Amazon’s most recent and most expensive TV show to date, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has been subject to much controversy since its release early this September.
Rings of Power takes place well before The Lord of the Rings (LotR) and the narrative largely follows Galadriel the elf (Morfydd Clark) and her efforts to avenge her brother’s death at the hands of Sauron while also trying to convince Middle Earth that there are dark forces rising. Other storylines include the wandering Harfoot tribe who stumble upon a wizard known as ‘The Stranger’ (Daniel Weyman), a village in the Southlands who are threatened by orcs, and the discovery of precious mithril ore by Elrond the elf (Robert Aramayo) and Durin the dwarf (Owain Arthur).
Whilst there were some plot-holes and inconsistencies, for me, Rings of Power was thrilling, heart-warming and adventurous which is exactly what Tolkien is.
The series has also been praised for its diversity as, whilst there is a noticeable lack of central, strong female characters and almost a complete lack of non-white characters in LotR, Rings of Power features multiple complex and admirable female characters.
Galadriel in particular takes centre stage in the series and became a much more fleshed-out character than she was in Jackson’s films. Other female characters of note are: Nori (Markella Kavenagh), a naïve but strong Harfoot; Miriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), the flawed but admirable queen regent of Numenor; and Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi), a fiercely protective healer from the Southlands who does everything in her power to protect the ones she loves.
The show is not only more progressive with its female characters but it also features multiple non-white characters in high-ranking positions such as: Miriel, the queen regent of Numenor, Sadoc (Lenny Henry) the leader of the Harfoot tribe and Disa (Sophia Nomvete), future queen of Khazad-dum. Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova), is also the first non-white elf in the Tolkien universe, something which is particularly important as elves in LotR are associated with beauty and elegance so by presenting them all as white is pretty problematic. This diversity is so important as it opens up the magic of the Tolkien universe to even more people as there are so many more characters to identify with and connect to.
However, many people have criticised the treatment of Tolkien’s original texts throughout the series, particularly in the season finale.
Episode 8 features the creation of the titular rings of power in the forging of three rings by the elf Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards). Anyone who is familiar with Tolkien’s work knows that 20 rings were created, 16 by the elves at Sauron’s request, three by the elves in secret and ‘The One’ by Sauron. The finale, therefore, does not take into account the other 16 rings that are meant to have been made by Celebrimbor and Sauron and rather messily leaves this unexplained.
Additionally, the creation of the rings supposedly takes place over centuries rather than in one day as is presented in the series. This is undoubtedly a bit of a blow for people who are in the know about Tolkien lore but we need to consider that, before this series, the creation of the rings had never been translated onto a screen and only existed in Tolkien’s writings. The original story may work for the written format and the era it was written in but for a 21st century television show it may not have been as effective.
So, whilst ‘The Rings of Power’ does possess some flaws and inconsistencies, it is still an action-heavy adventure that uses Tolkien’s original sources in a way that is enjoyable for today’s audiences. If you like Lord of the Rings but don’t take it too seriously, this is the perfect show.
4/5
Image Credits – The MovieDB