1/ This might be a risky statement: The primary problem in #TheRingsofPower isn't that that they're changing Tolkien. It's that it's poorly written, poorly plotted, poorly paced, poorly directed, with poorly constructed characters... The entire project is an amateur exercise.
2/ The poor writing began early in episode 1. We learned that rocks look down and ships look up--and this was supposed to be some sort of wonderful guiding statement about how to live--but it's so clunky and unimaginative. And the entire show suffers from this.
3/ This show is smeared with bad writing... "The Wine of victory is sweetest for those in whose bitter trials it has fermented." “Sweep the enemy from the land like salt off the table.” “Where there is love it is truly never dark.” And thats when they're TRYING to write well!
4/ The plot never recovers from their complete ignorance of geography and time: Celebrimbor and Elrond walk to Khazad Dum. The new forge is built in a couple days. The Númenoreans get to Middle-earth practically overnight. The writers don't care about making the world REAL.
5/ For example, the entire plot of the necessity of the new forge is ignored. The forge is so important that Elrond has to travel to Khazad Dum to make-up with Durin after 20 years of silence. Then, they completely ignore it. It was filler "plot".
6/ The poor pacing of the show starts right in episode 1. After a clumsy prologue, we see Brave Commander Galadriel leading her "army" into the frozen north. Then it's on to the slow harfoots. Then to some discussions in Lindon. Nothing HAPPENS in episode 1 until The Meteor.
7/ Remember when you 1st learned to write & were told, Show, don't tell? This show TELLS us & NEVER SHOWS us anything. They don't SHOW: Galadriel and Elrond's strong friendship; the Harfoots need for secrecy; Gil-galad's distrust of Galadriel; Celebrimbor's excellence as a smith.
8/ And because it doesn't SHOW us anything, the pacing dies in every conversation that tells us about relationships, about plots and plans, about distrust and love. The show's plot and pacing die within a casket of amateur mediocrity.
9/ The poor directing makes the show feel small, inconsequential. Númenor is supposed to be an amazing culture--and we get those sweeping shots that make it look huge and majestic. But once the directing gets into the city, everything is tight, small, claustrophobic.
10/ For example, Galadriel trains a 15 person army on random steps in a back alley. In the next scene the sword fighting is inexpertly executed, w/ silly movements, & edited badly with jerky cuts & awkward slo-mo. Checkout @shadiversity's deconstruction at
11/ The characters are really just caricatures. Galadriel is a single-minded revenge monster until a volcano blasts that out of her. Nori and Poppy are amateur Frodo and Sam replicas. Gil-galad is played with community-theatre nobility. Celebrimbor never smiths anything.
12/ Bronwyn is a healer. And an orc-killer. And a military leader. And invincible.
13/ One more thing. The writers likely feel like lifting direct quotes from Tolkien's writing and putting them in new characters mouths is paying homage to him... but it only serves to display how bad most of the writing is by showing us what EXPERT word-smithing really is.
14/ So, if the show would've been crafted with precision and care, guided by expert hands who had a passion for the show, it COULD have been good--without Respecting the Lore. But it wasn't. Not even close. The entire show is an exercise in how NOT to craft a timeless story.
15/ ... but sticking to what Tolkien wrote wouldn't have hurt either... 😁
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