Note: This article reveals plot points from the first two episodes of The Rings of Power.
Within its first ten minutes, Amazon’s new fantasy series, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, does Tolkien purists the courtesy of revealing exactly what it is, adaptation-wise. After a brief prelude confirming that even the luminous, regal Galadriel of The Lord of the Rings was once bullied as a kid by her bratty peers, the series settles in for an introduction familiar to anyone who watched Peter Jackson’s The Fellowship of the Ring.
In voiceover, Galadriel (now played by Morfydd Clark) recounts the history that will orient viewers within the epic narrative that’s about to unfold. The Elves, living peacefully in a paradise called Valinor, see their home violated by the dark lord Morgoth (not to be confused with Lord of the Rings’ Sauron, who is merely Morgoth’s second-in-command). They leave Valinor to pursue Morgoth to Middle-earth, beginning a centuries-long war that is…
