Lord of the Rings The Rings of Power S2 review: Stronger, pacier season brings Tolkien's lore to life, but cracks remain

Showrunners: JD Payne and Patrick Mackay

Cast: Morfydd Clark, Robert Aramayo, Charlie Vickers, Charles Edwards, Maxim Baldry, Owain Arthur, Sophia Nomvete, Markella Kavanagh, Daniel Weyman, Joseph Mawle, Benjamin Walker, Tyroe Muhafidin, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Megan Richards, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Trystan Gravelle, Rory Kinnear

Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video

Rating: 3 stars

There was a poetic quality to the writing of JRR Tolkien. Throughout the Lord of the Rings books, or in Simillarion and The Hobbit, even his prosaic words feel to the ears like verse. Melody was pivotal to his storytelling, and that is why he left some of the most quotable quotes in modern literature on his pages. Peter Jackson’s LOTR trilogy brought that out beautifully. For all their faults, the cash grab that was The Hobbit series, also included that melody in its dialogue. But Rings of Power lacks that. Season 1 suffered from the makers’ choice to spend time to set the world (ironically Tolkien fans got annoyed at the most Tolkien thing ever, taking time). Season 2 brings the payoff for all that setup and includes gritty action, breathtaking visuals, masterful acting, and even some enchanting score. And yet all that comes apart in the face of some pedestrian writing, particularly the dialogue. Rings of Power season 2 is a living, breathing example of why spinoffs and fanfics so often fall short – because the OG masters are masters for a reason. This show lacks the soul of Tolkien, and without that, it is a beautiful, even entertaining watch, but never captivating, and certainly never memorable.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 1 revealed that Sauron (Charlie Vickers) had infiltrated and manipulated the mind of Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) and even coaxed the great Elvish smith Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) to do his bidding. The second season shows how Sauron transforms into Annatar, fooling the Elves into creating his instruments of control – the rings of power. All this while Elrond (Robert Aramayo) battles to get the dwarves and elves together to fight this foe, and the advancing Orc chief Adar and his armies. While far away in Numenor, a very Trump-Hilary-like battle for power ensues between Queen Regent Miriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) and Pharazon (Trystan Gravelle). And we finally learn the identity of the Stranger (Daniel Weyman), which fizzles more than it pops.

Season 2 is full of action, quite in contrast to the first season. There is a lot happening in a short span of time, which keeps your attention blocked and your eyes glued to the screen. The visuals and CGI are beyond top notch, among the best you will ever see, making it a worthy successor to Jackson’s trilogy. The colours, the landscapes, the sounds, and the score all come together to beautifully create Tolkien’s world in a manner that the great writer would have been proud of.

And yet, it all seems hollow the moment the characters start talking. The dialogue is the bane of the show. There are phases, particularly during the conversations between Celebrimbor and Sauron, where you can see shades of vintage Tolkien. But elsewhere, the show’s writing fails to even come close to its contemporary rivals like The House of the Dragon, let alone Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings. There are hardly any memorable lines of pieces of conversation that stay with you due to their depth. This lack of depth also means the characters hardly ever gain weight with even the seemingly-wise folks like Tom Bombadil and Gil-galad coming off as too 2D.

The actors try their best to extract whatever they can from these elementary characters. Charles Edwards as Celebrimbor is easily the star of the show. He brings so much humanity to this tragic, doomed character that you are drawn to him and left heartbroken at his betrayal at the hands of Sauron. Charlie Vickers manages the impossible by being a worthy foil to him. The way he brings Sauron’s treachery and malice to life deserves accolades. Elsewhere, it is largely a sorry state of affairs with the actors tied down by the writing. In the case of Morfydd Clark, her stony expressions do her no favours and unfair comparisons with Cate Blanchett (who played the same role in the films) come to mind too easily.

The action could have saved this show to an extent, had it been spell-binding or visceral. But it is neither. We have seen more realistic battles in Game of Thrones and more spectacular ones in LOTR itself. Rings of Power takes a middle path but ends up nowhere. The battles are good to look at but not much impactful.

The redeeming arc of the show comes from its politics, particularly the track that takes place in Numenor where Pharazon’s transformation into Boris-Trump is complete. Everything, from a rousing speech against the ‘others’ to persecution of minorities and other faiths, is blueprint of right-wing nationalism, a bold choice for a fantasy show in today’s times. The execution falters every once in a while as the narrative refuses to add humanity to these men, but it is a worthy attempt nonetheless.

Rings of Power season 2 is a marked improvement on its predecessor, probably the best thing based on the Tolkien books since the original trilogy (yes, I am not a big fan of the Hobbit films, how’d you guess?) But it is still not great television. And given the source material, anything short of great is criminally under par.

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