‘The Rings of Power’ is slogging its way to an ending we already know

After Amazon’s first season of “The Rings of Power,” I became a “Rings of Power” apologist of sorts — the show, while not perfect, would be a perfectly passable fantasy series if it weren’t for the massive J.R.R. Tolkien-sized elephant in the room, I’d explain.
But “The Rings of Power” is not your average fantasy series, and from its conception, it was saddled with the heavy baggage of being an adaptation of a fantasy epic with notoriously combative and protective fans.
Tolkien zealots, for a multitude of reasons, regard any tweaks to “The Lord of the Rings” canon as sacrilege.
So showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay were given the unenviable task of creating a compelling TV show from the sparse appendices that relay episodic myths from Middle-earth’s Second Age, which spans roughly 3,000 years.
Changes had to made. But were they for the best?
After “The Rings of Power” Season 2, I’m not so sure. Not because I’m a Tolkien zealot myself, but because the show is beginning to feel like a slog to an end we all know well.
In Season 2, the show begins to feel like its stalling for time while simultaneously being bloated with too many characters.
Even though the gears are technically in motion and we are told that Bad Things Are Happening — Sauron’s identity has been revealed, Mordor has been created and the orc army is on the move — we’re essentially rehashing the same problems from Season 1.
The elves are worried about their power; the Harfoots are still wandering; the Stranger’s identity remains unknown; there is civil unrest in Númenor; the dwarves are mining too deep in Khazad-dûm; Sauron, while revealed, is still just manipulating everyone around him; Galadriel remains hyper-fixated on Sauron.
We’re told that the stakes are higher, but it rarely feels that way (until an impressive battle that we must wait to see until Episode 7, by far the best episode of the season).
Instead of catapulting its wide cast of characters toward the boiling point that we know Middle-earth will reach, we’re wasting our time waiting for answers that we already know: Who is the Stranger? (Exactly who you think he is.) Will Celebrimbor finally recognize Sauron? (Yes.) Is there a romance brewing between Galadriel and Elrond? (Puzzlingly, yes.)
Because the audiences have the gift and burden of foresight, the wait and misdirects are frustrating. This is especially in the case of the romance between Galadriel and Elrond — sure, both characters have chemistry, but why are we wasting our time on something that we know isn’t going to last? (For the record, Elrond eventually marries Galadriel’s daughter, Celebrían.)
It’s the same for the Stranger’s reveal. Why drag it out — for two whole seasons — when he is obviously Gandalf? (Again, for the record, Gandalf doesn’t actually come to Middle-earth until the Third Age in Tolkien’s legendarium.)
The show often feels like it is treading water, trying to distract with misdirects and nods to “The Lord of the Rings.”
“The Rings of Power” best uses its time when, instead of focusing on characters we know well from “The Lord of the Rings” (Elrond, Galadriel and Gandalf), it explores the dynamics of the more myth-like characters in Tolkien’s canon.
This is especially the case in scenes focused on Númenor, the show’s most engaging subplot by far. Númenor is on par with Atlantis in Middle-earth and watching its main players — Míriel, Pharazôn, Elendil and more — on screen is thrilling.
The fall of the Númenoreans is a fascinating and, until now, unexplored legend in Middle-earth’s history. “The Rings of Power” could benefit with spending more time on, and fleshing out, the conflict there.
The same could be said of Isildur, if he had more to do in Season 2. How does he turn from the young, inexperienced and idealistic young Númenorean soldier into the corrupted king who refuses to destroy the One Ring?
With the show’s alleged rising stakes, another vital component of any Tolkien adaptation fell to the wayside: friendship.
“The Rings of Power” Season 1 was rife with familiar tropes in “The Lord of the Rings”: an unlikely friendship between elves and dwarves, a Sam and Frodo-like bond between Poppy and Nori, the eager friendship between Isildur and his fellow Númenorean soldiers and the power of community among the Harfoots.
While these dynamics could easily feel recycled from “The Lord of the Rings,” friendship, sacrifice and community are vital themes in Tolkien’s work. I found all three perplexingly diminished, or altogether lacking, in “The Rings of Power” Season 2.
Unfortunately, “The Rings of Power” spends too little time on what could be the show’s most interesting and touching plot points. It instead spends its time dragging out well-trodden subplots.
Despite the show’s flaws, it certainly has quite a few things going for it. As mentioned before, Season 2 has some excellent action scenes; the relationship between Durin and Disa continues to delight; the friendship between the Stranger and the Harfoots is, at times, touching; the early scenes with Theo and Arondir (both characters with, sadly, not much to do this season) were emotional and affecting.
There are components to “The Rings of Power” that make the show worth watching — and it does pick up by the end of the season — and that even make Season 2 just as much a passable fantasy series as it was in Season 1. But it’s high time for the show to acknowledge that we, as the audience, know how it’s all going to end — and let itself build momentum toward the inevitable.