The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power makes for a dazzling return to Middle-earth
The first taste of Prime Video's long-awaited, big-budget series reveals one of the most captivating fantasy worlds in TV history
TV Reviews Middle-earth
Photo: Amazon
[Note: This is an abridged, more spoiler-free version of our recap of the first two episodes of The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power. The full recap will publish, like all recaps, once you’ve been able to actually see the show—in this case, tomorrow night at 11 p.m. ET. Future recaps will be available after each episode airs for the rest of this season. In the meantime, consider this an appetizer/first reaction to a series we’re very excited about.]
If the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien teach anything, it’s that the road goes ever on and on. On Middle-earth, stories don’t end; they live on in the characters who survive them, those who tell them, and the people who read them. Stories are a living thing to Tolkien. He often likened them to trees, with deep roots and changing leaves, that grow taller and fuller with each addition. It is only in this context that a billion-dollar adaptation of the appendices of Tolkien’s The Lord Of The Rings makes any sense.
The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power doesn’t delineate between the end of one story and the beginning of the next. Each beat resonates with the other, bouncing off the history and legacy of Tolkien’s creation and our relationship with it. J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterwork of literary wonder isn’t a hill. It’s a mountain made of earth and ore; air and water; and countless small parts reflecting back to each other. Every bit of its ecosystem has a story to tell that illuminates and enriches the others. In The Rings Of Power, the viewer never consumes one story, but rather a whole history in a few lines.
Expectations for the most expensive show ever made are undoubtedly high, but the lowest bar to clear was making something coherent out of the densest and most fashionably out-of-step fantasy series on Earth. The good news is that in its first two episodes, Rings Of Power isn’t just good; it’s stupendous. Showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay’s interpretation of Tolkien’s world doesn’t just fit neatly with the world Peter Jackson created in the early 2000s, but also folds into a larger cultural story about Tolkien and what his work continues to inspire in people. Rings Of Power makes clear that every story in Middle-earth is part of the larger whole and treats each moment, big and small, with appropriate grace and splendor, where a fresh berry is as miraculous as a sorcerer’s seeing stone. The optimistic Rings Of Power finds a world worth fighting for.
Rings Of Power takes place roughly 3,000 years before Frodo’s journey in Lord Of The Rings. With so much history to unpack, director J.A. Bayona swipes a page from Jackson’s book and opens with a prologue narrated by Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), who immediately personalizes this story to reel us in. Galadriel explains how the first Dark Lord Morgoth waged a centuries-long “War Of Wrath” on Valinor, concluding in the death of Morgoth, the rise of Morgoth’s apprentice Sauron, and the Elves leaving Valinor for Middle-earth. When Sauron’s forces kill her brother Finrod, it sparks in Galadriel a drive to stop all crime in Gotham City to hunt down Sauron’s forces wherever they roam.
By making this threat personal to Galadriel, the show provides solid ground for the audience. With so many Dark Lords and strange Elven names and words, it would be easy to get lost in the thicket. Payne, McKay, and their writers’ room were right to give her a clear target with Sauron while not losing sight of the bigger picture. This is a personal fight for Galadriel, but one that affects every character in different ways.
Galadriel isn’t the only Elf of interest on ROP. When we meet our old buddy Elrond (played by Robert Aramayo with unexpected warmth), he’s scribbling away in a book, trying to find the perfect metaphor for Galadriel’s search for Sauron. In their first dynamite scene together, we see the divide between Elrond and Galadriel. Galadriel may be like Batman on a never-ending quest for vengeance, but Aramayo plays Elrond like Obi-Wan Kenobi, countering the weight of this mythology with pure love for his friend. And there’s a lot of love and respect between characters on this show, giving it a very open-hearted tone compared to other, more dour fantasy series.
We leave the grand adventure of the Elves and meet a nomadic race of halflings, known as Harfoots. Their camp recalls the Lost Boys village in Steven Spielberg’s Hook, with secret compartments and clever, twine-based mechanisms. It’s probably catnip to kids with growing imaginations, and yet, our main Harfoot, Nori Brandyfoot (Markella Kavenagh), aspires for something more. Kavenagh has an ease on camera that exudes the confidence of this production, delivering a performance money can’t fake. Her strength and determination feel authentic, even if the character can’t verbalize what compels her. Of course, she’ll get more than she bargains for when a mysterious bearded man known as The Stranger (Daniel Weyman) crashes to Middle-earth on a meteor.
While the show takes its time introducing us to the world and its initial groups, there’s no sense of dragging. The plot is propulsive, which is not necessarily a term one would normally use to describe Tolkien. Even Jackson’s beloved trilogy films were often charged with complaints that it’s just people walking in the woods. But the swashbuckling adventure here is immediate and fluid. Despite the deep ties to the lore, the beats are easy to follow but never watered down.
Rings Of Power has an advantage. The show is reportedly the most expensive ever made, with more than $460 million going into the first season alone. The seemingly limitless budget and time have made the production lavish and immersive. Marvel movies have extreme budgets but often feel cobbled together due to shortcomings in the special effects or the feeling that actors aren’t in the same room. There’s none of that here. When Elrond walks through the Mines of Moria, his awe matches ours. In perfect unison, the actors work with the effects, including the makeup, costumes, practical sets, and CGI. No one ever looks like they’re talking to a tennis ball or rushing to meet a release date.
When large-scale CGI effects are necessary, Bayona cleverly directs the action in ways that keep us engaged with the actors. Galadriel’s battle with a sea-serpent features some of the dodgiest CGI in the series, but Bayona shoots around the monster by locking our perspective to Galadriel. We only see what she sees: flashes of a tail and the raft’s floundering crew falling dead into the water. It’s surprising to see a show like this not show off its computer-generated creations. The restraint is appreciated.
Taking their time as they set up their pieces, Payne and McKay establish the type of world that Tolkien created, one with hope but no guarantees. There’s plenty of that here, as allegiances are tested, and relationships require tending. Still, they all feed into the one story. Rings Of Power seems focused on the ties that bind communities and people to each other, not just the darkness that binds the Ring. In the first two episodes, those ties are strong.
89 Comments
If you hurry there’s still time for five more stories about this by COB.
If the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien teach anything, it’s that the road goes ever on and on.
I would have gone with “stay away from jewelry.”
That rings true.(“Ring”? Oh no, Sauron got me! I’m being spread like butter over too much bread… argh…)
Not all who make puns deserve death… but most of them do.
“Don’t put a ring on it”
If the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien teach anything, it’s that the exposition and description goes ever on and on.Corrected.
“Never trust a head of state who noisily eats chicken” turned out to be kinda prescient actually
I prefer “never play cards against a man nicknamed after a state.”
I’m willing to give this a season. Visually, it does look incredible. As I’m a Tolkien head from about the age of 8, I don’t need it to move that fast as some people seem to need shows to. I’m really hopeful it’s good.
My parents were big Tolkien heads.
They used to follow the Fellowship around the country on tour, selling cheese and lembas sandwiches in the parking lots and bootlegging tapes of the Song of Durin.
Ni maure a miracle!
What a long, strange ring it’s been
“When Sauron’s forces kill her brother Finrod, it sparks in Galadriel a drive to stop all crime in Gotham City to hunt down Sauron’s forces wherever they roam.”On the one hand I understand why writers’ feel it’s important to create personal stakes for the protagonist, but it would be nice occasionally to see a hero act for truly altruistic reasons. I loved the LOTR trilogy of movies, but one sour note for me was when it was suddenly revealed that Arwen was dying because her fate was bound to the Ring for some inexplicable reason, giving Aragorn new motivation to fight Sauron because Middle Earth falling into darkness for thousands of years wasn’t important enough but his sick girlfriend was.The end of the world: This time, it’s personal.
And didn’t Sauron’s (or Morgoth’s) forces basically wipe out almost her entire extended family? If I recall, she’s one of the few Noldor nobility to survive the First Age.
Galadriel is the last elf still in Middle Earth who has been in Valinor.
What do you know, the one big negative review for the show is coming from the Entertainment Weekly guy who gave The Witcher an F after not actually watching any of it past the first episode.
Part of me wants to seek out that review, even though I know I’d probably regret it.
overwhelmingly negative reviews from actual viewers who aren’t paid by amazon tho
No Amazon fan, but I’d bet my hard earned paycheck they likely had their mind made up way before seeing it
Y’all kill me with the “paid reviewers” shtick. Just can’t accept that this show might actually be good despite you hating it?
I quit as soon as the old man by the well in the medieval town started talking about genetic engineering
Obligatory, it gets better as the season progresses comment here. Although, for the sake of honesty, not too much better but just enough to enjoy it
It’s a fantasy world. As in, not our own. You get that, yeah?
I took it as a sign that the whole thing was tacky. I don’t care what world it’s in; any human-like civilization would definitely develop zippers (let alone the combustion engine, microcircuitry, etc.) before they developed fucking GENETIC ENGINEERING
I’ve only played the third game, but it’s handled much better there: they’re just a bunch of potions they inject into boys and they don’t really know how they work.
Maybe. Or maybe a civilization in a universe that had actual MAGIC in it would develop in a manner very different from our own. Why invent firearms when you have fireballs? Why invent steamships when you can summon the winds? A strong case can be made that the presence of working magic would delay an industrial revolution indefinitely, while still allowing science to advance in areas like biology.
We developed complex systems of agricultural genetic engineering, livestock husbandry, etc. There is absolutely a path forward where we knew more about genetics than we did, say, zippers.
Also, again, you’re just thrusting your own ideas on how things should go in these things. I’m not un-sympathetic – I hate seeing dinosaurs in my D&D campaigns. But I get past it because the rest of it it’s great and it’s just my opinion.
Just because our 3000 years ago ancestors didn’t know about DNA doesn’t mean they didn’t know how to “engineer” heartier crops or breed specific traits in animals. It just took them much much longer than today.
You’re talking to a dude who consciously cosplays as an insufferable pedant. I don’t know that “it’s fantasy” is going to wash with that type.
Amusingly enough, the Bezos-owned Post also panned it
Not a fan of the casting for Galadriel and Elrond. Like, I don’t give a shit what color the elves are skin-wise, but they should at least be tall as shit.
I really like how when you could take a shot at movies with shotty CGI where it feels like the actors are staring at tennis balls you decided to skip the obvious and apropos choice of The Hobbit, Desolation of Smaug, and Battle of the Five Armies and instead went with generalized Marvel take.Classic.
They all suck shit equally – Marvel even more equally.
Genuinely offensive to the effects artists who slaved over the Hobbit movies to put that next to Marvel’s total visual artlessness. The Hobbit may have been a CG shitshow, but that was far more a matter of the quantity than the quality.
Any word on the action figures?Okay, I’ll settle for the special edition breakfast cereal
35% longer than the original breakfast cereal!
House of the Dragon is so weak, you guys.
Shoulda done “Hobbit Hole of the Dragon” but it’s too late now
Bad take
I’ve loved Tolkien since I was, maybe, 8? I am deeply, deeply excited for this.
You soon won’t be… very, very soon. :DCheers
The part where Sauron said “The truth?!!! You can’t handle the truth!!!”, is the best line in streaming series.
But grifters are saying it’s a disaster and getting only bad reviews. The worst thing ever. Didn’t the youtube algorithms tell you? Didn’t you see the thumbnails with a black lady having a beard and beetlejuice as a black female dwarf?
Whoa… you people are actually going to watch this shit?
So I guess that synopsis box is just PR copy from Amazon? Weird how it just trails off like that.
“..how the first Dark Lord Morgoth waged a centuries-long “War Of Wrath” on Valinor, concluding in the death of Morgoth, the rise of Morgoth’s apprentice Sauron, and the Elves leaving Valinor for Middle-earth. When Sauron’s forces kill her brother Finrod..”The number of things wrong with this makes me sad.
Well Sauron did rise & his werewolves killed Finrod. The rest of it is … close
True, but;1. The War of Wrath is the name of the last battle of the 1st age when Morgoth is finally defeated2. Morgoth isn’t dead, he’s been sent the Void, never to return. But technically, not dead3. And sure, the werewolf that killed Finrod was one of Sauron’s of course, but they are making it sound like he died in battle, not in the dungeon where he actually died and the reason he died is like, idk, pretty important (saving Beren).I’ll be watching, but I’m not getting the warm and fuzzies from this article.
Plus… 1. Morgoth’s wars weren’t directly against Valinor, it was against anyone who opposed him in Middle Earth.Valinor was only involved in the final battle, after Morgoth thought he had destroyed all of his enemies.3. It wasn’t just Finrod, Morgoth directly or indirectly killed almost all of Galadriel’s entire extended family. If I recall, only she and her father Finarfin survived, and the latter only because he quickly repented and returned to Valinor.
Ding! You got it, fully agree.Also, apparently she has no affection for her other bros that were killed in the actual wars against Morgoth….Angrod and Aegnor….
Looks like they spent a billion dollars and ended up with a slightly more luxurious Xena: Warrior Princess. Anyway, support the Amazon workers.
Am I wrong or wasn’t the book telling stories from “thousands of years before The Hobbit” called the Silmarillion?
Remember, nerds:
Yep. Still not fucking with Amazon.
I am genuinely uncomfortable with the world’s most expensive show being indirectly funded at the expense of bathroom breaks and workplace safety. I don’t give a shit how good it is. If people were unhappy when someone was killed on the set of what was surely going to be a mediocre Alec Baldwin movie, you’d hope they are at least equally miffed by a potentially-good show that keeps people in working poverty.
every show and every thing you consume is indirectly funded at the expense of bathroom breaks and workplace safety obviously that’s not carte-blanche to consume anything but you gotta draw your own lines and imo the cast & crew were still protected by workplace laws and screen acting guilds and hefty unions, so for me it’s not too hard a leap
That really isn’t how the funding works at all. Amazon’s just that big.
Galadriel is Elrond’s mother-in-law.
if I’ve learned one thing about mothers in law from the internet , it’s that they get stuck in washing machines a lot
True but I don’t think Elrond marries Celebrian until the 3rd age
I am not sure how much time they are condensing here. They show the trees being alive in some images, so that is zipped through with narration, maybe?
I would imagine the shots of the trees & Finrod & the first age battles are flashbacks with narration by Galadriel
That is what I am guessing. I think that they then are going to squish at least a few hundred years into a couple of years.
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This word salad is glorious.
This is like when my kid texts on my phone by just picking whatever word is suggested next.
Its just The Mars Volta lyrics.
Weird that Hobbits have ‘brandy’ in their names even before they settled in Arnor after the drowning of Beleriand. I always liked how Tolkien explained that the Brandywine river’s name came from a Hobbit corruption of the name Baranduin that Elendil’s people had given it.As far as I was aware Brandy Hall was then named for the river, and the Brandybucks were named for the settlement (as in, the Bucklanders who live in Brandy Hall) – but this implies the name is older than that and has some other derivation.
…and the hobbits said Brandy, you’re a fine girlWhat a good wife you would be..
So all the reviews from the mainstream media are glorious, and almost all the reviews from the podcasts and serious Youtube channels (and I am not speaking about rightwing trolls) are much less enthusiastic, many are even very very negative. So I guess I will see by myself tomorrow.
I understand logistically why they need to cast younger actors for the elves that are in later movies, but I’m not sure how that jibes with the eternal lives that elves have.
Putting aside the obvious real-world logistics Tolkien’s elves can look like an older human depending on their circumstances. When Gwindor was finally freed from years of being Morgoth’s slave he looked like an old mortal man. Grief can age elves as well, as in Thingol’s case. On the other hand, Aragorn met Arwen when he was 20 years old and he assumed she no older than he, when she was actually closer to 3000 years old. In the LotR books Elrond is described as seeming neither young nor old and Galadriel is said to have no sign of age at all. The only elf that shows signs of age is Cirdan the Shipwright, who is described as old and grey, but there are hints that Cirdan is actually Nowe, one of the first 144 elves, making him one of the oldest beings in Middle Earth.
I get you, but then, having e.g. Galadriel played by a Cate Blanchette who’s 20 years older than she was in the trilogy would jibe even less. Honestly one of the things I like so far about the series is I’ve not seen the actors before. And they do seem to have made a real find with Morfydd Clark. A Welsh Galadriel works perfectly. (A tangent, but watching The French Dispatch it became frequently tiresome that even the tiniest role was taken by a Known actor. C’mon Wes, find someone new!)
Despite the deep ties to the lore, Side eye given…
Oh wow. This sounds like a very nice series to watch as a true Tolkien & hi works fan. Can´t wait!!
Yes, well, it was not going to take an awful lot to convince me, so I suppose 6 hrs and 20 minutes from now–the moment it becomes available–I will watch this.
Looking forward to this. Jesus fucking Christ the AVclub snark in these comments is half as intelligent as it thinks it is and twice as cringe. GET. A. LIFE.
Great to hear. I am sure the die-hard Tolkien fans will be pleased by that spot on accuracy and staying so close to what Tolkien would have intended.
Amazon’s next Major ProjectThe George Washington Story.As young George Washington learns of the assassination of his hero Abraham Lincoln he vows that he will one day become President of the United Federation of Planets. Meanwhile across the Ocean young Queen Elisabeth 1 after completing the building of Stonehenge has set sail to discover the Potato. The two meet just in time to thwart Adolf Hitler’s invasion of Disneyland. Using Elisabeth’s Ninja skills, George’s tree cutting expertise and Amelia Earhart’s piloting skills they build an aeroplane and drop an Atomic bomb onto Hitler’s forces.
The full recap will publish, like all recaps, once you’ve been able to actually see the show…
We don’t want recaps! We want reviews! Why would we want to read a plot summary of an episode we just finished watching, it’s completely pointless. Skip the recap and give us some discussion about the episode: what worked; what didn’t; who’s giving a good performance what references were buried in it that we may have missed.
Honestly, what you’ve written here (when you can’t talk about spoilers) would be great for all episodes, avoid plot details, give us this kind of discussion (or, preferably, even more in depth).
It’s really visually stunning and beautiful, obviously the money is being put to good use in the design. But I can’t shake the feeling that I am watching incredibly expensive fan fiction. The story just doesn’t feel “necessary” to me, and none of the various meanders are very interesting either. I will keep watching for the sensory effect and see if any meaning or heart creeps up on me to warm my apparently cold and Gollum-like heart (who prefers the Game of Thrones prequel so far, so obviously I’m a horrible person).
“Elves leaving Valinor for Middle-earth…” I think that’s backwards. At the end of the First Age, most of the Elves returned to Middle-earth after the defeat of Morgoth.
No it doesn’t. It’s utter trash. No amount of paid ads in the form of avclub articles will change the fact that the audience score is terrible and trending even more downwards.
I enjoyed it greatly. Morfydd Clark is an excellent Galadriel. The cast as a whole is _new_. Lenny Henry’s is the only face I really recognised — and that recognition helped thematically, as the Harfoots are the characters easiest to identify with. In a way, they are the most human (which absolutely fits with Tolkein’s intentions, with his Little Englander hobbits). The world is murkier precisely because the powers that be believe that there is no common enemy any more. And comparing to Game of Thrones briefly: it’s refreshing to know that the next scene _isn’t_ going to be set in a brothel; that we aren’t going to be introduced to characters just to have them die horribly after we grow to like them.
What characters are there to like in Rings of Power tho
I am enjoying the series.
When did you guys switch from doing actual criticism to please-everyone corporate fluff pieces?
If you are your regular Karen, you’re gonna love this show.