Season 2 – The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

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Ben K On season 2 (kind of): More a list of thoughts than a formal review- I checked out eps 1, 4, 5, and 7 as those seemed to be the noteworthy ones of the season. After the premiere, I honestly didn’t have much interest in continuing and just wanted to see neat creatures and highlights. I have a soft spot for episode 4, containing multiple elements that were in the Fellowship of the Ring book but not the film, mainly the barrow-wights and Tom Bombadil (played by two-time Laurence Olivier award winning Shakespearean actor Rory Kinnear). There are also ents and a brief appearance of some kind of mud monster. These scenes were fun, in a kind of frivolous way. And that’s how I’d describe a lot of Rings of Power’s best elements: enjoyable but not having much substance or feeling much like the same world as Lord of the Rings. I can mostly overlook this though due to taking place so long before that it’s ancient history where plenty was different, Tolkien not actually having written all that much of this time period so filling in blanks is necessary for an extended series, and the Hobbit movies already falling short of the high standards a decade ago, despite having more good than bad I would say. I wish the pacing was better, as scenes go by too quickly and don’t leave much impact. With a lack of a central character or clear goal that all viewers can get behind, it doesn’t really grab one’s attention nearly as much as a Tolkien story should. This series brings up a similar problem as the Star Wars prequels; it can’t be stated enough how integral it is to have a central character who acts as the audience surrogate, and/or a humble, young person who becomes whisked away to adventure and rises to the occasion. Who exactly is the hero meant to be in The Rings of Power? The Luke Skywalker, the Aragorn of Arathorn, the Ellen Ripley? Or the unassuming protagonist who is able to live up to the daunting adventure before him like Frodo Baggins, his uncle Bilbo, or Harry Potter? Without a main character, how does a fantasy/sci-fi story stay grounded and relatable to an audience, especially across many hours like a series? Sea guard captain Elendil is the main one who feels relatable in the way that he would fit in the Lord of the Rings, far as the men go. Same for Durin IV for the dwarves. Annatar/Sauron and Adar are alright villains. There aren’t full-fledged wizards and the elves get too much attention, feeling distant a lot of the time and without the same charisma or majesty as the ones in The Lord of the Rings trilogy despite being played by capable actors. What we get are many random characters pursuing their own ends all over the place and discussing/arguing about how to do them. Those Hobbit movies are looking better and better huh… 5 out of 10 I guess. Probably won’t bother with season 3. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 06/25/25 Full Review Robert B. C Can’t Recommend It, The show is just bad! Nothing even close to Lord of the rings lore! Rated 0.5/5 Stars •  Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 06/17/25 Full Review Rebecca C My favourite show airing right now honestly. I keep rewatching it. Cannot wait for S3! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 06/10/25 Full Review Michael D This is a visual masterpiece, but with the money thrown at it, you'd expect no less. The score is great, and there are some great performances. The writing is the letdown here, but it is still a great watch. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 05/20/25 Full Review Ryan K Uneven fantasy show with some great moments. Season 2 of Rings of Power has a number of storylines exploring different parts of world. I found the weakest storylines to involve the Numenorians with their boilerplate political machinations. Adar is a bit of a contradiction where he seems to generally care for his people but also is perfectly willing to sacrifice many of their lives to defeat his enemy. The best part of the season is how Sauron is able to corrupt multiple characters, and the personality shifts of the afflicted characters are well-acted and striking. The cinematography is generally pretty good with a number of nice action scenes even though it is primarily CGI. Overall, I think there are some nice pieces in this season of Rings of Power and it is certainly an improvement from the ridiculous first season, but I think it still needs work. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 05/13/25 Full Review Jim W This is such an awful attempt to cash in on the popularity of Tolkien with no regard to actual fans of the books or even the Peter Jackson movies. The powers that be at Amazon have taken one of the most popular fantasy stories ever written and recreated it in their own image. It's the highest form of hubris that they thought they could do better. The movies weren't perfect, but you can tell the Peter Jackson loved the material. There is no love of Tolkien (or even apparent understanding) in this show. I will say this, the dwarves are done well. Everything else from casting, writing, costuming, and directing is rubbish. I'm giving a 1/2 star, but I'm really not sure why they even get that. Rated 0.5/5 Stars •  Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 05/09/25 Full Review Read all reviews

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power — Season 2

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