Currently, Amazon is releasing the series The Rings of Power via the streaming service Amazon Prime. Many fans of Tolkien’s Middle-earth universe are not convinced of this. One of the showrunners is also pleased about this.
Warning, Spoiler: The following news contains spoilers for The Rings of Power and the Silmarillion.
How is the series received? The Rings of Power has a score of 70 on Metacritic based on 65 reviews. The user score, however, is only 2.9 out of a possible 10 points. On IMDb, it stands at 6.9 out of a maximum of 10. The series is thus received only mixed.
In their reviews, viewers criticize that the series does not adhere to the book template, Tolkien’s Silmarillion. On reddit, users have compiled the differences. Here are just a few examples:
- The three Rings of the Elves are forged last and by Sauron in the book. In the series, Galadriel, Elrond, and the master smith Celebrimbor take on this task.
- Sauron’s persona as Halbrand does not exist in the book.
- Galadriel’s husband Celeborn is supposedly dead in the series. In the source material, he is very much alive and not spatially separated from his wife.
Middle-earth fans are complaining about the many differences en masse via social media and also in detailed analysis videos on YouTube. One of the showrunners has now spoken about this.
Negative feedback on YouTube? We are glad to have you too.
What does the showrunner say about this? J. D. Payne, one of the two showrunners of The Rings of Power, reacted in a conversation with colleagues from The Hollywood Reporter
to this:
The fellowship had to rely on each other and those who support them and remember what they are fighting for.
And when we see that millions of people [watch the series] and respond so positively, then that is what we are fighting for. And those who watch every episode and [negatively] post about it on social media and make YouTube videos, we are glad to have you too. It wouldn’t be a journey through Middle-earth without a few trolls on the roadside.
J. D. Payne in conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, 11.09.2024
What does that mean? Basically, this means that the showrunner is happy about everyone who engages with his series. Payne specifically speaks about those who watch every episode […]
.
He presumably means to say that in order to be able to make posts and videos, everyone with a negative opinion has watched his series on Amazon Prime. This, in turn, means more views, which positively impacts Payne: series with high viewer numbers are preferred by streaming services when distributing budgets.
For J. D. Payne, therefore, everyone who watches his series is a win.
In addition to The Rings of Power, several other projects related to Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings are currently in the works. In addition to a new adaptation, there is also an anime movie in production: One of the most promising projects in the Lord of the Rings universe is actually an anime
