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Now that The Rings of Power has arrived and has several episodes released to the world, there have been infinitely different reactions to the new series. Some people have praised the show’s visual style, and character work, calling the series a worthy successor to Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films. Some others haven’t been so keen on the series, saying that its plot is too slow, and that the characters aren’t well-written or performed. Both are valid takes, as all art is inherently subjective, and everybody will have their own individual opinions and reactions to whatever they watch. However, there has also been a very vocal minority of people that have hated The Rings of Power since before the pilot even aired.
Some have complained about the inclusion of people of color within the cast, arguing that Tolkien did not write characters of color into his universe, so their inclusion in the series is disrespectful to the author, which is a perspective so inane that it’s not worth giving any more attention to. Others, however, have complained about the way in which the show is adapting Tolkien’s material, saying that the series is ruining the vast mythology on which it is based. While The Rings of Power has certainly taken some liberties with its story, to write the entire series off simply because it doesn’t follow Tolkien’s work word-for-word is a disservice to both the artists who worked on the series and the self-proclaimed Lord of the Rings fans who make such an argument.
Deviating From the Source Material
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There’s no arguing that the material Tolkien wrote was truly incredible stuff, whether it be the stories of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, other books such as The Silmarillion and The Children of Húrin or any number of the stories of Middle-Earth and Arda detailed in the Lord of the Rings appendices, Unfinished Tales and the various other texts of Tolkien’s Legendarium. The epic stories of Tolkien’s writing are some of the most sweeping, meticulous, and truly defining works of the fantasy genre. People love his work and have grown very attached to it, and for good reason. Tolkien is the grandfather of modern fantasy literature and storytelling, and his works are truly the stuff of legend.
The Rings of Power is adapting much of the events of the Second Age of Middle-Earth, which has been outlined in a few places, but mostly through the appendices of The Lord of the Rings. A general timeline of the Second Age’s events is laid out in the appendices, specifically in Appendix B, under the title of “The Tale of Years.” As with any adaptation, there have been specific changes made to the source material as it has been translated to screen. One of the biggest is the compressing of the timeline. Whereas the Tolkien-provided timeline shows that the events of Sauron’s rise, the reign of Númenor, the forging of the rings and the ensuing war for Middle-Earth occurred over the course of a couple of thousand years, most of those events have been condensed to fit into a smaller timeframe for The Rings of Power.
While The Rings of Power is certainly depicting the Second Age differently than it is outlined in Tolkien’s writing, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. There are always going to be changes made when translating a written work into a visual format. Such changes are even more pronounced when the writings they are based on are fairly vague and loose with details. It’s part of what comes with adaptation. If anything, choosing to set The Rings of Power in the Second Age was a great choice precisely because those events are so loosely detailed in Tolkien’s writing. The scarcity of details allows the creative team behind the show much more wiggle room to tell the story how they would like.
Changes from the source material are not a new thing for this series either, as there are some key differences between Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films and the original books, and there are even more in the case of The Hobbit. In adapting previously written material to a film or series, the new creative team needs to be allowed to have some freedom within the narrative. The truth is, there are some things that work on-page that simply do not translate well into a movie or show. One example being a single story that stretches thousands of years. If that timeline was maintained for The Rings of Power, the series would have had to be 20 seasons long, or key men and Dwarven characters would be introduced and killed off in a manner of only a couple of episodes. The likes of Isildur and Elendil wouldn’t show up until the final seasons, and the only recurring characters throughout the show would be Elves like Elrond, Gil-Galad, and Galadriel. The team behind The Rings of Power cannot be blamed for condensing this story, because doing so is the only way to establish a succinct multi-season narrative with numerous lead characters for audiences to fall in love with and become attached to.
It’s Still Early Days for the Show
Another key aspect to consider about The Rings of Power is that the show is still in its first season. While it has certainly taken its time setting the events of the Second Age into motion, it is thoroughly developing all the different characters, settings and storylines of the world before they all come crashing together later on. Even though it would have been exciting to see the likes of Sauron, the deceiving of the Elves, and any other key moments of this story in the first few episodes, that doesn’t really make sense from a story perspective. The show can’t blow through all the cool parts of the Second Age in the first half of its first season, as then there wouldn’t be anything left for the rest of the series.
The show has already been green-lit for a second season, and the showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay have stated that there is a five-season outline for this overall story. The Rings of Power is still in its earliest of stages. It’s half-way through its debut season. At this point, it shouldn’t be expected to deliver the same climatic excitement that is typically reserved for a finale. There is a lot more story yet to tell, and just because the show hasn’t gotten there yet does not mean that it is not going to.
It’s unreasonable to expect the show to come out of the gates and immediately have the same effect and grandiosity that was built over the course of Jackson’s three films. If Tolkien’s primary Lord of the Rings adventure were to be adapted into a streaming series, it would likely have a similar slow pacing to The Rings of Power. The Fellowship of The Ring is also very unhurried at the start, as the Hobbits and Aragorn do not even arrive in Rivendell until over half-way through the novel, where it even transitions into “Book Two” of the six, the story is outlined as. The point here is that The Rings of Power may certainly have a slow pace right now, but that’s not an abnormality for a story of Tolkien’s, and it’s certainly not a reason to consider the series a failure at this point.
It’s New Lord of the Rings Material
Although everyone is certainly entitled to their opinion, those who believe that The Rings of Power is ruining The Lord of the Rings seem to be entirely ignoring several key factors. One of the biggest is that they are even being given new content that is set in the very world and franchise that they love at all. Considering how much material exists in Tolkien’s Legendarium, there are so many stories that have yet to be adapted in any form, much less in a way that general audiences will see. One would think that if Tolkien fans want to continue to see the author’s stories get the on-screen adaptations they deserve, then they would want to support The Rings of Power and make it into a smash hit. Now, that’s not saying that everybody has to love the show. It’s certainly not the best series on television right now. But, if fans have any hope of ever seeing the likes of The Children of Húrin or The Fall of Gondolin told as a film or series, they need to approach The Rings of Power with an open mind at the very least. This is exactly the type of show so many Tolkien fans have been wanting for years, and it’s not worth abandoning the idea simply because there are a few changes from the source material.
The Rings of Power is not and will not ruin The Lord of the Rings or any of Tolkien’s many other stories. This series could even turn into the massive train wreck that some are already proclaiming it to be, and it still would not taint, destroy or take away from any of Tolkien’s works. That’s because, believe it or not, those works will still exist post-The Rings of Power. The show is not detracting from Tolkien’s writings whatsoever. It is actively building on the texts with a new adaptation, that, whether you love it or hate it, bears no influence on the quality of material that already exists. The Rings of Power is a fresh, supplementary show that serves as a new way for both die-hard Tolkien fans and general audiences to engage with this franchise that they love.
To say that The Rings of Power is ruining The Lord of the Rings is not just disparaging to the immensely talented creatives behind the show, but it’s also disrespectful to Tolkien and his works. Tolkien’s stories have and will continue to withstand the test of time, and no adaptation, no matter how bad, will detract from the world he created in his writings. This franchise has already undergone such a test with The Hobbit, which, despite a lackluster three-film adaptation, still holds up as one of the best fantasy adventure books of the last century. In creating his mythology, Tolkien established a universe that anybody could play in. It can be built upon, re-told and expanded in endless directions because it has that strong of a base. The Rings of Power is playing in the immense creative sandbox that Tolkien created, and in doing so it’s only adding to and further cementing Tolkien’s legendary legacy.
