Fantasy on TV was once the preserve of teen-skewing shows like Xena and Hercules, until Game of Thrones made things bigger but bloodier with its blockbuster eight-year run.
Now, however, the genre is expanding in unexpected ways, typified by Amazon’s The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power. Where we might have expected another adaptation about obviously good folk fighting clear evil, the show that emerged offers a look at power, obsession and conflict set thousands of years before J.R.R.
Tolkien’s foundational text. After Thrones (and its own prequel), it is a coming-of-age for the genre, proof that fantasy is capable of offering subtlety and complexity as well as large-scale adventure.
The TV spin-off from the most influential fantasy book of all time might have gone any number of ways: there were rumors of a new adaptation of Frodo’s story or a straightforward prequel about a young Aragorn.
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