I Watched ‘Rings of Power’ (2022—) so You Don’t Have To

December 5, 2022 | Dara Marie | @thornfield_lane

As an avid Tolkien fan, I was excited when Amazon Prime Video announced they were going to be making a series based on Middle Earth folklore. I heard all the rumors about what it could be about: young Aragorn, or the First Age. the main consensus was that it’d be based on parts of The Silmarillion, a history and almost bible of lore. I wondered about seeing the stories of Beren and Luthien, The Children of Hurin, and The Fall of Gondolin. 

When the first trailer was released earlier this year, I was left dumbfounded. It was The Silmarillion, but not really… I didn’t understand. Come to find out, no: it’s not The Silmarilion. Why? Turns out the Tolkien estate that owns all the legal rights to his work has only sold the rights for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit to be made into films. Amazon’s team tried to negotiate for The Silmarilion but the estate refused because Tolkien had only reluctantly sold the rights he did while still alive. So, rather than scrap the project altogether, the team decided to work off the appendices from The Return of the King. 

The show is based on a collection of footnotes, not an actual story. It’s based on the world’s context, not its content. 

As soon as I learned this, I was so worried. This only grew the more trailers, production photos, and clips they released. By the time it actually premiered, I’d lost all hope and interest in watching. A couple of friends who began watching it both said, “It’s not worth it, except to write about it on your blog.” 

Well, ladies and gentlemen: here we are. I watched The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022–) so you don’t have to. 

Let’s get into it:

First of all, I hate the name. I love ironically long titles but this is unnecessary and inaccurate. The show is not The Lord of the Rings. The Lord of the Rings is not an all-encompassing title for any and all Middle Earth lore. It refers specifically to the trilogy of novels (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King) which takes place in the third age and follows the band of heroes working to destroy the one ring before the dark lord Sauron can regain it and bring his hellish legions against the world. Yes, I know the show’s story is inspired by The Return of the King’s appendix: it’s still not The Lord of the Rings. Yes, I know in a roundabout way this story connects to the trilogy as an extended prologue, but it is disconnected from that by hundreds of years: it’s not The Lord of the Rings. The are two reasons I can think of for them naming it this: one, they didn’t trust their audience enough to make the connection between the stories, and two, they were trying to monopolize on the familiarity of that name, especially due to Peter Jackson’s Oscar-winning films. 

Either way, it’s unacceptable.

Secondly, I’m all for a slow, meaningful burn, but the rings of power were only important in the last twenty minutes of the last episode. The entire name is pointless and inaccurate.

I waited until the entire season was released to watch it because I prefer (and have a tendency) to binge shows. I did my best to go in with an open mind but was not gripped by the first episode and was cringing not even five minutes into the second one. I very soon lost what little hope I had until reaching episode six which out of nowhere was terrific! Oh my God–I stayed up late to finish it because it was so gritty, suspenseful, horrifying, engrossing. I was cheering, worrying, wanting to fight alongside each of the characters. “Maybe I was wrong,” I began to think. “Maybe it just needed time to settle into itself.” 

Nope. 

The episode ended on a shaky note and the next one was as disappointing as the beginning. The final episode was practically unwatchable. I was bored out of my mind to the point of skipping through scenes. The episode’s second half went out of character for the sake of plot convenience only to have an incredibly rushed, unsatisfying, inconclusive ending. How can something manage to be painstakingly boring and yet rushed at the same time?  (And that is not a compliment). 

As I said, I loved episode six but it wasn’t enough to redeem the show. In fact, it irritates me how good the episode is because how dare you show me the extent of your squandered potential. How dare you give me crumbs to a feast I cannot have. If you could manage that level of excellence for one episode, why couldn’t you do it for seven more? 

The whole time I watched the show, I kept saying, “You’re telling me you had a one billion dollar budget (the single highest budget of any tv show ever) and years to make it, and that’s what you came up with? That’s what you produced?” 

The CGI is hilariously fake looking most of the time. Not even ten minutes in, I was saying, “That’s the best you could do?” I burst into laughter at the Warg in episode four. 

Short-haired elves grated my nerves in every scene. They’re noted in the text for having long hair. If you’ve ever watched any movie/show where a character grows up, you’ll know hair is often used as a way to show the passage of time. Elves are immortal. For the several scenes he’s in, Finrod looks like a mediocre Calvin Klien model rather than a centuries-old regal warrior prince. 

Elrond and Durin’s friendship immediately annoyed me. Don’t get me wrong–it was a funny dynamic. But it would never happen. Legolas and Gimli becoming friends in The Lord of the Rings was an anomaly. (And if you want to know my thoughts on Tauriel and Fili’s relationship in The Hobbit films, I wrote a blog post about it you can check out). Elves and Dwarves have been mortal enemies since Aluë, the smith, made them; Illuvatar almost didn’t let them live and only on the conditions that they would not interfere with the Elves. The Elves look down on the Dwarves as inferior while the Dwarves resent the Elves for their immortality and abilities. 

This plotline is just not plausible. It felt like a cheap grab at familiar tropes from The Lord of the Rings. 

This was one of my main problems with the character Halbrand as well. For a time, they built up a plot line about him being royalty but denying his rights to the throne and feeling unworthy because of a great evil he was capable of. This felt like a direct rip-off of Aragorn’s struggle in the trilogy and I didn’t appreciate it. 

With both Halbrand and Galadriel, they tried to build up an internal struggle over good and evil. The keyword in that sentence being tried because when it finally came down to it, I wasn’t fully convinced. I wanted to see more consequences of their actions warranting an internal struggle; more regret following recklessness. When Galadriel told Halbrand she realized she was no better than the evil she was hunting, I audibly said, “Uhhhhh…what?” This problem was especially poignant in the last episode. Too much happened with their characters that had little basis, such as their potential romance. For all I knew, they were still only tolerating each other because it served their goal, then he was asking her to be his queen so they could rule all of Middle Earth eternally? I think you missed a few steps there, Romeo.

I’m disappointed by these characters’ lost potential. 

Even with poor writing, I was fascinated by Galadriel, though. It was interesting seeing her as a much younger, less mature character than we know in the trilogy, but it felt like something was missing. I wish the writing could have done her justice.

For example: she’s the commander of the northern armies. Why does she never get a fight scene? Yes, we see her take down a monster in the first episode which was kinda cool (but also incredibly fake looking with its cheap CGI), and then we see her training some young Numenor soldiers. But when there was an actual battle, all she did was some acrobatic tricks in her saddle to avoid being impaled and chased an orc into the forest (Oh, and she’s not even the one to catch the Orc in the end. Halbrand swooped in at the last moment and did it). Excuse me??? 

My fiction writing professor once said that every time you show a gun in the first act of a story, you make a promise to the audience. That gun better be fired in act two. With the godforsaken amount of times they mention her rank and the sheer number of battles she’s been in, they made a hefty promise they did not keep. I was waiting to see her annihilate Orcs left and right when she led her army into battle. But all I got were party tricks. It feels like an insult to the character and actress alike, honestly. 

While we’re on the topic of Galadriel, I would like to ask: where the heck was Celeborn during all this? You know, her husband? Not like he’s important or really does much, but I’m just a bit confused about the timeline here. Because Elrond goes on to marry Galadriel and Celeborn’s daughter, Celebrian, and Elrond is a character in Rings of Power… Am I the only one concerned by the potential weird age gap this presents between Elrond and Celebrain? Yes, I know Aragorn and Arwen have an insane age gap, but considering Elrond is close with Galadriel, this timeline makes it well within possible he knew Celebrian as an infant. I’m not going as far as to suggest Elrond groomed her, but it still is a bit disconcerting. 

Moving on…

I could not care less about the Harfoots, an ancestor to the Hobbits. I’m sorry, but I just wasn’t interested in their plotline. Yes, they were quirky and charming; I just wasn’t invested. 

The overarching issue is a lack of direction. Having no actual story to follow and not being allowed to mention things from The Silmarillion, there’s very little the writers could do in terms of accuracy. The plots didn’t sell for me, I had no idea what it was leading up to most of the time, nor did I care much to find out.

All this being said, I didn’t hate all of it. 

There are a few scenes I genuinely enjoyed for their acting, humor, and overall quality. I really loved most of the technical aspects, such as the cinematography, soundtrack, sets, and costumes. There are some visually stunning shots and outfits in there that I cannot deny. I also enjoyed that it was gritty. The Orcs were horrifying and the heightened intensity brought more suspension to some scenes. 

I’m all for the diverse cast. If you have a problem with characters from a fantasy world being non-white, you can take it up with me directly. We duel at dawn. 

My favorite part of the series, by far, though, was Arondir. He is a new character created for the show, but I loved him. I could even move past my hatred of short-haired elves for him. His plot was the most fascinating for me and was the reason episode six was so incredible. He was played incredibly well and was the show’s only redeeming point. And yet the forgot about him in the last episode and left his plot hanging to pursue other ones (?).

Overall, I did not enjoy it. Lacking proper direction and inspiration: it didn’t need to be made and I’m annoyed knowing more seasons are in the work. I probably won’t watch them unless I decide to torture myself again so I can write a measly blog post. 

I want the cast and crew to know I hold no ill wishes against them: I respect the jobs they did within their constraints. I’m disappointed in the Amazon company using Tolkien’s work as a money-grabbing device. 

Mr. J.R.R. Tolkien, sir, I am so sorry. Please know Amazon’s money scheme in no way deteriorates from the incredible world you built. 

And big production companies, if you’re going to make an adaptation, the very first thing you do is secure the rights. If you don’t have that, for the love of all the is holy, please scrap the project. Please and thank,

—every book nerd ever.

Have you seen The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power? What did you think of the series? I'd love to hear from you! You can connect with me through thornfield.lane@gmail.com or on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter: @thornfield_lane.