Last Friday (14th), the first season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, a production that brought back the universe created by JRR Tolkien. There are eight episodes that make up the first year of the series produced by Amazon Prime. During this journey, we had the opportunity to see beloved characters, meet new creatures and create different theories about the mysteries of the work. With beautiful landscapes, spectacular performances, impeccable soundtrack and care with the special effects, the work did very well in its debut. Despite this, recurring errors mark Rings of Power that have potential, but need to eliminate flaws in order to ensure an understandable adventure.
Read too: The Lord of the Rings – The Rings of Power 1×07
The eighth and final episode, The league, answered some important questions. Some were already obvious and some not so much, but it's remarkable how much all these mysteries were disturbing Tolkien's fans. Preferring to walk in comfort, the series kept the mysterious air that it adopted since the first chapter and with the revelations it prepared the ground for its second season.
The episode's problem is the same one that the entire series has faced and carried as if it were a vital part - it contains irony, if you know what I mean -. The pacing from the beginning was not something well determined, delimited, assembled, fitted by the script and, in fact, got in the way of the ending, which is not bad, it is reasonable, but it could have been better if this problem had been solved earlier. Some hasty choices resulting from poorly thought out facilities to resolve some issues abruptly also ended up taking away the magical air that is part of the work, making the series superficial at times.
One of the points that contributed to make this problem extremely evident is the way in which the cores were worked on. The hairy feet group looked like they had been stuck at the same point for months, their story didn't evolve like the others. And not only that, some still had good important participations, but disappeared as is the case of Arondir, Brownie and company. That's because the series needs to conclude its first year without many losses, but it affected the unfolding of the plot and the arcs of the characters that were prevented from showing a little more to the audience.
Despite many decisions sounding superficial and easy and that directly impacted a plastered ending, the last episode concluded its trajectory in an interesting way. As expected, the series left loose ends to be picked up in the second year. Some characters had very active moments like Galadriel and Nori and each character from now on will have their trajectories increasingly highlighted by the future events of the next seasons. However, it won't be easy, as they've had to leave a lot behind, especially the smart hairy foot and her big guy.
Without exciting goodbyes to epic adventures, it wouldn't be Tolkien's work and the series makes a point of highlighting that and not only that, but the sense of duty, of loyalty, of taking the risk that it takes and the adventure itself in search of the unknown. . Despite generating fear in the viewer, the work contemplates great journeys for those willing to take the risks of treading a dangerous path.
And so we go on into the unknown. We don't know if it will be in Númenor, in Khazad-dum, or in the Southlands, there's a lot to happen in Rings of Power. Amazon Prime Video's production has great potential to pave the way for other derivatives. It is important to highlight that poetic licenses are necessary for adaptation to have its own essence. Also, learn from the current season not to repeat mistakes that could have been avoided and deliver an adaptation worthy of the pop culture spotlight.
What awaits us is unknown. But despite the ups and downs, we already know most of the characters and some of the most important mysteries have already been elucidated. That Balrog, what was it for? And the Dwarves, where are they? Discovering that the Stranger is a mage (or a istar, if you will) was interesting, but the scene itself wasn't all that great. The most obvious revelation was Sauron's - I was shipping Galadriel and Halbrand, on screen they have good chemistry lol - and it was kind of painful to know he's the bad guy. I hope that with a great role, his interpretation in the next seasons will live up to it, because what I want is a villain with blood in his eyes, nothing less.
The ring creation scene also left something to be desired. All too rushed, too fast. The King of Númenor scene also has good hooks, but it got lost there. Why waste so much time with Elendil's children? There's something missing there. Anyway, there is no shortage of loose ends and flaws to be reviewed and avoided. Now is the time for Rings of Power to show what it came for, no more contemplation of beautiful landscapes, no more winding around with parallel plots. The objective now is to bet on the development of arcs that will sustain the plot of the work as a whole.
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