The Eagle and the Sceptre

I really wanted to like this and after the poor reviews for the first season I hoped there might have been a rethink. But no, just the same, still looks fantastic but also still slow, the actors struggling with an average script. Hard to escape the conclusion there is just not enough decent source material in all the various assorted add-ons in the original book. Every time I watch an episode I get drawn back to the original trilogy and have to ask, why bother? I feel sorry for everyone who worked on this to make it what it is, but at the end of the day - it's just not enough. I will stick with to the end but I'm really not sure why.

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.

So, I watched the first 3 episodes of this back to back with the first 3 episodes of House of the Dragon (I don't work on Fridays and had nothing planned).

I would argue that the visuals, the storytelling, and maybe even the acting were better than HotD... which is not saying much, honestly, but still. This season is not terrible. The acting is not terrible. The visuals are amazing. The music is very, very good.

Are we too spoiled? Sitting in our bedrooms, writing scathing reviews. Give it another 5 years and you can just prompt an AI to write something for you, but will you prompt it better than how these writers and actors have done it? Doubtful, honestly.

I am old enough to say with confidence that writing quality has declined in the past 25 years, in a very general way. What I don't know is if it is because writers feel that their audiences are stupider, or the writers themselves are stupider.

Still, this season thusfar has been good enough to draw me into the story. I want to see where it goes next... which is more than I can say of other recent shows like HotD Season 2 or Acolyte.

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.

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.