Most book adaptations are entitled to a little artistic liberty, and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is more provocative than most. Its first season caught plenty of flack for diverging from J.R.R. Tolkien’s written works, especially when it came to its big villain reveal. Though the Amazon prequel gave fans what they wanted and depicted the rise of Sauron, it took a very unorthodox approach to his reveal... and to his master plan. To some, The Rings of Power seemed to dig itself into a bit of a creative hole. The series has its work cut out for it in Season 2 — but as Sauron takes on a bigger role and continues his evil scheme, his premature reveal might just be The Rings of Power’s smartest choice yet.
