It’s time for my The Rings of Power Season 2 premiere episodes review, and I do wonder who this show was made for? More on that in a bit, first off, let me explain how this is going down. For one, I’m a Tolkien book fan and someone of the opinion that if you are changing what the Professor wrote, it better be damned good. That’s the point of view I cannot help but come from personally. I don’t think this show is aimed at fans like me, that’s just me being honest. That being said, I think perhaps there is a demographic that this show is perfect for. I just think that’s a fairly niche market compared to others.

I’m also going FULL SPOILERS in this series folks. That means if you haven’t watched it yet, you may want to check back later. If you don’t care about spoilers for a story that’s literally older than me in reality, then read on.

Episode 1

Episode 1 was actually my least favourite of the three opening episodes. Part of this is the burden this episode has in dealing with some of the odd choices made in Season 1. We begin with a scratch record moment as we see the events that preceded and into Season 1 from Sauron’s point of view. There’s good and bad here.

The bad: OG Sauron didn’t work for me, wrong actor chosen and the form he would choose to command Orcs I don’t see being that one. Sauron gets Caesar’ed it makes little sense to me. Adar knows what Sauron is, therefore he is surely aware he cannot just be killed. This is hardly the first body Sauron lost in the story up to this point under his service to Morgoth.  Clunky, poorly scripted, obvious and far too dark to see anything unless you are in a movie theatre.

The good: Once Sauron was dead I liked his resurrection. It worked for me that it took tome and energy to speed the process along. Sauron could have simply existed incarnate though for a while. Fly away, take time to for a new body, etc. I don’t like the idea that that sludge is all that’s left of his ‘spirit’. But I do like that crafting a physical body would take time.

The ugly: So we are not getting an answer for why Sauron was on that boat in Season 1. He randomly follows some mortal dude talking about going off coast to new lands. Sauron knows there’s no land (Numenor is new and he doesn’t know about it) West of Middle-earth they can go. You just get the feeling the writers never worked out this plot hole until the criticisms came after Season 1’s finale.

Let’s Change Tolkien’s Ideas

So, we have a show set in the Second Age, the Age Tolkien wrote least about. This show works best when it just tries to visualise what Tolkien wrote or it is making up story Tolkien never wrote about. Where it seems to struggle is when they change something Professor Tolkien spent many more hours than them reasoning out.

What is the one subject Tolkien was most explicit about when it comes to the Second Age? The Rings, where they came from and how they were passed along. What is the one thing the shows writers keep messing with?

Ergo the decision to reverse the order of all the Rings save the One, which began in Season 1, proves once again to have been a bad call. Now the Three are around, the show has to invent ways to create certain events. The answer for this show is to have the Elves learn Sauron helped Celebrimbor make the Three. This causes so many issues down the line that will need to be resolved. It could have all been avoided simply by going with Tolkien’s chronological order, even if you are squashing millennia into a few years.

Now the show needs to have the Seven created for the Dwarves and the Nine created for Men, which was never the idea. The show also has to create a new reason for the attack on Eregion because the book story no longer can work. In the books Sauron only openly attacks in rage at the Elves removal of all the Rings, Mixed with his anger that Celebrimbor created Three he didn’t know of. It’s the Three he didn’t know about which were never factored into his plans.

GRADE: C+

It looks a million dollars and I like the actors, This show does everything correct except the overall story being told.

Episode 2

Okay, so I wasn’t crazy about Episode 1 and the second episode is a little better. There’s still plenty of plot lines that feel needless, but at the same time we get some actual storytelling. The Rhun story with the Stranger, who they keep linking to Gandalf and the dark Wizard, who they are playing too close to Saruman so far, is actually interesting.

What works is the complete lack of story from Tolkien. In The lore, there were two Istari (Wizards) who went East. Tolkien initially decided that both fell from the path and went on to establish magic cults in the East that probably outlasted Sauron. However, in later years he changed his mind and decided the two Blue Wizards succeeded. The show seems to be trying to tell this story and mix both version of the lore. In other words Ciarin Hinds Wizard is the one who turned evil. The Stranger therefore is the one who stayed true. So far so good, though I’ll stress they could destroy this promising storyline by calling the Stranger Gandalf and the dark Wizard Saruman. I’ve already wrote about why this would be awful.

For now though, I like it because it adds to Tolkien’s lore rather than changes it. Though, I will need the dark Wizard to be a more developed character than the moustache twirling silent type we’ve seen so far. Gotta give that time though which is fine.

RELATED: The Questions I Want Answered In Rings Of Power Season 2

Few things I noticed though which annoyed me in episode 2 and 3, Distance is dictated by scene order in the script, not logic. Sauron rides from Mordor to Eregion and it takes him less time than it does for the Stranger and Poppy to walk about 5 miles. Meanwhile, messengers from Lindon to Eregion, which is far, far closer take longer to arrive and then get killed by random…something on the way. That was a weird scene and felt crammed in last minute to explain why the messengers didn’t arrive.

Cirdan has a beard pre-Ring bearer and does not afterwards. Yet we are not told why? Did it make him younger? Oh and how Sauron knows what’s going on elsewhere when he is shown to have no spies and currently in a full body? That being said, the scene where Sauron reveals himself as Annatar to Celebrimbor was excellent and frankly you can’t blame him for falling for it. I mean, Sauron is a literal angel messenger, he just wasn’t sent by anyone.

I disliked Sauron suggested Rings for Men and Dwarves, but I already commented on why above. It is another needless deviation from the established chronological story of the Rings.

GRADE: B

For the Rhun plot and Annatar scenes.

Episode 3

Keeping this as simple as possible, as I’ve already bored half my readers.

I like the Numenorean politics but there’s a few issues. In some ways the show feels like it’s drawing inspiration from the political wrangling of Game Of Thrones. Yet, the show also feels like it’s trying to show Numenoreans as being better than that. I think you kinda have to pick one. So far, the show hasn’t done a good enough job of explaining the politics of the Pharazon camp. Why are they so anti-Elves despite their own heritage. Don’t get me wrong, this happened in the books also and led to the downfall of Numenor. I just don’t think the show has done a good enough job of showing the audience why.

The Dwarves are always great but again nothing too controversial is changed and there was never much written about them in the first place. In fact, as per season 1 I really like the Dwarves story in this show.

Though straight to another moan about Geography and jump cuts. Arondir saves Isildur in a scene that’s already been released online. No major issues with that scene although Arondir seems to be like the Neo of Elves compared to what we see of the others. However, he gives Isildur a choice to follow him or not and walks a very short distance. We get a wipe and Arondir is now standing at Bronwyn’s funeral pyre in Pelargir. The distance they walked in one wipe whilst no tome passed elsewhere is staggering. It also just looked weird to cut it like that. Place another scene in between and you build a sense that time has passed.

GRADE: B-

Better than Episode 1….

Wrap It Up

Here’s the thing… I have no idea who this show was made for? It seems to me, Rings of Power is targeted at folks who only ever watched the movies, but didn’t get bored during the extended editions.

Did you like the theatrical movies, but found them long? If you are someone who didn’t care about the extended editions or found them too long, then Rings of Power is too slow paced for you.

If instead you are a Tolkien book fan, and have read the Silmarillion, you’ll just be bamboozled at how badly some of the stories have been muddled. In other words,, this show is not for book nerds. However, it’s also not for the casuals who care not for accuracy but just want to see some fantasy action. That’s two big demographics who just won’t care for Rings of Power. So who does that leave to watch the most expensive show ever made?

For the money spent on this, and how good it looks and was cast, it should have been made for book fans. Season 1’s story was far too slow and too much of a waste of time. Sadly, the mistakes in plot from Season 1 are carrying their issues over to Season 2 as well.

Overall Grade for First 3 Episodes: B-

What did you think of my The Rings of Power Season 2 premiere review and what did you think of the show yourself. Do you fall into any of the categories I mentioned in my wrap up, if so which one? Thoughts below.

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