It’s time to admit ‘Rings of Power’ is doing Tolkien lore better than the movies

Here’s a take that could get one canceled faster than streaming platforms cancel fantasy shows after one season. Despite major departures from canon, The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power is doing Tolkien lore better than the LOTR movies.

I know. One does not simply make a statement like that. But before you point your sword, bow, and axe at me, hear me out! I am obsessed with the Peter Jackson movies, which remain the GOAT. But simultaneously, I can also accept that the trilogy altered much of what Tolkien purists would call canon. This is why it is absurd that people aren’t as open-minded about what Rings of Power is doing with its adaptation, especially as its themes are a better homage to Tolkien’s deep lore than the movies were.

The Lord of The Rings movies were not true to canon either

I have no issues with how they changed things from the books to fit the story they were trying to tell. Sure, Glorfindel was robbed when they gave Arwen the role of saving Frodo from the Nazgûl. We never got Tom Bombadil. Additionally, while book-Aragorn proudly owned his lineage as the heir of Isildur and worked towards claiming his birthright, movie-Aragorn’s internal struggle made the story more effective for non-readers. Even something as basic as timeline crunching, where Frodo didn’t have to wait for 17 years for Gandalf to return and confirm the truth about Bilbo’s ring made sense when you realize it’s impossible to depict Tolkien’s elaborate timelines.

As such, some of the most redundant criticism against The Rings of Power not sticking to canonical portrayals of characters and compressing timelines (like Númenor’s political upheaval happening at the same time as the siege of Eregion and the War of the Elves and Sauron) need to be dismissed, as it makes the show’s storytelling more effective. As for how in touch it is with the lore? Let’s get into it.

The Rings of Power may deviate from canon but it is still grounded in lore

Since season 1, the portrayal of Galadriel as a warrior and commander of Gil-galad’s northern armies (and the absence of her husband Celeborn) has bugged many Tolkien purists. They hated that Galadriel went to Númenor and tangled with Sauron and that the elven rings were forged before the other rings. They’ve also spoken out against Annatar being present at the siege of Eregion instead of Sauron attacking Eregion after having forged the One Ring and learning of Celebrimbor’s betrayal. Then, of course, there is the biggest digression of them all: why was an Istar that looked suspiciously like Gandalf on Middle-earth as early as the Second Age, and traveling to Rhún?

The more Rings of Power built on its mythology, the more critical Tolkien fans disliked it. The Stoors never lived in the desert; they were riverfolk! Sauron as shapeless black goo is stupid—he was a powerful Maia! And Sauron could never have seduced Galadriel and their relationship could never have romantic undertones because Galadriel was married to Celeborn and had a daughter!

However, what is often overlooked in these parroted criticisms and rigid adherence to canon is that The Rings of Power borrows heavily from Tolkien’s writings, especially his many obscure drafts of different timelines, events, and character arc suggestions. The lore was confusing in many places, and even his son, Christopher Tolkien, who compiled and completed some of his father’s works, admitted in books like Unfinished Tales that there was no definitive version for many of the stories. For example, yes, the wizards only arrived in Middle-earth in the Third Age. But there were some writings in which Tolkien wrote they could’ve arrived in the Second Age too.

The Rings of Power teases out different interpretations that are still rooted in Tolkien’s writing

Tolkien never really details what happened with the dwarven rings of power other than they amplified their greed. Nor does he write much about Rhûn or what Sauron was up to in those long periods that he’d disappear from action, like after the fall of Morgoth and after the One Ring was cut off from his finger by Isildur. It’s all about filling in the gaps with imagination to tell an engaging story. So when The Rings of Power chooses to fill these gaps with an interesting interpretation and some new, original characters like Adar, inspired by Tolkien’s tidbits about the First and Second Ages, it’s a fantastic expansion of the story while still respecting the lore.

Take the character of Arondir, the Silvan elf, for example, who is the most Tolkien-esque elf there ever was. His scenes are steeped in deep reverence of trees and nature, and the scene with the Entwife in season 2 is so unquestionably and movingly Tolkien, it’s impossible to understand how there’s is still any criticism of his character. It’s hard to see it as anything but racial profiling of an actor of color. Much about the trees, the elves, and the ents wasn’t a part of the LOTR movies, but Rings of Power makes excellent use of its format to slow down and bring you these themes that were present but not as pronounced in Jackson’s interpretation.

Similarly, Tolkien has indicated in multiple instances that Galadriel, whose mother called her Nerwen (meaning man-maiden) was of Amazonian build and would often participate in athletic feats, defeating other elves. So why would it be hard to believe that she was a warrior who could be a commander of an elven army? Sauron killed her brother Finrod, and knowing the Noldor elves’ inclination towards revenge, is it that baseless to believe Galadriel would take up arms against her brother’s killer and become obsessed with her dark mission when she was still much younger, only to have these wars and experiences shape her into the wise Lady of Light that she eventually becomes? Tolkien may not have explicitly written this version of her, but he certainly planted the seeds.

Every time an adaptation changes something from the source, it is fair to question if the changes were merited and how much they play by the rules of the author’s creation. By compressing thousands of years of timelines and depicting the fall of Númenor at the same time as Sauron’s deception and Gandalf’s arrival, TROP orchestrates a collective fall of the races of Middle-earth while a chosen few heroes rise and a true emissary of the Valar arrives. The fall and salvation begin simultaneously, in a battle of wills between good and evil. That is absolutely in line with Tolkien’s writing.

The dark romance twist to Sauron and Galadriel’s relationship, where the Dark Lord is constantly trying to seduce the Lady of Light into becoming his queen toes the line quite a bit. And yet, it still falls within the realm of interpretation of what is in the books. Galadriel does talk about Sauron always trying to claw his way into her mind, even though the door was shut. Creating a different interpretation from this obsession of his also raises the stakes and builds on these characters’ lore to make them more interesting. Charlie Vickers’ portrayal of Sauron and his chemistry with Morfydd Clark’s Galadriel and Charles Edwards’ Celebrimbor has been phenomenal. I can say I understand Sauron much better than before.

It is easy to settle for textbook versions of iconic characters like Sauron, Elrond, and Elendil, but that would make them appear impenetrable and untouchable, as they did in the LOTR movies. The way Rings of Power imbues them with flaws and grounds their epic stories in human moments brings us closer to these characters. The friendship between Elrond and Durin isn’t merely a deeper insight into the psyche of elves and dwarfs but also lends history to Elrond speaking harshly of dwarfs during the Council in Fellowship of The Ring. Elrond and Durin’s relationship also draws a beautiful parallel to Legolas and Gimli’s camaraderie.

Then there’s Tom Bombadil, a fascinating character from Tolkien’s Legendarium we never fully understand. Tolkien disliked allegory, as is evident in his letters, so the only way to understand this character is to interpret him within the bounds of the story. Like Galadriel, Elrond, or Gandalf, this Bombadil could also not yet be the Bombadil we know. I like the possibility that he was waiting for someone—like the Istari—to arrive, to whom he could entrust the right guidance before he takes a complete backseat and lets the young folks figure out the rest.

The Rings of Power isn’t concerned with being literal, and that’s a good thing

The Rings of Power isn’t a literal adaptation of the lore. But the spirit of Tolkien flows through it, often like the clever, layered cues of Bear McCreary’s magnificent music, for those willing to open their eyes, ears, and minds to listen. There are obvious nods and details embedded in the series that should delight those who love Tolkien. From the way Galadriel puts up her hair in braids during battle to the namedropping of First Age legends; from the shrine of the Vala Nienna in Númenor that Kemen destroys to an original character like Adar the Moriondor, who sounds like an amalgamation of many First Age elves … the lore is everywhere, just waiting to be mined.

It might not all be ‘canon’, but they are born of seeds sown by Tolkien in his many writings, giving us an infinitely richer understanding of Tolkien’s message than the movies could. There’s also the fact that The Lord of The Rings was a completely written novel while the tales of the First and Second Ages have to be pieced together from the scattered writings of the author. You’d have to read The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, Children of Húrin, The Fall of Gondolin and Númenor, and The History and Peoples of Middle-earth, along with the appendices of LOTR to truly grasp every possible version of what Tolkien imagined this mythology to be.

To have events of the First and Second Age depicted on screen and have non-readers Google who ‘Melian the Maia’ is, see Isildur as more than the guy who fumbled the One Ring, and try to understand the concept of ósanwë now that Sauron has stabbed Galadriel with Morgoth’s crown, warms the heart of a Tolkien nerd. Do not worry about insulting the lore. The lore is alive and well and spreading!