Expensive and not very successful series, the authors of which could not properly dispose of luxurious material
The first season of one of the most ambitious series of our time, The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power, has come to an end. Speaking about the first episodes, we noted that although they gave rise to criticism, we still saw more positive aspects than negative ones. At that time, the series could boast of beautiful visuals, atmosphere, and an abundance of storylines. It seemed that the authors of “Rings of Power” laid a good foundation for creating a large-scale and exciting fantasy television saga. However, what the creators have built on this basis is not at all impressive.
The second era, in which the action of the series takes place, is relatively superficially spelled out in Tolkien’s texts. But, having become acquainted with them, it is easy to understand that she was very rich in interesting and dramatic events. For example, when Sauron was able to ingratiate himself with the blacksmith elves in order to create the Rings of Power together with them, and then launched a war on those who until recently considered him their friend and mentor. It is very significant how this story is reflected in the series.
From the acquaintance of Sauron, who hides his identity for the time being, with the famous elven master Celebrimbor, to the start of joint work on magic rings, a few minutes of screen time pass. What, based on the original source, should be a multi-way intrigue of a cunning villain – significant events for the history of Middle-earth – in the series fits into a couple of completely passable and devoid of any emotional scenes.
Similarly, almost everything that the authors of “Rings of Power” borrow from the Professor’s texts is not in the focus of attention in the series, but only serves as a backdrop for stories that the writers themselves came up with. Such a dismissive attitude to the original source is not so bad. He could still be forgiven if the showrunners and writers’ own ideas turned out to be good. And this, alas, is not so.
Galadriel, who has become the main “face” of the series, really personifies him. Interesting idea, poor execution
The main part of the screen time is occupied by two storylines. The central character of one is Galadriel, for whom the authors of the “Rings of Power” came up with a somewhat unexpected for fans of books, but a curious image. We can say that we are shown an elf with post-traumatic stress disorder. While most of the other elves are sure that a period of peace has come to Middle-earth and want to enjoy it, the war is not over for Galadriel. The search for the disappeared Sauron and revenge on him is the whole meaning of her life. The idea was interesting, but the writers of the series were unable to build an exciting story around it. In the first episodes, we saw how Galadriel, in her obsession, committed reckless acts and alienated even her closest friends and associates. But then, instead of developing the personal arc of the heroine declared in the first series, the writers throw her into the island nation of Numenor. Here she will spend much of the season, despondently knocking on the thresholds of local authorities, trying to convince them to interfere in the affairs of Middle-earth. And in such circumstances, it is quite natural that the image of Galadriel does not receive any intelligible disclosure and development during the season.
The attempts of the creators of the “Rings of Power” to show a fantasy political drama were shattered by their own inability to come up with any interesting palace conflict or court intrigues. Almost all the scenes in Numenor leave a feeling of absolutely mediocre and wasted screen time.
The second dominant line is dedicated to the so-called Southern Kingdoms. And again, it was a good idea. Once these lands were under the power of Darkness, and their inhabitants are the descendants of those who served Sauron and his lord. Having won the war, the elves for a long time kept under the supervision of people who had previously served their enemies. Naturally, southerners don’t have much love for immortals. And so, when the orcs reappear on their lands, people find themselves in a dilemma – to fight against them or to stand under the banner of Darkness again.
Which of the heroes is actually Sauron – almost the only intrigue of the season
It would seem around this that one can show a truly complex and non-trivial conflict for Middle-earth, in which the line between good and evil is not so obvious. But most of the inhabitants of the Southern Kingdoms show just a bandit-like extras, and the authors focus all their attention on the throwing of one boy completely devoid of charisma, and the heroism of an elf who managed to imbue the locals with sympathy. And here an interesting idea, which clearly could serve as the basis for a dramatic narrative, the writers of “Rings of Power” manage to develop only into banal and not even very exciting adventures.
Against the background of the two main stories, a couple of side stories look advantageous. It’s nice to watch the travels of one of the tribes of hobbits, sincere nomadic mokhnonogov. They live a simple and unpretentious life and one day they encounter a mysterious man whom the restless and curious Nori Brandyfoot discovers at the bottom of a fresh crankcase. Perhaps it is in the scenes with Nori and the Stranger that Rings of Power evoke the strongest associations with Tolkien’s works – with those chapters where the Professor talked about the serene life of the hobbits.
The friendship between Elrond and the Dwarf prince Durin is also well shown, which has to stand the test of strength when both are faced with a choice between loyalty to a friend and duty to their people. If any episodes of The Rings of Power can be called truly emotional, it is those when Elrond and Durin face such a choice and make their decisions. And, if any of the characters in the series can be called truly lively and colorful, then it is this tandem. True, it is a pity that their strong and surprising friendship for others is simply postulated – and we will not know anything about why such dissimilar personalities became close as brothers.
Considering that Rings of Power has become the most expensive series in history, it would seem that it should definitely be spectacular. But, surprisingly, even the video sequence cannot be unequivocally included in the merits of the television “Lord of the Rings”. On the one hand, it certainly looks expensive and is visually close to Peter Jackson’s films. On the other hand, the latter pampered the viewer not only with beautiful views, but also with a serious scale and an abundance of well-staged battle scenes, but the “Rings of Power” have serious problems with this.
Most furfoots aren’t interested in anything other than the day to day, but Nori Brandyfoot wants more out of life.
Oddly enough, the series doesn’t feel epic at all. The notorious Southern Kingdoms, the fate of which is given so much attention in the season, are a few dilapidated villages with a population of a couple of hundred ragamuffins. And the center of the great human power of Numenor, before which the armies of Mordor trembled, judging by the series, is a small market where everything seems to be important – from solving diplomatic issues to training local marines. In addition, we will see only a few palace chambers, and a couple of general plans of the capital of Numenor. The scale, frankly, is not what you expect from a series based on Tolkien’s books. And there is only one more or less major battle in the first season of Rings of Power – just for one of the aforementioned villages of the Southern Kingdoms.
It’s not often that the impressions of a series change so much over several episodes, as happened with “Rings of Power”. The opening episodes weren’t perfect, but they showed potential. The following season is only a disappointment at how incompetently this potential was squandered.