'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' series premiere review - Treading the past

Set centuries before 'The Hobbit' and 'The Lord of the Rings', 'The Rings of Power' aims to present a more primal age of Middle-earth - and could very well succeed

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

Showrunner: J D Payne

Cast: Morfydd Clark, Robert Aramayo, Charles Edwards, Owain Arthur

Score: 3.5 stars

The year 2022 appears to be a high point for high fantasy. On one hand, we have House of the Dragon, which in 2 episodes has done more to redeem Game of Thrones than anyone thought possible, and on the other, a revisiting of JRR Tolkien's magnificent Lord of The Rings, The Rings of Power.

Funny how both series take a road going backwards in time to tell a story leading into the modern days.

JRR Tolkien's work on The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings needs no introduction, as do the films based on said books, though some might argue that The Hobbit was a lesser set of films than its chronological sequel in many ways. That being said, both trilogies held within themselves a deep understanding of one of the base human emotions and desires - love and adventure. Parts of the works certainly were dark in the emotional sense, but on the whole, painted a pretty presentation of human interactions and what simple trust and friendship could achieve in the face of insurmountable odds.

The Rings of Power, at least in the first two episodes that we were shown, appear to fall into the same line - in spirit anyway, showing determination in the eyes and mannerisms of its characters, but it appears much more remains hidden.

Read | The series is about determination and hope: J D Payne on 'The Rings of Power'

Taking place many, many centuries before The Hobbit, The Rings of Power returns to a rather more primal age in Middle-earth's history, written by Tolkien in a collected works of drafts and notes, The Silmarillion - the Second Age. It's a story, as the title suggests, of the circumstances that led to Sauron's deception of the Races and the forging of the Rings of Power, which were described in brief at the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring, with a healthy dose of non-canon elements and characters to tie the whole thing together, and in the words of showrunner J D Payne, give it cohesion.

The series, though set in the Second Age, begins with a brief introduction to the events of the First Age - the elven life and exodus from Valinor, the centuries-long war against the dark lord Morgoth, master of Sauron, and the destruction the war wrought.

From there, it shifts to the Second Age, with a much younger Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) on a hunt for Sauron. She's been at it for a very long time, driven by a mix of duty and a desire for retribution for her brother who was tortured and murdered by him, but facing stiff opposition from her kin who staunchly believe - led by High King Gil-galad - that Sauron has truly been vanquished (not the first time people would think that). Galadriel, of course, believes otherwise - and perhaps with good reason, and yet is forced to choose between duty and peace. Anchoring her, at least on surface, is Elrond (Robert Aramayo), a half-elven scribe and herald who appears to be kept distant from the other elves in his realm.

Meanwhile, a stranger falls in the midst of a group of nomadic hobbit clan, mysterious cattle deaths plague a far-off land, a sword with the mark of Sauron surfaces in the south as Gil-galad officially announces the end of the dark lord, and elven smith Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) develops a yearning to leave a lasting legacy in Middle-earth, triggering events that will eventually end in the Last Alliance.

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Much like the film adaptations of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, The Rings of Power takes creative freedoms and presents events in a new light, though this might be necessary for the Second Age is not overly detailed unlike the main books. Chief among them so far are the changes to Galadriel - she's not the kindly but powerful statesman of The Lord of the Rings yet, but a hardened warrior on a hunt, moving like a single-minded hunter after her prey. It's a stark departure from what we know of her, and it's plain that many more changes are in store, but it may not be an unwelcome thing to do.

But a story cannot be told from just one perspective, especially one as grand as that of Middle-earth, and that is where the harfoots (the aforementioned hobbit clan) and the Southlanders who appear to be loyal to Morgoth and resentful of the elf squadron stationed there. There is much to be discerned from the happenings in just the first two episodes, but what we've seen so far indicates tensions are likely to flare between a young lad named Theo and the Silvian elf Arondir (Alex Tarrant).

Meanwhile, the harfoots are just sort of being harfoots, living in relative isolation, much like their relatives would later down the line in the Shire - but even their lives, with all the mischief-making that two young girls deal in, are likely to be torn asunder with the arrival of the aforementioned stranger. There are many hints as to who he might be, and it's highly likely that he could well be any or none of the theories that are bound to appear.

In terms of scale, The Rings of Power looks straight in the eye at The Lord of The Rings with its grand presentation and sets. Be it the mines of Khazad-dûm or the realm of Lindon or even the Southlands, there is a lot to dissect in the ways the races of the world lived during the Second Age before the rise of Sauron and Mordor, and the series appears poised to go deep into their lives and mindsets. Many of the characters, like Theo and Arondir, are not part of canon, of course, so it might be better to temper your expectations of their impact in the world.

But then again, this is just two episodes, and it certainly is too early to make any solid calls about the series as a whole - but the premiere shows that there is potential, and perhaps that potential can be tapped.