I’m so disappointed in Amazon’s The Rings Of Power.
I genuinely thought it got off to an incredible start, introducing us to a breathtaking Middle-earth, alive with glittering elven cities and magic. Sure, the first two episodes didn’t give us much time to really get to know any of the characters, but I chocked this up to stage-setting. This was all setup, and the good, meaty character development would come later.
Alas, we find ourselves still waiting for anything to happen that we actually care about. Let’s run over the events of Episode 4, The Great Wave, before discussing some of the big, structural and narrative problems The Rings Of Power is currently facing.
Again, the following criticism applies to most of the show but the orcs are exempt: The orcs on this show may just be the very best thing about it.
Let’s start with the main storyline and go from there.
How do you solve a problem like Galadriel? She’s a real headache for the powers that be in Númenor, an island kingdom that hates the elves passionately for reasons. Yes, some reasons are given in this episode but they’re not very good ones and the conflict feels rushed and contrived.
Galadriel continues to act like an impatient, petulant human teenager. Her lack of the most basic diplomacy skills get her locked up by an exasperated Miriel, at which point Halbrand scoffs and rolls his eyes and compares her to a horse charging at everything. Last week Elendil compared her to his kids, now another human is comparing her to a horse. One of the oldest, wisest and most powerful elves in all of Middle-earth.
She gets locked up mostly because she’s very, very eager to speak to Miriel’s father, the old king who was deposed for his love of elves. Elves that play virtually no role whatsoever in the day-to-day politics of this place and haven’t for centuries. Clearly something the populace should be very concerned with. When Ar-Pharazon and some guards come to take her to a ship where she’ll be sent back to her people (what she originally wanted so desperately!) she fights the guards and throws them into her cell.
It is, I should add, one of the silliest, most laughable fights you will ever see in a big-budget TV show. Its only saving grace is that it’s over so fast. Halbrand tells Pharazon not to join in the fighting; he’ll spill the beans on where Galadriel is headed next. Valuable intel on an island. Or something.
Meanwhile, Isildur’s friends get mad at him because he purposefully screws up to get kicked off the ship he’s on and they get kicked off also. Isildur has big dreams and stuff. He hears a woman’s voice calling to him. Other than that . . . who is this kid and why do we care? I mean, I know who Isildur is in the big scheme of things but this show has given us exactly zero reasons to care about his character. They’ve spent a tiny bit more time developing his sister, Eärien, a character invented for the show. But I’m equally nonplussed and uninterested in her character.
