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Lead Critic for the site, as well as serving as an editor when needed.
Perhaps no brand is more divisive than J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic mythology of Middle-earth and those who inhabit its world. Being the most expensive television series ever, the hopes were indeed high. However, Season One of Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power premiered in 2021 to mixed acclaim. Simply scrolling through TikTok will grant people videos of the show still being harped on.
Moreover, if fans just want fun fantasy with deep lore, then The Rings of Power is for you. However, even Season Two grants many plot points and beats that often make no sense. Some of these beats led the writers into a corner. Considering how this new season ends, if things are just even more slightly thought out, the show could be a massive success at the end of its proposed five-season run. Collectively, it’s just amazing to see more Lord of the Rings content released.
Spoilers ahead.
The Good
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season Two offered more of the same as its first, except on a somewhat grander scale. This season finally saw the crafting of the seven Dwarf rings and the nine Men rings, which was epic. These beats are often the best parts of the show. To witness these events singularly is some of the best content within it. The Elf material within the show is quite similar to what can be seen in Peter Jackson’s trilogy. They are the wisest beings on Middle-earth and have no problem showing it in The Rings of Power. However, that can also be argued to bring about their ignorance towards Sauron’s rise.
Sauron’s (Charlie Vickers) actions this season were also key to understanding where the story will go as it moves into further seasons. In Season One, as the Man Halbrand he deceived Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) and Elrond (Robert Aramayo). However, he did by association help create the three Elven rings, even though they’ve no essence of his power within them. Unlike the Dwarves’ seven and the Men’s nine, of which he had a direct hand in forging, which led to their downfalls. In Season Two, Sauron deceives Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards), the greatest of Elven blacksmiths, into doing this. Sauron easily feeds into Celebrimbor’s arrogance, tempting him into something he feels he desperately needs. Witnessing Sauron’s deception is quite a sight, and Vickers plays the villain with an elegance that recalls Mads Mikkelsen in Hannibal.
The Dwarf content in Season Two features even more of Khazad-dûm, and the downfall of King Durin III (Peter Mullan). Durin’s downfall is one of tragedy, and the disconnect that grows between the King and his son Prince Durin IV (Owain Arthur) is one of the more refreshing things in Season Two.
Legacy Characters
With the show set during Middle-earth’s Second Age, Galadriel and Elrond are thousands of years younger than Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving’s respective depictions from Jackson’s trilogy. Still, Clark and Aramayo perform exceptionally well as previously known characters. It can really be sensed how optimistic and passionate Elrond and Galadriel feel. By the Third Age (when The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings occur) two of the most important Elves are simply too tired.
Moreover, the second season finale finally confirmed what many had thought: The Stranger (Daniel Weyman) is a younger version of Ian McKellen’s iconic Gandalf the Grey. It was a little absurd sending him into the east of Middle-earth on a nearly identical plotline from Jackson’s trilogy. However, it can be inferred that most of the beats in the show set in the east are mostly original storytelling from the show’s writers. The Dark Wizard (Ciarán Hinds) felt more like a placeholder as to something they wanted to tell with another season. Tom Bombadil’s (Rory Kinnear) addition was welcoming though.
The Bad
Truly, the worst parts of The Rings of Power Season Two feel like the odd lighting and cinematography choices. Every single night scene was so dimly light, it looked better turning the lights off to watch. During daylight scenes, this was clearly not an issue. Cinematographers Alex Disenhof, Laurie Rose, and Jean-Philippe Gossart’s camera work was otherwise quite epic and continued the great landscape shots that feel like a stable in Middle-earth.
A few story beats felt entirely out of place within a show set in Middle-earth. For instance, considering it is source material with a deeply Christian author behind it, Orcs are the epitome of evil. There are also themes on the downside of industrialization. The Wizards, or Istari, are magical beings, but they can be thought of as stand-ins for Angels. Moreover, the use of an “Orc family” and Orc children, is honestly one of the more absurd pieces of this show.
The original character Adar (Sam Hazeldine) can also be thought of as the same. Despite that Adar’s creation can be, in some ways, linked back to the original elves first deceived by Morgoth (the original bad guy in Middle-earth) and served as a lieutenant during Morgoth’s reign, the character is still a bit abysmal. He constantly referred to the Orcs as his “children,” which sets the teeth on edge the more it’s heard. However, with his death in the finale and the Orcs finally under the control of Sauron, perhaps these things aren’t mentioned again.
The Harfoots, a precursor to Hobbits, had a much more interesting plot line in Season One than here in two. The Stranger and two other Harfoots journeyed into the east at the beginning of Season Two. However, the entire plot line—besides the Stranger discovering who he was—was honestly quite boring. This particular plot grew a bit predictable, but it still seemed to accomplish the task of Gandalf’s reveal.
Final Thoughts on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season Two has some great material, with even a few battle scenes that are some of the best Lord of the Rings content since Jackson’s trilogy. The series is nowhere near perfect but does enough to touch the itch of causal fantasy fans. Diehards should appreciate enough, but one wrong beat could make them never watch the show again. This is the power of media, though, and it should feel good that it’s divisive. Rings of Power isn’t horrible by any means, but it’s definitely worth a peek.
3.5/5 stars for Season 2
All eight episodes of Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season Two are now streaming!
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Lead Critic for the site, as well as serving as an editor when needed.
This article was edited by John Tangalin.