New Delhi

With 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power', Amazon's aim, one presumes, was to do what HBO did with 'Game of Thrones'. Which is: to set a new bar for fantasy television and create a cinematic-level experience on the small screen. The last time the streaming service adapted a fantasy epic ('The Wheel of Time')... let's just say it did not work out so well. Admittedly, I was not a fan of the source material in that case, something that clearly coloured my opinion. But I am a fan of JRR Tolkien's writings, something of a 'Tolkienist' actually. Beginning with 'The Hobbit' at the age of 13, I have read pretty much every publicly available word the author wrote. And Amazon, due to the Tolkien fanboi that Jeff Bezos is, put an unheard of $1.25 billion to bring this series into existence. 

Advertisment

I was cautiously optimistic and sort of excited. Something THAT expensive cannot be all bad, right? And it really isn't. In fact, thus far, I unadulteratedly love 'The Rings of Power'. It is not flawless, and the purist in me screamed every time the show diverged from the lore -- which is all too frequent -- but the showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay and their team of writers have done something interesting with the bits and pieces provided by Tolkien in the appendices. 

You see, 'The Rings of Power' does not adapt any particular Tolkien book. Amazon, even with all that money, could get the rights to neither the main two books ('LotR' and 'The Hobbit') nor 'The Silmarillion', a book which is a collection of stories set in the same universe and delineate the early history of Middle-earth, including its creation myth. Adapting the main 'LotR' would have been redundant anyway, considering how big of an impact the Jackson movies had. What Amazon did get for those $250 million was everything else, which did not amount to much -- or at least that is what one would think. The Second Age could be exploited by the writers and how Sauron first became the Dark Lord after his former master Morgoth, the Lucifer of Middle-earth, was defeated. And this, if done well, could be a gripping story indeed. And it is.

Advertisment

Morgoth and Sauron were defeated. While Morgoth was banished to the Timeless Void, his evil endures. And his chief lieutenant Sauron escaped. Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) lost her brother to that evil and believes Sauron still exists and is orchestrating his return. Her friend, Elrond (Robert Aramayo), is sympathetic but disagrees, wanting her to hang up her sword and sail to Undying Lands.

Nori Brandyfoot (Markella Kavenagh) is one of the Harfoots, proto-Hobbits, and for a member of her race, pretty observant and adventurous. She has a suspicion that not everything is right in the world. One day, she sees a man falling to the ground like a fiery meteor. Her discovery of him only increases her perplexity, especially considering Harfoots are used to quietude. 

Advertisment

Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova) is a silvan elf and one among a group of soldiers tasked with watching over a human village and making sure they do not indulge in any devilry (like joining forces with Sauron). Now it is his time to go back, but he is reluctant, for he has fallen in love with a human woman, a local healer Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi), something that is forbidden among both humans and elves. 

'The Rings of Power' world-building is intimate and expansive at the same time. Even the newbies to the franchise should not have any problem following the events of the show. The major characters, a few of which (Galadriel and Elrond) would be familiar to the fans of the film trilogy, are all sketched with impressive detail. The production quality and filming in actual locations lend a sense of realness to a story that, ironically enough, comes under fantasy.

Robert Aramayo as elrond

The events depicted in 'The Rings of Power' take place over thousands of years and even different ages, but are condensed to squeeze in as many crucial events in the same narrative as possible. For instance, Harfoots, which did not appear until the Third Age, exist in the series. Just like how Tolkien fanatics hated Jackson's trilogy until they actually watched it, even the biggest scepticisms should melt away before 'The Rings of Power'.

'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' gets the basics right when it comes to a Middle-earth adaptation. Even in the screeners I was provided with, with all the annoying watermarks, 'The Rings of Power' looked absolutely lush. Ironically, it is so good that even in its episodic form, it looks more suited to be viewed in cinemas than on TV. There are shots of imposing edifices and grand statues that tower over the mountains. There are also familiar vistas showcasing landscapes, hills, valleys, rivers, and faithful recreations of locations like Lindon -- every single frame looks stunning. The visual aspect of Middle-earth is an important aspect and the creators certainly recognised that. The aesthetic is nicely redolent of 'LotR' trilogy and also feels like its own thing. 

Also Read: 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power': A complete character guide

So did Amazon do a 'Game of Thrones' here? It is too early to tell. But 'The Rings of Power' so far does feel like an epic fantasy series worthy of Tolkien.