Matthew J.P.R.

Being an avid fan of Tolkien’s LOTR universe since I was a small boy I couldn’t get behind this enough! I grew up with Fellowship and have followed all subsequent films. I’m fluent in Tolkien’s written work from the Silmarillion through LOTR & I LOVE the lore. People can be hypercritical of this show for a number of reasons like squishing a 3500 year period into one 50 hour show. However, all we have to draw on from Tolkien’s hand regarding the Second Age is some appendices that Tolkien wrote happenstance events in. I think it’s a brave choice for the production to cover the period in a streamlined manner but I admire it as there is no easily plausible way to capture thousands of years (the Second Age is precisely 3,441 years long) in a visual production that the general people will remain interested in. Just like hypercritical Star Wars fans in the face of Disney’s revival, some are making a huge issue over not having the new content be the way they want it. Again, as a lifelong lover & admirer of Tolkien’s work I LOVE this show and all the good that it does give us that we didn’t have before.