Rings of Power had a Dune problem, but not Dune 2’s solution. The Prime Video series based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, which was widely panned upon its 2022 release, couldn’t defend its billion-dollar budget. The script was weak, the characters dull, and the pacing a snail’s pace. The dense lore, drawn from Tolkien’s written appendices to his high-fantasy epic novel The Lord of the Rings, took eight episodes to unfold, as did the first part of Denis Villeneuve’s film franchise based on Frank Herbert’s sci-fi epic. Dune was also poorly received for its “nothing happens” plot.
However, when Dune 2 arrived in March 2024, the result was very juicy. The pace was considerably quicker, the action was exciting and the stakes were high. The perfect recipe for grossing $700 million at the box office. The first part was forgiven, or better yet, revisited for a refresher course.
The same can’t be said for Rings of Power. Well, not entirely. Season 2 has improved incredibly in some ways: things move quickly this time around, so much so that most characters don’t get more than two major, mid-level scenes each. Thankfully, these were the characters that not many were expecting anyway. The writing is also slightly better, with characters’ intentions established, strengthened, and revealed gradually and effectively.
But problems persist, like dull dialogue, dull subplots and poor acting. And, unfortunately, the twists and reveals are often so obvious that they give you multiple opportunities to feel smarter than the show, something no good audience enjoys.
Power plots
The second season, of which I have seen all eight episodes, starts off strong with Sauron. Midnight Sun spin-off of the events of season 1. A lengthy prologue describes Sauron’s transition into the deceitful Halbrand after Brutus Adar turned him into Julius Caesar. A millennium passes before he returns in Charlie Vickers‘The handsome wanderer is transformed and meets the gullible Galadriel. She has now set her sights on the ringmaker Celebrimbor to create the powerful Rings of Power. At first Celebrimbor is apprehensive, but he soon falls right into Sauron’s trap, who deceives everyone with his Elven form of Annatar.
The through-line of this season, Charlie Vickers and Charles Edwards’ portrayal of the toxic marriage between Annatar and Celebrimbor, is arguably the season’s highlight. The dialogue is punchy, and Charlie clearly has fun being evil. He smiles when things go according to plan and sulks behind his back when they don’t. Charles has a tougher task: making Celebrimbor seem not like a complete idiot serving up magic rings – and with them all of Middle Earth – to Sauron on a platter, but rather an abused and tortured artist in the web of a master liar. While no one could sympathise with Galadriel after her stupidity in the first season, Celebrimbor escapes a similar fate thanks to Edwards’ performance and better writing by the script department.
The second-best story is still the one about the dwarven lords in their halls of stone. King Durin, the noblest of them all, gets a ring made and soon turns greedy and evil. At other times, Elrond and Galadriel battle it out with a sour friendship and a few silly action scenes. One particular “cunning” bit during a battle sequence is so vaguely written that you wonder if they were trying to be clever with it. And the less said about Nori and Stranger, the better. The least boring parts of their stories are when they serve as references to Lord of the Rings, but even those didn’t get more than a shrug out of me.
However, none of these stories were as pointless as the Númenor plot. Queen Miriel has returned, blinded and defeated in battle to reclaim her throne. However, she faces a challenge from her unhappy kingdom and a usurper at home. Pharazon is plotting to seize power and the plotting pays off too quickly… so quickly that even he doesn’t have time to tell us why he’s doing any of it. Tryston Gravelle (who plays Pharazon) did a better job in This interview explaining Pharazon’s motivations from what the writers did on the actual show.
Spectacular visuals
Rings of Power’s strength remains in its stunning visuals. The magical golden leaves of the trees of Valinor, the light flooding the dwarven mountains, and even Annatar blessing Celebrimbor with images of the sky – there’s plenty to leave you mesmerised. I watched the first two episodes on the big screen at its premiere in Singapore. The rest I watched on the humble laptop. It probably takes away half the effect of that too.
This time around, with Rings of Power, there’s a lot that’s better, but there’s also a lot that could be even better. Maybe they won’t let someone pat a “God” on the back a day after he fell on his feet, maybe they’ll let Uruk be the greenest flag, maybe they won’t waste precious time wandering around the desert, and maybe they’ll let the angsty teenager fade into the background.
But we still have three more seasons left and we will surely perfect it in the last one.
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