I wish I could have been able to review the first season of The Rings of Power, but I’ll do a quick overview on my thoughts: I think it’s solid. Is it the best television series? No it is not. But it scratches that itch I have for fantasy television, and occasionally it does feel very Tolkien. Sure it takes many liberties with what is established in the books, but in those quieter moments, there are scenes that bring to life the spirit of Tolkien’s writings. I did think the first season had some pacing issues, and writing issues, but when it wrapped up I was still on board for season 2.

True Creation Requires Sacrifice

I’d say overall I quite enjoyed season 2. I thought it had a pretty darn strong start, a middle that meanders, pretty solid couple of episodes at the back end, and a finale that is rushed but hits some good notes. The highlights this season include: Sauron and Celebrimbor’s storyline, the dwarves, the elves, Adar and Berek. These were all storylines that I thought were handled pretty well. Starting with the two men themselves, I absolutely loved what they did with Sauron and Celebrimbor. I was admittedly a bit cold on the Sauron reveal last season, but Charlie Vickers does such a good job with this role. Now that we, the audience, knows who Sauron is, it was nice to see him weaving around manipulating everyone to get what he wants. The top person on that list was Celebrimbor, played masterfully by Charles Edwards. He didn’t get much play in the previous season, but he is given much to do. You truly see his desire to make a name for himself, his aspirations for greatness, and how Sauron is able to bend this desire to forge the remaining rings of powers. I am curious to see what Sauron will be up to next season now that he has the nine rings and an army of orcs behind him. Speaking of which, I did enjoy how the season handled the orcs and their father, Adar. Adar was an interesting character from the first season, and even though he was recast, Sam Hazeldine did a great job. I do believe his intentions were always to keep his orcs safe, but with Sauron around he knows there can never truly be peace. And that ultimately leads him astray, where his desire to kill Sauron causes a rift between him and some of his “children”. A complaint that I do have with his storyline is that it was rushed towards the end. This is a common complaint I have of the finale, where they were definitely packing in way too much into one episode. But his turn at the end came a bit sudden for me. I think we needed one more beat where he realizes the error of his ways. He has always been a reasonable antagonist, but after the past few episodes I do think we needed to see the change within him versus him just telling us how he’s changed. Both the elves and dwarves had some good storylines as well as many characters got a chance to shine. The two biggest characters that leveled up this season are Galadriel and Gil-Galad. Last season both were pretty headstrong and it was nice to see them mellow out. Galadriel in particular is becoming more and more like her book counterpart, someone who exudes wisdom rather than fury. Based on how the season wraps up, I think we shall see more of her being a beacon of light in future seasons.

I Have Many Names

Clearly there is a lot that I enjoyed this season, but there is also quite a bit that did not sit well with me. A few of the plotlines that didn’t quite work include: The Stranger and the Harfoots, Numenor, and Isildur. The main reason I believe these plotlines did not work is because there wasn’t enough time devoted to them. Things felt rushed, and poorly written in general. Everyone in Numenor just keeps flip flopping their allegiances, and I think without any of our main characters there, it lacks a compelling hook. I do have some faith in the next season, as they have set up Elendil’s story quite well. Speaking of which, now Isildur will also rejoin those in Numenor, but his plotline did not fare much better. I liked how it began, but there just wasn’t enough for him to do. I think they felt obligated to keep him in the season, without finding a good reason to keep him around. And then there is The Stranger, who is revealed to be Gandalf. I’ve been dreading this reveal because of how obvious the show has been, but now that it’s happened I hope they could take his character in a more interesting direction. He did get to meet Tom Bombadil this season, which was actually pretty cool. But other than that, I don’t think his journey was worth a name and a staff. I was hoping for a more monumental outcome. The same goes for Nori and Poppy, who spent a good deal of this season separated from him. I don’t really think either of them had an arc, and now they are going on their own path. So, what was the point of even including them? It is as if the writers realized far too late into the season that they never should have brought them along. Going into the third season I think there is plenty of good set up, I just hope the writers take their time and don’t overstuff it with too many plotlines. It would also be nice for them to cool it with the callbacks. Maybe once in a while is okay, but I think they are capable of telling this story without nodding back to the books or movies by pulling a direct quote. A complaint I see all the time is how this show simply isn’t Tolkienian and I would have to disagree. The show is not without its faults, but it takes the time to have our heroes care and reflect about the world around them. You see the bond between men and animals, elves and trees, dwarves and mountains. They all have a desire to uphold the world that they have, instead of tearing it down.

Closing Remarks

It has become popular to rag on this show, and I do not fully understand why. This is not a perfect show but it is far from the worst. Whenever something is adapted you cannot expect it to be a one-to-one translation. Liberties will be taken, and you will either be on board with them or you will not. We are now two seasons into this show and I enjoy it enough to see where it is going. There is room for improvement, and a need to slow things down, but with some great performances, some exciting storylines, and a fantastic score by Bear McCreary, this show still manages to shine.