This article contains spoilers for the first three episodes of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” and for “The Lord of the Rings” movie trilogy.
As an avid J.R.R. Tolkien enthusiast, I anxiously awaited the premiere of Amazon’s predicted billion-dollar TV adaptation since production was first announced in 2017. After much anticipation, “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” had its two-episode premiere on Amazon Prime on Sept. 1. The first season concluded on Oct. 14, leaving a variety of opinions circulating among fans and critics. I, too, had many conflicting feelings about it, but my excitement in experiencing another Tolkien adaptation won out over my qualms.
Needless to say, first-time showrunners Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne had big shoes to fill. Fans were not only concerned with whether the series would squander Peter Jackson’s 17 Oscars-winning legacy but also with how true the creators would stay to Tolkien’s lore. Amazon was unable to get the rights to Tolkien’s creation story “The Silmarillion”, so the primary source material consists of the appendices to “The Lord of the Rings,” full of millennia of tales unknown to most readers.
Set in the Second Age of Middle-Earth, thousands of years before the events of Jackson’s beloved “The Lord of the Rings” movie trilogy, “The Rings of Power” follows the disparate, yet inevitably intertwined, stories of elves, humans, dwarves and harfoots (think: nomadic hobbits) whose livelihoods are all shaken as a long-dormant evil begins to take shape: the Dark Lord Sauron. By nature of being set during Sauron’s first rise to power, the fates of the characters — at least the ones from Tolkien’s canon — are somewhat predetermined. But because of the wealth of material contained in the appendices, the series feels less like a prequel and more like a long-awaited ode to the fantastical world of Tolkien, as well as a remarkable feat in itself.
As a proponent of Tolkein’s works first and foremost, I concede that quite a lot of the show’s content deviates from the books. And yet, “The Rings of Power” maintains a strong sense of familiarity. We meet younger versions of immortal elves Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) and Elrond (Robert Aramayo), and the landscape and design of the show is largely reminiscent of Jackson’s swooping shots of rolling hills, rushing waterfalls and cities carved into mountain sides.
While many of the names and places are similar, their stories are not. Galadriel, adorned in shining armor and carrying out Legolas-like stunts, is a more dynamic take on Cate Blanchett’s ethereal Lady of Lórien from 2001. For me, this was a welcome change. The closest thing we got to a bonafide female warrior in the original trilogy was Éowyn’s triumphant “I am no man” segment in “The Return of the King,” but Clark’s Galadriel takes this to another dimension. Not only are we seeing a previously unexplored side of the elf, but Galadriel’s journey acts as the main force drawing the otherwise estranged casts of characters together. She is adamant in her belief that evil still lingers in Middle-Earth, but her kin’s dismissal forces her into the role of a Cassandra. Unsurprisingly, Galadriel’s oath to root out evil isn’t stifled — even when the Great Sea stands in her way — and her resolve embodies the central ethos of the show:
Evil does not sleep, it waits. And in the moment of our complacency, it blinds us.
- Galadriel to Elrond in S.1 Ep.1: “A Shadow of the Past”
In “The Rings of Power,” The distrust between elves, humans and dwarves from the trilogy is magnified and bridges on outright hostility. In Episode Two, Galadriel is cast off a raft into the open sea when human refugees discover her pointy ears. Upon her accidental arrival in the mortal kingdom of Númenor, she is greeted by condescending words and wary glances. Yet, at the same time, a quiet sense of harmony between the races of Middle-Earth is ever in the works.
In the Southlands (the region that later becomes Mordor), the budding affection between Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi) and the elf Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova) captures the spirit of Aragorn and Arwen’s forbidden love story, but in a different key. This narrative was one of my favorite additions to the show. Not only do we get more insight into the mysterious background of this region of Middle-Earth, but the unity between humans and Elves provides a sliver of warmth amidst dark times — a characteristic detail of Tolkien’s works.
Amazon’s adaptation explores a vaster part of Tolkien’s map than we’ve previously seen on screen, ranging from the icy Northern region of Forodwaith to the Dwarven realm of Khazad-dûm at the height of its power. I found the island kingdom of Númenor to be the most intriguing of these new settings. The extravagant harbor and birdlike ships, vibrant garb of the members of the royal court and Byzantine-esque towers are a far cry from the obscurity and wilderness in which we first meet Aragorn — whose ancestors were Númenorean — in “The Fellowship of the Ring.” Keeping in line with our early-2000s memory of the grand cities of Gondor, it’s a pleasure to watch the show do justice to a kingdom so steeped in legend.
There is so much wonder to be experienced in watching the show — this article barely scratches the surface. “The Rings of Power” is highly accessible to newcomers to Tolkien’s legendarium, while maintaining an organic sense of continuity that lifelong devotees will appreciate. While some areas of deviance are frustrating, immersion in the show truly feels like being back in Middle-Earth, which, I think, is all one can hope for.
