Why I am not hyped about the Rings of Disappointment finale
I don’t honestly remember how my day was running its course when I first heard the news, all those years ago. But I do remember one thing. Regardless of its previous state, it got better, much much better at the news of the announcement of the series. For a guy who used to watch King Theoden’s speech and Elessar’s run as preparation against the dark shadow of exam tensions at school, college, and university (had to watch each one more than once before all major exams), imagined all his favorite friendships as those of the Hobbitsses, inspire himself and all others with dialogues of Gandalf and make his gaming nick similar to Mithrandir, the mere nudge towards a 4 or 5 season worth of Middle Earth new content was no less than a sentence to embark the Grey Heavens. Hence the wait began.
It took 5 long years and about a billion USD for the world to witness the fresh new content on the beloved world of middle earth. Their pre-launch hype campaigns were not the best, but they really didn’t need to. The very concept of fresh, huge (10 hours/ season) content on this saga was the other name of the word ‘hype’ itself. So I waited.
The world changed much in the years that followed. Evil grew in silence, and eventually, it attacked. It came in many shapes and forms. Sometimes as a war, sometimes as a calamity, and one time, as a pandemic. The human race endured, even though they have suffered a huge loss. The fog cleared a bit over time, but it wasn’t completely gone when it arrived.
It finally arrived.
Like countless survivors of Tolkein and LOTR fans, I jumped at the sight of the first episode of the Rings of Power. The sheer attraction can only be compared to the jump Gollum had given for the one ring, seconds before drowning in Mount Doom lava. Little did Gollum know, little did we know.
Just like the ring reflecting in a dreamy manner in Gollum’s huge round eyes, the pilot episode felt like a visual and spiritual treat to me and many of my kind. I was happily surprised to see another episode immediately. Well, it was not like the first one, but I guess I was still under an elvish charm to be sober enough to judge it properly.
The charm was meant to last. Hence I was surprised to hear about all the backlashes across the world. Fools, I thought to myself. Nowadays everyone wants to criticize everything. Why can’t they just enjoy it like a second breakfast? That’s what I kept telling myself. Now when I look back after episode 7, I can’t really recall much other than the pilot and episode 6 titled Udun. Well, of course, you can’t expect the first chapter (read season) to be the most enticing one. So let’s try to close our eyes and think of the Fellowship of The Ring. I guess you can distinctly remember the tension at the Bree, the fireworks at Bilbo’s wedding, the making and undoing of Boromir, hope, and despair in Moria, and so on. Now I try to remember what I will look forward to next Friday.
Umm.. perhaps the stranger will encounter the evil trio. That would be number one.
Now for number two.
Number two?
I guess nobody else is here.
Stunning landscape visuals, great battle scenes, rumors around the strangers, and Sauron- these were the summaries of season one. They didn’t have the first two in enough quantity as well. When you hear that 700 million has been spent, you expect more. I guess that’s where it all fell apart. Expectation! You make something regarding the LOTR world, you better do it well. That’s the stake. The showrunners knew it. Amazon knew it. Still, we have a season finale that feels toothless even before it begins.
Oh, I forgot to tell you when my elvish charm broke. I guess it was after episode 6, which, in all honesty, was truthfully the best episode of the season and perhaps one of only a couple who felt justice to the lore and the world of middle earth. That shook me up and helped me see the show for what it really was. Episode 7 was maybe the worst of all. I say maybe because I watched it when I had clarity. So, zero biased feelings. Almost. I can’t say the same for the other previous episodes though. It’s just I don’t have any memorable memories of them. Just like I don’t have in Episode 7.
The elf-dwarf friendship story felt like a poorly told one, giving almost zero background and merely forming any new adventure to justify a strong bond that we saw in LOTR, even in the Hobbit! Good job with the resemblance of Hobbits with Harfoots, but very predictive and shallow storytelling in their storyline as well. Numenoreans don’t feel as intimidating as they should have been. Well, the list goes on. You know what, I don’t want to count anymore. It feels kinda exhausting. I guess I also feel sadness and frustration too.
I hope I am wrong and they provide a big punch to the gut in the season finale. No expectations this time. At least this one thing would be in their favor in this battle on Friday.
Otherwise, it feels like I am slowly turning from loving the show to un-loving it, almost how a fair elf once transformed himself into the Dark Lord.
… and in the darkness bind them.
