The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Season 1

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Generally favorable reviews based on 40 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally unfavorable reviews based on 2950 Ratings

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3.0	User Score Generally unfavorable reviews based on 2950 Ratings

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The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power: Season 1 (Australia)

Now Playing: The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power: Season 1 (Australia)

Season Details & Credits

Prime Video | Season Premiere Date: September 2, 2022

Summary: The series is set several millennia before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings when the rings of power were forged by Sauron.

Genre(s): Drama, Action & Adventure, Fantasy

Season 1 Episodes

No episode information is currently available for this season

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Metascore

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Mixed:

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Critic Reviews

100

The Daily Beast Nick Schager

Aug 31, 2022

Season 1 Review: It’s fantasy writ exhilaratingly large, although at the start, what’s so impressive about showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay’s streaming effort (September 2) is its balance between the glorious and the vile, the romantic and the brutal, the euphoric and the despairing, and the grand and the intimate. ... It feels fresh and alive—and poised, consequently, to be the one that rules them all. Read full review

Lacy Baugher

Aug 31, 2022

Season 1 Review: It’s true, the pace of The Rings of Power’s first two episodes is slow and deliberate, and the show has to work to balance its screentime amongst many seemingly disconnected plotlines. But it’s clear that the show feels confident enough in the story it’s telling to allow its audience the necessary time to get to know its characters and their various goals and passions, before launching into the potentially world-ending stakes in their future. Read full review

The Independent Kevin E G Perry

Aug 31, 2022

Season 1 Review: This isn't Westeros. Nobody's going to get their helmet lobbed off here. Instead, it’s a spectacle-filled return to a lovingly rendered Middle-earth that promises to deliver an awfully big adventure. Read full review

Kelly Lawler

Aug 31, 2022

Season 1 Review: The somewhat flawed series can't yet touch those impeccable ["Lord of the Rings"] films, but it scratches the surface. And if nothing else, the gorgeously rendered "Rings" is the most transportive current series on TV. Read full review

Dan Fienberg

Aug 31, 2022

Season 1 Review: The first episode is dedicated primarily to world-building, exposition and proving that storytelling on this scale can be executed for television and generally succeeds, even if some of that exposition lags. Then in the second episode, the story starts to actually move along and there are characters and scenes that I found utterly charming in the way a show like this requires for long-term survival, even if some of the effects and epic scale diminish a tiny bit. Read full review

Rob Owen

Sep 1, 2022

Season 1 Review: This first hour is a slog punctuated by the occasional battle with a Ray Harryhausen-esque snow troll. The second episode, written by Gennifer Hutchinson (“Breaking Bad,” “Better Call Saul”), proves more satisfying. Read full review

Inkoo Kang

Aug 31, 2022

Season 1 Review: The characters — including Elves Galadriel and Elrond, played by Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving in the films — are phyllo-dough thin, and the plots not much more substantial. ... The performances are serviceable but unremarkable, while the dialogue is particularly corny and inartful, with too many intoned monologues about the search for “the light” or the ever-vague nature of evil. Read full review

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User Score

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3.0

User Reviews

Carlos077

Sep 2, 2022

Es una buena serie, destaca, la ambientación, fotografía, vestuario, apenas van dos capítulos y me dejaron con ganas de ver más, espero evolucione y nos de una muy buena primera temporada

345 of 483 users found this helpful345138

gerardore

Sep 19, 2022

Three episodes in and I have to say I'm pleasently surprised. It's a pretty good show so far. As a fan of Tolkien's world, in writen and movie form, I really enjoy seeing Middle Earth during a time where the world has not fallen into pieces yet, the civilizations are still grand andThree episodes in and I have to say I'm pleasently surprised. It's a pretty good show so far. As a fan of Tolkien's world, in writen and movie form, I really enjoy seeing Middle Earth during a time where the world has not fallen into pieces yet, the civilizations are still grand and majestic. And they really know how to show this off, as we have many moments where the show just presents us a new city and let's us take in their size and grandure. I also really like the overall plot. It's a smart approach, how they managed to put together different plot lines that are very character-focused and have secrets and question marks, even for fans of the book. And despite the extrem complexity of the books this show has been adapted from, they manage to break down the lore in a way that it is understandable and digestable for newcommers. And I really, really appreciate the fact, that they manage to keep the dialogues and characteres grounded and believable as part of their world. My major worry has been that they would try to make all the dialogues and characters "witty", a sickness that has grown over skript-writing ever since Marvel started to become the big player in franchise-production with their Superhero-characters. But no such thing! It's not, that the skript is entirely without humor or fun, it's just more low-key and fits the tone of the world really well. The weaker points of the show so far has been some of the characters. Three episodes in, and there is a huge gap between some of the more likable characters with a lot of personality and some more... let's generously call them "bland" characters. And given that, as I mentioned before, the individual plot lines are very character driven, it's a problem that some characters really are not up to the task yet to really carry their scenes. Another issue after three episodes is, that... not much seems to have happened so far. Given that these three episodes come together to a total of over 3 hours (or approximatelly the length of one of Peter Jackson's movies in the same world), it really doesn't feel like a whole lot has happened yet. I don't mind a slow burn, but if you have several plot lines running parallel, it would be good to have at least SOME of them be a bit differently paced. However, I have to say that I am pleasently surprised. It's a pretty damn good translation of Tolkien's world onto the screen and a solid attempt of creating an engaging narrative for a rather difficult part of the history of this universe. If it keeps going in this way, I will end up really enjoying myself. So far, I would absolutely recommend it! !… Expand

175 of 263 users found this helpful17588

Frostedblakers

Sep 2, 2022

I went in with no expectations and I'm glad I didn't. This show looks amazing, but the writing is a complete mess. Honestly if this wasn't Tolkien I would give this show a pass. Sadly, I'm a chump and will watch every episode!

35 of 90 users found this helpful3555

Tonatiuh21

Sep 2, 2022

These two episodes are enough to check the bad things we all suspected, “Representation” characters so empty, forced “feminisms” in the back of Karendriel and no plot at all

17 of 75 users found this helpful1758

Smudge99

Jan 12, 2023

Casting, acting, set design, effects, and much more was just done dirt cheap, and it look's that way. Just another boring and bland pile of stank that turned out exactly as they wanted. Summarily it's cheap, poorly acted and written, and it disrespects the source material.

4 of 4 users found this helpful40

Was-thu-hal

Sep 7, 2022

Where is the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing? They have passed like rain on the mountain, like wind in the meadow. The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow. How did it come to this?

This show is a direct attack on Tolkien and spits on hisWhere is the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing? They have passed like rain on the mountain, like wind in the meadow. The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow. How did it come to this?

This show is a direct attack on Tolkien and spits on his grave. How did we reach this point where woke liberal activists are allowed to use Tolkien's works to undermine everything he believed in?… Expand

24 of 98 users found this helpful2474

vitalii2101

Sep 2, 2022

Not Tolkien, not Lord of the Rings. I'm disappointed.
Don't waste your time on this show. Read books people)

57 of 143 users found this helpful5786

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