A sumptuous return to Middle-earth: the review of The Rings of Power [Preview]

A sumptuous return to Middle-earth

Our review of The Rings of Power will take into consideration, naturally avoiding spoilers on the plot and on the characters, the first 2 episodes of the series, which we had the opportunity to preview. The Rings of Power will be available for viewing exclusively on Prime Video from September 2nd. For more information about the series, where and how to see it, we recommend reading our article. To access the many contents of Prime Video from the comfort of your TV, buy the Fire Stick TV.

To subscribe to the Amazon Prime Video streaming service by taking advantage of the 30-day trial, you can use this link. The Rings of Power is based on the appendices to J. R. R. Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings, in which the author described some events prior to those of the novel and is chronologically set in the Second Age, hundreds of years before the events recounted in The Hobbit and in The Lord of the Rings. The series is disconnected from the films directed by Peter Jackson (you can find his trilogies, novels and other themed articles here on Amazon) at the request of Tolkien Estate herself, as you can read in this article. Without going into the details of the story to avoid spoilers, the Second Age of Middle-earth was characterized by several very important events: in addition to the forging of the Rings of Power by Sauron and his rise, in fact, the last alliance between Elves and Men and the fall of the island kingdom of Númenor.

Before proceeding with the review of The Rings of Power, we would like to point out that the following article will be updated on a weekly basis, at the release of every new episode of the series, starting with episode 3 of the series, so you can continue to consult it to stay up to date.

A sumptuous return to Middle-earth: the review of The Rings of Power

A long introduction The Rings of Power and The Lord of the Rings The world before ruin Preliminary conclusions of our review of The Rings of Power The Rings of Power Episode 3, between twists and disconcerting discoveries

A long introduction

The Rings of Power
Having seen the episodes in English with Italian subtitles, we were also able to appreciate the acting skills of the actors; We also noticed, however, a couple of details about Elves that we didn't like very much: first of all, they never speak Elven. We understand that having them speak only in elven would have made the product much less usable due to the inevitable subtitles, but we would have liked to hear the Elves speak their language, even if only in small phrases, a bit like we see in House of the Dragon, where, sometimes, the Targaryens speak their mother tongue, High Valyrian.

Another note concerns the lexicon of the characters: if it is plausible that the Pelopods use a colloquial language also made up of amusing neologisms, we would have at least expect a more stately lexicon than the common spoken language.


The Rings of Power

The Rings of Power and The Lord of the Rings

As mentioned, the relationship between the series and the films directed by Peter Jackson is ambiguous: on the one hand, we know that The Rings of Power does not relate narratively to the films, but on the other hand we can see several references to the structure of the films, as well as various elements attributable to Tolkien's original work: for example, in addition to the aforementioned Moria, we can see a scene with a Cave trolls and two Pelopods (Harfoot, in English) who remember, both physically and in their relationship, Frodo and Sam. Galadriel also has the Fellowship of him, a small reference to the Fellowship of the Ring.

Jackson's work therefore remains a small point of reference for the series, even if the story is very different. This is because the stories are still set in the same narrative universe, and creating parallels between past and future events serves to give continuity to the events, demonstrating how the present is the result of the consequences of past actions. In this way, therefore, the series can reconnect with the Lord of the Rings. Furthermore, fundamental for the weaving of a thread of continuity between Tolkien's narrative universe and The Rings of Power is the presence of some well-known characters such as Sauron, Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) and Elrond (Robert Aramayo). You will notice, then, the presence of some elements of this past that can give you a more organic overview of the subsequent events as well.

The world before ruin

In the first two episodes of we are talking to you about in this review of The Rings of Power, we also got to see at their best places that, at the time of The Lord of the Rings, were already in complete ruin, such as, for example, Khazad-dûm ("Palazzo dei Nani"), one of the names by which the Moria mines were known, the only Mithril mines in all of Middle-earth. And it's all just as described by Tolkien in his books and by Gimli in The Fellowship of the Ring, the first film in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

One of the most fascinating elements of the Prime Video series is precisely this substantial difference between its settings and their representations in subsequent eras. As you know for sure, the world of the Lord of the Rings is a world now in ruins, in which only fragments remain that remind travelers of the glories of the past, now vanished; a conception, this, taken up with both hands by Hidetaka Miyazaki in the creation of the ruined worlds of his video games, from Demon's Souls to Elden Ring.



The Rings of Power In Jackson's film, Gimli proudly introduces Moria, speaking of its waterfalls and the masterful work of the dwarves in building such a majestic city by carving out the hard rock. But we don't see any of this.

Now, thanks to The Rings of Power it is finally possible to admire Khazad-dûm and other iconic places in their maximum splendor, to the point of making them unrecognizable. We remember, in fact, that in the premises of this story we find ourselves in a historical period of relative peace, for which various civilizations prospered. But the danger was upon us…

Preliminary conclusions of our review of The Rings of Power

Despite the general slowness in the story and the little notes above, The Rings of Power presents itself as a series of excellent workmanship, but whose narration we have not been able to grasp the general details; however, this is due precisely to the introductory function of these first two episodes. However, since the first season consists of only 8 episodes, one wonders when we will begin to unravel the secrets of Middle-earth, including the true identity of a mysterious character (and certainly this stimulates the curiosity of viewers).

This somewhat slow narrative is enhanced by a very accurate and visually captivating, at times moving, staging, especially when we can see places we had seen in complete ruin glow with a splendor never seen before on the screen. After all, The Rings of Power is preparing to become the most expensive television series in history, and it shows. Now, we just have to wait for the new episodes to find out what this ancient story of Middle-earth has in store for us.

The Rings of Power Episode 3, between twists and disconcerting discoveries

The third episode of The Rings of Power comes to the heart of the story at several points, as many of the main characters had already been introduced in the two previous installments. The widespread sense of slowness of the first two episodes is therefore replaced by a more dynamic narrative rhythm, which reveals different plots, leaving, however, the answer to various questions to the viewers' imagination.

Non è cosa It is easy to be able to create an interweaving that, at the same time, gives new information that is very important for the unfolding of the story without boring, while maintaining a sense of mystery for other issues. Certainly, some sections could have lasted a little less, but after watching this episode the sense of satisfaction prevails over the rest.



images from The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power The only negative note concerns the CGI that animates the Werewolf, since the movements are not always fluid, thus leaving us to see very clearly that we are facing a digital creature. As for the costumes, the sets and the settings, we are faced with an excellent job: breathtaking panoramas (Númenor is magnificent, wonderful) alternate scenes in places that are always very well defined and cared for.

Non we will reveal what discoveries we are talking about, but we can tell you that you will be able to see what happened to Arondir and many other people, in sequences that reveal some details of the plot, but which also include several very well choreographed action scenes. Then you will see a young Isildur, the one who, one day, will cut off Sauron's finger with the One Ring, ending up, however, falling victim to it. You will also discover who Halbrand really is, the man who accidentally met the elf Galadriel at sea. In addition, the true meaning of the mysterious symbol that we have seen appear several times in the course of The Rings of Power is also revealed. And the latter is the most important discovery, since it is something that will change the history of the whole world forever.

As for what is still left in mystery, there are identity and the purposes of the still mysterious Meteor Man and a new, obscure character: Adar, whose features, which are deliberately blurred, can be glimpsed in the very last sequences of the episode: who is Adar, and what are his intentions?

Interest in what's to come is stimulated in this exciting episode of The Rings of Power, which raises the bar compared to the prologue.