Prime Video's Lord of the Rings spinoff The Rings of Power has been watched by tens of millions of Tolkien fans worldwide and received positive reviews from media critics, but has faced some stinging criticism online. Now, the show's creators have admitted that some of the first season "didn't work."
Much of the online criticism came from the darker corners of the internet which are angered by what some see as a diversity agenda within Hollywood. The Rings of Power added the non-white elves and humans that were largely absent from Peter Jackson's Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings film trilogy.
Showrunner J.D. Payne, speaking to Hollywood Reporter, admitted that the show had suffered from slow pacing in the early episodes, but refused to give ground to online critics: "I don’t see how people who are saying these things think that they’re fighting for good. It’s patently evil."
