‘Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’: showrunners respond to criticism of Galadriel and the rhythm of the series

Ever since “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” premiered on September 2, and even before, the Prime Video blockbuster has had to face criticism from a sector of Middle-earth fandom that did not welcome, among other things, the fact that the series takes so many liberties regarding the creation of JRR Tolkien. Within days of the release of the last episode of the first season, the showrunners of the ambitious fantasy fiction have responded to some of these criticisms.

JD Payne and Patrick McKay, the two writers and producers at the helm of “The Rings of Power”, defended the series from their critics in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, where they allude to two of the points that generated the most debate: Galadriel’s personality and the pace of the series.

As for Galadriel, many have pointed out that the version of the series, played by Morfydd Clark, is very different from that played by Cate Blanchett in the Peter Jackson trilogy and from that written by Tolkien. According to some detractors, the iconic elf is “too masculine” in the series. Furthermore, she annoys many that Galadriel goes to Númenor, as in the Tolkien books he never specifies that he has visited the place. To this, Payne replies: “I’d like to see where Tolkien says that Galadriel never went to Númenor, this doesn’t exist”.

As for Galadriel’s overly manly behavior, Payne makes it clear that one of the character’s nicknames in the books is “Nerwen”, meaning “maiden”, but even so it differs: “He doesn’t behave in a masculine way!”. McKay also adds a justification for Galadriel being a warrior of the series, a detail that has bothered even some purists: “The name Galadriel loosely translates as ‘crowned maiden with golden hair’, because she fought and engaged in all kinds of fights with other elves. She wore her hair in a braid and fixed it so it wouldn’t bother her. its etymology represents the idea that Galadriel is a warrior”.

As for the pace of the series, which many criticize as excessively slow, Payne expresses his hope that the audience “stay for the trip”. “A lot of blockbusters have a fast pace where you are transported from an action scene to an action scene until everything collapses under its own weight. Tolkien takes his time and allows you to delve into characters, travel, and traveling can be difficult in his job.. I hope people have the patience to settle into a new Tolkien epic “.

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Payne and McKay respond to other frequent criticisms of Tolkien’s fans regarding their loyalty (or lack of) to the original work. As to why dwarf women don’t have beards, Payne makes it clear “They actually do, that’s not fair. We’ve looked at various versions of what facial hair would look like on a woman. There are beard hairs applied lovingly one by one on Disa [Sophia Nomvete]as well as some kind of sideburns“. “There is a heated debate in favor of bearded dwarf women and another against. We are happy with the solution we have given them.”McKay adds.

Finally, regarding the short hair of elves such as Elrond (Robert Aramayo) or Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova), which according to some do not correspond to what Tolkien wrote, Payne says: “If Tolkien wrote a complete guide to Middle-earth hairstyles through thousands of years of history, I’d love to see it”. “Part of this series is to delve into and broaden each of these races and cultures”adds McKay. “To say that a culture as rich and with a long history as that of the elves has had the same hair for 9,000 years does not correspond to the breadth of the imagination that Tolkien left us”.

The finale of the first season of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” is premiered October 14 on Prime Video.