Amazon spent nearly half a billion dollars just to get the rights to Tolkien’s world. That’s before they even hired a single actor or built a set for The Rings of Power. Think about that. Most movies don't even have a total budget that high. But when you’re dealing with The Lord of the Rings, the stakes aren't just financial. They’re cultural. For a lot of people, Middle-earth is sacred ground.
I’ve spent an unhealthy amount of time digging through the appendices of The Return of the King. Honestly, it's where most of the "meat" for this show actually comes from. You won’t find a singular novel called The Rings of Power. Instead, showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay had to essentially piece together a narrative from scattered notes, timelines, and genealogies. It’s a bit like trying to build a cathedral using only a handful of sketches and a pile of ancient bricks.
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The result? A show that looks absolutely stunning but makes some Tolkien purists want to scream into a pillow.
What The Rings of Power Actually Covers (and What It Skips)
Basically, the show is set in the Second Age. If you’ve seen Peter Jackson’s films, you remember that prologue where Sauron gets his fingers chopped off? This show is everything leading up to that. We’re talking thousands of years before Frodo was even a glimmer in a Hobbit’s eye.
The timeline is compressed. Heavily. In Tolkien’s writing, the events of the Second Age span over 3,000 years. If the show followed that literally, every human character would die of old age every two episodes while the Elves just sat around looking pretty. To fix this, the writers smooshed everything together. Is it lore-accurate? Not really. Does it make for better TV? That’s the debate.
You’ve got Galadriel, but she isn't the ethereal, static grandmother figure played by Cate Blanchett. Here, Morfydd Clark plays a younger, angrier version. She’s a commander of northern armies. She’s obsessed with finding Sauron because nobody believes he’s still a threat. It’s a "told you so" arc that spans seasons.
The Numenor Factor
One of the coolest parts of The Rings of Power is seeing Numenor at its peak. This is the island kingdom of Men, the ancestors of Aragorn. It’s basically Tolkien’s version of Atlantis. The production design here is genuinely incredible. You see the influence of Greek and Roman architecture mixed with that specific Middle-earth flair.
But there’s a political undercurrent that some viewers missed. The Numenoreans are starting to fear death. They envy the Elves for their immortality. This jealousy is exactly what Sauron eventually exploits. It's not just about big battles; it's about the psychological decay of a superpower.
The Sauron Reveal and the Stranger Mystery
Season one spent a lot of time playing a shell game. Who is Sauron? Is it the guy who fell from the sky in a meteor? Is it the rugged guy on the raft?
The Stranger, played by Daniel Weyman, fell into the Harfoot camp. The Harfoots are basically proto-Hobbits. They aren't settled in the Shire yet; they’re nomadic and, frankly, a bit more cutthroat than the Hobbits we know. "Nobody goes off trail and nobody walks alone," they say, right before they effectively abandon people who can't keep up. It’s dark.
Most fans eventually figured out that the Stranger is likely a Wizard, or Istar. While the show took its time confirming it, the hints—like his connection to fire and his "follow your nose" line—point heavily toward a young Gandalf, despite Gandalf not technically arriving in Middle-earth until the Third Age in the books.
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Then there’s Halbrand. The "King of the Southlands." The chemistry between him and Galadriel was the driving force of the first season, which made the reveal that he was Sauron all along much more personal. It wasn't just a villain reveal; it was a betrayal of a specific friendship.
Why the Fanbase is Split Down the Middle
You can't talk about this Lord of the Rings show without mentioning the backlash. It’s been intense. Some of it is just the typical internet toxicity, but some of it comes from a place of genuine concern for the source material.
- The Lore Changes: Tolkien fans are notoriously detail-oriented. When the show changes how the Three Elven Rings were made (in the books, they were made last and without Sauron's direct touch), it ruffles feathers.
- The Pacing: Let’s be real—the first season moved slowly. It felt like an eight-hour prologue.
- The Tone: Jackson’s films had a specific "lived-in" grit. The show often feels more "digital" and polished, which some find distracting.
On the flip side, the relationship between Elrond and Prince Durin IV is peak Tolkien. Robert Aramayo and Owain Arthur have this incredible chemistry that captures the "Aulë's children" bond perfectly. The Khazad-dûm sequences are arguably the best part of the entire series. Seeing the Dwarf kingdom before it became the graveyard of Moria is a treat for anyone who likes world-building.
Production Value: Where Did the Money Go?
You can see the $500 million on the screen. The costumes by Kate Hawley are intricate, using real fabrics and traditional weaving techniques. The score by Bear McCreary is a masterpiece in its own right, giving each culture—the Orcs, the Dwarves, the Elves—a distinct musical identity.
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They didn't just use green screens. They built massive sets in New Zealand (for Season 1) and later moved production to the UK. The Orcs, specifically, are a triumph of practical effects. Most of them are actors in heavy prosthetics, not just CGI blobs. It gives the action a weight that was missing from The Hobbit trilogy.
The Sauron Problem in Season 2 and Beyond
Season 2 shifts the focus. If Season 1 was about the mystery of Sauron, Season 2 is about his manipulation. He adopts the persona of Annatar, the "Lord of Gifts." This is the version of Sauron from the books—the fair-looking deceiver who tricks the Elven smith Celebrimbor into forging the rest of the rings.
Charles Edwards, who plays Celebrimbor, brings a tragic vulnerability to the role. He’s an artist who wants to save his people, and that desire makes him the perfect target for a devil's bargain. This is where the show finally starts to feel like a tragedy rather than just a fantasy adventure.
How to Watch It Without Getting Frustrated
If you’re a die-hard Tolkien scholar who treats The Silmarillion as a religious text, you’re probably going to have a hard time. The show is an "adaptation" in the loosest sense of the word. It’s more like "fan fiction with a massive budget."
But if you approach it as a high-fantasy epic that happens to use familiar names, it’s quite an experience. It’s ambitious. It’s trying to tell a story about the origin of evil and how even good intentions can lead to total ruin.
Things to keep an eye on:
- The Mithril Origin: The show introduces a weird legend about Mithril being created by a Silmaril and lightning hitting a tree. This is 100% show-original and highly controversial.
- The Rise of Mordor: Seeing the transformation of the Southlands into the volcanic wasteland of Mordor was one of the most clever visual sequences in recent TV.
- Adar: A character not in the books at all. He’s a "Uruk," one of the first Elves corrupted by Morgoth. He provides a sympathetic face to the Orcs, which is a nuance Tolkien himself struggled with in his later letters.
Final Practical Steps for Viewers
If you're looking to get the most out of The Rings of Power, don't just binge-watch it. This is a "slow burn" series.
- Read the Appendices: Open your copy of The Return of the King and flip to Appendix B. It lists the timeline of the Second Age. It'll help you spot which characters are "real" and which are invented for the show.
- Watch the BTS Footage: Amazon released a series of "Making Of" segments. Seeing how they built the Orc masks and the Numenorean ships actually makes the show more impressive.
- Listen to the Score: Bear McCreary’s soundtrack has layers. The "Sauron" theme is actually the "Halbrand" theme played backwards and in a different key.
- Check the Maps: The geography of Middle-earth changes between the Second and Third Ages. Paying attention to the map transitions in the show helps you understand why characters are traveling for so long.
The show isn't perfect. It's clunky in spots, and some of the dialogue feels like it's trying a bit too hard to sound "old-timey." But as a visual spectacle and an expansion of a beloved world, it's doing something no other show has dared to try at this scale. Whether it ultimately succeeds depends on how they handle the Fall of Numenor and the Last Alliance of Elves and Men. For now, it's a massive, flawed, and beautiful addition to the fantasy genre.