The Eagle and the Sceptre

Like others, I thought the first series dragged, but I stuck with it. Then the first two episodes of season 2 dropped, and I thought things were looking up. Could it be that the showrunners, writers, and directors actually listened to all the criticism of the first season and injected some much-needed life into what should be a bit of an epic? Err... apparently not.

The overall impression from watching episode 3 of season 2 is that this has turned into a run-of-the-mill soap, complete with all the well-worn tropes and characters. It is simply set in a fantasy world. The writers are obviously more at home with daytime TV than adapting the masterpiece that is Tolkien's writing. They have taken the template of a soap and shoehorned Tolkien's world into it.

There are some flashes of good acting here, but they are few and far between. Although, I think a lot of the blame falls on the director. Even the best actors can appear wooden if the directing is wrong.

Of course, I will watch the rest of the season, but I am expecting the worst and hoping for the best. And what a sorry thing that is to say about a show based on the work of Tolkien.

While season 2 is definitely an upgrade compared to season 1, there are some things that just don't sit well with me.

The creaters of the show MUST understand: Orcs are beings of evil, they don't have families they want to protect and care for. This is a fantasy world, it's not real life. There ARE pure evil beings in fantasy worlds. You may believe it is not the case for people in the real world and I respect that, but that does NOT reflect the work of Tolkien. This is simply disrespectful at this point.

On a positive note: the Annatar arc is going well, albeit some cheesy deceit lines he delivers. Music is great, set design and costumes are perfect. Acting is also fine (no Galadriel scene automatically upgrades the acting quality of an episode).

Don't try to change the original narrative, expand on it. You don't understand Tolkien's work better than Tolkien himself. Stop trying to insert real life into fantasy worlds.

Such a shame! Episode 1&2 were so much more exciting and entertaining than all of last season, really made me think they've learnt from their mistakes. Then this episode came on, started good but then just more and more and more boring talking scenes with the humans. And I enjoy good acting and dialogue, unfortunately this is more of the boring nonsense from Season 1. This show should do itself a favour and just focus on the characters that are actually working and driving the story forward as episode 3 really left me thinking "I may stop watching this show" being bored for an hour is not what entertainment is about. And to have such an amazing source material of stories and characters to use, and then present it in such a dull boring manner is a real shame to all Tolkien fans.

Maybe too many plots to follow as Sauron weaves his trap. The storyis slow moving and the script seems dull lacking wit. The sets, costumes and cinematography are amazing, stunning and beautiful. But perhaps the different plays within a play gets tedious no single protagonist emerges but many to follow Luke in game if thrones.. Tolkien's kingdoms that of the elves, the humans ,the demons all struggle for supremacy. The actors seem to struggle with the boredom unlike Jackson's Lord of the Rings which was beautiful , fun and intriguing perhaps this one is hard to follow the success of that trilogy. The rings still hold the illusion and desires of the people. The war between good and evil continues Sauron fools everyone testing their desire for power.

The Rings of Power, without a doubt, is made by people who fundamentally do not understand either the work or the message of Professor Tolkien. It's at best a fan fiction of Peter Jackson's movies (they shamelessly copy scenes and dialogue) but, unlike the original trilogy, this series lacks good writing, terrible acting, and appalling direction. The only thing I can rescue is the photography, but that's not enough. Friends, I'm a fan of Tolkien's work, but not a fundamentalist. I'm not offended when they change the race, color, or appearance of the characters as long as they do what they're supposed to do according to the original work. The Rings of Power borrows character names from Professor's legendary work to tell a kind of low-quality afternoon soap opera. I don't know who's to blame for such a calamity, but already into the third episode of the second season, things are getting worse and it's becoming increasingly boring.