audiences input caused.

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This is all to say, i would rate solidly above the Hobbit trilogy. 7,5-8, but overall, your opinion is a very valid one.

[u/Wah869]

I have to say, NotR, thank you so much for being fair and validly critiquing the show as well as putting in what you liked. I honestly feel like I'm nuts for liking the show (like ppl talking about the RT audience score as an indicator of how a sane person "should" think of the show) but I'm always glad to see your analysis, and loving the valar analysis vids too!