Rings of Power

 Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy is up there with the original Star Wars trilogy as being one of my foundational cinematic loves. The timing was great: the summer before I started high school in 2000, I read The Hobbit, and then during my freshman year, I read the Lord of the Rings trilogy, mostly in editions that were emblazoned with "Soon to be a Motion Picture Trilogy from New Line Cinema!" The Lord of the Rings movies were a genuine event - and I think the hopeful, heroic tone was particularly resonant given that the first movie came out three months after 9/11 - a time when the idyllic, Pax Americana age of the post-Cold War 1990s was shattered by this act of spectacular violence.

Tolkien's Middle Earth is one of the most richly detailed fantasy worlds - and really codified the notion of a fantasy world in general, moving the genre beyond the gritty sword-and-sorcery of Conan the Barbarian and into this lyrical, mythic mode. I think basically every work of fantasy fiction to come after has had to be in conversation with Tolkien.

Amazon secured the rights to Middle-Earth and has reportedly spent a billion fucking dollars to make this series.

Honestly, in the run-up to its release, I was skeptical. I found myself tired about the re-hashing and franchising of these works. While I was a devoted Game of Thrones fan, the final season left such a bitter taste in my mouth that I found myself profoundly apathetic toward its House of the Dragon, and perhaps tired of the brutal, dark world that felt so refreshingly different when Game of Thrones came out in 2011.

I was similarly skeptical of Rings of Power. The Hobbit movies, which had tried to extract an epic trilogy out of a single book that was lighter and simpler in tone than the Lord of the Rings, felt like a cash-grab. And Amazon's Wheel of Time series was... just... not good. (I've never read the books, and I've heard some people say that the books aren't great either, but the show basically had a couple good actors, some very weak ones, and was a meandering mess.)

I've now watched the first episode of Rings of Power, though, thanks to some good reviews I've spotted. And, well, consider me intrigued.

As usual, Rings of Power has the burden of being a prequel, set within the Second Age, which begins with the defeat of Morgoth and ends with the initial defeat of Sauron (as seen in the prologue of Fellowship of the Ring.) This age, of course, is the one in which Sauron arrives as Ammenar, the gift-giver, teaching how to make his magic rings in a ploy to get everyone to secretly wind up in his thrall.

So, we know what's going to happen. The rings kind of super-charge the races natural tendencies, making dwarves more interested in treasure, humans more interested in power, and elves... maybe more wise and aloof?

But the rings haven't even been created yet at this stage. Instead, we have a few characters we're checking in with and getting to know.

The headlining character is Galadriel. We're introduced to her as a child during the First Age, when the world doesn't even have a sun - instead, two great, sacred trees provide the equivalent of sunlight and moonlight. Galadriel, as a child, already shows ambitions that go beyond her fellow kids - and the kids are actually quite cruel, trying to sink her magic (or, more precisely, delicate elvish-art) paper boat. (I don't know how granular Tolkien's conception of evil was, but maybe their attempts to sink her boat is a sign of Morgoth's influence already in the world). Galadriel has a beloved older brother, Finrod, who dispenses wisdom to her and whom she clearly adores.

But, when Morgoth comes and destroys the great trees, the elves journey from Valinor to Middle-Earth, to battle against him. The war is won, but Sauron takes over as the Dark Lord. Finrod hunts for him, but winds up dying in the pursuit. And so, Galadriel takes on her brother's mission.

Galadriel here is driven almost to the point of obsession - convinced that if she does not hunt down and defeat Sauron, evil will rise again. However, Gil-Galad, the king of the high elves, is convinced that Sauron is gone, and that her obsession will only cause more pain and death. Galadriel comes to an ancient fortress of Morgoth in the frozen north (I'm not sure if this is meant to be Angband or some other citadel of his - I never actually read through the Silmarillion).

Galadriel is recalled to Lindon, the elvish capital (which is near the Grey Havens as seen in the end of Lord of the Rings) and her company is awarded for their valor with a trip back to Valinor, the heavenly continent that Galadriel was born on (and seems to genuinely be another plane of existence).

In her trip to Lindon, we also meet Elrond, a minister and speech-writer for Gil-Galad and obviously someone who is destined to be a very important figure in the future (also, fun fact, his daughter Arwen is Galadriel's granddaughter, so presumably Elrond winds up marrying her daughter at some point). Elrond is on Gil-Galad's side of things, but clearly loves and respects Galadriel and is willing to hear her, even if he remains unconvinced and worried that it's her grief that has clouded her judgment.

Galadriel travels on the ship to Valinor, but as her fellow soldiers are divested of their armor and prepared to enter the brilliant, heavenly light, Galadriel jumps ship, apparently planning to swim back across the ocean (I mean, she's an elf, she can probably do that.)

But the show is not just Galadriel: we're introduced to a couple other focus characters.

First is Norri, Eleanor Harfoot, who is a Hobbit or perhaps some kind of proto-Hobbit, living in a hidden village with her parents and community. We're actually introduced to the Harfoots from the perspective of a couple of humans, who fear them the way one might fear the fair folk. The elder of the village has been seeing strange signs, including these unseasonal travelers, but Eleanor is showing her Baggins-like tendency to get into mild trouble, helping a bunch of kids break into an old abandoned farm where blackberries are growing - though there is the ominous sign of a wolf that has been there, and when we get a look at the beast, it seems clear this is no natural wolf, but more likely a warg.

We also meet Arondir, an elf soldier who is part of a garrison that keeps watch over a human town. The humans have ambivalent feelings about the elves, who come by regularly to check in on anything strange going on. It turns out that the ancestors of these humans threw their lot in with Morgoth, and the elves are something of an occupying army, with an admittedly light touch.

Strange things are going on here, though - to the east, there's a field with blighted grass, and the blight seems to be making people and animals sick. All the while, Arondir is reckoning with his romantic feelings for a local healer named Bronwyn, counseled against falling in love with a human by his fellow elves, who point out that these stories tend to end tragically.

But, given that Gil-Galad has declared the days of war over, believing that the darkness has ultimately been vanquished, Arondir's unit has been recalled. While Arondir goes to investigate the blight, though, he and Bronwyn find that the village has been set ablaze.

With all of this going on, a great shooting star blazes across the heavens, seen by all of the characters we've met with. Where it lands, near the Harfoot village, a seemingly human form rests within the crater, with long grey hair and a beard. I can only assume this is Gandalf, though he wouldn't have gotten that name yet.

Anyway, for a first episode, we've got a lot set up, and I have to admit I'm liking what I see so far. The writing has mostly replicated the stylized, mythic dialogue that the books and movies have, avoiding modernisms and quippiness. The show is also gorgeous - the budget shows (similarly to how it does in Apple's Foundation show). I'm eager to see the production design in new environments - I'm given to understand the second episode features Khazad-Dûm (aka the Mines of Moria).

I'm planning on watching the second episode later today.