Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This show had the potential to be amazing, but unfortunately it seems the writers understand little of the Second Age. There is much I could say about the characters. I actually like the new characters they added to the story, and I feel they should’ve just made a show with entirely new characters if they weren’t willing to be true to the already established ones. Since Galadriel is the main character, I have to review her. She looks and acts like a young twenty-something human who is entirely too impulsive and weak for a powerful, ancient elf with magical powers. In fact, we see nothing of her powers whatsoever during the first 3 episodes of the show. She lacks the wisdom and presence that a great leader of the Noldor should have, and indeed she is not recognized as such by the people she interacts with. She is treated like an annoying pest that people want to get rid of instead of a mighty elf leader. In fact, the high king Gil-Galad, whose grandfather was Galadriel’s brother, dismisses her and sends her away to get her out of his hair. We see nothing of her husband Celeborn, who at this point in the Second Age she should be married to and ruling an elf city with. The writers chose to give her an angsty teenager-type arc, which is entirely inappropriate for Lady Galadriel. The elves in general have nothing to set them apart from human race and culture other than their pointy ears and accents. In the 3rd episode, Celebrimbor quite literally references caring for an aging parent in a conversation with Elrond, which is not something he would have a concept of. The elves are not portrayed at all accurately as the ancient, powerful race they are. Some of them even look old by human standards with wrinkles and all, which is not a thing for elves. The timeline, to anyone familiar with the events of the Second Age, is completely wrong. Elendil and Isildur are alive, which means it is sometime after the year SA 3100. However, the rings are not yet forged, which means it has to be before SA 1500. The Numenor timeline is also weird with Queen Tar-Miriel leading them, who in fact never ascended to the throne as she was forcefully married to the popular Ar-Pharazon and he took over the rule of Numenor. Tolkien fans know what happens after that. Overall, the show is nice to look at but hard to listen to, as the dialog is lacking and often reads like a fanfic written by a teenager. Many of the known characters, including Gil-Galad and Lady Galadriel, are fundamentally different in actions and character from how they were written in the lore. The timeline will give anyone who is familiar with the lore whiplash, and the elves are a huge disappointment as it would seem the writers do not understand elves as a race at all. I feel that at this point the show has made too many mistakes with fundamental elements to right its course, but as movie Aragorn said, “There is always hope.”