Jason Ott

I've read Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit yearly since middle school, and the Silmarillion many times over the decades since then as well. The Lord of the Rings movies by Jackson are at the top of my faves list, so I had high expectations for the Rings of Power: but also I had an open mind--and I loved the first two episodes. This isn't a rehash of Jackson's work, and it is using the Tolkien material (that wasn't fleshed out for the second age) as a leaping off point. It excels at this! The world is beautiful, the storytelling is initially slow-but this is the setup for a long story, so it needs to be slow, with exposition on the world and the kingdoms and people inhabiting Middle Earth at this time! The anti-woke whining is just pathetic-don't let the expanding of the Tolkein universe to reflect the diversity of the world we live in keep you from enjoying an amazing tale; the series is enriched by this, despite the cries of the Tolkein 'purists" (I doubt Tolkein himself would have any issue with the diverse cast-given the themes in his work!) The best fantasy stories reflect the world we live in! Can't wait for the next episodes!