Television | The HS critic watched the second season of Amazon’s hugely expensive giant series and was pleasantly surprised

Rings of power series kicked off with a bang in 2022. Amazon put huge amounts of money into a multi-season series From Lord of the Rings. Of course it was a huge case and of course there was great suspicion about it.

The reception of the first season was divided. Tolkien fans weren’t so excited, as many things had been changed from the books. There were also problems with the narration, and even though the scenery was wonderful, for example, the costumes didn’t always look up to the budget. Many also liked the series. Towards the end, it picked up speed and offered good functional fantasy. Overall, I was a bit disappointed with the first season.

Now it’s a pleasure to say that The power rings the second season is clearly better than the first. Already with the first episodes, I found myself giving up and stopping comparing too much to the books. I surrendered to the entertaining narrative that progressed like a machine. The functional scenes follow each other at appropriate intervals, as if tapped. Swedish Charlotte Brändström directed the best episodes of the first season has directed several episodes and is making a definite mark.

Second the season is more complete and focused than the first. The narration is tighter and the atmosphere is darker.

Actually, the series is only now getting started properly. If you don’t know any The Lord of the Rings and other Tolkien and want to avoid plot revelations, skip this paragraph. Now we will see how the rings of power are made. Those who know even a little bit of Tolkien probably remember that the rings made by Sauron betray their wearers. Rings of power tells one interpretation of how this happens.

The focus is on the rings and their Lord Sauron. Almost all plots and scenes in the second season manage to be wrapped in rings. They affect human relationships, power relations and the choices of the main characters. Through the rings, Sauron is also involved in everything.

Focus is needed, because the season follows up to eight shows, depending on the calculation method.

On the first one in the period Halbrand, the man of the south, was revealed to be Sauron (Charlie Vickers). Now we first see a brief flashback of his past and after that the season follows the progression and new manifestation of his plan.

Sauron’s insidious influence is well written. Every person in the series has their contradictions. Using the rings, Sauron goes inside them and challenges their confidence. Is it about the person himself, the ring or Sauron? Charlie Vickers does a good job in a difficult dual role.

Sauron’s main counterforces are the elf Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) in addition to the Orc leader Adar (Sam Hazeldine) and the blacksmith Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards). Hazeldine, Adar’s new actress, gives a very good low-key performance, but Joseph Malwe was more soulful and multi-layered in the first season.

In Eregion, Celebrimbor forges rings. Edwards makes his Celebrimbor a bit of a goofball, an artist aware of his skills and in need of praise. Sauron infiltrates this psychology with his words and promises.

In the elven kingdom of Lindon, King Gil-Galad (Benjamin Walker) tries to keep the situation under control as the elven kingdom threatens to wither. The spiritual protagonists of the series, the elves Elrond (Robert Aramayo) and Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) disagree about whether the rings should be worn or not.

I like how seriously Clark and Aramayo put themselves into their roles. Where In Lord of the Rings Galadriel speaks with the voice of old wisdom, here she is still a rebel. He is that strong individual whose heart has a voice of wisdom and truth that is deeper than old ways and doctrines.

Mordor in the region of Arondir elf (Ismael Cruz Córdova) and Isildur (Maxim Baldry) are trying to recover from last season’s struggles. Arondir is a bit like Aragorn, an honorable forest warrior who saves others.

In the handsome dwarven kingdom of Khazad-dûm, the dwarven prince Durin (Owain Arthur) wrings the arm of his father King Durin (Peter Mullan) with about how deep it is worth digging and wonders if he should listen to his wife Disa (Sophia Nomvete) the voice of reason.

As a stranger (Daniel Weyman) named wizard wanders the two Half Poppy (Megan Richards) and Norin (Markella Kavenagh) with and searches for his identity. His personality is starting to emerge. Weyman knows how to combine bewilderment with budding wisdom. At the end of the season, it will be revealed who he really is. Before that, another “who is this?” has been replaced. -type of mystery. Such mysteries are kind of cheap, but a really fun way to give those who have read the books something more to think about.

of Númenor the island kingdom competes for the crown in a plot that was the weakest part of the series in the first season and still is. Lloyd Owen’s Apart from Elendil, the characters don’t really light up. The surprisingly low standard of the series’ costumes is most evident in the colorful robes of Númenor. They and the interior Stages do not manage to create an image of a believable culture. The visuals of the series are mostly first class.

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The visuals of the series are mostly first class.

A new character this season is Ben Daniels steady and calm Círdan Shipbuilder. He brings a much-needed voice of old certainty to elven culture.

In addition to Sauron, the season also gives Orcs screen time. Orcs have psychology and family life. They grimace as they push war machines under the command of their masters. The little ones can change the world, is one central message of Tolkien’s books. The orcs’ fate is that the little ones always get left behind.

Manuscript is relatively simple.

One revelation comes at a time and the different plots move inexorably towards one outcome. Characters and scenes from the books have been brought into the story on donkey bridges and geographical walks, the justification of which can have many opinions. They didn’t bother me.

Instead, even if I buy the whole thing outlined by the authors, I sometimes wonder for a moment how, from this departure from the books, they are going to venture back to the settings of the books. Until the next Thrilling action scene starts again.

Whatever you think about these questions, this is Central Country after all. The pictures are beautiful and impressive. And they are not only majestic, but also scaly and scaly, foggy and austere.

The season culminates like the first in a big battle. It’s bigger, flashier and more impressive. The end of the season is dramatically loud.

by Bear McCreary the melodies of the music begin to play in the mind and I begin to accept that this is the third interpretation, the third view of Middle Earth. Tolkien and by Peter Jackson in addition to the versions, we now have the Amazon version.

The authors have relegated themselves to such a background that the identity of the series is defined above all through its publisher, which focuses on the warehouse business. Money makes fantasy these days.

The Rings of Power, Prime Video.