Show: The Lord of The Rings- The Rings of Power

Cast: Morfydd Clark, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Trystan Gravelle, Lloyd Owen, Ismael, Cruz Cordova, Benjamin Walker, Charles Edwards, Robert Aramayo, Charlie Vickers, Tyroe Muhafidin, Daniel Weyman, Sophia Nomvete, Nazanin Boniadi, Dylan Smith, Markella Kavenagh, Maxim Baldry, Sadoc Burrows

Directors: Wayne Che Yip, JA Bayona and Charlotte Brändström

Showrunners: Patrick McKay, JD Payne

OTT: Amazon Prime Video

Rating: 3.5 Moons

Amazon Prime Videos’ highly-anticipated series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power based on the works of JRR Tolkien is finally here. The series takes place thousands of years before the events The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings trilogy and is based in Middle-Earth. The much-awaited series introduces several new characters not seen in Peter Jackson’s trilogy and manages to keep the attention of the audience intact.

The Lord of The Rings : The Rings of Power stars Morfydd Clark, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Trystan Gravelle, Lloyd Owen, Ismael, Cruz Cordova, Benjamin Walker, Charles Edwards, Robert Aramayo, Charlie Vickers, Tyroe Muhafidin, Daniel Weyman, Sophia Nomvete, Nazanin Boniadi, Dylan Smith, Markella Kavenagh, Maxim Baldry, Sadoc Burrows and others in an ensemble cast. It starts off with the downfall of Morgoth aka Sauron at the hands of Elves. However, the evil is far from over as the elves pay a heavy price by losing their own in vanquishing Sauron; the evil sorcerer flees the battlefield bidding his time to re-emerge and overpower the free lands and their people.

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Galadriel played by Morfydd Clark, vows to hunt out Sauron on the deathbed of her Elven brother who lost his life fighting the evil sorcerer. However, centuries elapse and people forget the evil that still lurks in shadows, making Galadriel’s quest redundant. High-King Gil-Galad (played by Benjamin Walker) believes that Galadriel has earned her reward and bestows the gift of eternal dwelling on her in the Gray Heavens despite her unwillingness to go. On the other hand, he also puts Lord Elrond (played by Robert Aramayo) on the duty of helping Elven-smith Celebrimbor with his most important assignment. Elrond is also shown to have a bromance going on with Dwarf prince of Khazad-Dum, Durin, which will remind people of the camaraderie between Legolas and Gimli from the films.

Since this review is based on the first two episodes of the series that were shared for viewing, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power presents enough intrigue and suspense to keep you engaged throughout. There are a few new characters introduced for the show like Arondir, a Silvan elf (played by Ismael Cruz Cordova), who reminds one of Aragorn, the Dunedain from The Lord of the Rings. His forbidden love story with Bronwyn (played by Nazanin Boniadi), a healer woman also is on the similar lines of Aragorn and Arwen romance and promises to be a highpoint of the show. The series also puts a light on dwarf women with Princess Disa (played by Sophia Nomvete) spearheading the show.

Directors Wayne Che Yip, JA Bayona and Charlotte Brändström have managed to create an engaging series which tries to stay away from the hugely popular film trilogy. The series packs in enough suspense, drama and intrigue to make you want to watch the upcoming episodes. They also manage to portray the feeling of foreboding commendably. The actors also put in their best efforts in portraying the fictional characters and introduce new takes to the younger years of more established characters like Galadriel and Elrond.

The visual effects, action sequences and cinematography are exemplary and do justice in portraying JRR Tolkien’s Middle Earth. The series is worth a watch and should be viewed with no baggage from Peter Jackson’s trilogy.

PeepingMoon.com gives The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, 3.5 Moons.