In Depth:  Caleb Woodbridge

In the opening episodes of the second season of Amazon’s lavishly-budgeted Tolkien prequel The Rings of Power, Galadriel and Elrond debate using the three magic elven rings. Can the rings be used for good, or are they too dangerous to use, since they were created under the suggestion of villain Sauron?

I couldn’t help but see an echo of the question that I’ve been wrestling with in relation to The Rings of Power, having watched the first six episodes of series two. This is a show created to sate the desire of the great empire of Amazon for a franchise success, for its own Game of Thrones or Harry Potter in terms of cultural and above all financial impact. It might seem from the beginning a cynical exercise, the zombification of Tolkien’s literary legacy into a vehicle for ‘brand extension’ and corporate exploitation of ‘intellectual property’.