Plodding through Middle-earth

Based largely on Tolkien’s “appendices,” bonus lore typically bound alongside The Return of the King, Amazon’s The Rings of Power would seem a poor candidate for success according to this standard. The recipient already of a five-season commitment, the series will presumably deliver 40-plus hours of content despite the relative paltriness of its source material. While The Silmarillion could conceivably provide additional grist for the show’s writers, Tolkien’s punishingly obscure legendarium is just as likely to compound the problem of excessive trivia and insufficient plot.