Rings of Power Season 2: A Solid Improvement
I wasn’t a big fan of the first season of Amazons The Rings Of Power, not for any weird ‘woke nonsense’ reason but I just found it a little dull and I wasn’t a fan of most of the storylines throughout the season, I thought it had some good bits, but mostly bad or boring bits for me. It didn’t help that it also aired around the same time as House of The Dragon Season 1, which ran circles around it in terms of writing and story quality. After finishing Season 2 of House of The Dragon and being fairly underwhelmed, I wondered if the new season of Rings of Power might be better, and I think it was, though not by any massive margin and certainly not in some aspects.
In the first season, I could count on one hand how many stories and characters I liked, now after Season 2, I can only count how many I dislike on one hand. Overall I found the storylines of season 2 more palatable but there were still some misses for me, I think the nature of having so many different stories is some stories that appeal to me won’t appeal to others and vice versa, so remember any storyline that didn’t land for me, could be someone else's favourite.
There are 6 main storylines going through the season, you could probably argue there are more if you break down the characters specifically, but for me, I’d say there were 6. Much like season 1, near the end of the season a number of these plotlines converge in a somewhat satisfying reminder this all takes place in the same world, unfortunately for the plotlines that don’t converge, it only makes them feel more isolated and unnecessary to the overall story being told.
The standout story of season 2 for most watchers (including myself) would likely be the story of Eregion with Annatar & Celebrimbor. This story gets some of the most screentime and allows Charlie Vickers to shine in a role that in my opinion suits him better than the gruff Halbrand of season 1. I was skeptical when this story first started that Celebrimbor would come off as a fool to be tricked by Annatar, but the show wrote his trickery and deception very believably, to the point where you imagine if you were not the audience, you too would fall for his tricks. This plotline ends in a large satisfying battle where other stories like that of Arondir and Galadriel converge on Eregion for a final confrontation to cap off this storyline.
The Dwarven storyline is one of my personal favourites, in both seasons I found the dwarves to be very well done and well written. Nothing of major consequence happens with the dwarves outside of Khazad-Dum, but the struggles of their kingdom and their corrupted king really worked for me. I found the ‘Gandalf’ storyline to be middling most of the time, nothing interesting is done with the setting of Rhun, and the seasons' insistence on keeping his identity as ‘The Stranger’ is insulting as it was made clear to most fans by the end of season 1 this character was most assuredly Gandalf, I didn’t hate this story, but I found myself disinterested when he came on screen.
As for the remaining three plotlines, Numenor was a better story for me overall, even if I find the three ‘antagonists’ to be a bit cartoonishly evil in both their dialogue and their acting. Elendil took a big jump in the quality of his writing and motivations for me this season, and I can’t wait to see where he goes next ( even though we know where he will end up). Elrond & Galadriels story is hard to call a story, as it mixes with other storylines rather frequently, but her interactions with Sam Hezaldine's dynamite performance as Adar was a big highlight of the season for me, and while Elrond took a step back from his story in season 1, I enjoyed their time together as a whole. For Isildur & Arondir and their time together, I found this to be the least interesting & least necessary of the plotlines, very little moves forward with these two except for some minor character development, a somewhat indulgent Shelob reference, and some information on the Southlanders after the end of season 2. I like both these characters and I'd prefer to see them utilized elsewhere more effectively.
There is no doubt that Rings of Power is a visually stunning show, between the gorgeous practical sets, the high-quality CGI, and the great cinematography by the show's cinematographer Alex Disenhof, it's hard not to be immersed in Tolkiens' world. None of this however is as effective for me as composer Bear McCrearys score. I first fell in love with Bear McCreary through his work on God of War [2018] and God of War [Ragnarok 2022], his ability to create a fantastical booming soundtrack, coupled with his ability to make lighter more emotional motifs made him the perfect composer to tackle the many different storylines & thematics of The Rings of Power. From bombastic and uplifting dwarven horns to lighter-plucked stringed elven themes, McCreary has an ear for all Middle-Earth.
My final thoughts are this, The Rings of Power is a difficult show to talk about because of its seemingly central part in a culture war where only one side is fighting. If allowed to examine the show on its merits, it holds up fairly well, I think the overall story could be a little tighter, and I’m not a fan of every storyline they’re choosing to include. Still, if you like fantasy TV, The Rings of Power is on track to be one of the greatest if it keeps improving, we can only hope it doesn’t follow Game of Thrones to the end……
