

Yet I’m not sure that The Rings of Power will ensnare everyone. Read: House of the Dragon is cruel, messy, and fascinating

Even though I know the general gist of future story lines (given that it’s all laid out in The Lord of the Rings series), I’m still intrigued to see just how everything will develop and what approach the show will take to portraying characters in their younger years, such as a less omnipotently evil Sauron. The New Zealand landscapes are lovely, the visual effects are both expansive and unobtrusive, and certain performers (especially Clark as Galadriel and Owain Arthur as Prince Durin IV of the dwarves) are immediate standouts. I largely enjoyed watching The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which was co-created by the writing team J. I have read most of Tolkien’s works and count myself as a fan. While they try to get to the bottom of it, new characters pop up, including a bow-wielding elf with a crush on a local human apothecary and a delightful dwarven princess. So what are the deeper themes in The Rings of Power? Well, as far as I can understand it, something weird is afoot in Middle-earth, the fantasy land populated by graceful, immortal elves grumpy, rock-smashing dwarves passionate but flawed humans and a bunch of cheerful little people called “Harfoots.” (Hobbits apparently do not exist in their final form in the Second Age.) Galadriel and Elrond can tell that something is up but can’t quite articulate what essentially, a major vibe shift is in the works, but whether it’ll come in a year or a few centuries isn’t clear.
My story isn t over yet ring series#
The future of the series is already so secure that Season 1 can probably afford to spend its time lazily spinning up various plots rather than telling a proper story.

Other recognizable characters such as Isildur, Gil-galad, and Durin populate the cast list, though not all of them immediately appear. The half-elven politician Elrond (Robert Aramayo), who will one day assemble the fateful fellowship of the ring to challenge Sauron, appears here as a young idealist. Technically, the series is an adaptation of the appendix material in Tolkien’s series, which delves into the past of his fictional world and particularly explores its “Second Age.” (The books are set in the Third Age.) Some names will be familiar to even the most casual fans: There’s the elven warrior Galadriel (played by Morfydd Clark), a younger and flintier version of the elder stateswoman she will become.
My story isn t over yet ring tv#
Read: Why Amazon just spent a fortune to turn ‘Lord of the Rings’ into TV But I’m not entirely sure what it’s about. It has a sprawling ensemble and many potential narrative directions. The series certainly looks sumptuous and works hard to conjure the ethereal atmosphere of Tolkien’s legendarium. But having seen the first two episodes, I can’t really say much else on the plot front. The action is set thousands of years before The Fellowship of the Ring and will supposedly focus on Sauron’s origins and the war that is briefly depicted in that aforementioned film’s prologue. With a five-season commitment and a long-term production budget of reportedly $1 billion or more, the show seems like an apex of the streaming era.

Most important, the densely detailed plot benefits from the time limits imposed by feature filmmaking.Īmazon’s new TV series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has no such constraints. Tolkien’s storytelling into something digestible for newcomers yet palatable to superfans. It somehow bottles the colossal scope of J. The short sequence is a key to the success of Jackson’s film series. The prologue that opens Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring explains the rise of the villainous Sauron, his creation of various magic rings, the war waged by an alliance of elves and men to destroy him, and the mysterious fate of the supreme One Ring-all in about seven minutes.
