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.

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.

I find it odd that with such an astronomical budget, and fantastic source-material, they fail to make a show that really sparks ones interest.

This season will have 8 episodes, andnow after 3, nearly halfway, «nothing» has happened.

I fear it might rhyme with Game of Thrones, where they end up in a position having to bulk all the epic events into an all too short timeframe.

The trailer for Season 2 looks great, but I assume that 90% of the epic scenes are from the very last episode.

All in all the character development is somewhat lackluster, I personally don't feel anything for any of them, not even if I try, cause I genuinly WANT this show to succeed, but with the B-movie acting and writing, one starts to wonder where all the money went.. Hats off to the CGI and scenery, the show looks fantastic, but the people and conversations pale in comparison.

Elves are supposed to be behaved, conservative and wise, but at times this show displays them as reckless teenage human beings, which is a little disappointing.

I believe Tolkien himself had a clear image if the elves as far superior to humans and their moody nature.

Sauron, arugably the most powerfull entity in Middle-Earth at that moment in time, crawls his way to power through a path of weakness and inferiority.

He doesnt feel like the threat he is supposed to be.

These are only a few things to point out from a personal point of view, from a wide array of matters that fall too short to be worth the title of Lord of the Rings.

• Cheap character development
• Too slow build-up compared to the screentime
• Characters differ too much from source-material
• Writes/directors taking too many liberties to make this material their own.

The source-material is there, and it is fantastic The resources are there, and they are astronomical.

If you can't use the budget of a small country, to make a good show of a source-material that is already written for you, in great depth and detail, you are not good enough.

I want the show to succeed, I will watch the full season, but I am hoping to be positively surprised in the next episode, else I hope the owners will hire a new crew at the head of this show.

With Sauron now out in the open in Eregion, we see some great character work with Charlie Vickers and Charles Edwards, who begin to lay the foundations for one of the most pivotal periods in the history of Middle-earth and the Second Age. We also revisit the Numenor plotline, with Isildur beginning to grow as a character as he fights his way out of a nightmarish situation. Back on Numenor itself, Miriel wrestles with a turbulent political situation as the Numenorians aren't impressed with the way she handled the expedition to Middle-earth. Pharazon also becomes more sinister, and the climax of the episode with Miriel's coronation is quite an emotonal gutpunch. The season continues to be more impressive than Season 1 and is paced much better, particularly in this episode.