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."
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As long-term Tolkien nerds, both Payne and fellow creator Patrick McKay know that this critique is not based on the original Tolkien books, which make the occasional reference to some character's skin tone and, well, leave the rest up to fantasy. Lord of the Rings based race science aside, Payne said the motivation behind these online reviews goes against the spirit of the books themselves.
“The spirit of Tolkien is about disparate peoples who don’t trust one another and look different from one another finding common ground in friendship and accomplishing big things,” the showrunner said.
"That this aspiration would be offensive to people and enrage them … it’s very hard for us to understand. What are they protecting? I don’t see how people who are saying these things think that they’re fighting for good."
Where Payne and McKay accept flack is on the success of the first half of the season, where the show did not quite live up to the epic grandeur of the Tolkien universe. McKay said:“There are things that didn’t work as well in season one that might have worked in a smaller show.
“It has to be about good and evil and the fate of the world or it doesn’t have that epic feeling you want when you’re in Tolkien.”
The showrunners hope that, as the series develops, this slow start will be forgiven as some of the show's great questions are answered. The largest being - who is Sauron?
Payne said: "Some things get an immense amount of critical acclaim and win tons of awards and are forgotten the next year.
“Conversely, some things don’t get a lot of love yet become classics being watched 60 years later. I think it’ll take a while for the dust to settle.”
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