TL;DR – I was captured by the joyful sincerity that permeated the whole season.         

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime service that viewed this episode.

The Rings of Power Review –

When I started watching The Rings of Power, I went into it with a moment of trepidation. The Lord of the Rings holds a special place in my heart because they were the first films that made me want to explore all aspects of filmmaking. Their grandeur and majesty were something I had not experienced before then, and for better or worse, they are the benchmark that all others are compared to. It was hard to go back into this world with that weight of expectations. However, I think this new show rose to the occasion. As we get ready for the second season later this week, I thought it was an excellent time to go back and think through that first season and complete the coverage we were unable to do back in 2022.

So, to set the scene, in the aftermath of Udûn and the destruction wrought from the awaking of Mt Doom, everything in the Southlands has changed. Once lands of green fields, farms, and orchards, now ash, fire, and dirt remain. As they change to this new world, the greatest power is at its lowest, and the lives of the elves look to be ending in Middle Earth. But as Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) returns to Celebrimbor’s (Charles Edwards) forge to get healing for a badly wounded Halbrand (Charlie Vickers), they discover that all hope is not lost. Now, from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.      

For an episode like this to work as a finale, something monumental has to happen. But I wondered just what that was going to be since even though the show has been hinky with its timelines, it is not so flexible that any of the big moments of this age transpire. However, the show picked two moments that brought the episode to a perfect close. The first of these was the forging of the titular rings. It is such an iconic moment in the franchise’s history, and they gave it the justice it deserved. While I was not completely sold on the ‘mystery box’ approach to who is secretly Sauron, I am delighted they did not hold off on that until next season. Making it Halbrand was a good touch because of how he played all the Elves off each other and almost got away with it.

It was indeed an episode of reveals, and the second one was about who The Stranger (Daniel Weyman) was, well, almost. After a battle with the Dweller (Bridie Sisson), the Nomad (Edith Poor), and the Ascetic (Kali Kopae), he remembers some of those memories that were lost when he hit the ground. While the word ‘Gandalf’ was never said, he could still be one of the other Istars that we know of. Let’s be clear: this one is Gandalf. I doubt you would have gotten him so heavily involved with the Hobbit predecessors, Harfoots if he wasn’t. While this plot line was basically a season-long bait-and-switch, I didn’t mind because blast it, I loved all those Harfoots and their hidden wagon train, and it ended on a solid battle.

While the big set piece for the season was not in the finale, this was more for tying everything up, which means it is time to look back at the season as a whole. I know, this was quite a divisive season of television back in the day, and I don’t think that has changed much in the time since it first aired. However, I have to say that I completely loved this from start to finish. Of course, it is not without its flaws, secret Númenórean stables that can hold hundreds of horses hidden in their handful of boats, for example. However, no matter the flaws, I was captured by the joyful sincerity that permeated the whole season.

For example, we cut from Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova) running through the forest in slow motion catching arrows out of the air like a badarse and then firing back at their pursuers. Only then can we jump to Disa (Sophia Nomvete) singing to the stones for the souls of the missing miners. It is a sequence that still brings a shiver to my spine because every single person is taking this seriously, bringing even the silly bits the impact they needed. The entire cast needs to get a shout-out because a lot was going on this season, and yet, everyone still makes their moment to shine.

From here, we have the presentation, and I think they did an excellent job of capturing the vibe of the previous Lord of the Rings films so that they still feel like a united whole while also charting their own course in places. The Mines of Moria has become a vibrant town rather than a graveyard of the past. Conversely, the ignition of Mount Doom or the premonition about the Fall of Númenórean were stark in their destruction. All of this was set in the backdrop of New Zealand, which has never hurt a production. From all farms full of fruit to deep channels dug into the earth, it all comes together.

Playing in a prequel space can often be a fraught space. However, it helps when you already have the tracks of your narrative laid in. The appendices and other materials already gave the writers the grand arc they were working in and then needed to populate that with stories and themes that felt true. An elf in a far-off outpost falling for the local herbalist of a people marked as being untrustworthy because of the actions of their forbearers. That is pure Tolkien. I had no problem with Warrior-Princess Galadriel because it makes sense for where her character would be at this point in the story. It does feel like they are possibly speeding up the timeframes of the original story, but I don’t have a problem with that.           

In the end, do we recommend The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Alloyed and Season 1? Yes, we do. I had a lot of fun with this series. It even made me emotional from time to time. While the production of the second season has not been as smooth as the first, I still can’t wait to see what they will bring us, now that evil has been revealed, and what was secret might be returning in force.  

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you seen The Rings of Power yet ?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review The Rings of Power on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day.    

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of The Rings of Power
Directed by – J. A. Bayona, Wayne Che Yip & Charlotte Brändström
Written by – Nicholas Adams, Justin Doble, J. D. Payne, Patrick McKay, Gennifer Hutchison, Jason Cahill & Stephany Folsom
Created by – J. D. Payne & Patrick McKay
Based On – The Lord of the Rings and appendices by J. R. R. Tolkien
Production/Distribution Companies – Amazon Studios, Tolkien Estate, Tolkien Trust, HarperCollins, New Line Cinema & Amazon Prime
Starring – Joseph Mawle, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Nazanin Boniadi, Tyroe Muhafidin, Maxim Baldry, Charlie Vickers, Morfydd Clark, Lloyd Owen, Cynthia Addia-Robinson Markella Kavenagh, Daniel Weyman, Sara Zwangobani, Dylan Smith, Megan Richards, Trystan Gravelle, Ema Horvath, Leon Wadham, Sir Lenny Henry, Robert Aramayo, Owain Arthur, Charles Edwards, Benjamin Walker, Simon Merrells, Sophia Nomvete, & Peter Mullan with Geoff Morrell, Peter Tait, Anthony Crum, Alex Tarrant, Phil Grieve, Jed Brophy, Josh Metcalfe, Beau Cassidy, Ian Blackburn, Thusitha Jayasundera, Maxine Cunliffe, Ken Blackburn, Edith Poor, Kali Kopae, Bridie Sisson, Edward Clendon, Ella Hope-Higginson, Carmel McGlone, Jason Hood, Antonio te Maioha, Luke Hawker, Augustus Prew, Bertnn Schwerdt, Virginie Laverdure, Jane Montgomery Griffiths, Nathan Mennis, Amelie Child Villiers, Will Fletcher, Fabian McCallum, Kip Chapman, Jagger Serafin, Eva Gardner & Oscar Beszant