“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” took on a big challenge by focusing on the lore of Middle-earth. J.R.R. Tolkien wrote a detailed history for his fantasy world, but Prime Video only has the rights to part of it. Even so, The Rings of Power takes inspiration from Tolkien’s work.
The story is set in the Second Age, explaining the beginnings of the famous rings as Sauron (played by Charlie Vickers) becomes a growing threat. The Elves, Dwarves, and Men are all affected by this darkness.
The show brings in both familiar and new characters to face the growing danger, showing a different side of Middle-earth. It also expands the world, showing places that haven’t been seen before on screen, like Númenor and Rhûn.
As the conflict spread, the show had no choice but to separate the cast, but this turned out to be its biggest problem. There are too many characters with their own stories to follow. The Númenoreans, Southlanders, Elves, Dwarves, and Harfoots each have their plots.
While the individual stories are good, The Rings of Power tries to cover too much. The show has to divide its time, sometimes leaving out key characters from entire episodes, which slows the momentum.
This is a common issue in fantasy shows, including House of the Dragon, The Witcher, The Wheel of Time, and Game of Thrones, but it is especially clear in The Rings of Power Season 2.
‘The Rings of Power’ Season 2 Has Too Many Stories
From the start, The Rings of Power was packed with multiple stories. It introduced five main plotlines: Nori (Markella Kavenagh) meeting the Stranger (Daniel Weyman), Galadriel’s (Morfydd Clark) search for Sauron, Elrond’s (Robert Aramayo) attempt to get help from the Dwarves, the Southlanders’ fight with Adar (Sam Hazeldine), and the political issues in Númenor.
While some of these stories crossed paths in Season 1, like Galadriel’s time in Númenor or Miriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) leading the Númenoreans to help the Southlanders, the plots were mostly separate. They introduced characters and conflicts that did not really connect.
Because of this, Season 1 felt rushed and confusing, but there was some relief when a few storylines merged, giving everything a bit more time to breathe.
The end of Season 1 seemed to hint that things might get simpler, but Season 2 has made the problem worse by adding more storylines and separating characters further. Now, Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) and Sauron have their own plot in Eregion.
Though Elrond and Galadriel share a story, the plot in Khazad-dûm continues without Elrond. Adar is now focused on a new goal while the Southlanders rebuild.
Even Nori and the Stranger are on separate journeys for the moment. By spreading the characters across different places, the show covers more ground, but it struggles to give any one plot the focus it deserves.
‘The Rings of Power’ Leaves Some Stories Untouched for Too Long
The show has become so stretched that episodes sometimes ignore major parts of the story, leaving questions unanswered for an episode or two. One big mystery from Season 1 was what happened to Isildur (Maxim Baldry).
After the finale suggested that he was dead, many fans knew he had to return since his most important role in the story had yet to happen. However, Season 2 did not mention him until Episode 3, “The Eagle and the Sceptre,” keeping him out of the first two episodes entirely.
Similarly, the Southlanders’ storyline was ignored in the first two episodes. This long gap makes it hard for viewers to stay engaged with any one plot because they have to wait so long for answers. When the show only releases one episode a week, it is especially disappointing when a favorite character doesn’t appear.
Episode 5 of Season 2, “Halls of Stone,” highlights this issue. The previous episode ended with Galadriel being captured by Adar, while Elrond rushed back to Lindon for help. However, Episode 5 focused mainly on Celebrimbor, the Dwarves, and the Númenoreans, with Galadriel and Elrond only appearing briefly near the end.
After waiting a whole week, the audience got no resolution for these characters. The same can be said for Nori, Poppy (Megan Richards), and the Stranger, who were left out of Episode 5 altogether.
These characters are still separated in Rhûn, pursued by a Dark Wizard. Leaving cliffhangers hanging for an extra week doesn’t help keep viewers interested; it pushes them away, as they start to forget what was happening with certain characters.
Can ‘The Rings of Power’ Fix Its Pacing Problems?
With the season more than halfway finished, some characters have only appeared a few times. Isildur, Arondir (Ismael Cruz Cordova), Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin), Miriel, and Pharazôn (Trystan Gravelle) have each been in just two episodes, even though they are central to the story.
The Rings of Power needs to streamline its storytelling to fit within its time limits. The pacing issues would be less noticeable if the season allowed more time to develop the story.
Although The Rings of Power is an expensive production, with only eight episodes per season, there isn’t much time to waste. While TV seasons are getting shorter, this time restriction doesn’t work well for such a large story.
Another option would be to reduce the number of characters. This could help the show focus more on the main conflict, trimming down the plots that haven’t yet connected to Sauron. However, this would make the perspective narrow.
Given Middle-earth’s future events, many of these plots will likely come together later, leading to a massive battle against Sauron, which will involve most, if not all, of the current storylines.
Other shows with similar issues have solved this by killing off characters, as Game of Thrones did, but The Rings of Power has set a different tone. While it doesn’t shy away from death, as shown in Season 2, Episode 5, there aren’t many deaths, especially since several main characters have long lifespans.
While there is no easy fix for The Rings of Power’s biggest problem, the show could at least stop adding more stories. It needs to find a way to include most, if not all, of the characters in each episode.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is available on Prime Video in the U.S., with new episodes released every Thursday.
