My ‘Rings of Power’ rewatch ruled them all this week
My ‘Rings of Power’ rewatch ruled them all this week
The show has flaws, but as a lifelong Tolkien fan, I love seeing the characters and locations brought to life so vividly.
It seems like decades since I first heard that Amazon was making its own TV series set in Middle-earth. “The Lord of the Rings” captured my imagination as an adolescent, and the Peter Jackson film trilogy brought the world to the screen in a way no one could have conceived of 10 years earlier.
When “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” was finally released, it felt almost impossible to escape the toxic fandom that hounded its every step. That rhetoric never seeped into my own perception of the show, but it’s been hard to escape in the lead-up to Season 3’s release on Nov. 11. I rewatched the first two seasons this week to get ready, and while the show still has things to work on, I genuinely loved my preparatory binge.
“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” turns back the clock on the story fans know so well. In the Second Age of Middle-earth, Sauron has not yet ascended to his feared position as the Dark Lord. Seeking to bend all lands to his will, Sauron seeks out the secrets of the Elves of Eregion to forge the Rings of Power, with which he can dominate the Free Peoples and subjugate Middle-earth.
The first word that comes to mind when reflecting on the show’s first two seasons is expansive. “Rings of Power” takes viewers to a huge number of locations across Middle-earth, from the Elven kingdom of Eregion to the halls of Khazad-dûm and the island kingdom of Númenor. Fans have never gotten to see these locations, or characters like Elendil and Celebrimbor on screen for extended periods of time, and “Rings of Power” explores them in depth.
Sometimes, that is to the show’s detriment. It admittedly has a huge cast, and while it tried to bring its main characters into greater focus in Season 2, it can get a little dizzying for even the most lore-steeped viewer to lose track of what’s happening — especially when the show deviates from its source material. I don’t get bent out of shape about that as a rule any longer; all adaptations from book to screen change things up a little, and Tolkien’s writings about the Second Age of Middle-earth are far from comprehensive.
That left the show’s creators with plenty of license, and they take advantage of it over the first two seasons. It sounds as if “Rings of Power” is going to focus in more on its most important narratives in Season 3; the Harfoot storyline is over, for example, and has been excised from the show, even if we will continue to follow a certain wandering wizard as the show goes along.
The overstuffed cast of characters is no reflection on the quality of performances in “Rings of Power.” Charlie Vickers continues to stand out as Sauron in the show, but everyone puts their best work on film, and the acting is truly captivating at times. It’s clear that everyone in “Rings of Power” cares a great deal about the source material they’re working from and what it means to fans. Perhaps more than anything, that’s what makes me love the show so much.
The first two seasons of “Rings of Power” are available to stream on Prime Video now. Season 3 will be released on the streamer beginning on Nov. 11, and viewers can watch with a Prime Video subscription starting at $9 per month on its own. Prime Video is also included as part of the larger Amazon Prime subscription bundle.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Beginning in a time of relative peace, we follow an ensemble cast of characters as they confront the re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.