Warning: This article contains spoilers for season 2 of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.“
The one from last week Rings of power episode, “Doomed to Die,” depicted the long-awaited siege of Eregion – a deadly battle from the original writings of JRR Tolkien that marks the beginning of the War of the Elves and Sauron.
The stakes were high in the penultimate episode of the Middle-Earth series, as Sauron’s power continued to grow and the Orcs began their assault on the Elves.
But for some fans, the battle lacked the epic scale they were hoping for – and had previously seen in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the rings trilogy.
Here’s a closer look at what the show got right and wrong about the pivotal battle in Middle-earth, according to superfans online.
Why is the siege of Eregion important?
The Siege of Eregion marks the decline of this prominent Elven kingdom, which was also the birthplace of the Rings of Power.
During its peak, Eregion experienced a unique period in Elves’ history, marked by harmonious relations with the Dwarves, including open trade and cooperation. However, the Orcs posed a looming threat on the outskirts of the kingdom.
However, the aftermath of the siege led to the deterioration of this alliance, creating a rift that became a recurring theme in Tolkien’s works.
Some fans say the pace of the fight was off
For more information about fan reactions to the Rings of power image of the siege, Yahoo Entertainment spoke with Tolkien expert William Smith, host of the Green Lanterns podcast and moderator of the r/LOTR_on_Prime subreddit
“From a pacing perspective, I think the internet didn’t like some of the start-stop moments [Half-Elf ruler] Elrond led the charge and made them stop on a dime,” Smith said. “It also seemed to switch from night to day or day to night quite abruptly, but I liked the visuals of it.”
This sentiment was echoed in the subreddit r/RingsofPower, where one Reddit user said it felt like Episode 7’s battle was “going on hiatus when it comes out.”
“The battle ebbs and flows not according to the logic of battle, but only to make way for conversations,” the user wrote.
According to fans, the stakes felt low
Smith said fans who were upset about the fight wanted to see larger forces in the fight instead of a more intimate fight.
“[Viewers] I knew it was big forces going into battle, but most of what we see is the more intimate forces up close,” Smith explains. “Instead of focusing on the zoomed-out battle with thousands of characters on screen, the show focused more on who was in the immediate vicinity for our POV characters.”
For Redditors, this POV approach to the battle lowered the emotional stakes.
‘We see that the Orcs have begun to climb the walls. But here is the Celebrimbor intern on the front lines, unarmed and dressed in her velvet dress. …How am I supposed to care about all this action and drama when the characters in front of it don’t even feel the need to pay attention to it?” wrote one Reddit user, who made it clear in his post that he is not a “lore nerd.”
“This show continually fails to capture the enormity of the events depicted. It’s bordering on parody at this point. Stopping a cavalry charge is an insane move. Not to mention they only have 1 damn troll? There would easily be tens of thousands of elves in the city defending the walls, if only they were there [are] maybe 20,” replied another user.
Some felt that the battle was merely flashy and had no real significance.
“The battle felt very hollow as they continually introduced ‘important’ events like the Elven cavalry charge, the hill troll, the siege engine explosion, the orcs climbing the walls… all of which seemed to have no effect at the fight and were apparently only included because they thought it would be cool,” one user wrote.
Fans were not impressed with the scale
To Smith, Rings of power viewers were looking for the epic battle depictions they had come to expect from the film trilogy.
“I think people just want to see more scale in the fights. When you look at movies and other shows, the fights that are highly rated online are usually the ones that had a lot of extras and the stakes were high. A huge force defending an area against another huge force,” Smith said.
Redditors echoed this sentiment online.
“The whole experience seemed wrong. The movies (both a lot of [and] the hobbit) felt much grander in the battle sequences. It feels like Elrond and [Elven king] Gil-galad has about 100 to 300 elves on horseback, with no other troops,” said another user.
“It felt like the battle was designed by someone who has never seen a battle or even known what a battle or siege would actually look like. [Peter] Jackson’s films had pretty good representation,” another user replied.
Favorite characters were underused
Many fans felt the battle missed the opportunity to showcase favorite Tolkien characters.
“My biggest complaint was how little they used Damrod in combat. I feel like the troll was built up to be a true terror, and yet his screen time felt lackluster, especially with how easily he was taken down,” one Redditor wrote.
“My biggest complaint, like the others you mentioned, was why wasn’t Gil-galad in command of the army? The elf is an insanely powerful character who can fight creatures as powerful as Sauron, but the courtier who has disobeyed his king several times is the commander of the army? Why?” another Reddit user responded.
Which made the fight good, according to fans
Opinions were far from unanimous, as some viewers were excited for episode 7.
“This episode was incredible! I feel like I haven’t seen such a decent fight in a while!” one Reddit user commented.
“It was one of the most epic battles I have ever seen on TV. It definitely reminded me of early Game of Thrones,” one user wrote.
“The battle was visually impressive. Was it similar to Helm’s Deep? [Jackson’s Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers] or [Game of Thrones] fights? No. The performance felt a bit chaotic and sometimes muddled. The real highlight, however, was the claustrophobic tension between Sauron and Celebrimbor,” wrote another user.
“I liked the siege overall and I liked where our characters were left in the aftermath. Now we have to prepare for the Season 2 finale,” said Smith.
What critics say
While some fans might have taken issue with Prime Video’s depiction of the Siege of Eregion, the episode received a 100% fresh rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, season 2, episode 7 is a spectacular episode, epic in scope and immensely entertaining,” MN Miller wrote for FandomWire.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is now streaming on Prime Video.
