The general consensus on Rings of Power seems to be, “fine, not great.” I still think it’s about a B- with a few highlights. But “just fine” shouldn’t be the goal for a show that costs a billion dollars to make and is going up against House of the Dragon. I haven’t started watching House but it seems to be getting a lot more positive buzz. Naturally people are discussing what is holding back Rings and one of the most intriguing takes I have heard lays some of the blame with the Tolkien estate. I am not there yet, but I do have a hypothesis that needs a closer look.
Does the Tolkien estate share any blame for such a gorgeous “just fine” production? I think so. It is being reported that Netflix might have offered the estate more money for the rights but the estate chose Amazon because Amazon “would give the estate a creative seat at the table so it could protect Tolkien’s legacy.” If this is true, in my mind that makes the Tolkien estate creative stakeholders. If they had simply taken the money without creative input, they could distance themselves from Rings of Power if the show continues to go further off the rails. I am not Tolkien scholar and do not know anything about the decision makers of his estate. But I do know that writing books and writing television are two different skill sets. Is it possible the friction between the two is partially causing the problems with Rings?
That question leads me to my half-baked theory that I need to research, hence “Part 1” in the title. I think the material invented for the show is better because there are fewer limitations. Professional television writers are allowed to use their craft to the fullest without needing to conform, to an existing canon. To me and many others, the stuff involving Elrond, Durin, and Disa is the best part of the show. I love everything about them. Disa only exists in Rings of Power. The Tolkien Gateway has very little about Durin. Elrond is a major character in the books. However his best scenes are simply him spending time with his friend. There’s no canon to contradict there; everyone has friends. I also like most of the Harfoots plots. Again, the Tolkien Gateway has almost nothing to say about Harfoots. Compare these two stories with the Galadriel story which is not as well regarded. Galadriel’s Tolkien Gateway entry is enormous.
I think there is something here. I should go back and read the related appendices. Or it could be that just because Galadriel is such an important character that the Tolkien estate is very protective of her portrayal. There are other issues with the show that would be problems with any television show. But it is curious that the best characters with the best stories in Rings of Power are the characters with the least amount of written canon.
The Keasy Depot 
This is something of a nitpick, but I might contend there’s a slight contradiction with the lore with Elrond since his dialogue with Thorin in The Hobbit suggests he’s not too familiar with Longbeard culture, as in the book he does not know what Dúrin’s Day is until Thorin tells him in a mildly condescending tone. I will say I would rather Celebrimbor played that role as he was a good friend to Dúrin’s Folk, especially Narvi, who I wish were included as Celebrimbor and Narvi together made the Doors of Dúrin (also, I don’t know if this is an unpopular opinion, but I would have made Celebrimbor the protagonist of Season 1). Also, Dúrin III and Dúrin IV probably shouldn’t live at the same time, although I suppose most casual fans wouldn’t know this. I agree that the Dwarf-stuff was probably best written.
In all fairness, Galadriel’s history is very confusing and pretty much a garbled mess as even Christopher Tolkien admits. There’s not much about her in The Silmarillion or Appendices, and Christopher mostly just compiled the aforementioned mess in one chapter of The Unfinished Tales… That said, I think there are several problems with the Tolkien Gateway article that deserve to be addressed. However, from the vague idea we do get, she should be married to Celeborn and have a daughter at the time, and they should be living (possibly reigning alongside Celebrimbor) in Eregion. That said, I don’t know how much of this story Amazon can use since most of this is not in the Appendices.
Still, I’m not sure if everything they made up is necessarily better. They totally made up practically everything about the Southlands (to the extent that there would need to be very few changes to publish the first several episodes’ Southlands’ plot without being sued by the Tolkien Estate), and at least personally, I found more or less all the characters rather bland, while I much preferred Elrond and even Númenor, which felt closest to the lore, but maybe that is just me.
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