Fair reader, it has been months since my first entry, as well as months since the finale of the Rings of Power first season. Why did it take me so long for this blog entry? Well, much like the blog entries themselves, the answer is not concise. Not considering the small list of excuses, involving working on my own publications, busy time in life in general, as well as temporarily forgetting my Goodreads password, there is one reason to rule them all. The fact is, it has taken me a long time to make up my mind on how I felt at the end of the season. After a ranting entry on open mindedness where applied to the adaptations of our favorite fantasy novels to the big or small screen, I wanted to make sure that I was following my own advice and not jumping to gut reaction posts. While I doubt there are few, if any, who are gnawing at the bit for my personal blog entries, I myself would have hoped to conclude this blog series in a more timely manner. But that is neither here nor there at this point.

Let us start, as we have in the past, with a short summation of my overall thoughts. Will this be a circumstance where one can simply decide if they loved it or hated it? The short answer: no. There is so much to take into consideration that to have such a black and white view I think would reflect a lack of imagination in this case. There were shortcomings, to be fair. The pace, some character arcs lacking much curvature, and some questionable takes on the source material are all things that should make an avid fan hesitate. The visual effects, the immersive references, and the small nods to both Tolkien’s writings and the Peter Jackson films still keep the spark of curiosity ignited for those of us who understand the source material (or at least feign to). The final takeaway: it's a mixed bag. Overall, it is a show worth watching no matter what level of Middle Earth fan you seek to be.
Now let us brace ourselves for the long summary.

For respect to some methodical thought process, let us begin by addressing some of my earlier concerns. Now that we've reached the end of the season we are able to check off which of my points was addressed and which were not.

The first point of consideration, and perhaps the largest considering its centerpiece role in the show: The character of Galadriel. This, I must admit, I was left wanting at the end. If I were to take an optimistic approach I would say that this will leave room for this character arc to continue to develop. After all, no good character arc rises and falls to completion in a single season. The parts of Galadriel that are so important to me that we're not addressed are still the elements of her significance in Middle Earth. This, for anyone familiar with Tolkien’s original works, is hardly a thing of debate. Galadriel is by all accounts one of the most formidable beings in all of Middle Earth, and she was from nearly her beginning. This is not so well represented in the show. There are no true displays of this prowess. She has impressive moments but to a level that I would expect an elf in general to be impressive. There were no displays of elven magic, in which there should be far more examples of in the Second Age than in the Third Age where we follow the Fellowship. Galadriel should be considered one of the most powerful elven magic wielders at the time the Rings of Power takes place. For her to be an answerable subject to Gil Galad is not in any regard a true representation of her role in elven society. She was considered a queen by all standards, and only through her own humility did she decide to take the title of "lady" rather than "majesty". The other aspect is the fact that there would be any sort of darkness to her character whatsoever. The Lady of Light, by name, should not encounter this as a general issue. I can see from an artistic screenwriting effect how this could play into a character arc, and so I will remain open-minded, yet skeptical. If I were to be fair, there were hints in the final two episodes where Galadriel is acknowledging that there is darkness in her that should not be there, and she starts to hint that she has become consumed by the prospect of hunting Sauron and it's changing her in a way that is not befitting of a respectable elven queen. I do hope that in the coming seasons her light shines a bit brighter both figuratively and literally, and we get some true depictions of how powerful she is.

Next, the Stranger. I admitted in earlier entries that I could not recall meteor man from the original texts and so I could not comment on his significance. Well, it has become a abundantly clear that the reason I could not recall a meteor man is because there was not one. Now we know that the stranger is in fact a wizard. Good. I could not think of another reasonable explanation for his presence that wouldn't have been an incredibly large stretch. Now remains the question of which wizard. I keep seeing the confirmation throughout the internet and amongst my own small circles that the wizard is in fact Gandalf, as he proves with his final line of “follow your nose”. If I ignore this line, and disregard it as a simple nod to wizard sagely advice in general, I must protest the decisive nature of calling the wizard Gandalf. For one, there is absolutely no reason to think that the original text would suggest Gandalf would appear in any such way, at this time, and in such a state. While that argument can be made for any of the wizards, the two exceptions would be the blue wizards. These two strange figures leave a lot of room for interpretation in the original texts, which would make them prime candidates for a show adaptation to keep some mystery about them. If the stranger does in fact turn out to be Gandalf, the showrunners are playing a very dangerous game. While I can see them trying to increase the appeal to the general Tolkien fan that is poorly versed in its true lore, Gandalf is at this point considered an untouchable fictional character, especially when one takes into consideration the depiction by Sir Ian McKellen. To add him to a small screen show now would be a very hard reputation to live up to. A blue wizard, on the other hand, would be a fascinating insight into an area that has always been a point of curiosity for Tolkien fans. And at the end of the day, there is more evidence to suggest a blue wizard than Gandalf. For one, and I think the most obvious, Gandalf flat out says he has never been to the east where we now know the stranger and Nori are headed. The next, and I would say the most important, is the fact that Gandalf arrives very-much-so aware of who he is, and receives one of the rings of power upon his entry to Middle Earth. To have his arrival in the Middle Earth take place in such a way as it did in RoP, would completely alter the foundation of Gandalf and his entire role in Middle Earth. So for now, I give the show writer the benefit of the doubt, and hope they are a step ahead of us with this character.
Now the hard one: Sauron. This is possibly where I am the most disgruntled. Let us start with the most blatant of features that confuse me: Sauron as a human. While Sauron has always been revered as a shape shifter, it is a well-established fact that he ventures through Middle Earth as an elf named Anatar, the Lord of Gifts. Perhaps the showrunners chose not to take this approach because they wanted to keep some mystery, so I'll ignore it for now. Then, I still have the questions of his motives. It seems he has been doing curious work on his own behind the scenes in an attempt to harness power that he eventually tricks and aids the elves into creating for him in the form of rings. This isn't the motive I'm talking about, however. I am more confused about his motive of wandering in a mortal form through dangerous events that seemed to not have a specific goal in mind, and eventually leads him through moments where he not only aids those who will become his most avid foes, but saves each of their lives on more than one instance. The final piece that still leaves me very baffled, is the timing of everything. Sauron was meant to be aiding Celebrimbor in the forging of the original rings, so that he might then take the art to Mount Doom, and use what he knew of the forged rings to influence them through his own ring. The only rings that he never had influence over were the three elven rings, because he did not take part in their creation. This is now the exact opposite of the events that took place in the Rings of Power. He helped forge the three elven rings, and was discovered before the other rings were created. While there are some variations for this adaptation that I'm curious to see where the path leads, this is just not one of them. To me, this will take an extraordinary amount of creative writing, something that wasn't abundant in season one, to make this twist of an adaptation work. If we're being completely honest, I found Adar a more interesting antagonist than Sauron ended up being. Perhaps Anatar will still make an appearance. After all, he needs to corrupt the Numenoreans. But this change to his character felt like a deliberate deception to throw diehard fans off the trail. The motivation for something like that I simply can't fathom, when it's the diehard fans that should be making up the foundation of support for the show. We're not watching it to be tricked into a plot that never existed, we're watching it to see an adaptation of something we already love.

With all this in mind, this will still be a show that I wait with great excitement to continue watching, if not just to see how they make it all work. Being back in Middle Earth was still worth the frustrations that came with the show, and (I think) still outweighed any negative feelings that might linger. All in all, I was left more baffled than I was irritated. In the second season, I hope to see a bit more light from Galadriel, a lot more of Durin and the dwarves, a creative explanation for Sauron’s entire plot line, and more time spent on the writing than the special effects. The show is still worth a watch and certainly season renewals, but I do hope it comes with some changes.

Thank you for reading my first ever blog to completion, if you made it this far, and I will consider doing more blogs in the future. Please don't hesitate to message me, comment, or contact me in general. Until next time, fair reader.