When Amazon announced it was creating a television show based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth saga, I was skeptical. How could a television production do such a grand, rich setting justice? I am happy to say that Amazon stepped up to that task in every single way. Not only in the scope of its awesome production, cinematography, and effects; I also liked each and every character the first time I saw them onscreen. I felt invested in their struggles. Rings of Power isn’t simply a return to the realm of elves, humans, dwarves, and orcs that spawned modern epic fantasy. It is a heartfelt production that improves upon Tolkien’s everlastingly poplar mythos.
Warning: this essay contains spoilers for The Rings of Power: Season 1. The show will be abbreviated as ‘ROP’ throughout. It also assumes the reader is familiar with Tolkien and his works.
For this massive production, Amazon drew material from the appendices to The Lord of the Rings. They weren’t able to secure the rights to the rest of Tolkien’s works, such as The Silmarillion, which is far more pertinent to the era ROP takes place in: the Second Age. Morgoth has been defeated, the armies of orcs, Balrogs, and dragons have been destroyed, and Sauron has yet to be apprehended. We are shown a world that has seen centuries of conflict, and though the war is over, there is a lingering…
