The 5 Biggest Problems With RINGS OF POWER Season 2

This is a truncated, non-exhaustive list of the many problems The Rings Of Power had on display in Season 2, most of which were also problems in Season 1. From changes to Tolkien's original text that make no sense, to a sprawling and ungainly cast, to terrible dialogue, no attention to detail or plausibility, and zero stakes, this season failed both as a Middle-earth adaptation and as generic fantasy. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

[JorJorIvanovitch]

How lame is it that Amazon had Celebrimbor call Sauron the Lord of the Rings when Sauron hasn't forged The One yet, and so has no ring to rule them all.

[Flinsenberger]

"Rings of Power" always reminds of a scene in "The Majestic". Where a producer in a story meeting says "Can we put a dog in it? People love dogs!".
And that's how we ended up with Gandalf, Hobbits and the Balrog in a show set in the 2nd age.

[orianhutton]

'The story-maker...makes a Secondary World which your mind can enter...The moment disbelief arises, the spell is broken; the magic, or rather art, has failed.' J.R.R.Tolkien

[Vault-vhjm]

The more I learn about this show the more I think the greatest problem happened in the pitch meeting. It is insane that they went with this crew with this level of talent and experience and with this vision. Whoever green lit this show and selected this path is the person (or group of people) most responsible for all that followed.

[JorJorIvanovitch]

I was just thinking about the stakes yesterday. I read The Fall of Gondolin and month ago, and am reading The Children of Hurin now. I recently re-watched the extended editions of all 6 of Peter Jackson's movies (and I've read The Silmarillion and other tales from the Histories of Middle Earth).

The biggest difference is that I get emotionally invested in the books and the Jackson movies, and get misty-eyed at times. Watching ROP I feel nothing except irritation, boredom, or an eye-roll.

[Lord_Nordan]

I totally agree about Morphydd Clark being Galadriel. She is way too short and she just seems to lack that ethereal, regal presence needed for the role. I have found myself watching House of the Dragon and thinking that Emma D'Arcy should have been Galadriel.

I truly believe the biggest flaw of the series is that they have chosen amateurs to produce it, which is baffling to me. It is known that Amazon wanted this series to be 'the next Game of Thrones' and yet they have shot themselves in the foot by selecting neophytes of the industry rather than seasoned veterans. The script seems awful and I don't know how it ever made it through whatever approval process an initial draft goes through.

I finished the series Shogun for the first time and it had me wishing that Rings of Power was written so well. The character of Toranaga was brilliantly portrayed and was clearly adept at Machiavellian political intrigue and I truly wish Sauron could have been portrayed to be as brilliant in that aspect. We could have had multiple seasons with complex power plays among the elves that truly demonstrated Sauron's sinister genius, but instead he just bumbles his way through with luck and the occasional magical coercion. It really was a lost opportunity, which is how I feel about the entire series. SAD.

[g.t.werber]

It's a good summary.
I would add "contrived writing". And you missed the most important: unlikable characters!!
Likeable characters can carry the show even if the plot is weak.
This show fails at everything!

[shimtest]

your mention of the numinous hits home. the writers messed with a well thought out mythology with ideas from Breaking Bad and Star Wars

[MeetMeInSiofra]

the FACT that Aarondir is somehow alive and the show just forgets that it gave us the edit WITH him getting stabbed not once, but twice, only to act as if it never happened whatsoever is honestly mind-boggling. Imagine being the actor and seeing that and not being like "hey, guys? what was that?" - I imagine we will start season 3 with Theo burning another wrapped up body in Pelagir (it's like poetry, it rhymes). You know what it is? I bet it is because they totally forgot he ties into the Ent plot and need him for season 3 AFTER the fact. Unbelievable.

[markturnbull]

Thanks Erik, all so sad but true. The show lacks any sense of scale or real majesty. Numenor is just an impressive harbour with a few squabbling fools, not a huge island continent with a population of millions. The Soutlands was a grubby village with a handfull of people (with for some strange reason mostly generic NORTHERN English accents). Eregion weirdly underpopulated etc etc. Even when they attempt at something "large" with the Elven cavalry charge it just looked wrong and completely fake. See Bonarchuks 1970 Waterloo for what a real mass cavalry charge really looks like.Even if the Elves are magical, wonderful horsemen it just takes you so out of the moment, or it would if anything in this show took you into the moment, .

[zaxx]

#1 Showrunners
#2 Writers
#3 Directors (hiring for gender instead of merit)
#4 Casting
#5 Costumes
I can keep going

[tadlambert]

I come for the AI music.
I stay for the shadenfreude.

[kylewest]

In a lot of ways it seems like it’s not written by or for Tolkien fans, but then weirdly they also rely on the audience understanding the lore. The politics in Numenor make no sense unless you already know who the Faithful and the King’s Men are. Celebrimbor is motivated by wanting to live up to Feanor, but normies would have no idea who that is. Not-Saruman is explaining his and Grand Elf’s backstory by name-dropping *Manwe.* This show doesn’t know what kind of audience it wants.

[leighsimmons]

The characters lack heart and authenticity. I just imagine myself really not liking the writers if we ever had dinner together. The characters most likely reflect themselves. Zero humility, empathy and warmth. Even Durin’s story which had a level of warmth to it, got butchered in the end. I just think the new breed of writers coming through are on social media endlessly, tweeting, living a rich life and lacking any real life experience.

[kelticowl]

Very well put, keep up the great work.

[jorgesoberon]

You are right. I am a hard core Tolkien's fan, but granted you cannot just "map" that vast legendarium into movies without modification. But the dialogues are wooden and jarring, the spatiotemporal logic is absent, the number of stories overwhelming... And, as you say, there is not even a philosophical message. It is one scene after another. What a waste.

[HenryThree]

It's always fun reading your Forbes articles and then seeing the corresponding video show up in a day or two. It makes me wish someone else was around so I could blow their fuckin mind by guessing what the "5 Biggest Problems" are before watching the video.

[courtneydeweese]

I screamed a little when you mentioned Garth Nix. The Old Kingdom series probably had the second biggest impact on my life growing up, behind LOTR.

[denglongfist]

Thank you for mentioning the attention to detail. The same with Wheel of Time show, the biggest issues I have is these shows failing to follow their own internal, “show created and established” logic. Egwene in both seasons finales is a great example on what not to do

[MedjayofFaiyum]

Elizabeth Debicki could be a great Galadriel. She's brilliant in acting and I loved watching her in Tenant and the Crown as Diana.