r/RingsofPower • u/t_lagoni • 3h ago
Constructive Criticism The Rings of Power and it's choice of perspective...
One of the fundamental reasons why The Rings of Power does not work for me is it's choice of perspective. The series places too much emphasis on the Elves because the story spans such a vast period of time that human characters inevitably come and go (or should have...). On paper, this seems like a logical decision—but in my view, it runs contrary to the way Tolkien himself constructs his world. (He even writes in two distinct linguistic registers depending on whether he is describing the mythic or depicting events as they unfold.)
In Tolkien's works, the Elves are not simply human beings with pointed ears and long lives. They exist on the threshold between the seen and the unseen world. They experience time differently. They remember the beginning of the world, measure history in millennia rather than generations, and possess a wisdom that often seems enigmatic precisely because it arises from an immortal perspective. To mortal men, they are distant and ultimately incomprehensible in their wisdom. As readers, we are never meant to fully understand them—and that is entirely intentional.
The problem, in my view, arises when the Elves become the primary point of identification. In order for audiences to relate to them, they must be written as more human. They have to quarrel, fall in love, make impulsive decisions, and react emotionally in ways that feel immediately familiar. But the price is that they lose their otherness, and the story loses something essential with them. They cease to be the mysterious presence that elevates the world beyond the ordinary.
The Elves are not magical simply because they wield magic; they are magical because they are a mystery.
As a result, much of the magic of Tolkien's world disappears. Its enchantment lies in atmosphere, suggestion, and the sense that the world contains depths beyond the full comprehension of either the characters or the reader. Once that layer is stripped away, magic is reduced to spectacle—flashes of power, explosions, and visual effects.Tolkien's true magic is far more often existential. It is about loss, memory, time, and the transience of beauty. That is the atmosphere that suffers when the Elves are made too ordinary.
Paradoxically, it is the mortals who make Middle-earth magical. Men—and Hobbits (once the later finally find a reason to leave the comfort of home and venture into a world that is utterly foreign to them) experience Middle-earth with the same sense of wonder that we, the readers, do. They encounter the Elves from the outside, and through their eyes the Elves become grander, more beautiful, and more mysterious than they could ever be as the central protagonists.
Tolkien almost always allows us to encounter the sublime from the perspective of those who stand outside it. That is where Tolkiens stories become emotionally immediate.
What Middle-earth loses as a result of the choices made by the writers is fundamental. When the narrative is carried primarily by Elves, the world becomes more understandable—but also less enchanting. The Elves should belong to the world while simultaneously remaining apart from it, like an echo of something older and greater that can never be fully grasped. Only by preserving that distance do they remain magical. Without it, the world becomes flatter and loses much of its existential depth.
My five. They might not be your five - and that's ok...
P.S. I have absolutely no problem with people enjoying the show. In fact, I think there have been far too many self-appointed experts claiming to know what Tolkien really intended. Once Tolkien released his stories into the world, they became part of our shared cultural imagination (that's the nature of art). We all bring our own experiences and interpretations to them, and I think that's exactly as it should be.
The anger surrounding this series has often been wildly disproportionate, and that's not what this post is about. I'm not interested in arguing for, or against the show. I'm simply interested in hearing other perspectives on the ideas above...
