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Concerning “The Rings of Power”
My thoughts as a Tolkien nerd on Amazon’s epic first season in Middle Earth
I liked Amazon’s “The Rings of Power,” an ambitious show produced for Amazon Prime, though not as much as I would have liked to have like it. The show featured amazing visuals, and the trademark stunning landscape shots first seen in Peter Jackson’s film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
The sweeping opening shot of Numenor, Tolkien’s Atlantis analog, matched those of which I could have only dreamed of as I read The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales. Seeing Mordor and the peoplethat once inhabited it before it was spoiled (which I lovingly called “Before-dor”) was a really interesting decision.
But the story structure and dialogue didn’t feel much like Tolkien, though it wasn’t entirely the writer’s fault. More on that in a bit.
The 6 episode story arc was written in a mystery box format, meant to prompt wondering among fans familiar with the second age stories being portrayed in the show over who was who. Was the mystery meteor man Sauron, or Gandalf? Was the mysterious yet handsome man on the raft Sauron, or maybe a Nazgul, or maybe even the future king of the dead?
These mysteries were the primary narrative tension of season one, and for me, it didn’t work. Without spoiling things, we learned which…
