Rings of Power – Season 2

Amazon’s Tolkien vehicle continues to be Marmite for fans. I’ve seen some people who have been hate-watching it, and others who love it to pieces. There doesn’t seem to be much in between.

Of course trying to craft a sensible storyline from the dull and largely plotless mess that is The Silmarilion is a monumental task. Much of the criticism seems to come from people who assume that the show has been crafted from scratch, rather than started from a position that no one in their right mind except a marketing executive would actually start from.

The Rings of Power script team do seem to have done some interesting things. They have tried hard to provide character motivations for the various events that happen in the timeline. They have also, shock horror, added some women to the story. After all, the events of The Lord of the Rings would never have happened had the non-Elven peoples not had women to make more people for them. The only woman we know for sure existed in that time is, I think, Galadriel, and she’s not going to have given birth to whole nations of men, dwarves, hobbits and orcs.

The best thing they have done is try to portray Sauron as a genuinely cunning and deceitful adversary, rather than the cardboard cutout from LotR. The way in which he manipulates Galadriel in season one, and Celebrimbor in season two, is very well done. I particularly liked the way in which Celebrimbor is undone by his desire to perfect his craft.

One of the most interesting characters in this season is Adar, the fallen Elf who has taken the orcs under his wing and who tries to free them from Sauron’s control. In some ways he’s the most noble character in the show. Of course the poor guy is doomed, but he is a useful means of puncturing the self-righteousness of the Elves.

All of this would be fine were it not for the fact that the showrunners feel the need to fill each episode with fan service moments. It is all depressingly predictable. At some points I could actually predict what a character was going to say. Some of this, I suspect, is because of the heavily structured nature of modern screen-writing. There are rules, and the writers’ room has to stick to them. Being an old-fashioned curmudgeon, I much prefer the freedom of prose fiction.

By the end of this season, most of the major pieces are in place. Sauron has all of the rings save the important one. We have been introduced to all of the important Elves, Dwarves and men, and to Gandalf. It should be possible to wrap things up in one more season that features the fall of Númenor and the war against Sauron. However, I have been given to believe that five seasons are planned. Goodness only knows how they will pad that out. Oh well, I’ll probably watch it, as long as it isn’t just bloody Tom Bombadil singing silly songs.