The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has been telling the story of the Second Age of Middle-earth since 2022, and while its fidelity to the source material has varied, it remains a positive contribution to Tolkien’s legacy overall. The show received criticism for altering Tolkien’s canon, and detractors also criticized the show’s writing. But figures paint a positive picture for The rings of powerwhich was the number one most watched show on Amazon Prime Video for two weeks after the release of season 2 and remains in the top five most watched series. It must be doing something right.
Amazon has not released detailed viewing figures but flags the highest-ranked shows on its platform (e.g. “#1 in the US“). Rings of power It’s far from perfect, but it holds up well to its competitors. Rings of power Season 2 reached 40 million viewers in 11 days over 4 episodes (via Variety). Meanwhile, House of the Dragon scored 7.8 million viewers for episode 1 and 8.1 million for episode 4 — its record for the season ( via TheWrap). Although not the clearest of comparisons, it is clear that Rings of power is a populist choice. However, the show’s appeal is much more than commercial.
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The Rings of Power changed Tolkien’s lore in multiple ways
Rings of Power is faithful but not completely
The rings of power It was a remarkably faithful adaptation in many ways, but also diverged significantly from the story that pioneering fantasy author JRR Tolkien laid out. Rings of power Adapt characters and locations directly from the appendices to The Lord of the Ringswhich has the right to apply together with the whole r Lord of the Rings And The Hobbit. The show brings never-before-seen Second Age characters like Gil-galad, Durin, Narvi and Celebrimbor to life. However, the show is compressed and scrambled The Lord of the Rings Timeline to make the pacing work.
It also embellishes the source material to create a script worthy of a compelling, dramatic five-season television show. The purpose of the show was to tell a five-time version of ​​the five-minute prologue The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Movie (by Time). For all intents and purposes, it intends to adopt The Silmarillion But would have to promote Embriser Group for rights, and may struggle. Nevertheless, both these Showrunners and the Tolkien estate were keen on a second age Silmarillion ShowSo they partnered and have been bonding ever since to balance loyalty with drama.
Tolkien wanted adaptations to maintain the spirit of his story
Tolkien discusses his views on adaptations
JRR Tolkien was very open to adaptations and, understandably, was not a fan of extensive changes to his content, but would be happy to keep it as long as the resulting adaptation was true to the spirit of his work. Tolkien’s letter to Milton Waldman in 1951 expressed his openness to adaptations:”I would draw some of ​​the great stories in full and leave … scope for other minds and hands, willing paint and music and drama.Examining Tolkien’s letters reveals how repeatedly and faithfully he worked with multiple parties to launch adaptations, but he had limits:
I would ask [Zimmerman and team] To make an effort of imagination sufficient to understand the irritation (and sometimes the resentment) of an author who finds, increasingly as he proceeds, his work treated as it would seem carelessly in general, in places carelessly, and without visible signs . From any estimate of what it is at all… the canon of narrative art in any medium cannot be entirely different; And the failure of poor films is often precisely in exaggeration, and in the intrusion of unwarranted matter due to not noticing where the heart of the original lies.
Tolkien’s strong opinions and boundaries did not stop him from negotiating and going to great lengths to try to secure partnerships, including a 1953 Hobbit Game and a BBC Lord of the Rings Radio show. This was strongly financially motivated. After all, the prospects of a university professor were no more glamorous in the 1950s than they are now. But Tolkien always found something good to say about scriptsBalanced with his criticism. Clearly, he hopes to align with someone on their vision, as long as they are “Recognizing where the heart of the original lies.“
The Rings of Power isn’t perfect, but it honors Tolkien’s key themes
The rings teach the lesson of the second age
Now, it is a matter of opinion whether or not The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power correctly noted”Where the heart of the original lies,“But it traffics in some of the most important themes in Tolkien’s work. The alien wrestles with choosing well, despite the capacity for destruction. And the show was anything but careless with Tolkien’s story. Obsessive consumers of lore could attest to the constant tie-insCallbacks and references to even the most apocryphal of Tolkien’s writings. For example, Mirdania smelt Sauron in his native form in season 2, episode 5.
From Melkor’s Rebellion to the Elvish hubris of the Second Age and the fall of Númenor, to Gollum and the Fellowship of the Ring – Lord of the Rings It was always about the dangers of getting caught for life.
Tolkien said in a letter that the “Real topic“From The Lord of the Rings was “Death and Immortality.“From Melkor’s rebellion to the Elvish hubris of the Second Age and the fall of Númenor, to Gollum and the Fellowship of the Ring – Lord of the Rings It was always about the dangers of taking a life. The pride of the elves is front and center the rings of power, And this is integral to the lesson of the second era. The more the show can juggle explaining this with pushing character development as far as it can go, the more it will succeed.
The legendarium may be too complex and contradictory to be able to provide a binary”Yes“or”No“Answer whether the show adheres to”The heart” Or not. It is probably most apt to say that, at times, the spirit of Tolkien is absolutely radiant here. And at others, it is slightly distorted, but perceptible. However, If you are looking for “signs of … appreciation of what it is … about,“Look no further. and apparently Rings of power has proven to be abundantly enjoyable for millions, regardless, and accordingly profitable for the Tolkien estate.
The Rings of Power makes the world collect Tolkien’s books
Tolkien book sales are up
The danger or misfortune of an unfaithful adaptation is that it discredits an author’s work, however The rings of power This cannot cause the problem, because it has significantly boosted sales of the author’s work. Of course, these figures are hard to verify, hard to quantify and constantly in flux. However, during week three of Rings of power season 2, The Fellowship of the Ring is Amazon’s number one best-selling literary anthologywith The Silmarillion number four, The Fall of Númenor five, The two towers seven, The return of the king Nine, and The Lord of the Rings Eleven (by Amazon best sellersfrequently updated).
This was also the case during The rings of power season 1 – The Fellowship of the Ring Rose to Amazon’s third bestseller of all categories in April 2022Followed by The HobbitAnd The two towers. Although Amazon doesn’t show historical bestsellers, numbers can be tracked through unofficial sources like The one ring And Amazon Affiliates. announced, The Silmarillion Entered this chart for the first time ever in this period. JRR Tolkien could not have adored every change in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of PowerBut at the very least, he would have appreciated the turn to his own work.
Sources: Variety, TheWrap, Time, Amazon best sellers, The one ring, Amazon Affiliates