‘The Rings of Power’ Season 2 Ran Aground Because of Constant Character Shipping
Few fans love romance more than I do. There’s nothing better than settling into my chair and following the ups and downs of a couple finding their way to true love.
This enjoyment applies to fans of traditional romance as well as epic fantasy. Peter Jackson’s film adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings shows one love story between Aragorn and Arwen. The end of the film features a tender moment when Aragorn gently caresses Arwen’s cheek, looking at her with adoration.
Ah, I love onscreen love—but not when it’s manufactured.
That includes season 2 of the Prime Studios series The Rings of Power (just recently confirmed for a season 3).1 Critics often faulted this streaming show with constant and often forced relationships or “ships” between characters.
Galadriel and Sauron in an enemies-to-lovers trope?
Isildur paired with Estrid, an original character?
Sauron in a subtle situationship with Celebrimbor?
Elrond and Durin? What is that supposed to be, exactly?
Then there’s Poppy Proudfellow (“female Sam”) shipped with Merimac (“dork boy”).
Queen Míriel shipped with the Captain of the Guard, Elendil? The Rings of Power season 2 missed a great opportunity to show truly Tolkienian romance with its versions of these Númenórean heroes. This could have been a tragic and beautiful story, based on Tolkien’s original Míriel who was forced to marry King Pharazôn.
Sure, there’s love in the air, but it makes no sense.
Besides Sauron and Galadriel, there’s no buildup to the other relationships. Meanwhile, a good romance takes us through the ups and downs while drawing us into the reasons for the romance—the misunderstandings, the tender moments, the surprises. You can’t root for couples who fall in love off-screen. How can we invest in a relationship we never see bloom?
Whenever, say, Captain James T. Kirk fell in love, Star Trek worked to show how this happened. Sure, it happened fast, but the audience understood a few things:
- Kirk was the Alpha Quadrant’s Ladies’ Man—James Bond of the Federation.
- He was an attractive and charming archetype of masculinity that appealed to many species.
- He was a love-’em-and-leave-’em type of man, which suited the episodic nature of Star Trek, focusing on the Enterprise and its captain’s exploits.
Without this kind of buildup in The Rings of Power, the relationships fall flat.
Rings of Power ships were also quickly sunk by basic misunderstandings about how Tolkien used romance in his broader mythos. Tolkien’s LOTR often reflected European folklore, in which any love stories, like Aragorn’s and Arwen’s, had greater purpose. They were not the story’s focus, but helped to anchored the characters.
For example, The Silmarillion portrays the love story of Beren and Lúthien. Beren is a Man and Lúthien is an Elf. They endure many obstacles because of Lúthien‘s father, who opposes his daughter marrying a mortal. To be together, Beren and Lúthien must face many challenges, including Death itself. Lúthien must even decide to give up immortality to become mortal and live her life with Beren.
Tolkien’s story illustrates that true love is more than sweet whispered nothings, but requires sacrifice, courage, and duty. One must be willing to give up one’s very nature and make the ultimate sacrifice. Christians see this as a metaphor for the biblical institution of marriage, in which a husband and wife “become one flesh.”2
Hundreds of Middle-earth years later, Beren’s and Lúthien’s love story echoes in the tale of Aragorn and Arwen. Aragorn the Man loves Arwen the Elf, but he knows his duty is to defeat Sauron—a threat to everything he holds dear. If he must fight and die to keep Arwen safe, he is prepared to do so. Likewise, Arwen chooses to give up her immortality to be with Aragorn. In both tales, the couples demonstrate their love through sacrifice, not just affection.
In Tolkien’s legendarium, as in our reality, true romance is not about feelings but is founded on deep commitment and sacrifice. If more of our stories valued this lasting beauty above all its leaky “ships,” our would be a merrier world.
- This fall, Josh Shepherd interviewed The Rings of Power showrunners about their Middle-earth–inspired prequel: Exclusive: Five Answers from ‘The Rings of Power’ Showrunners. ↩
- Genesis 2:24, quoted with fulfillment by the apostle Paul in Ephesians 5:31. ↩
I’m really only used to seeing “shipped” used for romantic pairings, but since Celebrimor/Sauron, Elrond/Durin are in no way romantic, I am guessing you’re just using it to refer to any relationship, romantic or otherwise.
That said… I don’t agree at all.
Let’s take those two relationships above (the non-romantic ones).
They are two of the BEST parts of this show.
Celebrimor and Sauron is a very interesting study in manipulation and it’s one of the most Tolkien things in the show, showing how evil with a fair face uses the (generally well-meaning) ambitions of a character to get into their head, but then we’re followed up by one of the most brilliant displays of resisting evil with performances from both ends that I think were amazing.
Elrond and Durin were very much established as having a long and meaningful friendship in season one and it pays off here as they try to help each other, only to end in tragedy, and I SWEAR Elrond’s “Durin will come” was one of the most heart rending scenes I’ve seen on television in a long time (admittedly being someone who watches mostly lighter fare, but yea… it’s up there with Shawn Spencer getting dumped by Juliet for me).
The romantic ones:
Now Isildur and Estrid … was like EVERY fantasy romance trope rolled into one, and I was very aware of how cheesy it was, but … I kind of loved it in a guilty pleasure way. It was like playing romance trope bingo.
Poppy is not much of a character other than being Nori’s friend but … I was glad that was in there because I really thought they might be doing something else with that character which I liked a little less, and I feel like that was them clearly making it clear that they were not going to do that.
Galadriel and Sauron I was glad was minimized from clear romance to more of what I’d call a redemption arc where she has to reject it. Galadriel is still my least favorite aspect of the show, and I get aggravated by the way she’s written. I think the writers don’t know what to do with her, and I was grateful for them moving the focus away from her to Celebrimor in this season.
The thing is, the series IS missing a consistent romantic thread. That was supposed to be Bronwyn and Arondir, but when the actress departed, that got torn out of the plot and I think they want to fill that hole. I think Isildur and Estrid have potential, but it was very brief (I think they were only in three episodes out of the total season, and they were sharing time with a lot of other characters/plots).
I really loved everything going on between Elendil and Miriel, and it’s not exactly the lore but I agree the potential for a tragic romance is strong there.
I also really like the married romance between Disa and Durin, but I think that’s pretty solid so it doesn’t provide room for a lot of drama.
I agree, with a lot of this at least.
I love Tolkien’s works… and I didn’t mind watching Rings of Power, despite it’s leaky lore and somewhat disorganized parts. I’m not going to be judgemental about the show, because I enjoyed it! I saw a fantasy show based on Lord of the Rings, so I thought why not.
Sauron, the manipulative guy, the charismatic and likable person, not unlike that of the devil, is making Celebrimbor think he is the friend, not enemy. This creates an odd relationship – one that I thought was fairly well-captured. Celebrimbor appears insane (which he sort of is, to an extent) but his truth of telling everyone Sauron is evil doesn’t appear true.
Durin and Elrond, that was awesome! It was such a cool point of view. It was cool to see another Legolas-Gimli type friendship, where characters put aside their differences, and just are friends.
Estrid and Isildur, I thought that was just something that wouldn’t really last, but maybe I’m wrong. Hope it gets interesting though!
I’ll still say this though: relationships on TV aren’t as real. But they can get exiting and interesting to see.