Like you, I awaited Rings of the Power with great curiosity. Yes, I lost all hope after the news and the first trailer, but I still thought I could have a good time with the parts of the story that matched Tolkien. Honestly, I’ve been preparing for this drama for a few months. I studied all the books, articles, and Youtube videos. With that excitement, I wrote a 2,500-word analysis for the first two chapters. Easy on the tongue, 2,500! But this post will not be that long. Because in the third episode, I realized that this series is not worth a long write-up. In my previous article, I said that I wanted to write informative articles by comparing the truths and wrongs of the universe without being aggressive. However, as of the third episode, I realized that it is not even a series that can be comparative. That thing we call Canon is not officially in the show. There is not even a similarity to say that this place should have been like this, this place was actually like that. For this reason, I would like to summarize the chapter briefly, give 1-2 pieces of information and talk about my serious complaints. As I said, I had no hope, but I never thought that a universe would be so disgraced.
FIRST TWO EPISODE REVIEW
Always Nervous
We were all shocked when we learned that the show would revolve around Galadriel. Galadriel is an essential part of the universe but was never the main character. The producers probably said, which I’m going to say terrible words to themselves in a moment, let’s bring a Galadriel forward and do a women’s power-themed project. Yes, you can. As long as you examine Galadriel correctly and explain her well, why not? They made the first mistake by making Galadriel a warrior. The producers thought that she could be a strong character only if she picked up a sword. Let’s accept that, either. A different point of view. But what is Galadriel’s demeanor? She has an irritating appearance. Constantly angry. The hate expression on her face never diminishes, like a teenage high school student. I said that the first 2 episodes were ok, but this episode took the antipathy level to a different point. The fact that Galadriel, who thinks she can swim the whole ocean, wakes up after Halbrand is like the summary of what I will tell in the last paragraph. Let’s put that as a first note.
I feel sorry for Morffyd Clark. She is a promising actress, and this project could hurt her career. Saint Maud is not a movie I like, but I said with peace of mind that Morffyd Clark came to the fore in my review of the film. However, with the irritating character structure in this project, she is unfortunately on the way to becoming a victim of the producers.
Sign of Mordor
We saw the sign of Sauron, which we often see in the trailers and the first two episodes. In the third episode, we learned what this sign is. Many had already guessed. The sign, it turns out, symbolized Mordor. The story is that Melkor had a backup plan in case he fell one day. Which is a pretty ridiculous idea. Making plans, thinking that Melkor would be defeated. Sauron is also the implementer of this plan; He left his sign symbolizing Mordor everywhere for the orcs to understand so that the orcs could understand and meet there.
Now the show says that the orcs, who are half-witted slaves, see this sign and understand what Sauron means, but the 1000-year-old Galadriel, who says, “you don’t know what I have seen,” can’t understand what is happening? Let’s note that too.
Welcome to Numenor
As a crazy Hollywood and blockbuster fan, it would sound ridiculous to say I never care about images. Yeah, I don’t. “Awesome” visuals in a movie or TV show never impress me. What should I do with their gorgeous images if those stunning visuals aren’t adorned with the right story and math? I want to watch movies, not documentaries. I love Blockbuster movies because they manage to embellish the amazing images they have with enough story and good action. I eat my popcorn with pleasure and leave the theatre. That’s why Numenor’s design or landscapes did not impress me at all, compared to many of you. What makes Numenor is Numenor, not its appearance, but its existence.
As I saw Numenor ruled by Miriel, I saw once again how right I was in my thinking. The producers featured Miriel as the queen she should never have been. And they turned the actual throne holder, Pharazon, into a council member. Worse still, they have officially destroyed the known history of Numenor with the prophecy of “The Elf Coming to Numenor” they invented. The fact that Halbrand did not know about Numenor also indicates that Numenor was not colonized. So they didn’t settle in Middle-earth, which is entirely against the story.
In the following chapters, maybe Pharazon will try to usurp Miriel’s throne. Normally, Pharazon forced Miriel to marry him and assumed the throne. But Miriel, shown to us, is an upright, strong woman who doesn’t seem like much will happen to her. It is impossible to predict what will happen in Numenor, as Canon has also been destroyed.
Last note, I like Elendil. Good casting.
Residents of Andunie
Numenor was a place completely derailed, broke bond with Valar at the time of Pharazon’s accession to the throne. Elendil and his children lived in the city of Andunie in the west of Numenor. Numenor was divided into those who believed in the Valar and those who believed in the king. As things progressed, Isildur would leap forward with his life and pluck a fruit before Nimloth was burned. Then, before the apocalypse came, Elendil and his sons would set sail for Middle-earth.
Although Numenor in the series has a dislike for the Elves, there is neither corruption nor polarization to divide Numenor into two. For this reason, I have not yet figured out how Numenor will progress towards collapse. In any case, they threw the history of Numenor entirely by stating that the enmity of the Elves started after Elros.
Second, the character of Isildur is like a young college student going to Erasmus. It’s pretty ridiculous right now to expect this character to sacrifice his life for Nimloth and then establish the kingdom of Gondor. Another interesting event is that they added a daughter to Elendil. So there must be a reason for such an addition. Will they remove Anarion and put her daughter first?
Everything Except Elf
My apologies to all of you, but no one in the show, including Arondir, looks like an Elf. Although the short hair choice also has an effect, the typology is really weak. Everyone has a look like they all played in High School Musical. Please take another look at the arrival of Galadriel and Celeborn from the Peter Jackson trilogy and the faces of a group of innocents staring at them. When Numenor rebels against the Valar, Eru plainly tells them, “I have made this world for the Elves.” This is their world. Everyone else is a guest. The fact that such a unique being is no different from humans or is designed is also related to what I will discuss in the last paragraph. Let’s note that too.
I’m not going into the fact that Galadriel is shorter than Halbrand. Because Halbrand is the same size as the Numenoreans. In other words, the series’ designers obviously did not understand all the physical balances except the pointy ear. They didn’t understand elves, at all. Numenorean guard only understood that Galadriel was an Elf when he saw her ears. It’s like the signature of not understanding the physical balance I’m talking about.
Amateurism in Action
The Warg’s awful CGI design, the amateurish cut makeup of the elf whose throat was cut, the unimpressive fight scenes. Especially the scene where Galadriel gallops on a horse in slow-motion was both incredibly cringe and technically wrong. Isn’t it disgraceful that a billion-dollar project has shutter and blur problems in slow-motion shots?
It’s also unfortunate for a billion-dollar drama that they used cheap movie clichés in the action sequences. Arondir tries to get out from the pit, and then he sees his elf friend with his back turned and calls out to him, but when his friend turns, we find that he has been hit with an arrow. Such a cheap cliche.
I would like to make a separate note here. There is no information that orcs burn like vampires when they see the sun. Orcs don’t like the sun, that’s for sure. But this is a psychological effect. Tolkien also clarified in the hobbit:
“They don’t like the sun: it makes their legs wobble and their heads giddy.”
Hobbits and Comics
Hobbit characters were the joy of the Lord of the Rings series. Their characters’ adventurous attitude and callousness caused them to do ridiculous things. In the first 2 episodes, the adventurous attitude of the hobbits was emphasized again, that I said I liked it. However, in this episode, they pushed to far this attitude. The fact that they have implemented the scene of the person who stalls off the security for her friend in today’s crappy comedy films is proof that the producers and writers really put the series into 2022.
Nori said Harfoots won’t leave anyone behind in the previous episode, and then our main characters were left behind. It is a cliché decision chosen to “let the story progress” once again. The last thing I can say about the Hobbits episode is I think they’re headed for Misty Mountains, which I mentioned in my first article.
The Dying of Culture
First of all, let’s settle here. I have no problem with the skin color or ethnicity of any character. Yet I’m complaining about Arondir. But I was going to complain whether a Chinese or a green alien played Arondir. Because the definition of being called elf is clear. But like many others, I don’t have sharp lines. Since you did, provide an explanation. For example, in House of the Dragon, the Velaryon family is black. There is no information in the book about whether the Velaryon family is black or not. However, we accept them as white because everyone in the place they come from is white. But George R.R. Martin says he thought about making the Velaryons black and later gave up. Producers thought it was a good idea and said, If you didn’t do it, then lets we do that. And then turned to black skin. The black skin will also be used especially to identify the children of the characters, which we call “bastards” in the series. So, in summary, HotD producers went for a skin color change for a reason.
However, I still haven’t figured out why Arondir is black. I’m waiting for an explanation, but it doesn’t seem to come. The same goes for Disa. Say at least Disa is one of the 4 clans of dwarves about whom we know nothing except their last name. Say that one of them is black-skinned. Then we’d say at least there’s a logical explanation. But the series has mixed the troubles of 2022 into the 10 thousand-year history of Arda. And they are proud of it.
Let’s summarize the notes I mentioned above here. The hateful and irritating portrayal of Galadriel, the Elves’ resemblance to anything but Elves, push even a sane person like me into conspiracy theories. It’s as if Amazon spent a billion dollars not on making a good show but destroying existing culture. The pure white Elves look so bad that I feel vengeance here. Neither Elves are so helpless nor Galadriel so sour. So while the dwarves and humans were designed without problems, the universe’s main characters, the Elves, were officially destroyed.
What I now understand is that the series will be separated entirely from Canon in the next episodes. We cannot even write a comparative article. Patrick McKay and John D. Payne are responsible for the poor design of the characters, the incorrect calculation of the physical balances, the use of clichés, and the distraction from the story. Unfortunately, Amazon gave a billion dollars to 2 amateurs and, I think, malicious producers. But these two amateur producers, knowingly but unknowingly, point a cult work as a target to today’s people. I said it in my first article, it’s not like it can be watched even if you delete the series’ name and write something else. It can be at most Wheel of Time. But I don’t have a choice; I’ll keep watching as I’ve been working on it for months.
Finally, I think the series will push the boundaries of reason and logic even more in the upcoming episodes. The skin color debates eventually gave way to the lack of processing of the original story. But people have passed them all now, talking about the nonsense in the story. If the series continues at this pace, it seems to me that it will not see the second season. I don’t think Amazon would want to spend a billion dollars again, as the second season should be more expensive. The trend is that the series will fall badly in its first season.