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(Image credit: Amazon Studios)
The Rings of Power season 2is the latest in a long line of adaptations to draw heat for making changes to the source material – but I’m here to argue that this is the best way to honor J.R.R Tolkien and his works.
But, I hear you cry, how can meddling with the source material possibly be showing it respect? Well, let me explain. No one can deny that Tolkien is a legendary writer. His sprawling epic that is The Lord of the Rings saga and all its accompanying writings elevates him to immortality in the literary and cultural canon. His works have ended up pretty much on the same level as our foundational myths and fairy tales, at this point – most people’s idea of an Elf or a Dwarf is the type Tolkien wrote about, after all.
And what do people long to do with such fundamental stories? Why, reinvent them of course. Retell them, over and over, diving into them as living, breathing worlds that can be shifted and changed and played with – a realm of endless possibility, ripe for interpretation. Treating Tolkien’s works as sacred leaves them forever frozen, but seeing them as an oasis of potential – of seedlings to grow, rather than preserve – is placing Tolkien on the same level as those famous storytellers of old, which is surely where the fantasy virtuoso belongs.
Changing it up
(Image credit: Prime Video)
Of course, I’d never say thatallchanges are good or justified. Many times I’ve watched an adaptation of a book I love and practically torn my hair out at some of the decisions made. But The Rings of Power certainly isn’t one of those adaptations. In fact, some of the things that interest me most about it are inventions of the show.Galadriel’s dark bondwith her nemesisSauron, for example, is not taken from Tolkien’s work, but it’s one of the most fascinating things about Morfydd Clark’s portrayal of the character. And after all, why shouldn’t Tolkien’s figures be the subject of reinterpretation? No two adaptations of William Shakespeare or Charles Dickens are ever the same.
The conversation around adaptation and canon isn’t going away anytime soon, of course. Just recently, A Song of Ice and Fire creatorGeorge R.R. Martin took to his Not a Blog page to criticize changes made to his Fire and Blood novelinHouse of the Dragon season 2. “Ignore canon, and the world you’ve created comes apart like tissue paper,” he argued inan earlier post. Maybe it’s true that some of the show’s changes don’t quite work. But, with all the respect in the world to another titan of the genre, I would argue that the show has made some truly revelatory changes to his work, too – in fact, Martin himself has admitted as much when he said the series' version of Helaena Targaryen was better than his own (“Phia Saban’s Helaena is a richer and more fascinating character than the one I created in FIRE & BLOOD,” he wrote inanother post). Change in and of itself is not a bad thing.
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And besides, The Rings of Power’s existence doesn’t erase Tolkien’s incredible writing from the world. If you want a faithful account of The Lord of the Rings, you can just… read The Lord of the Rings. The version in your head, though, isn’t going to match the version in Tolkien’s, because that’s the very nature of storytelling. And the mark of a truly excellent story is one you want to keep retelling – and not just that, but reinterpret, reinvent, and explore. That’s the truest act of love that I can imagine.
The Rings of Power season 2 is releasing weekly on Prime Video now, and you can check out ourRings of Power season 2 release scheduleto keep up to date, or see ourRings of Power season 2 reviewfor our spoiler-free verdict on all eight episodes.
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More about lord of the rings tv shows
The Rings of Power season 2, episode 7 is the show’s version of The Two Towers – and it’s the best episode of TV released all yearThe Rings of Power season 3 has a “strong” story as showrunners give an update on writing: “We’re hoping to turn it around as fast as possible”
The Rings of Power season 2, episode 7 is the show’s version of The Two Towers – and it’s the best episode of TV released all year
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The Rings of Power season 3 has a “strong” story as showrunners give an update on writing: “We’re hoping to turn it around as fast as possible”
The Rings of Power season 3 has a “strong” story as showrunners give an update on writing: “We’re hoping to turn it around as fast as possible”
Latest26 years later, Codemasters' Chris Southall talks Colin McRae Rally: “We wanted to do something that was an authentic rally experience for the hardware of the time"See more latest►
Latest
26 years later, Codemasters' Chris Southall talks Colin McRae Rally: “We wanted to do something that was an authentic rally experience for the hardware of the time”
26 years later, Codemasters' Chris Southall talks Colin McRae Rally: “We wanted to do something that was an authentic rally experience for the hardware of the time”
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