THE RINGS OF POWER: Season 1 Review

 


As I wait for TV seasons to be finished before watching them, this post took a bit of time. Also, had other things in life going on. Things are well, though less time to sit down at the PC and write. I also wanted to let my thoughts about The Rings of Power simmer for a bit (and remain untouched by internet trolls) before making my statement.

Fantasy is seeing a resurgence right now, mostly on TV.

There was The Wheel of Time, also on Prime Video. Netflix has The Witcher (along with a 4-episode mini-series prequel coming out next month called Blood Origin) along with Narnia (which they don't seem to be doing too much with.)

HBO has House of the Dragon, which is based off Fire & Blood - I'm currently watching that one.

And, now we have The Rings of Power.

Most watchers may have been anticipating this one greatly, thanks to immense love to Tolkien's novel (as well as other Middle-earth entries), a huge following and love to Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings film trilogy (and much less love, but it's still there, for The Hobbit films) as well as newbies.

At this juncture I don't need to sum up what The Rings of Power is about. I don't mean its plot - I refer to the conditions and process of what it's based on.

Though I will start with this: what we have of Numenor and The Second Age, isn't a whole lot. We have the history overview, but we don't really have stories in the sense that we have The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. With what rights from the books (Prime Video doesn't have the license to all of Tolkien's works) they had creative freedom to create new characters and new plotlines - without altering too much the overall history of Tolkien's writings. Everything is still there! Though the timeline has been.....adjusted for TV purposes. The most notable difference was when The Three Rings of the Elves were forged. In the texts, they are the last of the Rings to be made. However, in Rings of Power, they are actually the first.

Many may cry out 'fanfiction!' as a counter or insult to what Prime Video has created. I will say that there is no such thing as a 'canon adaptation.' As beloved as Peter Jackson's films are (or any adaptation) they are not canon: there wasn't Elves at Helm's Deep, people! Please note, that doesn't mean it's bad. I'm just stating that the source material is called 'source material' for a reason: it's the first, and the original. With Tolkien, it's his writings.

Before I continue, I wish to say something.

Tolkien is on my bookshelves. If I want the 'actual' version of a story, it's there for me to read. If I want to watch a spectacle based on, that's what the movies and the show is for.

With what Prime Video has access to, I think they made a pretty decent show. I also have to keep remembering that we are only coming up on Season 2 out of 5.

Is the show on the same level as, say, The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Succession or other TV giants?? No, it's not. It's also thanks to my attachment to Tolkien's writings that I wanted to check it out. It may have been a swing-and-a-miss for many people, but not for me. Partly because I'm able to 'compartmentalize' my expectations and what this show would 'be.'

I enjoyed the first season. From what Prime Video had access to, they were able to create an interesting story. We also got some new characters as well as plotlines - with minimal changes - overall - to what Tolkien wrote.

As I often state:

I'd prefer an excellent show or movie loosely based on a book; as opposed to a terrible one that sticks very closely to it.

It's far too early to say what my favourite elements are, though I look forward to seeing more of Numenor (and associated happenings), The Stranger and Nori Journeying East, as well as the relationship between Durin and Elrond, as well as that of the Elves and the Dwarves. And Galadriel! She is fierce. It'll be interesting to watch transition from commander into how we see and know from The Lord of the Rings.

One thing I wish to address before I depart, and give my score: any newcomers to Tolkien via the show might be disappointed in certain aspects with Tolkien's writings. What I mean is, those looking for stories of Arondir, Halbrand, the Harfeet (sorry, I don't call them 'harfoots') or The Stranger may be disappointed. I recall feeling a slight frustration when reading The Lord of the Rings after only reading The Hobbit and seeing The Fellowship of the Ring: Tolkien's frequent use of 'The Company' over 'The Fellowship', as well the slower pace. I don't mean I was expecting an action book, what I mean is in the film, it was 'hurry hurry hurry, go go go the bad guys are coming!' But in the book it was 'hey let's spend quite some time in Rivendell.' That is on me, and not a complaint to neither Tolkien nor Jackson: it was just how I was experienced the story.

So I personally enjoyed The Rings of Power. Though I also recognize that it's not a TV masterpiece. I like how they were able to create this story / stories from Tolkien's writings, under the access and conditions that they had. Like 95% of all shows I watch, I wait for the season to be finished. That said, I look forward to seasons 2-5, while also remembering that it's not canon, and it's not actually Tolkien....heck, no adaptation is, as stated above.

I give season 1 of The Rings of Power a 7.5 / 10

I also personally believe that it serves better as a 'Lord of the Rings prequel' than The Hobbit movies did.