‘The Rings Of Power’ Season 2 Episode 1 And 2 Spoiler-Free Review
Image Source: JoBlo
Welcome back to Middle-earth Rings of Power fans! CultureSlate had the opportunity, thanks to Amazon Screenings, to see an advanced screening of the first two episodes of Season Two of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Fans have waited two years for the next screen installment of J.R.R Tolkien’s writings about the Second Age of Middle-earth, and the wait was worth it. Once again, showrunners Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne and their crew of writers and creatives, along with the talented actors, take fans of Middle-earth into the story and beyond for the start of an amazing season.
McKay, Payne, and others have said going into this season that fans will get to see even more of Middle-earth and experience the tales on an even deeper level, much of it as close to the source material as possible. While there are undoubtedly still die-hard fans who won’t be happy with any changes made, you cannot deny that the lore and feel of Tolkien’s world is there in the visual, musical composition, and characters.
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Once again, this show does not disappoint when it comes to the visual aspects. The production designers wanted to make sure that they built as much as they could and minimized use of excessive CGI, just like they did in Season One. They wanted it to feel more like Peter Jackson’s sets from The Lord of the Rings movies. We got to see more of Lindon and Eregion, two of the largest Elven cities in Middle-earth, along with a new Elven destination that many might recognize from The Lord of the Rings. We saw more of Moria and traveled to a few other new places as well that had unique and fascinating designs. Many of the scenes were also filmed on location all over the world so that much of the world isn’t green screen either. The attention to detail when creating these cities and landscapes and crafting them deliberately to bring the viewer into Middle-earth is done so expertly and helps to enhance the story even more. It will be exciting to see what other new places we might get to see or new areas of places we’ve already seen in Season One.
Image Source: LRMonline
The costume design is also quite good in this season so far. What’s really neat is that we are already seeing more background characters in the different places so we’re getting to see even more different costumes and hair styles, especially among the elves, which helps to round out the world and show so many unique and yet similar styles among the people of Middle-earth. One interesting note about costumes is that a couple of the characters still don’t really change outfits that much during the course of the first two episodes, which take place over quite a few days. This was also a choice in the first season, with Galadriel and Elrond not changing their outfits as much, for example. It will be interesting to see if the titular characters stay in the same outfits during the course of this season as well. It’s an odd thing to track and probably inconsequential, but for a show that has been so deliberate with their production design, the fact that there aren’t more outfits for the main characters is an interesting choice.
Composer Bear McCreary strikes again with the score for this season. The full soundtrack can be found on streaming platforms and retail already. The swells and the quiet, the loud in big moments, and the haunting vocals throughout help to elevate an already visually stunning show and bring so much more to the table. McCreary has carefully crafted each song to fit each character, what they’re going through at the moment of the song, and also provide hints for the future. McCreary has brought back the themes for The Stranger, Galadriel, and of course Sauron, just to name a few. The soundtrack definitely has the feel of Howard Shore’s masterpieces for The Lord of the Rings, and even if the show isn’t your thing, the soundtrack is worth a listen. It will definitely be exciting to see how else the themes are used throughout the episodes as the story progresses.
As with any long epic, the beginnings of the story can be rough as it involves a lot of character introduction, plot introduction, and the start of the adventure. Season One was akin to the first couple of chapters in a long novel. A good introduction, for sure, but an introduction to what is planned as a multiple season story. The beginning of Season Two proved that we are definitely past those first few chapters. Almost immediately we get deeper character development and plot development. Episode One drops us straight into some deep lore, which, thanks to some leeway from The Tolkien Society, The Rings of Power was able to use some story elements and information from sources other than The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Previously, that was all the source material that anyone could use for an adaptation to screen, which is partially why when they said anything about the First Age in Season One, they couldn’t name names or give any specifics unless they were talked about in the two main books. Now, however, they have special permission to use some source material from The Silmarillion to help flesh out a few details that are key to understanding the story, primarily, Sauron, and some of the history before the Second Age. The showrunners were excited about this because it will help the story immensely.
While much of Season One felt rushed at times due to the story being pushed from a larger timeline into a shorter period, this season is already feeling less rushed, at least from the first two episodes. This has left room for more character development, longer, more meaningful conversations between the characters, and the ability to see a bit more of what each character is planning for the future, especially a certain bad guy who everyone is quite excited to see how his story plays out. Instead of focusing on setting the scene, the series is now seeming to focus on expanding the scene, filling in the details, and bringing each character even further into the story. Part of the reason though that these particular episodes did feel more well-rounded could be that they didn’t try to focus on every single main character. There is a whole part of the world that we haven’t been reintroduced to yet and several main characters we haven’t seen in this season as of yet. Although, that does seem to have helped the season so far from a storytelling ability as there isn’t too much crammed in.
Image Source: Digital Spy
We are introduced to several new characters in these first two episodes, including a rather exciting one, played by Ben Daniels, who is shaping up to play a large role in the story of the Rings. One new character is played by Ciarán Hinds and has already started to generate as many debates as when Season One introduced the mysterious characters of The Stranger and Halbrand. No one seems to know what Hinds’ character is yet, and many speculations have been made already since he is the major plot/character point at this moment that is not seemingly from Tolkien’s lore. It will be interesting to see what his role is in this story and if we will maybe eventually get a reveal for who he is in this season. Last season we didn’t have all the character reveals, so there are now several characters we’re following with mysteries as to who they are. Will we find the answers this season? Hopefully! The character of Adar, who was created for The Rings of Power, was re-casted from Joseph Mawle to Sam Hazeldine, when Mawle stepped away from the project. Hazeldine definitely brings the same mystery and brooding feeling that Mawle brought to the character, and has done a fantastic job so far. It will be interesting to see how this character continues to grow and what part Adar will eventually play in The Rings of Power.
Tolkien fans who were confused and upset over the plot point/character of Halbrand are finally going to get to see Sauron how they’ve wanted to see him/how Tolkien described, along with all of the seeds he’s planted/planting throughout Middle-earth. The story of the Rings, which felt rushed to many fans at the end of Season One, is also getting slowed down and fleshed out. Mysteries still abound, and the story is far from over, but this season is shaping up to be even better than the first. The writing and dialogue seems stronger this season so far, and hopefully that continues as part of the season was filmed during the Writer’s Strike last summer.
Episode Three is also releasing this week on August 29, along with Episodes One and Two. An episode a week will be premiering every Thursday on Amazon Video until October 4.
Overall, Episode One is a 3.5 out of 5. Episode Two is a 4 out of 5.
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