Two of the most anticipated characters of 2022, Millie Alcock as young princess Rhaenyra and Morfydd Clark as Galadriel, finally found their place in the streaming wars.
Left photo: Marie Claire / HBO Max – Right photo: Den of Geek / Amazon Prime Studios

Long-haired men, hundred-year-old daggers, lavish gold, majestic landscapes, ancient magic, and strong female characters — HBO’s House of the Dragon and Amazon’s Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power have it all. Highly anticipated, these TV shows had to deal with fans’ great expectations and racist backlash before the premiere and overall mixed reviews from both audiences and critics after it. Here is our quick recap of the shows’ reception and some notes on their future.

Controversial and Expensive: the Beginning

A Game of Thrones spin-off was inevitable — after all, the original series was too staggering of a success to simply let it go. At one point, there were no less than fifteen (!) ideas floating around HBO’s headquarters, but House of the Dragon prequel, based on George R.R. Martin’s Fire and Blood, was the ultimate winner and cost HBO nearly US$200 million for the first season.

Steve Toussaint as Corlys Velaryon in HBO’s *House of the Dragon.*
Copyright: HBO Max / Photo: IMDb

As the cast was being announced, more and more dissatisfied fans surfaced. “How could there be a person of color in Westeros?!” was the most common — and the most racist — reaction to Steve Toussaint’s casting as Corlys Velaryon, the head of one of the two surviving old Valyrian families and a close relative of Targaryens. “When we were criminals and pirates and slaves in the other show, you were OK with that,” — Toussaint responded reasonably. — “But as this guy is the richest [character] in the show and he’s a nobleman, now you have a problem with it.”

Ismael Cruz Córdova as silvan Elf Arondir in Amazon’s *Rings of Power*
Copyright: Amazone Prime Studios / Photo: Teen Vogue

Apparently, not only royal dragon riders but also dwarves, hobbits, and elves are not supposed to have dark skin according to some fans. Sophia Nomvete, who plays a Dwarven princess in Rings of Power, Lenny Henry, Thusitha Jayasundera, Maxine Cunliffe, and Sara Zwangobani, four Harfoots, or proto-hobbits, and Ismael Cruz Córdova, a silvan warrior elf, had to face racist comments from fans, too. Córdova’s DMs, as he confessed to Esquire, were full of “pure and vicious hate speech.” And yet, as his character in the show, he persisted and persevered for the sake of his people: “I made sure that my elf was the most Elven, the most incredible, because I knew this was coming.”

The Middle Earth, of course, was as ripe for expanding in time and across mediums as Westeros — especially since Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies were generally loved by fans and heavily disliked by the Tolkien Estate (mostly for dealing with the source material too frivolously). After a bidding war between Netflix, HBO, and Amazon, the Estate sold the rights to Lord of the Rings appendices to Amazon’s Joseph Bezos — a big fan of the trilogy (this could have very well been the dealbreaker in the sale) — for roughly around US$250 million. Coupled with the actual production costs, the first season of Rings of Power cost the studio a bundle — nearly half a billion (!) dollars.

On Air and Into Hot/Cold Waters

HOtD and ROP premiered almost simultaneously — on August 21 and September 1 respectively — after a long and arduous (due to COVID-19, of course) production. This, along with with hundreds of millions spent and both shows’ positioning as the most expensive and, thus, the most thorough and neat depictions of imaginary worlds, sparked a rivalry of a kind between the two. “Which one is better?” was the ultimate question, and, it seems, both fans and producers were eager to find out.

“Hot D is all I hoped it would be; dark, powerful, visceral, disturbing, stunning to look at, peopled with complex and very human characters brought to life by some truly amazing actors,” shared George R.R. Martin. He was heavily involved in the production, though, so it was expected. Film critics were mostly as excited as Martin, with only several negative reviews pointing out some flaws in characters and world-building. As for the fans… About 10 million people watched the premiere of the show, a new record for HBO, and so far it has the audience score of solid 82% on Rotten Tomatoes and similar 8.5 out of 10 rating on IMDb.

The Tolkien Estate remains silent as of now, but it did approve some dramatic changes to the source of Rings of Power, not to mention that a member of Tolkien family was part of the production of the show. Critics’ opinions were rather mixed: some praised the cinematic beauty of the series while others laughed the plot off. But fans — oh, these fans! — went to great lengths to express their discontent of the show — partly due to their racism, partly due to some unfamiliar visual decisions (some elves have short-hair for once). So fierce was the backlash that Amazon Prime dramatically suspended reviews on the platform, and grumpy fans migrated to Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb — the audience score is sad 38% on the former and the rating is dull 6.9 out of 10 on the latter. An impressive 25-million crowd nonetheless joined for the premiere.

What’s to Come?

Both shows have been renewed for season 2, that’s for sure. House of the Dragon is expected to last for three or four seasons, though, while Rings of Power is definitely going to be a five-season event — a bold investment on Bezos’ part, especially considering rather bleak first impressions.

The production of the shows is well in progress, but it will take longer for the Westerosi Targaryens and their dragons to fly again — HOtD is expected to come out no early than 2024. Meanwhile elves, dwarves, harfoots, and men of the Middle-Earth are scheduled to return in 2023 — so hope the producers at least.

However, rushing it would be a massive mistake for Bezos, as it would give fans yet another reason to hate ROP — and it is already considering some unpopular decisions such as recasting of one of the main characters and relocating the production from New Zealand, where Peter Jackson’s trilogies were originally filmed, to the UK. Compared to this, House of the Dragon production is less dramatic and definitely more reassuring.

The two largest premiers of ’22 — House of the Dragon vs. Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power