Three Seasons in September
Hopes for the just-confirmed Season 3 of Rings of Power.
“This is NOT what I had in mind releasing for this week.” Longtime followers may remember that as how I began my essay discussing the first teaser for Rings of Power’s Season 2, way back in May of last year when the world was so different. But it still applies for what you’re about to read here. In truth, I had no idea what exactly I was going to release this week, if even I was going to release anything at all; between my work for my ongoing Masters’ program, my ADHD, and some personal issues, my output for Tales in general, and for this Substack in particular, has been much less this year than I had hoped.
But I finally do have something to write about. And it’s pretty big. On Thursday, February 13, Amazon MGM Studios released the following graphic on their social media pages:
And a few minutes later, echoing some official reporting from The Hollywood Reporter, we got this from the show’s designated social media accounts:
I had started writing this essay when the news first broke on February 13, but then I kinda had to let it lie for a couple of weeks as the deadline for the final paper of my current course in my Masters’ program unexpectedly came upon me. I did pretty well on that, gaining a 94% and bumping my overall grade up a full letter. Of more relevance to you all, that also gave me time to receive two new pieces of news. First, on March 26, a friend forwarded me a screenshot with the following piece of news from the FTIA:
Then, later on that same day, Variety released a report, later confirmed by other trades and by Amazon itself, that Season 3 has its first new cast members in Jamie Campbell Bower and Eddie Marsan, both of whom are experienced actors with solid careers and appearances in a few previous franchises and blockbusters.
First of all: praise the Lord, Season 3 is officially happening!
On the one hand, this is expected, for most of us (some analysts like Grace Randolph were a bit surprised; they really shouldn’t have been). The deal that Amazon reached with the Tolkien Estate calls for five seasons of television, and any attempt to break that deal would trigger an incredibly messy legal battle. Moreover, Seasons 1 and 2 have both been critically and commercially successful, even if Season 2 did suffer a bit in viewership towards its second half; this is no flop, and is something that Jeff Bezos can still pay good money for. At the same time, the news is welcome. You may remember that Season 2 was announced before Season 1 had even aired, and filming began while Season 1 was still airing (I believe it was around Episode 6 or 7). This time, however, the announcement comes four months after Season 2 had wrapped. While there had been unofficial confirmations that Season 3 would be happening (casting calls, announcement of a writer’s room, logistics, repeated assurances from showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McCay that they were actively writing Season 3), the lack of anything official from Amazon was killing us fans and giving fertile ground for haters. Not anymore; the season is announced, and it is happening, no matter what some hatemongering rage-baiter on Youtube or Twitter might say. We can all breathe a sigh of relief.
A few other points of interest to note.
It should come as no surprise that Charlotte Brandstrom and Sanaa Hamri are returning as directors; they are responsible for the two episodes most well received by critics and fans, “Halls of Stone” and “Doomed to Die.” For that matter, Charlotte’s promotion to executive producer should also not be a surprise; she directed fully half of Season 2, and is responsible for the two best-received episodes of Season 1, “Udun” and “The Eye”, and there are unconfirmed reports that she stepped in to shepherd the show in post-production while McCay and Payne were sidelined for the WGA strike. Conversely, Louise Hooper, who co-directed “The Eagle and the Sceptre” and “Eldest” is gone, replaced by Stefan Schwartz of Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead; scheduling conflicts, or an acknowledgement that those episodes were the worst-received of the season?1 I can see either or both happening.
It’s fascinating that we already have a plot synopsis for Season 3, and filming hasn’t even started yet. Last time, we didn’t get a synopsis for Season 2 until the teaser was released. This is a promising sign and shows that McPayne have not been idle; indeed, they have probably been working at least on story ideas ever since Season 2 finished filming.
A time-skip is interesting, and poses great opportunities but also some real risks. On the one hand, some aspects are more promising. Poppy (Megan Richards) and Merimac (Gavi Singh Chera) might have married during this time years and have a beautiful halfling child or two. Pelargir might be a fully functioning city, and Numenor might be fully militarized. Gamli and Gerda, Durin IV (Owain Arthur) and Disa's (Sophia Nomvete) could be teenagers now; this ties nicely with how FoF was reporting that there was a casting call for teenagers who could play the offspring of a Scotsman and an African; Elrond (Robert Aramayo) can be lord of a newly-built Rivendell; and Sauron (Charlie Vickers) might be making good progress on building Barad-Dur. But on the one hand, what does this mean for a few of the loose ends that we have from the S2 finale? Like Elendil (Lloyd Owen) riding to reunite with Anarion, Isildur (Maxim Baldry) on his way home, Miriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) on trial for her life, or Durin having to fight for the throne against a mystery brother whom we've never seen before? What exactly have Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) and Olorin (Daniel Weyman) been doing all this time? And should we be worried about people with shorter lifespans than Elves and Numenoreans, such as Nori (Markella Kavenaugh) or Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin)?
Speculation about the roles Jamie Campell-Bower and Eddie Marsan will be playing is vigorous; unlike for its other big fantasy franchise, The Wheel of Time, Amazon didn’t announce whom they would be playing. It is pretty well-accepted that Marsan will probably be playing a Dwarf, perhaps even that mystery brother of Durin’s. Campbell-Bower on the other hand? The book is well and truly open. Celeborn, Galadriel’s long-lost and long-expected husband? Glorfindel, the legendary Elven warrior of the Elder Days who died fighting a Balrog but was sent back around this time, and whose role in The Fellowship of the Ring Arwen ended up filling in the movies (that’s a whole other conversation)? Anarion, the brother of Isildur and co-king of Gondor until his death during the War of the Last Alliance? Some other role? Who’s to say?
If the information from FTIA is accurate, I guess that’s when we can expect filming to begin. It makes sense; several of the cast such as Morfydd, Charlie, Maxim and Lloyd Owen are busy with other projects until mid-March, as is composer Bear McCreary. I’m not sure how long it took to film Season 2; if memory serves, it started in mid-September of 2022 and lasted until either May or June of 2023, so 8-9 months. With that timeframe in mind, I would expect filming for Season 3 to last at least until October, at most until December. It’ll be close, but I think Amazon can still aim for, and expect to hit, a release around the Labor Day weekend of 2026; that weekend has proven extremely lucrative for both Seasons 1 and 2, and I expect it would be so again. Any earlier would result in a rushed job; and later, and the season would have to clash with the lead-up to what is almost certainly going to be a turbulent midterm election cycle here in the United States (thankfully the show has a broad, international audience, but the US is still a major market that Amazon needs to factor into its calculations).
At the end of the day, though, at this point, what Galadriel told Theo in S1E7 holds true: “What cannot be known hollows the mind. Fill it not with guesswork.” At this point, we don’t know all that much about how Season 3 will work, how this time jump will happen and what it actually means for the characters and the storylines. All we can do for now is wait and see and hope.
But that doesn’t mean we can’t hope, about things we want to see in Season 3. Everyone who loves this show has their hopes. Some people are desperately hoping that Galadriel and Sauron (Charlie Vickers) actually do becomes secret lovers, despite everything Seasons 1 and 2 have shown us and Morfydd and Charlie have said in interviews; others want Numenor to take center stage, after being introduced in Season 1 but getting sidelined in Season 2; still others want the Halflings to be completely erased from the narrative. With all that in mind, here are a few things that I hope we will see in Season 3; some of them you may well share, my dear readers, and some of them you may have never thought of before.
An explicit reference to Tevildo
Back when I was first planning this essay, I was going to say something about “Sauron finally forging the One” but that has been taken care of. Looking forward to it. But one other point about him that I will bring up is something I hope he or the show does: namely, I hope that he turns into a black cat at some point, or at the very least has a scene with a black cat. Almost from the beginning, Charlie Vickers has evoked the good name of Tevildo, the monstrous black cat who in the first versions of the legendarium basically filled Sauron’s role as Morgoth’s chief lieutenant. Turning into a cat would not be out of character for Sauron, and well within his power; in Season 2, he took on no less than six different forms, and during his duel with Galadriel he changed his shape three times in as many minutes to throw her off balance and gain some breathing room. What’s more, Tevildo is actually canon within Rings of Power’s subcreation of Tolkien; at one point in December, during the most recent media tour, Morfydd suggested that one of the reasons Annatar so hated Mirdania (Amelia Kenworthy) patting him on the shoulder was that it reminded him of Morgoth stroking his black cat, and Charlie agreed.
Of course, the rights issues can be thorny, and although the show has been able to pull off some truly remarkable feats on that score, all of them (such as explicitly referencing “Annatar”, a name that does not actually appear in the Appendices or the text of the Trilogy) have been done in the service of a specifically Second Age story. Tevildo not only doesn’t appear in the Second Age, he only appears in a really, really early draft of the story of Beren and Luthien; although he does shapeshift while fighting the heroic wolfhound Huan of Valinor, he only changes into a wolf and a serpent, not a cat. So that would be a really obscure lore reference that doesn’t actually bear directly on the story of the Second Age. Much like many of the names of the Valar; famously, in Season 1 Arondir (Ismael Cruz Cordova) could only refer to Yavanna via euphemisms, and in Season 2 a shrine to Nienna could only be inferred as being dedicated to her via its use. But there are workarounds, and I hope the showrunners find a way. If Season 5 ends and we have not seen even so little as Sauron seated on a throne stroking a black cat, like a Middle-earth Blofeld, then we should consider ourselves robbed.
Of course, perhaps this is something that can wait until Season 4, when Sauron is well and truly ensconced as the power behind the throne of Numenor. My next point, however, cannot wait that long.
Galadriel to resume her rightful place as Sauron’s “chief obstacle and adversary”
Love it or hate it (and I’ve seen both in equal measure, although the love category is slightly edging out the hate one with time), Galadriel is the series’ protagonist and heroine. It’s through her eyes that we saw the beauty of Valinor and the horror of the Wars of Beleriand in the prologue; she is the one who has been established as Sauron’s opposite, his foil and rival; Season 1 was in no small measure structured around her hero’s journey, and Season 2 gave her some of the most inspirational moments. So it was a bit disconcerting to see that, throughout Season 2, she ended up being sidelined to a certain extent by the narrative in favor of a near-myopic focus on the relationship between Sauron and Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards).
To a certain extent, this was unavoidable. Not only did Season 2 focus on the forging of the remaining Rings of Power for Dwarves and Men, for which this dynamic is important, but Charles Edwards needed an opportunity to show what he could do with the role. You may remember that he was initially cast somewhat at the last minute, after a different actor named William Budge didn’t work out for some reason; that necessitated reshoots under Covid restrictions that ended up gutting Celebrimbor’s arc in Season 1. So Season 2 was essentially the first time we were properly meeting and seeing Charles as Celebrimbor, and to his credit he used the spotlight well to make the role his own. Having said all that…it’s still unfortunate that Celebrimbor’s greatness this season came, to an extent, at Galadriel’s expense. Especially given how the marketing and interviews leading up to the season gave the impression that Galadriel’s status as a warrior, a ringbearer, and Sauron’s enemy would be at least as important as the dynamic between Sauron and Celebrimbor. And that…did not end up being the case. This is something that many people noticed as the season progressed, not just the small section of the fandom that desperately wants Galadriel and Sauron to be lovers. It’s an unfortunate irony that Episode 7, depicting the majority of the Siege of Eregion and some of Galadriel’s strongest material all season, ended up benching her for a good 20 minutes, and in what I consider a rather traumatic fashion.
But that was all in the past. Celebrimbor is dead now, and the season finale finally showcased Galadriel as the lead protagonist and as Sauron’s great enemy. The final scene is pregnant with symbolism and hope, not only for our heroes in general, but for those of us who love Galadriel and who feel like she was sidelined this season. And the upcoming season has the potential to continue this trend. The War of Sauron and the Elves is continuing, and even as she was robed in white Galadriel still wore her breeches and boots from her ranging outfit and was hailed by Arondir as “Commander”; it is unthinkable that she will not take a central role in the Elves’ continued resistance to the rise of Sauron. She has passed through the valley of the shadow twice now, and is in a prime position to be a voice of encouragement and comfort for others, especially Elrond (more on that below). Her long-expected reunion with her long-lost husband Celeborn, something Morfydd is really excited for, (again, more on that below) would fit perfectly into her story at this point. And that Sauron is finally forging the One presents a chance for her to once again show her quality, as she has to make a choice between relying on Nenya and thus opening herself up to attack in the Unseen Realm, or being willing to take it off and trust in her own strength and goodness. There is plenty of opportunity and potential for Galadriel this season. And, since Sauron is probably not going to be taken as a hostage to Numenor until the end of the season, the show would be foolish to “waste” her, as it somewhat did this past season.
Elrond to not become his movie version
One of the shining jewels of Season 1 was Robert Aramayo’s depiction of Elrond not as he was in the original trilogy of films, but as he actually was in the books. Instead of a grumpy, passive-aggressive approximation of Thingol from the Elder Days, we actually saw an Elrond who was “wise as a wizard…kind as summer.” We didn’t see him “strong as a warrior” then, but we did see that in Season 2…along with a harsher, more puritanical and paranoid side of his character that didn’t sit well with many fans of his Season 1 portrayal. Thankfully, that side mostly evaporated by Episode 7 as he finally made peace and reconciled with his estranged platonic bestie Galadriel. But there is a huge risk of that side returning. We saw from Episode 4 all the way to the finale a singleminded obsession with saving Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) from disaster, for apparently his father Earendil had foreseen that Celebrimbor’s life would be in Elrond’s hands. Not only did that not happen, Elrond didn’t even have the chance to say goodbye to him. And not only did Celebrimbor die, but his entire city was destroyed along with all its centuries of lore and wisdom, art and beauty. For a nerd and bookworm like Elrond, who moreoever had taken upon himself the duty of saving Eregion, that loss must hurt, and he probably blames himself; indeed, while Galadriel, Gil-galad (Benjamin Walker) and Arondir are hopeful and inspirational in the final scene of Season 2, Elrond is visibly starting to retract in on himself. Perhaps that will form part of his character arc in Season 3. Maybe the founding of Rivendell will be able to give him new hope and purpose; perhaps Galadriel can be there for him as he has been for her on two separate occasions. That could easily work, so long as Elrond’s sorrows don’t trigger a long-term transformation into the “cynical” or “jaded” movie version. And there’s a distinct danger of that happening; in at least three separate interviews, showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McCay have used those exact words in describing their long-term plans for Elrond, and how he is “halfway” on his journey to becoming the movie version. This would be a huge mistake. And many of us are hoping that this doesn’t end up happening.
Cirdan to have a much bigger role
When it was officially reported by IGN that Ben Daniels would be portraying Cirdan the Shipwright, the oldest and wisest of all the Elves, the news was hailed with joy among a fandom that had never seen him in live-action before. And when we all saw him in the first two episodes of Season 2, he did not disappoint; he was nearly perfect. There was just one problem: after Episode 2, we never saw him again all season. Not even in the finale, as Elrond and Gil-galad brought Nenya and Vilya together to heal Galadriel of the deadly wound inflicted by Morgoth’s crown; considering that it took those two rings plus Narya, Cirdan’s Ring, to heal the Great Tree of Lindon in the pilot, it would have been perfectly appropriate to have them there as well. What’s more, IGN reported that he would be acting as a mentor to Elrond; ultimately that ended up being something of a damp squib in my opinion, since Elrond did not internalize his wise council and repented of his pride more thanks to his suppressed fraternal love for Galadriel breaking free. And Cirdan’s role as a shipbuilder and veteran of the Wars of Beleriand and Gil-galad’s foster-parent (probably the only thing about Gil-galad’s parentage that we know for sure) was never touched on; and aside from a smile and nod to Galadriel in the pilot, his role as her ally and friend of centuries was also barely touched upon. So he too will need a bigger role in Season 3, as both a military commander in the War and as a Ringbearer. Especially the latter; once Sauron forges the One, he too will have a choice to make, just like Galadriel and Gil-galad. We need more to work with regarding him, to the point that we can accept that he has “earned” his spot as one of Gil-galad’s seconds in the final duel against Sauron in Season 5; and we can’t wait that long, especially since Season 4 is probably going to be heavily focused on the Fall of Numenor.
Celeborn to finally appear
“Celeborn was his name. We met in a glade of flowers; I was dancing and he saw me.” It’s only for about two minutes, but the scene in Season 1 of Galadriel sharing her memories of Celeborn with Theo is truly one of the most romantic in the whole show, right along with the interactions of Arondir and Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi), or Durin and Disa, or Elendil and Miriel. I would go so far as to say that it was even more romantic than any of her scenes with Halbrand. She was happy, she was at peace, she took comfort in those memories; her face softened, her cheeks dimpled, and her eyes sparkled in a way that they just didn’t with any other character. All this for a character whom we haven’t even met yet, imagine how much more romantic and poignant Galadriel’s reunion with Celeborn will be! Because although that scene is laced with sadness (for Galadriel believes that Celeborn died in the Wars of Beleriand) we the viewers know that Celeborn isn’t dead. For one thing, one of the conditions Christopher Tolkien exacted from Amazon before he died and production began was that no character who survives into the time of The Lord of the Rings can be killed off prematurely; for another, it’s a good rule of thumb that’s held true so far in the show that if we don’t see a dead body, the person in question isn’t actually dead; then we still need to have Celebrian, their daughter and Elrond’s future wife, be born, since the showrunners have told us that this hasn’t happened yet; and finally, they have promised him to us at some point.
And Season 3 would be the best time to finally bring him in from the cold. Although many of us appreciate that Galadriel has been given the chance to grow as a person independent of her husband these past two seasons, the decision to sideline Celeborn is not without its issues; for one thing, we almost certainly wouldn’t have Haladriel shipping, which by now is sometimes being carried to absurd degrees. Galadriel has passed through the valley of the shadow twice and has emerged stronger, but nobody can endure what she has endured without dealing with some negative side effects. She will need love and support to continue her healing process; ordinarily Elrond would be there for her, but he’s almost certainly going to be dealing with his own issues. Although Gil-galad’s relationship with her is much stronger now than it was even at the beginning of Season 2, it’s still a relatively correct and formal one between a King and one of his principal generals; there’s potential for Cirdan to be there for her, but it’s been barely even touched upon. Celeborn is right there, or he will be once he shows up, and he would be perfect as her lover, her strong right hand, her “emotional support elf”, somebody to love her unconditionally and support her both in the external war with Sauron and her continuing internal growth and healing. And there’s also no need to worry (or hope, as I’ve unfortunately seen in some cases) that Celeborn’s arrival will result in Galadriel’s reduction, at least not if the show sticks to a “lore-accurate” version of their relationship, where it was clear that Galadriel was the one who wore the pants in that marriage. Any later than Season 3, and he will feel tacked-on and fan-servicy, and we won’t have the chance to fall in love with Galadriel and Celeborn’s relationship the way we do Durin and Disa’s.
So if we are going to finally see Celeborn: who should play him? Before Jamie Campbell-Bower was cast, the list of possibilities was endless. Dan Stevens, who actually starred alongside Morfydd as Charles Dickens to her Kate in The Man Who Invented Christmas; Sam Heughn, fresh off of Jamie Fraser in Outlander; my personal suggestion would actually be Alexander Dreymon, Uhtred of Bebbanburg in Netflix’s adaptation of Bernard Cornwell’s Saxon Stories, The Last Kingdom. But with Jamie’s casting, a lot of speculation has zeroed in on him. And I can see it. He looks Elven, and if you squint not too hard he can pass for a younger Marton Csokas who portrayed him in the movies; he’s not too much older or younger than Morfydd; and he can even sing, as we know from his role in 2007’s musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. This opens the wonderfully romantic possibility of a duet with Morfydd, who can also sing, as we know from her roles in 2016’s Love and Friendship and 2017’s Interlude in Prague. I’m definitely warming up to this casting choice, as opposed to some of the other roles that he has been suggested for. Ultimately, who plays Celeborn will depend on how the chemistry tests with his actor and Morfydd go; which, given the excellent chemistry Morfydd has with almost everyone, should not be a problem.
The last two members of the House of Elendil to make their appearance
While we’ve only heard from Elendil, Isildur, and Earien (Ema Horvath), and we know that Elendil had a wife who drowned saving child Isildur, there is one more member of that family that we need to meet: Anarion, younger brother of Isildur. Most famous for getting his head crushed by a flying projectile during the Siege of Barad-Dur, if we read between the lines his role is so much more. He and Isildur ruled jointly as Kings of Gondor for nearly 60 years after the Faithful washed up in Middle-earth; after his death, Isildur planted a sapling of the White Tree in Minas Anor specifically in his memory, and named his son Meneldil as King of Gondor; his memory was so strong, in a time of crisis the lords of Gondor looked to a distant scion of his line to assume the throne rather than a direct descendent of Isildur; and in the books, it is he who is on the Argonath with Isildur, not Elendil. And we haven’t seen him in any filmed adaptation; Peter Jackson completely erased him from the movies, which has ripple effects for both Isildur and Aragorn’s characterizations. Thankfully he does exist in Rings of Power: in Season 1 he was something of a problem child, inspiring Isildur to daydream of Numenor in its days of bliss rather than buckle down and focus on being an upstanding citizen (although we know now that Isildur was also grappling with the trauma of his mother’s death and being worthy of her sacrifice); and in Season 2, Elendil plans to reunite with him and probably work with him to raise the Faithful in resistance against the usurper Pharazon (Trystan Gravelle). So, time-jump permitting, Season 3 is the perfect time to finally meet him.
Who should portray him? As mentioned above, there is some speculation that Jamie Campell-Bower will. But the arguments against that are fairly strong. Campell-Bower is honestly too old, a good eight years older than Maxim Baldry, and Anarion was Isildur’s younger brother. Also, he doesn’t look like Maxim, Lloyd Owen, or Ema Horvath in the slightest. I’d argue against him filling this role. Instead, I’m going to break my own rule about not getting too invested in fancasting to offer one: Harry Digby, who portrayed Athelstan (Alfred the Great’s grandson who, at the great Battle of Brunanburh, finally realized his dream of a united England) in the last season of The Last Kingdom and its “reunion special”, Seven Kings Must Die. He’s the perfect age, only about five years younger than Maxim; he could easily be Lloyd Owen’s son; and his performance of Athelstan is a perfect resume for. I don’t see anyone talking about this possibility, and I find that exceedingly strange; if his schedule permits, I hope that Amazon takes a look at him.
There’s also a possibility of meeting Amandil, Elendil’s father; after all, he was name-dropped in Season 2. And part of me truly hopes we do. The interactions between Amandil and Elendil are some of the most poignant parts of the Akallabeth (the section of The Silmarillion dealing with the history of Numenor), and their final parting as Amandil undertakes a desperate intercessory mission to Valinor on behalf of the Faithful is one of the more heart-wrenching moments in the whole book. That sort of father-son dynamic is gold for any adaptation, and it’s a mine that Rings of Power is uniquely suited to tap into; in Elendil, Arondir, Largo Brandyfoot, Prince Durin, even Adar (Joseph Mawle in Season 1, Sam Hazeldine in Season 2) and King Durin III (Peter Mullan) we have some of the most positive depictions of fathers in any modern television show, and their relationships with their children, sometimes fraught and tragic (especially Adar’s with his orcs) are some of the show’s best moments. And there are any number of elder British thespians who could ace the role. But I can see why the show would prefer to cut its losses and not want to add in yet another character. Especially since, as we saw this past season, just because a beloved character like Cirdan or to a lesser extent Tom Bombadil is added to the mix, they haven’t always been executed with justice. And with some tweaks, Amandil’s intercessory role could always be filled in by Miriel. Time will tell.
A longer season
I’ve already touched upon how Galadriel got sidelined to an extent, owing to how Season 2 chose to zero in on Sauron and Celebrimbor’s dynamic. But Galadriel’s story wasn’t the only one that got this treatment. Every single storyline that wasn’t directly related to Sauron, Celebrimbor, and the forging of the Rings suffered to an extent. The Dwarves did best, holding strong until the very end, and being able to survive even the anticlimactic arrival of the Dwarvish army to the relief of Eregion and the sudden reveal of a mystery brother of Durin. Pelargir and Rhun, on the other hand, were extremely front-loaded, with all the good stuff happening at the very beginning and the bottom completely falling out from under them around Episode 6; it’s kind of a wonder that the finale wrapped up these storylines as well as it did. Meanwhile, Numenor’s introduction in Episode 3 felt incredibly lackluster, in stark contrast to our first meeting the island kingdom in Season 1; and while later in the season the Numenor storyline had some excellent stuff, it never could shake off a general sense of cursory treatment and disconnectedness from the main narrative. Honestly, Numenor this season felt like some of the criticism directed toward the Harfoot storyline. So clearly, whatever the truth there is to the claim I’ve seen that Galadriel was nerfed in Season 2 in response to negative reaction to her character in Season 1 from focus groups,2 that can’t explain why all the other storylines also suffered.
You know what does explain it, though? The length of the season. 8 episodes is simply too short for a heavy, packed season of epic fantasy television. Game of Thrones understood this, at least for the first six seasons; so too did Rings of Power’s otherwise inferior peer-competitor, House of the Dragon, at least for its first season.3 Even Rings of Power understood this initially. The initial plan was for season 1 to have 10 episodes, enough raw material was shot for that, but as far as I can tell the decision was then made just before post-production began to shrink it down to 8; whether the decision came from McPayne or from Amazon, I don’t know. This decision did end up hurting Season 1 to a certain extent; even though overall the storylines were much better balanced than they were in Season 2, some individual characters definitely suffered, and the placement of events resulted in some jarring tonal shifts. But overall, given the overall “lower” stakes and worldbuilding of the season, the effects weren’t so negative. Season 2 on the other hand was hurt by this. Badly. The story kicking into full gear this season really needed more time to allow the various storylines to truly breathe. All of them, not just Sauron’s manipulation of Celebrimbor. And 8 episodes simply was too short an amount of time for this to happen. I sincerely hope that, given the long time that they’ve had to write Season 3 as they’ve waited for official confirmation, McPayne have taken this into account and that Amazon will give them the time they need.
A return to Season 1’s style of armor
I’m in somewhat of the minority in actively loving Galadriel’s Gothic armor that featured so heavily in the back half of Season 1. I thought it was beautiful, not overly sexualized like so many other examples of female armor in movies and TV, protective of the body, and clearly inspired by historical examples. In a similar fashion I liked the Gothic armor that Finrod Felagund (Will Fletcher) and other Elven soldiers wore in the prologue sequence depicting the Wars of Beleriand; I even liked the plainer and simpler ceremonial armor that Galadriel and the other elves of her company wore in the pilot. As a historian, I appreciated how the drawing from historical examples follows a similar pattern to Tolkien himself, even if his inspiration was more the Bayeux Tapestry than the art of Graham Turner. We can see this as well in the scale armor worn by the Numenorean cavalry who form Miriel’s expedition to Middle-earth, which are clearly inspired by the scale-clad cataphract heavy horse of the late Roman, Byzantine and Persian Empires; they contributed to the overall Byzantine vibe that Season 1 was going for with Numenor, and which I hugely appreciated. And it truly felt like the show was speaking with its own unique artistic voice, unburdened by other interpretations and adaptations.
So…when we saw the arms and armor of Season 2, I was once again in the minority, this time because of how I was not necessarily a fan. There were definitely parts of the Elves’ armor that I loved: Gil-galad’s unique sigil finally making its appearance on banners, brooches and gorgets, the Two Trees of Valinor on people’s breastplates and gambesons, how Elrond’s pauldrons are swans in a direct homage to his grandfather Tuor. But overall, the Elves’ armor felt lesser this season than last. Literally; while last season they had full suits, or at least full-length coats of mail, here they only had helms, cuirasses, pauldrons, vambraces and greaves on top of gambesons. It’s a common fantasy trope, but one that Season 1 had moved away from. And the overall look felt too derivative of Peter Jackson’s designs; especially in the swords carried by all the Elves except for Gil-galad. In some cases, such as Arondir’s costume and the uniform of the Eregion soldiers, this was merely carrying over from Season 1, but the sudden transition of all the elves into this style was jarring. It’s as if the costume designers listened to the majority of fans who were not fans of the Gothic armor and actually wanted something more in line with the movies. And there are hints that something similar happened in Numenor, where a loud minority of watchers complained about that scale armor being “plastic” (when it was actually probably meant to be whalebone or ivory). Perhaps that’s why after Elendil wears his cataphract armor in Episode 3, it’s never seen again. While I wouldn’t mind seeing an “evolution” in Numenorean armor as their society becomes more militaristic, I would hope that it is done with the show speaking with its own voice. And in that vein, I hope that the Elves too return to the unique style of armor that they had in Season 1.4
Well, there you have it, my dear readers: my hopes for Season 3 of Rings of Power. Some of these I’m much more dogmatic about than others. Although I ended up having a lot more to say about all of them than I thought I would initially. Time will tell whether my hopes and dreams, and others’, will be realized. But there’s a chance at least some of them will be. Because, and I cannot stress this enough, Season 3 is happening! We praise thee, O God, indeed.
For Further Reference
Austrawandil for Fellowship of Fans, “The Rings of Power Season 3 Production Officially Confirmed”
James Hibbard, “‘The Rings of Power’ Officially Renewed for Season 3, Plans Major Time Jump”
I did not care for “The Eagle and the Sceptre” that much; while the Sauron/Celebrimbor and Dwarf storylines were handled well, Numenor was basically a footnote, Pelargir required a fair bit of straining credulity regarding the timeline to work (and any attempt to make it make sense ends in confusion) and Galadriel was nowhere to be found. Conversely, while I actually liked “Eldest” (except for Elrond), many other members of the fandom felt that it slowed the plot to a crawl, mishandled Tom Bombadil and the Barrow-wights, and was basically just Tolkien fan-service.
The toxic Galadriel-Sauron shippers are the biggest proponents of this theory, claiming that their romance in Season 1 was the most popular element of Season 1 and its absence contributed to the lower viewership for Season 2. Setting aside that there was no romance between those two characters aside from a few gentle hints (as I said earlier, Galadriel’s memories of Celeborn are far more romantic than any of her interactions with Halbrand), I would say that Galadriel herself was far more popular than her interactions with Halbrand. I could easily dismiss this theory out of hand as the Saurondriels coping…if I didn’t also hear it from other places where this ship is not held in esteem. And given how some people were really obnoxious about preferring that somebody else be our PoV character, like Celebrimbor or Elrond, I can’t dismiss out of hand the idea that Galadriel was neutered in response to negative feedback of Season 1
And for its second season as well, which was supposed to last 10 episodes; but at the last minute, the decision was made on high to cut it to 8 for financial reasons, and with the writer’s strike in progress there was no way the showrunners could compensate in time. This in no small part contributed to the rather abrupt ending, and various other pacing issues that plagued the season.
Interestingly, there was at least an initial idea for Galadriel to use her Gothic armor once more, in an extended sequence storyboarded by concept artist Dom Lavery. Part of me wishes we’d seen that; but part of me is grateful we didn’t, owing to what Morgoth’s crown ended up doing to her gambeson. But I do still hope we get to see that Gothic armor once again.
It certainly is very possible the sidelining of characters and storylines were in reaction to fan comments and the editing of the originally planned 10 to 8 episodes but i also believe that it’s been a plan from the start that characters pov and heavily featured will be fluctuating as the series moves forward . The events that need to transpire would necessitate this and frankly with the very material used as the basis for storyline I.E. Numenor very sparse stretching out and not very astutely is the result though in my opinion could have been even worse .