
- Starring
- Morfydd Clark, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Charlie Vickers
- Creators
- Patrick McKay & John D. Payne
- Rating
- TV-14
- Genre
- Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
- Release date
- August 29, 2024
- Where to watch
- Amazon Prime
Overall Score
Rating Overview
Rating Summary
In Season 2 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, the story picks up where Season 1 left off. Nori and the Stranger journey to the Eastern land of Rhûn, while Isildur is presumed dead in Middle-earth. The Númenoreans, including Elendil and the recently blinded Queen Míriel, return to Númenor. Arondir aids the displaced Southlanders, and Prince Durin faces conflict with his father, King Durin III. Meanwhile, Galadriel grapples with the revelation that her friend Halbrand is actually Sauron.
The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power (Season 2: Episodes 1-3) Review
So far, this season is a Frankenstein’s Monster of plot contrivances stuck together by Knievel chasm-leaps of logic. As middling performers espouse a 7th grader’s attempt at Tolkien prose, and unlikeable characters perform uncharacteristic actions, The Lord of The Rings has been gloss-filtered into a sepia-toned billion-dollar soap opera.
WOKE ELEMENTS
Orcs Are Victims
- Perhaps nothing so clearly illustrates the showrunners’ complete lack of understanding of the source material so much as this debacle’s portrayal of orcs. No longer are they evil monsters created for no other purpose than the destruction of everything good. Now, they are unwitting victims who want nothing more than to raise their families in peace, far away from the men and elves who would persecute and murder them for no other reason than the way that they look.
- Modern filmmakers’ constant desire to blur the lines between good and evil and right and wrong is what makes this woke.

More Victims
- Last season’s girl bosses are this season’s persecuted victims of toxic masculinity.
Low T
- In addition to the evil machinations of only male characters, one of the main and most overly dramatic subplots so far has been that of the estrangement between King and Prince Durin. A strong, independent female dwarf constantly reminds them that they are nothing more than stubborn and foolish men who need to hug… which they do after having a good cry.
DEI
- Nothing has changed here. Every nation is still a multicultural hub.
The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power (Season 2: Episode 4) Review
James Carrick
James Carrick is a passionate film enthusiast with a degree in theater and philosophy. James approaches dramatic criticism from a philosophic foundation grounded in aesthetics and ethics, offering insight and analysis that reveals layers of cinematic narrative with a touch of irreverence and a dash of snark.
6 comments
slayerformayor
September 10, 2024 at 3:04 am
3 stars is much, much, much too generous for this garbage.
worthitorwoke.steadily283
September 10, 2024 at 4:12 am
This was a show to laundry money, that’s all.
Don’t you get it? It is all a scam. They don’t care about the story or anything else.
Money machine. Terrible show. And I was thinking it could not get worse after the first season. I was wrong.
Selrisitai
November 16, 2024 at 8:41 am
I think it’s funny, but isn’t it odd to screen-cap an Asmongold video and also leave Asmon in the frame? Lol.
James Carrick
November 16, 2024 at 10:02 am
Didn’t realize he was there. Just quickly grabbed an image off of Google and it was the clearest one. Oops.
Bigwig30
December 14, 2024 at 10:12 pm
I gave up on the show midway through season two then read summaries of the remaining episodes alternatively patting myself on the back for quitting when I did and cursing myself for watching the show at all. Just awful stuff. I can’t believe the Tolkien estate allowed this garbage to be made. But hey, with the amount of money Amazon is throwing around, I guess anyone can be bought. It is so sad to watch Hollywood ruin everything I love.
Christopher Richard
December 29, 2024 at 1:09 am
A good season, but one whose source material (while for the most part treated with reverence in this show) provided a berth of potential left unexplored. The acting from Vickers (Sauron) and Edwards (Celebrimbor) were high caliber — the two actors’ dynamic relationship reaches a larger-than-life pitch that fittingly captures Tolkien’s themes. Special nod to Hazeldine’s convincing, passionate performance as Adar, leader of the Orcs. There were many well-executed scenes to recommend in every narrative from that of Numenor to that of The Stranger and the Harfoots. However, as with Season 1, this season suffers from uneven directing and script-writing and some very awkward casting of extras who often resemble your local Walmart shoppers, lacking the charm and gravitas of Tolkien’s Elves, Dwarves, or Halflings.