The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 1 finished just a couple of months ago, and for the most expensive television show ever made, fans have more than a few problems. Some criticisms are legitimate and must be addressed, while other complaints are unfounded and should be ignored. The showrunners J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay confirmed that audience response will impact future episodes, so changes can come as soon as the second season, which has already started filming.
With fans being loud and clear, and with a lot riding on this show, there’s a lot for the first-time showrunners to do and consider before we reach the fifth and final season. Here are what we want to see most in The Rings of Power Season 2.
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More Casting Diversity
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The Rings of Power came under heavy fire even before the first episode aired, but the worst and most unfounded was the racist backlash, which began as soon as casting was announced. Seeing actors like Lenny Henry, some said Black characters didn’t exist in Tolkien’s world and should be removed. But, Black Hobbits and Elves were seen in the first episode and throughout the whole season, and the show proved that the actors were chosen as performers and not as tokens.
The majority of the cast for the second season will be the same as the first, there will most certainly be many more characters introduced and brought from Tolkien’s vast Midde-Earth, and so plenty of opportunities for the right people to gain roles, regardless of race or color.
More of Tolkien’s Lore Needs to be Included
The first series based on Tolkien’s wonderful fantasy stayed generally true to his vision, though not so much to his canon. A beautiful foray back into Middle-Earth, every shot is a breathtaking masterpiece and every scene develops a fantastic fantasy story, though The Rings of Power is often accused of being Tolkien-inspired and not Tolkien-based. Playing fast-and-loose with many of Tolkien’s writing, the first season added much to Tolkien’s story, and disappointed many fans, as Prime Video did not use the lore they spent hundreds of millions just to buy.
The showrunners Payne and McKay confirmed that season two will be more accurate to Tolkien’s lore, as the story is set in motion and characters are set up by the first season, and we can now see everything as we know Tolkien saw Middle-Earth during the Second Age.
A Balanced Spreading of Action and Lore
The Rings of Power saw record-breaking numbers and become Prime Video’s most successful series, but many complain that the first half was slow, and the second half only got exciting after a volcano blew up everything. The show has many exciting scenes, both action and lore-wise, but there was never a balance, as entire episodes were either filled with fighting or overladen with dialogue. The second season can equally spread increased amounts of action and lore across all the episodes and satisfy viewers with every episode.
More Rings of Power Need to Appear
The titular and all-powerful Rings do not appear until the final moments of the first season’s last episode when the three Elven Rings are forged. Being there are twenty little Rings of Power in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, fans were confused for almost the entire season, wondering where they all were. We should see more of the Elven Rings in a few years when the second season comes, but there are many more to be made, especially the most important, Sauron’s One Ring to rule them all, which determines the fate of all Middle-Earth and is the central point of all Tolkien’s trilogy and Peter Jackson’s movies.
The Rings of Power also has the unique chance to show us just what these little pieces of jewelry can do. The importance of the Rings is cemented in the minds of all viewers, but their ability and power is ill-defined even by Tolkien himself. In The Rings of Power, they are meant to allow the Elves to keep living in Middle-Earth since they can’t live without the light of the Valinor from their home-realm (a big change from Tolkien lore), but what about the Rings for the dwarves and humans? Audiences want to see what else can the Rings do and how they will affect Middle-Earth.
The Ring of Power has been the success everyone knew it was going to be, but not as much as everyone hoped. There are still three more seasons after the second airs sometime in 2024, and fans still have lots to be excited about as Tolkien’s world grows on the screen.
