SEASON REVIEW of Amazon Rings of Power (Season 1)

OVERVIEW OF PLOT

The plot of Season One of the Rings of Power was very intricate—too intricate, in my opinion. The story thread of Galadriel is her looking for revenge for her brother on Sauron. But also, apparently, she mentioned in a later episode that Celeborn (her husband) was missing…which seems like it should have been mentioned in episode 1. The story thread of Elrond was his friendship with Durin and his faithfulness to his friend and his people. The story thread of Bronwyn and Theo and Arondir was to protect the Southlands from Adar and the orcs. The story thread of the Harfoots, which is my least favorite, was to befriend the “stranger,” who seems to be some kind of wizard (hopefully blue, not gray). The story thread in Numenor showed Queen Miriel returning to the faithful of Numenor and helping Galadriel against Sauron and Adar. Meanwhile, Elendil was mourning the death of his wife, trying to find the best place for his kids, and trying to navigate the politics of Numenor. In the end, he fully commits to the faithful.

FAVORITE CHARACTERS & EVENTS

 My favorite character was Elrond half-elven, herald of Gilgalad. His friendship with Durin seemed one of the most “Tolkien” relationships (if you know what i mean?). His outfits I like a lot; the blue fit his character well. 

Elendil was a close second for favorite characters. He was noble and protective of his family. I would love to see the relationship between him and Isildur grow and see how it will develop before Elendil dies and Isildur takes the one ring as a payment for his brother and father.    

One of my favorite events was in Episode 2 when the scene fades out to the map of Middle Earth and the dwarven music starts playing–and you see Celebrimbor and Elrond going to see Durin. It was a very dramatic scene with the music and visuals. 

Another favorite event was when Halbrand gives the idea of using another alloy to combine with the mithril to make the elven rings. Then he says, “Consider it a gift.” Which is a very Sauron thing to say since in the books, he was disguised as Annatar, the “lord of gifts.” Even though they did not use that name, possibly because they did not have rights to it, this little comment is a clever way to hint at the name to anybody who knows the Silmarillion. It was like putting a sign on Halbrand’s forehead saying, “I am Sauron.”  

LEAST FAVORITE CHARACTERS & EVENTS

My least favorite character was Nori, or to give her full name, Elanor Brandyfoot. My first point of dislike, which not many have discussed, was that the name Nori is a name of a dwarf from the company of Thorin Oakenshield. To use this name for a hobbit seems odd. Hobbits, I will say again and again, do not appear in Tolkien’s second age, so they should not be in the Rings of Power second age. 

My second least favorite character was Galadriel. The actor was good, but Galadriel’s story went downhill. Her character was completely ruined because she was always fight-y, fight-y, fight-y. Yes, in the Silmarillion she wanted to leave Valinor to establish great realms for the elves, but she doesn’t fight at all in the book. Jumping off of a boat near Valinor and swimming to Middle Earth was like swimming across an ocean–not possible, even for a great elf. It was also inconsistent, because when Galadriel was trapped in Numenor, she could have tried to swim to Middle Earth if she was such a great swimmer.

My least favorite event in the first season was the big battle in the Southlands. It was quite bloody and every time somebody got hit, apparently it was a major artery and blood started shooting out everywhere. When Bronwyn was shot, she needed to die, but she kept staying alive somehow. The reason she needed to die is because there are only THREE love stories between men and elves: Beren and Luthien, Tuor and Idril, and Aragorn and Arwen. Having Bronwyn and Arondir as a love story completely destroys the pattern. The one good feature about this battle was how cool Mount Doom looked before it popped its top. But when the volcano erupted and ash was coming towards the town, a lightning bolt came out of nowhere, which was confusing.

HOPES AND FEARS

My hope, along with many others, is that the stranger (“Meteor Man”) ends up being revealed as…not Radagast…not Gandalf…not Saruman…but one of the BLUE WIZARDS! If he is a blue wizard, my hope is that the second one will also show up. Another hope is that they bring Isildur’s brother Anarion into the series. He is one of my favorite characters in the book–but I have a lot of those. Another, probably futile hope, is that the Harfoots will get destroyed by Sauron and that Arondir and Bronwyn will not survive. 

My hope for Isildur is that he will somehow in someway make an oath with the Southlanders, but when it is time for the Southlanders to fulfill their oath they will not answer—making them prime candidates for the ghostly wraiths in the Paths of Dead. This would depth to Aragorn’s story as the heir of Isildur summons the dead to fulfill their oath.

One of the flaws I’ve noticed (something I may have mentioned in an episode review) is that Elrond is supposed to marry Galadriel’s DAUGHTER. How is that going to work out? I’m afraid they’ll have to change the story or do a weird, awkward time jump. Another thing to worry about is that I just heard a week ago that the Adar actor quit the show–he was very good. What are they going to do? I don’t like when movies or shows change actors after you get used to one person playing a character.

COMPARISON WITH ORIGINAL SOURCE MATERIAL

First off, Galadriel I give a two out of ten for faithfulness to the original source material. As I already mentioned, she is too fight-y, and her arrogance makes her a different person than the one in the book. Elrond I give a nine out of ten. The Durin plot was an add-on to the original story, but it felt like it fit with the original story (since in the books the dwarves of Khazad Dum rush out to save Elrond when he is fighting Sauron and about to be destroyed…which hints there could a friendship between Elrond and Durin). 

Arondir, Bronwyn, Theo, Nori, and the Stranger all get a zero out of ten. Even if the Stranger turns out to be a Blue Wizard, he doesn’t come to Middle Earth from a flying meteor in the book. Gilgalad I was really disappointed in. He barely came into the story, and his character doesn’t seem like the Gilgalad we know in the books. His attitude wasn’t open with Elrond, instead of being like a father to him as he was in the books. Gilgalad will have to become a much stronger character if he is to join Elendil in fighting Sauron in the last alliance.

Elendil gets a…I don’t know what I would give him. Elendil’s character was a good one, but he didn’t get much dialogue or attention in the show. There was barely anything to work off of to decide if he will be true to the original, especially this early in the Numenorean timeline. We should find out how good Elendil really is in the show when Ar-Pharazon takes over and launches an attack on Valinor. 

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

The first season of The Rings of Power introduced you to lots of characters. It did not track with much lore besides the forging of the rings…and that was kind of “off” since they didn’t forge all the rings they were supposed to before Sauron left. The music was excellent. The story, not so good. Some of the story threads were interesting, and some were boring or ridiculous. Despite this, I will definitely watch the next season because it wasn’t a total failure and it’s not like there are better Tolkien shows out there…

There is also hope. If you despised this show, there is an animated show coming out in 2024 about the Rohirrim and Helm Hammerhand whom Helm’s Deep is named after. It is narrated by Miranda Otto, the actor who played Eowyn in the trilogy.