Most Hated Characters Turned Most Loved in 'The Rings of Power'
Look how the tables have turned.
Back at the time when 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power ' was just announced, the news about its diverse casting – and therefore, elves, dwarves and hobbits of color – made waves across the Internet.
Naturally, as the debate about whether or not people of color fit in the Tolkien world unfolded, Black characters faced the most hate – even before they were officially introduced into the universe of the new show.
But now that 'The Rings of Power' has already released four episodes, it looks like the situation has changed. The show continues to receive criticism from many people, but they seem to be more focused on the issues with writing and directing than on slamming the diverse cast of the show.
Moreover, characters of color – especially Sophia Nomvete's dwarven princess Disa and Ismael Cruz Cordova's Arondir – seem to receive even more fan love than other characters. Disa, for instance, has been deemed one of the best parts of the show, alongside her husband Durin. The two provide the coziest and the funniest scenes in the show, while delivering drama at the same time.
"They've already done a better job at showing respect to the dwarves than the whole hobbit series. Also I love Gimli but realistically he was used as mostly comic relief and stating obvious things for the audience in Lotr." – /awesomface
Arondir also enjoys a lot of accolades from fans.
"Performance for Arondir feels the most elf-like of the elves (Elrond a close second). I think he's nailing it. And yeah Dissa (spl?) is just a delight. Adore her." – /Abess-Basilissa
People praise Cruz Cordova for carrying "that other-wordlyness in his gait and tone so convincingly", even though some fans felt that he was "wooden" at the beginning.
There are four more episodes of 'The Rings of Power' on the way, with the show's first season expected to wrap up in late October. New episodes premiere every Friday.