Welcome to the first of the Monthly Movie posts, in which I review and discuss a film or TV show. As a quick disclaimer, just because I include a particular film or show in these posts doesn't necessarily mean I recommend them for all ages.
This month, I'll be covering the TV series The Rings of Power, season 1. Produced by Amazon, this (somewhat controversial) show is based on some of J.R.R. Tolkien's work, and serves as a prequel of sorts to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
I'll be chatting about some of the main objections raised to the show, as well as my own opinion and some comments on certain characters, plot points, and more.
A Brief Summary of the Show...
The Rings of Power takes place centuries before The Lord of the Rings. The first season centers around a much younger Galadriel (1), who is convinced that Sauron (2), instead of being defeated at the end of the First Age (3), survived and is building an army to defeat once and for all the free Elves, Men, and Dwarves of Middle-Earth. Meanwhile, the Elven smith Celebrimbor plans a secret project, and a young Elrond (4) tries to convince the Dwarves of Khazad-Dum to help with the project. In another region of Middle-Earth, strange happenings concern village healer Bronwyn and Elf guard Arondir, and the Harfoots (Hobbits) are confronted with a mysterious stranger.
There are a lot of plot lines and characters, but the show does a good job of weaving the plots together and creating memorable characters. For a first-time visitor to Middle-Earth, The Rings of Power may be confusing, but can still be enjoyed.
A quick note about my background with Tolkien's work...
I have read The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, The Children of Hurin, The Fall of Gondolin, Beren and Luthien, The Fall of Numenor, and part of The Nature of Middle-earth. I've watched Peter Jackson's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and the first season of The Rings of Power. So, yes, I am familiar with Tolkien's work.
Objection #1: It doesn't follow The Silmarillion or Tolkien's timeline
No, The Rings of Power does not follow The Silmarillion (Tolkien's "prequel" to The Lord of the Rings), and yes, it greatly condenses the Tolkien timeline of the Second Age.
But there's good reason for both of these things.
First, Amazon does not have the rights to The Silmarillion. This means, legally, they cannot use the material in that book, and had to rely upon The Lord of the Rings and the Appendices found therein to construct their script. In an interview with Vanity Fair, showrunner J.D. Payne said,
We have the rights solely to The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King, the appendices, and The Hobbit. And that is it. We do not have the rights to The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, The History of Middle-earth, or any of those other books. There's a version of everything we need for the Second Age in the books we have the rights to. As long as we're painting within those lines and not egregiously contradicting something we don't have the rights to, there's a lot of leeway and room to dramatize and tell some of the best stories that [Tolkien] ever came up with. "We took all these little clues and thought of them as stars in the sky that we then connected to write the novel that Tolkien never wrote about the Second Age. We worked in conjunction with world-renowned Tolkien scholars and the Tolkien estate to make sure that the ways we connected the dots were Tolkienian and gelled with the experts' and the estate's understanding of the material.
Once I learned that, I was more comfortable with the seemingly non-canon parts of The Rings of Power...even Amazon can't break copyright laws.
Secondly, the timeline. If The Rings of Power had kept to Tolkien's original timeline, new human characters would have to be introduced every episode, and major characters wouldn't be introduced for the first few seasons. As a writer, I can speak to the difficulty of creating relatable and sympathetic characters. The audience would have a hard time connecting with characters who die just one episode later. So, with that in mind, I agree with the condensed timeline. I'd rather deal with a condensed timeline and get great characters than stick to the canonical timeline and be introduced to new (and probably flat) characters every episode.
Objection #2: The Rings of Power is woke
No, it's not.
Are there non-white actors? Yes. For example, the Elf Arondir is played by Puerto Rican actor Ismael Cruz Cordova, and the Dwarf Disa is played by African-Iranian actress Sophia Nomvete.
While, technically speaking, it would be more accurate to Tolkien's mythology to have mostly white actors (as his mythology was based upon European myths), there's absolutely nothing wrong with casting actors like Ismael Cruz Cordova and Sophia Nomvete - both are excellent actors and helped shape very memorable roles.
Another objection raised was that there are many women warriors in the show, including Galadriel, who is an Elvish military commander. This could be contrasted with The Lord of the Rings, in which only men fight (and Eowyn, but she disguises herself as a man). Now, yes, at first glance this does seem odd, but there is an important detail. The Rings of Power takes place during the Second Age, while The Lord of the Rings takes place during the third age. In real life, we can see how the role of women in the military has changed throughout history, and it's not unrealistic for role of women in Middle-earth to have changed as well. Also in the Second Age, while there is the Elvish High King Gil-galad, and the island nation of Numenor does have a Queen Regent, nowhere else in Middle-earth has a king or hero. It's a time where the inhabitants of Middle-earth do what's right in their own eyes. It's a time when people try to fight back the darkness that threatens to swallow them. It's a desperate time.
Objection #3: There's a bunch of adult content in the show
And here's where I post your friendly local content guide to the show. Contrary to rumors, there's no major content issues that would prevent teens and adults from enjoying The Rings of Power.
Romantic content:
A few kisses.
Language:
"Bloody" is used. A Dwarf starts to say the s-word, but is cut off.
Violence:
Slightly more intense than the Peter Jackson films. This is partly due to more realistic fighting. Orcs are decapitated. A man's foot and another man's wrist are broken onscreen. Two people are killed by a warg in Jurassic Park-style fashion. An orc's eye is gouged during a fight, and black blood sprays his opponent. A man's face is badly burned. Intense battle violence, only slightly worse than the Peter Jackson films. A woman is shot with an arrow, and it is removed and the wound cauterized onscreen.
Other content:
Tolkien-style magic is present. Both protagonists (to a lesser extent) and antagonists use magic, and it is very clear that the brand of magic used by the antagonists is evil.
A few female characters wear slightly-revealing garb. A man is seen wearing nothing but a loincloth.
What I liked about the show
The scenery was beautiful, and the set design was excellent. I loved seeing the locations of the Second Age come to life just like the locations of the Third Age did in the Peter Jackson films.
The characters were overall, very well crafted. I wish I had time to talk about all the characters, but for the time being I'll just comment on a few. Antagonist-wise, Adar was a compelling villain. He was both despicable and intriguing - at one moment he was almost sympathetic, but at the next he was stabbing someone (literally) and becoming more despicable.
Spoiler (highlight to read) Halbrand's reveal as Sauron was really well done. I went into the show knowing who Halbrand's true identity was, and there were clues dropped along the way, but if you didn't catch those clues, it was a great twist. (end spoiler).
For the protagonists, it was really fun seeing female Dwarves and Dwarf families. The Harfoots of course were delightful as well. Elendil and Isildur have a big role to play, so I'm curious to see them in season two. Galadriel was a very interesting character. Her rebellious side and obvious character flaws made her more relatable than her wise version in The Lord of the Rings. Elrond, also, was a good character to see as his younger self. Arondir isn't in the books, but his and Bronwyn's relationship was very sweet, and I loved seeing him try to be a father figure to Bronwyn's son Theo.
And then we have Queen Regent Miriel. She's not quite on my list of protagonists, and I don't trust her (I read The Fall of Numenor. I have good reason not to trust her.), but she very interesting and well-written and well-acted. Also, I'd like to comment for a moment on (spoiler, highlight to read) Miriel's blindness at the end of season one. It seemed to be an illustration of her ignoring the signs of Pharazon's corruption and the coming fall of her kingdom.(end spoiler).
Conclusion
Overall, The Rings of Power is an enjoyable fantasy adventure show. I initially watched it just to criticize it, but ended up greatly enjoying it. It's a show I'd recommend to teens and adults who like fantasy and The Lord of the Rings. Hopefully Amazon does an equally good job with season two!
Your turn: Have you seen The Rings of Power? Did you enjoy it? Comment below!
Great review! I really enjoyed reading your take on RoP. 🤣 To be honest I don't have as positive an outlook on the show as you do, but it did have its good points.