Some quick thoughts on the first three episodes of 'The Rings of Power: Season 2'

I've been house-sitting this weekend and one of the things I've been looking after is an absolutely massive TV; well, far bigger than my plucky little telly. What better time then to get stuck into the first three episodes of the new season of 'The Rings of Power'? Nope, me neither so that's exactly what I did yesterday.

In a world where you either hate 'The Rings of Power' or will defend it to the death, I've tried to plant myself firmly in the middle. There was a lot that I didn't enjoy about Season 1 but at the same time, Amazon Prime hasn't killed Middle Earth or anything daft like that. It was a fun show, with potential, that had an unfortunate habit of being a little too verbose at times. Like someone had read 'The Silmarillion' and thought to themselves, 'that's how we tell our story...' ;o) Well, lets see if the show has moved on from that...

I'm not going to recap the episodes, this post from Reactor Mag does that far better than I could. I will try and avoid spoilers, just going for quick impressions really, but if a couple creep in, sorry about that. Right, here goes...

Episode 1: Elven Kings under the Sky

Episode 2: Where the Stars are Strange

Episode 3: The Eagle and the Sceptre

The main thing that I came away with, from these three episodes, is that 'The Rings of Power' is still taking far too long to tell its story. I believe that we're looking at another season of eight episodes. If this is the case, then we've already blown three of those on getting our players into position and this point, I wouldn't bet against at least another two episodes being more of the same. I'm also a little dubious on some the plot lines that have been included. I mean, I know that Isildur is being ramped up for something big but did we really need a chunk of 'The Eagle and the Sceptre' being about Isildur being found by his horse? Cool spiders but, even so... I'll come out and say it, 'Rings of Power' needs to remember that it's a TV show and start acting like it. You're not a book with hundreds of pages, you're a TV episode with limited time to tell your tale, use it better.

This isn't a completely negative post though. You may be surprised to hear this but there was loads to like as well, at least from where I was sat.

Charlie Vickers continues to make for a great Sauron with that innocent face of his covering all manner of traps... You really get the feeling that no-one is safe here. Sauron is not only playing his own game but he deliberately hasn't told anyone else the rules... All this is slightly tempered by the fact that we already know how this all goes in the long term. Stay in the moment though and it makes for some great television.

On a similar note, I'm also enjoying watching how the Stranger's plot-line is proceeding. Should we still be calling him 'The Stranger'? I'm leaning towards just calling him Gandalf but there's still enough uncertainty that I want to hold off for a little bit. Whoever he is... The Stranger now has enough control over his magic to be able to choose when he does it... But not quite enough to be able to control it when he does. I love the fact that he now has to make a choice, is saving the day worth potentially hurting his friends...? Hopefully we'll get more of that as the Season progresses.

And I like the fact that the Orcs have a champion of their own in Adar. I like to think that Tolkien knew the rank and file Orcs were mistreated (hence the little conversation between Shagrat and Gorbag in 'Return of the King') so it's kind of refreshing to see someone stand up for them, even if you know how it must finally work out. And the little Orc baby was quite sweet really :o)

And three episodes with no Tom Bombadil is a nice little bonus. Nothing against the actor, I just can't see the point of the character... Maybe this Season will finally prove me wrong about Tom Bombadil, we'll see ;o)

On a slightly more serious note, it's nice to see Middle Earth open up a little more with glimpses of Rhun. I wonder if we've just met a Blue Wizard...?

And finally... Is this the first time, in the history of Middle Earth, that an Eagle turns up at precisely the wrong moment?

And that's about it really, at least for now. 'The Rings of Power' is still doing the one thing that really annoyed me, from Season 1, but there's enough here to keep me interested. And to be completely honest, it's a fantasy TV show, of course I'll be watching it ;o) I'll let you know how the rest of the Season goes, as it goes...