Michael Arrowood

I love what I've seen of "The Rings of Power" so far. The cinematography is beautiful, the CGI fits in well, and the characters are compelling. I wasn't drawn into the early hype at all, just decided to watch the first two episodes on a whim (while dusting off my copies of "The Silmarillion" and the Appendices to "The Lord of the Rings"). And I was blown away by what a pleasure these shows are to watch. Lots of mystery amidst all the scenery, and several story arcs developing all at once. I've seen some comments bemoaning the lack of a clearly defined "quest" here - but this isn't "The Lord of the Rings," it's roughly 5,000 years earlier. There are plenty of stories to tell about the Second Age. The $1 billion price tag for the series seems incredible, but where all that money went is previous clear. The real miracle is how this series is bringing the Second Age of Tolkien's sparse prose to life and fleshing out a story that would otherwise never have existed. It won't all be canon, but in my opinion it is capturing the essence of Tolkien's fantasy world. Very much anticipating upcoming episodes!