Keith A Miller

Rings of Power suffers from trying to simultaneously appeal to Tolkien fans and a global audience unversed in his lore. The "twist" reveal of Sauron's disguise in the season 1 finale was no surprise to Tolkien fans (in fact, it was cringingly underwhelming) due to the proliferation of clues dropped all season. These clues were well documented throughout season and accessible online to any casual viewer who had a free hour of curiosity. This underwhelming finale reveal wouldn't have been so bad if the entire first season weren't solely leading up to this "shocker" that wasn't. And it could have been more easily forgiven if the forging of the Elven Rings were portrayed in the familiar way Tolkien had depicted it - in secret, after Sauron/Annatar had taught them his secrets, helped them forge the 16 rings of Dwarves and Men, and departed their company - and not as the result of his direct aid. I was personally hoping for an unanticipated twist on the Sauron reveal in Episode 8, but no - the Bad Guy was really "hiding" in plain view all along, just as Tolkien fans could guess from the outset. Ultimately, the only suspense in this show lies in the unfortunate fact that this series departs significantly from the source material, so nobody really knows what to expect. I am left with the conclusion that this series is in the hands of substandard storytellers, who are evidently catering more to a global audience of casual viewers rather than to Tolkien fans. The result is a show that is not a faithful telling of Second Age events.