The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power | Channel

Morfydd Clark as Galadriel.

SHOW:

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

WHERE TO WATCH:

Prime Video

OUR RATING:

5/5 Stars

WHAT IT’S ABOUT:

Beginning in a time of relative peace, we follow an ensemble cast of characters as they confront the re-emergence of evil in Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains to the majestic forests of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.

WHAT WE THOUGHT:

As the world’s most expensive TV show ever made, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on Prime Video is a meticulously made and beautiful on-screen interpretation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth. It tells the events that took place during the so-called Second Age, which fans of the films and readers of the books cannot but love and will want to immerse themselves in fully.

Like Luke Skywalker and his fight on the ice planet Hoth against a wampa in Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, viewers enter the sprawling world of The Rings of Power with a tense and icy fight between a young Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) and a snow troll, with Galadriel serving as the moral consciousness and moral compass of the viewer in this world, where, as she notes “evil never sleeps, it waits”.

Using Tolkien’s hand-drawn map to whisk viewers across a sprawling Middle-earth to different settings and characters, not unlike Game of Thrones’ Westeros, The Rings of Power feels like the true spiritual TV successor series to HBO’s Game of Thrones. The story starting this first season sees various small characters who will likely cross paths, interconnect, clash, join together, make mistakes, do the right things, confront and expose evil, and set in motion a bigger cataclysmic story with far-reaching consequences for the whole of Middle-earth.

While Middle-Earth in The Lord of the Rings, as depicted in the books and films, is actually a post-apocalyptic world – one destroyed by greed, evil and distrust – The Rings of Power transports the viewer to a more classical, seemingly peaceful age set thousands of years earlier, showcasing the height of the civilisations of those who inhabited the Second Age: the Elves, humans and their kingdom on the island of Númenor, the vibrant and beautifully depicted Dwarven city of Khazad-dûm in its prime … and the already terrifying stirrings of evil lurking underground.

Less “developed”, although fully realised as a nomadic tribe of characters, are the Hobbits whose ancestors during the Second Age were the close-to-nature, gipsy-living like Harfoots. The small people in this world who are brave and once again display an alacrity for seeing, interpreting and trusting in signs, intuition and their senses – something often dismissed by other races.

With the first season filmed on location in New Zealand, the land down under once again is “Middle-earth”, with special effects-enhanced settings fully immersing a viewer into an other-worldly realm.

There’s a lot to pour over in The Rings of Power episodes, which well deserve a second or even a third watch. You’ll need to listen to what the characters are saying, study the detail and design of how everything looks, the costumes and settings and marvel at its majestic and filmic quality. It’s supposed to stretch about five seasons but already feels monumental and consequential in its first season chapter.

Besides characters in this realm, readers would know, Amazon Studios also sprinkled in wonderful new ones, like the Harfoot Poppy Proudfoot (Megan Richards) and Sophia Nomvete as Dwarven Princess Disa, who are instantly endearing and relatable.

There really is no other word for The Rings of Power’s costuming, make-up, and prosthetics work other than “dazzling”. The same goes for the composers Howard Shore and Bear McCreary’s score.

The overall production design and worlds-within-a-world cityscapes in The Rings of Power – from Númenor to Khazad-dûm and Elven cities – all brimming with unique aesthetics and lived-in feeling, are breathtaking to behold.

Cast stand-outs who really make you fully believe in their characters include Morfydd Clark as royal elf Galadriel, Ismael Cruz Córdova as the Silvan Elf Arondir in love with a human, Owain Arthur as the Dwarven prince Durin IV, Markella Kavenagh as the Harfoot Elanor “Nori” Brandyfoot, and Daniel Weyman as the mysterious (and powerful) Stranger.

Before action and monumental movements (it’s a 100% safe bet Númenor gets destroyed like the mythical Atlantis in a cataclysmic event during either season four or five), there are always interlocking scene-setting and character introductions. Individual hero journeys pool together like puddles in the rain, world-building and exposition, of which there are lots of in the first season of The Rings of Power. Be patient, viewer.

Viewers would do well to simply go along for the journey in this beautifully envisioned new Tolkien TV chess game as the various pieces are placed on the board during the first season and start to move forward.

Scary and some terrifying moments abound in The Rings of Power right from the first episode but like a nighttime story a parent or grandparent perhaps read to you, this Tolkien television can (and should) be enjoyed by the whole family as a family-friendly series – watched from under the safe comfort of blankets.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is a new old story about right and wrong and good and evil. A story for the ages, absolutely perfect for our age. 

WATCH THE TRAILER HERE:

Season 1 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video from 2 September 2022.