This second season of Rings of Power features Sauron, the famous Lord of the Rings.Image: Amazon MGM Studios
The prequel series of “Lord of the Rings» is back on Amazon Prime, two years after its inaugural season. How are these first three episodes worth?
31.08.2024, 07:0431.08.2024, 09:17
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The television adaptation of the Lord of the Ringsdespite its titanic budget, is typically the kind of license so heavy to carry that it could only sink, especially when added to that the weight of Peter Jackson’s trilogy. Which was not lacking given the disappointing result of the first season who will never have had the aura of his rival Game of Thrones in the popular unconsciousThis non-literal adaptation of the books failed to capture the attention of fans and was even the target of racist attacks on the pretext that the series featured elves and dwarves of color.
“Gondor calls for help!”
Yet, despite obvious flaws, such as a sluggish start and a proliferation of not necessarily exciting subplots, the first season ended with a relatively satisfying finale. After watching the first three episodes of this new season, it must be admitted that the series remains in this continuity and signs a remarkable return once freed from its introduction obligations.
With a more condensed story and moments as dark as they are heroic, the series goes for the grandiose, helped by particularly successful staging and landscapes. But if this season 2 of Rings of Power is particularly interesting, it is especially thanks to the narrative arc of its main antagonist: Sauron, the one by whom the One Ring will be forged. An ambivalent, charismatic and mysterious character who carries this season on his shoulders to the detriment of Galadriel.
The trailer:
Video: youtube
Saved by Sauron
The Rings of Power takes place approximately three thousand years before the events recounted in The Hobbit et The Lord of the Rings. Taking place during the Second Age, it covers the creation of the Rings, the rise of the dark lord Sauron, the fall of Númenor and the Last Alliance between Elves and Men (which can also be seen in the introduction to the first part of Peter Jackson’s trilogy).
Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), seduced by one of the three Rings offered to the Elves.Image: © Amazon MGM Studios
Since Amazon does not have full rights to Tolkien’s works, including the two books mentioned above, the showrunners drew inspiration from the appendices created for the original novels to summarize the story of the creation of the rings.
A free adaptation which cuts sharply into the temporality and characters originally written by JRR Tolkien in order to make it a more digestible story.. This rewriting of the story and characters may horrify purists of the novels, but it is nonetheless respectful of the universe written by the British linguist. If the series sometimes draws on the artistic direction of Peter Jackson’s films, it has forged its own identity and offers details that will necessarily speak to these same purists, even if it sometimes means tipping into fan service.
For a science class, it’s here:
The series continues nevertheless to be scattered with intrigues inherent to each racewhether men, dwarves, elves or hairy feet in anticipation of the final corruption. However, It is truly the intrigue between Sauron and the elf Celebrimbor that fascinates us.. Sauron, the entity with many faces, who, until the end of the first season, let us glimpse his identity until his revelation in front of a stunned Galadriel. He was in reality Halbrand. This friendly face who presented himself as the King of the Southern Lands was indeed the disciple of Morgoth that the elf relentlessly hunted down to avenge the death of his brother.
Annatar, the “Lord of Gifts,” is the name Sauron gave himself when he posed as an envoy of the Valar to the Elves in order to deceive them. Amazon MGM Studios
New look for a new life, Halbrand hasappears in this season in the form of Annatar, the Lord of Gifts. A name that Sauron chose in order to pass himself off as an envoy of the Valar (names given to the deities of the Tolkien world) to Celebrimbor, the elf blacksmith of Eregion, to manipulate him.
This complex and toxic relationship will result in the creation of the Rings of Power for each of the races of Middle-earth, allowing the future dark lord to establish his power to rule them all. This plot, which is at the heart of this second season, constitutes its greatest success.embodied by the magnetism of Australian actor Charlie Vickers behind the different avatars of Sauron.
Looking forward to the next one!
The story arc of the stranger and Nori (Markella Kavenagh) has the unfortunate tendency to weigh down the narrative.Image: Amazon MGM Studios
These first three episodes, although enjoyable, still suffer from after-effects left by the previous season. Because two years have passed and each character must be placed in context, we find this summary aspect giving a laborious feeling of déjà vu. However, we feel that this gentle start is made to initiate the flood of actions that will follow and deploy its full potential inherent to the genre, as evidenced by the images shown in the trailers.
It’s hard to speak too quickly, but if Amazon’s production succeeds in immersing us in Sauron’s manipulations and Galadriel’s vengeance without getting sidetracked, it could well be the fantasy series that will make us forget the boredom that House of the Dragon made us suffer during his second season.
The Rings of Power may not have succeeded in being the series to rule them all, it remains nonetheless an ambitious and visually grandiose spectacle that may well in the darkness bind us together.
The first three episodes of “The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power” have been available on Prime Video since August 29. A new episode will then be released every Thursday.
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