The Rings of Power season 2 is the latest in a long line of adaptations to draw heat for making changes to the source material – but I'm here to argue that this is the best way to honor J.R.R Tolkien and his works.
Now, hear me out. I know that's something of a controversial stance. But let's take the case of the Orc baby as the most recent example of the kind of pushback the Prime Video show draws. Ardent fans on the internet expressed their displeasure with the show revealing a family of Orcs – complete with a little'un – decrying it as an unforgivable twist on Tolkien's treatment of the species. Though, not only can you find the seeds of such an idea in Tolkien's writings anyway, but expanding on the source material, in my opinion, has never been an act of desecration. Instead, the way I see it, it's another form of reverence.
