I love Peter Jackson‘s Lord of the Rings trilogy as much as I enjoyed The Hobbit. But I’m struggling with The Lord of the Rings – Rings of Power series. And I feel guilty for almost not loving it.

It’s impossible for me not to “like it”, because I’m a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien, even though I am far from a scholar. My reaction is superficial, based solely on what I am seeing.

The series is the most expensive of all time and the production value is undeniable and superior to any other, but it falls into the void. A slow narrative, abusing slow motion, which demands a lot of commitment and willingness to care (even more so when we know the saga’s conclusion). Easter eggs, a beautiful soundtrack, costumes, and photography. But two blunders for me: casting and character building and precisely in the supposed heroine of the saga, Galadriel.

Galadriel is insufferable. Arrogant, almost sociopathic, she doesn’t relate to anyone who isn’t useful in her vendetta, which is still avenging her brother’s death although the world is falling apart before her eyes. It’s the “Karen” that today’s culture so rightly rejects, a toxic woman, and is completely disconnected from the entire cast.

Morfydd Clark is beautiful, but she still doesn’t have the strength to hold the leadership of such an intricate story, a character as deep and a responsibility as great as the one she has on her shoulders. She alone is the weakest point of the show. The series had everything to be a cultural fever and is instead, at best, mere “success”. It’s too little for the hype around it.

Everything about Galadriel irritates me. For example, in the last episode, watching the volcano explode, there she is again indifferent to the people around her, just in slow, waiting to be swallowed by the smoke while the rest tries to help themselves to escape the fire. The elf doesn’t care about saving lives, just having an army to attack Sauron. Not to mention when she prevents Halbrand from attacking Oren only minutes later to threaten the villain herself. In fact, he was the one who gave her the best answer, coldly, exposing her as a hypocrite.

The result is unfair to the production to depend on an actress still immature. I just don’t give up on the series because I love the story proposal. But I’m lazy and disappointed. In my book, it’s a failure in the face of billions invested, but who knows? I hope to be wrong.