The Rings of Power: Beautiful and Bland

Hey everyone,

Nothing better to yank me out of hiatus than the world that launched my love of fantasy. There’s no need to go on with the small talk, let’s jump right on it!

Well… Two episodes in and I’m truly disappointed. Let it be said that I don’t hate the series, it’s just not worth the time, energy, or drain that hate requires. I didn’t really have much hope for the series based on the trailers and how the fans of Tolkien were attacked with vicious accusations. Whilst I try to avoid it, I will allow myself to comment on the politics in this instance. Before I do, I would also like to state that my blog posts and my works are not created with the intent of preaching my political beliefs, nor would I want them to be, I write to entertain first and foremost. The show is wrapped in the modern politics that entertainment has found itself drowned in, so if that’s your thing you might not care or even love that fact. But it isn’t Tolkien so don’t pretend that it is. The man’s work is used as a platform for lesser minds to trample on whilst hoisting their beliefs up in reverence. A scorching and perhaps a tad overdramatic take? Perhaps, but I won’t apologize for it. However, despite all the obvious shortcomings, I told myself that I would give the series a chance and watch the first few episodes. I laughed, I cringed, and by the end of it, I felt nothing for the series. It might make a good drinking game, but drinking games are meant to be fun.

I wish I could care about the characters; I really do. Galadriel is a warrior consumed by revenge. Good start to a character premise, but the audience lacks the emotional connection to the character for said consumption to have any real weight. Angst and revenge seem to be her only character traits. There’s that “You have not seen what I have seen.” line that is laughable at best. Imagine if at the council of Elrond in the Jackson trilogy Boromir said, “One does not simply walk into Mordor.” twice rather than describing the insurmountable dangers of the region. Her obsession with finding Sauron drives her to commit the dumbest of acts to the detriment of herself and others. At least it would be to the detriment to herself and others if there were consequences for those actions. There is one consequence she faces when pushing her soldiers too far when hunting Sauron; she’s forced to go home and retire. Yes, really. Then she jumps off a boat in the middle of the ocean and swims for an unknown period until meeting some castaways. There’s a big monster that doesn’t really matter, a storm, and then a cliffhanger for episode three. I’m pretty sure she gets picked up by the Numenoreans because they’re the only people that live out that far to the west before reaching Valinor.

Moving on to other characters there are the harfoots who are hobbits before they became actual hobbits. I thought I would dislike them the most but to my shock, I found them to be amusing. I don’t remember any of their names and I’m not going to make the effort to do so. The series could have done fine without them. I think they’re just a plot device for the naked sky man that they find to be relevant to the story. Though it sounds like I’m being brutal, I do find the harfoots to be the most tolerable of the characters in the series so far. Beyond the harfoots there’s Prince Durin, Disa, and Elrond. There was what seemed to be a large issue between Elrond and Durin but it really didn’t mean much and I think was all of ten or fifteen minutes of screen time before it was resolved. My impression of Elrond is that he’s a pushover. Then there’s the elves and humans present in what I believe is Mordor before it becomes the barren hellscape that it ultimately becomes. If it is Mordor, then it’s awesome to see it uncorrupted and though still stark in its own way there’s still a beautiful quality to it. Anyway, the characters there have an interesting dynamic as the elves are occupying the region and almost all the natives don’t take kindly to them being there. It’s looking like they’ll have to put aside their differences to survive which again is the start of a good premise.

I will grant the series some praise. The visuals are phenomenal. If nothing else, that’s one of two areas I feel there was great effort put into the series. Seeing Khazad-dum in its glory was great and I prefer seeing that than what was seen of Erabor in the Hobbit trilogy. The Two Trees of Valinor were beautiful as well. The sweeping shots of different landscapes are reminiscent of the Peter Jackson trilogy so that’s nice. The scene of the elves climbing the side of an icy cliff looks good too, even if it is ridiculous to see Galadriel climbing with just a dagger instead of climbing pick like the rest of her group. If there’s something I’d say I’m looking forward to seeing what Numenor looks like. If the visuals so far are anything to go by, it should look good.

A second point of praise that I can give the series is the music. I think Bear McCreary did a fantastic job. I could listen to it along with the soundtracks of the two Jackson trilogies. He’s done work for other projects so I might just have to give them a watch, or a play for any games. I’ll be keeping an ear out for more of his work.

I think that overall, the show would be fine if it were its own fantasy universe, and it wouldn’t be receiving such contention and resistance from the audience. When it comes to Tolkien’s works there is a higher standard that any film or show adaptation needs to be held to. So far, the series has fallen short, and the drama has only made the situation worse for the show. If it were its own universe, then expectations wouldn’t be so high, and its shortcomings wouldn’t look so terrible. I believe that if it were a unique story separate from the work of Tolkien then audiences would be more forgiving and even say there’s potential for growth to be had in the following seasons. I’ll be watching the rest of the series and give my thoughts on the full thing after watching all of it. Maybe my thoughts on the series will change by the end. I would say that if you’re interested in watching any Amazon series, then I would recommend The Terminal List as a great pick. Being a fan of Critical Roll I’m also looking forward to watching the Vox Machina series as well and from what I hear it’s a great series.

Have a great one.

Aaron Kirby