Warning: This article contains spoilers for Season 2 of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.“
Last week’s Rings of Power episode, “Doomed to Die,” depicted the much-anticipated Siege of Eregion — a deadly battle from J.R.R. Tolkien’s original writings that marks the beginning of the War of the Elves and Sauron.
Much was at stake 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 that they’d 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 significant?
The Siege of Eregion signifies the decline of this prominent Elven kingdom, which was also the birthplace of the Rings of Power.
During its peak, Eregion enjoyed a unique period in Elven history characterized by harmonious relations with the Dwarves that included open trade and cooperation. The Orcs, however, were a looming threat on the outskirts of the kingdom.
However, the siege’s aftermath led to the deterioration of this alliance, creating a rift that became a recurring theme throughout Tolkien’s works.
Some fans say the battle’s pacing was off
To learn more about fans’ reactions to the Rings of Power depiction of the siege, Yahoo Entertainment spoke to Tolkien expert William Smith, host of the Green Lanterns podcast and moderator of the subreddit r/LOTR_on_Prime
“From a pacing standpoint, I think the internet didn’t like some of the start-stop moments like [Half-Elf ruler] Elrond leading the charge and having them stop on a dime,” said Smith. “It also seemed to switch from night to day or day to night pretty 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 went “on pause when convenient.”
“The battle ebbs and flows not according to the logic of the fight, but just to make way for conversations,” the user wrote.
The stakes felt low, according to fans
Smith said that fans who were upset over the battle were looking to see larger forces in the battle rather than more intimate combat.
“[Viewers] knew it was large forces battling it out, but most of what we see is the more intimate, closer quarters battling,” explained Smith. “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.”
To Redditors, this POV approach to the battle lowered the emotional stakes.
“We see that the Orcs have started scaling the walls. Yet here is Celebrimbor’s intern chilling on the front lines, unarmed and wearing her velvet dress. … How am I supposed to care about all this action and drama if the characters right in front of it don’t even feel the need to pay attention to it?” wrote one Reddit user, who clarified in their post that they’re not a “lore nerd.”
“This show constantly fails to deliver the enormity of the events depicted. It borders 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 but there [are] maybe 20,” another user replied.
Some felt the battle featured all flash and no real importance.
“The battle felt very hollow as they continually introduced ‘key’ events such as the Elven cavalry charge, the hill troll, the explosion of the siege engine, the orcs scaling the walls … which all seemed to have no effect on the battle and were seemingly only included because they thought it would be cool,” wrote one user.
Fans weren’t impressed by the scale
To Smith, Rings of Power viewers were looking for the epic battle depictions they’d come to expect from the film trilogy.
“I think people just want to see more scale in the battles. You look at the movies and other shows and usually the battles that are rated highly online are the ones that have lots of extras around all the time and the stakes were high. A massive force defending an area against another massive force,” said Smith.
Redditors echoed this sentiment online.
“The whole experience seemed off. The movies (both lotr [and] the hobbit) felt much grander in the battle sequences. It feels like Elrond and [Elven king] Gil-galad have like 100-300 elves on horseback with no other troops,” another user commented.
“Felt like the battle was designed by someone who’s never seen a battle or even knows what battle or siege would look like in reality. [Peter] Jackson’s movies had pretty decent representations,” replied another user.
Favorite characters were underutilized
Many fans felt the battle missed the opportunity to feature favorite Tolkien characters.
“My biggest complaint was how little they utilized Damrod in the battle. 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,” wrote one Redditor.
“My biggest gripe as well as the others you listed was why wasn’t Gil-galad in command of the army? The elf is a crazy powerful character who can fight beings as powerful as Sauron but the courtier who has disobeyed his king several times is commander of the army? Why?” another Reddit user commented.
What the battle got right, according to fans
Opinion was far from unanimous, as some viewers were thrilled by Episode 7.
“This episode was incredible! I feel like I haven’t seen a decent battle like this in ages!” commented one Reddit user.
“It was one of the most epic battles I’ve ever seen on TV. It definitely reminded me of early Game of Thrones,” one user wrote.
“The battle was visually impressive. Was it on par with Helm’s Deep [Jackson’s Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers] or [Game of Thrones] battles? No. The execution felt a bit chaotic and at times muddled. However, the real highlight was the claustrophobic tension between Sauron and Celebrimbor,” wrote another user.
“I actually liked the siege overall and I liked where it left our characters in the aftermath and now we have to get prepared for the finale of Season 2,” said Smith.
What critics are saying
While some fans might have taken issue with Prime Video’s depiction of the Siege of Eregion, the episode earned 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 wildly entertaining,” wrote M.N. Miller for FandomWire.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is now streaming on Prime Video.
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