Why Tolkien Fans Are Worried About Galadriel In Amazon's The Rings Of Power
It is a widely held belief that the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, based on J.R.R. Tolkien's famous high-fantasy novel, is one of the best film series ever made. Depending on who is asked, the reason for this might be the casting, the visuals, the timeless story of unity, or perhaps even the respect that director Peter Jackson paid to the source material (via CBR). In the years since, the "Hobbit" trilogy, which is based on a much shorter high-fantasy novel by the aforementioned author, was released to far less positive reception, with fans citing atrocious CGI and blatant filler material as some of its worst facets.
With both ends of the spectrum seemingly covered, there is a certain air of tension around the upcoming Amazon series "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power," which will take its inspiration from Tolkien's fantasy narrative "The Silmarillion," which serves as both a sort of bible and a historical text for Middle-earth. While there's ample material in "The Silmarillion" to draw from, there are fans who are concerned for the series' success for an entirely different reason than might be expected.
Fans are worried that The Rings of Power will be judged for being too accurate
Redditor u/Stickybeebae posted their concerns in the r/LOTR_on_Prime subreddit, saying, "Given how general audiences and even some Tolkien fans are less familiar with the 'Silmarillion' and events of the second age, I wonder how many aspects of the show will be true to the lore and assumed to be fabricated by the show runners [sic]. Quite a few people seem taken aback by the cult of Morgoth for instance or Galadriel's Amazonian disposition, both online and friends in real life who have only read the trilogy."
In summary, their concern is that fans will see canonically accurate events or character portrayals and deem them incorrect since they're not one-to-one with the original film trilogy. When someone with limited information sees something that doesn't align with that info, they can either expand their research or double down on their ignorance, and u/Stickybeebae's fear is that fans will opt for the latter choice before "The Rings of Power" is even released.
Take the concerns with Galadriel, for instance, originally played by Cate Blanchett. A younger Morfydd Clark gives her life in "The Rings of Power" because, canonically, Galadriel has been hanging around Middle-earth for a really, really, really long time. In the earlier days, she was less peaceful and more aggressive, more war-minded. She had to be — "The Silmarillion" depicts a vicious series of wars that grossly overshadow the events of "The Lord of the Rings."
Every adaption makes changes to the source material
Interestingly enough, the original "Lord of the Rings" trilogy made several purposeful changes from the source material, the most notable of which were to remove the entire Scouring of the Shire (a moment where Frodo and his hobbit friends prove their character growth), cut Tom Bombadil (God, probably? It's complicated), and expand the role of Arwen (Liv Tyler). It would seem that the Venn diagram for fans who don't know this and fans who vocally criticize "The Rings of Power" is a perfect circle.
While, yes, "The Rings of Power" will have every opportunity to fail on its own merits, the project does not deserve to be buried for detailed work that proves the showrunners are interested in the source material. Yes, there will also assuredly be deviations from "The Silmarillion" — even in the most dedicated of projects based on other projects, such changes are essentially unavoidable. The only fair way to judge the difference between a change that honors the material and a change that shows media illiteracy is to witness it firsthand.
"The Rings of Power" is only a few short months away from its release, so the wait for "final" judgment won't be long. Until then? Patience. After all, Frodo waited 17 years after obtaining the Ring to do anything about it.