*Spoilers
In Sep. 2022, the prequel to the world renowned Lord of the Rings series, by J.R.R Tolkien, was renewed for another season. Just this month, the finale for the second season came to Amazon Prime and throughout the 8 episodes, it tells the story of what happened to many characters from the original series, thousands of years before Frodo’s adventure happened.
Throughout the first season, the story line is mainly about the making of the Rings of Power, and what leads up to their making. There are several other side plots that all correspond to this story, including Galadriel, an elf from the original series, and her quest in finding Sauon. The dwarf prince and princess, Durin and Disa, maintain their mining city and deal with the corruption of the high king’s new found power with his ring. Next, Arondir, an elf, protects and falls in love with a human. Nori, a harfoot, finds and takes care of a Mysterious man called Stranger, who has mysterious powers. Along with that, we also see the creation of Mordor and the fall of Numenor. Viewers also see the betrayal of Giladrial’s friend, Annatar, and discover how he is truly Saruon. Later on, viewers also see how Sauron manipulates an elven smith, Lord Calebrimbor, into making these corrupting Rings of Power. In the very last episode, there is a major battle between the elves and orcs,which leaves elfs devastated. Galadrial and Sauron also have a battle, which leaves Sauron with most of the rings. The last moment in the season, shows Galadrial, Arondir, and the elf king start to rebuild the fallen elf city.
A huge part of a good prequel are the key elements and details that contribute to the original world this story takes place in. In this series, so many of these key elements are done pretty well, and add a lot to this world. Costume design, character development, acting, music, and plot are all examples of these elements that made this show seem to be in the same world as the original series. These are the things that I will cover throughout this review, and for the most part, I think the directors and producers handled them very well.
Good costume design can do so much for a series, and I think the costume design in this show was very good. Lord of the Rings is a fantasy dominated series, and it is important that the characters and settings reflect that, based on their species. The directors and costume designers for this series incorporated these elements very well, and tied them in cohesively. The costumes are a great interpretation of the settings and characters. All of the elven costumes reflect the connection to nature, calling back to the ‘tree of life’ the elfs used to rely on before they had to go to Middle Earth. Much of their outfits incorporate leaves, wood, and other earthy elements. However, they also add a fantasy element to it; everything looks almost magical, and there is lots of jewelry and fabric and designs that reflect their species. The sea city, Numinar, also uses this. There are lots of blue, and water elements to their outfits reflecting the sea they rely on. Along with that, I have also noticed that the costumes and settings for Numinar seem to take elements from Ancient Greece. There were lots of similarities in silhouettes for outfits, and in architecture from Ancient Greece, where many cities from Greece also rely on water. Similarly, the Dwarven Costume design also reflects their settings; there are many minerals and muted colors in their costumes, which make sense knowing that their whole civilization is mining in the mountains.
Unlike the costume design, one key element that could have used more work was the character development. Throughout the series, I saw little development, and it seemed most characters didn’t learn anything. Character development is vital to show why the journey is important to the story and character. Without it, story lines can feel empty. There were only two examples of character development that I saw. For example, the Stranger slowly started to find out who he is. He started out not knowing emotions and his identity. By the end of the show, he knows who he is, and what he can do. Also, he shows compassion for his friends, because he spent so much time with them. By doing that, he learned all these traits. One other example of character development is Lord Calembrimbor’s storyline. In the start of this season, Sauron tricked Celebrimbor into helping him make the other set of rings. Slowly, he realizes what he has done and redeems himself through courageous acts against Sauron. In contrast, many other characters think they are only right, and their few selfless actions feel abrupt.
Overall, I thought that the acting in this show was really fantastic. The casting director picked great actors who truly understand their character, and can embody them well. None of the actors over acted any lines, and it helped make this a believable world for this story. Along with that, some of the big plot twists were delivered really well, and added so much to the show, such as the reveal of the Stranger’s identity, who is played by Daniele Weyman. It was built up throughout the first two seasons and viewers really anticipated it. Lastly, in the final episode, there was a monologue said by Poppy, played by Megan Richards, about saying goodbye. The delivery of this monologue was really powerful, and really helped close out the show cleanly. All of the acting portrayed each character perfectly, and each actor captured their character’s personality and beliefs very well.
Music-wise, I thought that the music in this show was quite good, and captured each moment it was used in well. The romantic scenes had slowed down music, whereas the more action packed scenes had more quick-paced music that captured the fast past moment of the scene. Though the music may have not been as iconic as other movies, including the original Lord of the Rings, it added so much to each scene and would have made a noticeable difference if it was not there.
A plot is a very important aspect of a show, and I thought the plot in this show was very exciting and probably one of my favorite aspects of it. The overall plot was so intriguing and made me eager for the rest of the show. There were so many moments that literally made my jaw drop in shock. For example, the timing for the reveal of the orcs betraying their master left me stunned. I knew it would happen because I have watched the original movies, but the time and way they did it was unexpected. This, and other plot twists were really intriguing, and though they may have been predicted, they still left viewers in shock due to the delivery and writing. Overall, the plot was so exciting and made me so eager for the next episode this plot was in.
What I liked and disliked- For one, I liked how many callbacks and easter eggs there were to the original book series. They brought back old characters that were cut out from the movies, such as Tom Bombadil, a wizard who helps Frodo in the first book. I think it is a nice touch to add. Secondly, I thought the end of this show was a very satisfying ending, and it ended up making a lot of sense in the context of the original series. There were no loose threads. There were so many things I loved about this series, but there are also some things that seem unnecessary. For one, there were so many story lines, and it got pretty confusing, especially since different episodes had different story lines. It got really confusing. Some story lines could’ve been cut out. One other thing I disliked was that the main characters from the first season, like Galadrial, were in each episode less and less. I wished they put her in more, because she seems to play an important role in this story.
Overall, I think this show was very interesting. It was really fun to watch, and the directors did a great job capturing Tolkein’s world. I would definitely recommend this to people, especially fans of Lord of the Rings. Every part was so intriguing to watch and I loved watching it all unfold. I believe there is a plan to renew this show again for a third season, and possibly more seasons too. While watching the show, I have decided to rate it a 7.5 stars out of 10. It was really good, but not as great as the original series.
