I was of divided mind going into this series. I do consider myself a Tolkien purist (I have most of the History of Middle Earth on my shelf, and recently read

I was of divided mind going into this series. I do consider myself a Tolkien purist (I have most of the History of Middle Earth on my shelf, and recently read the Nature of Middle Earth), and instinctually cringe at the thought of deviating from the books. (And I was irked at some of the changes Peter Jackson introduced in his movies.) But: * You can't cover 3000+ years of history in five seasons without making changes. * If you want to have the same human characters (and the actors who portray them) season after season, you need even more changes. * The series must stand on it's own, without forcing viewers to read the books; and * There are a number of gaps and inconsistencies in Tolkien's writings on events and motives. (Galadriel's history and motives in particular are a mess, so it's not clear what her "true" story even is). The published Silmarillion (including the texts summarizing the Second and Third Ages) is based on the most complete versions of Tolkien's writings, not necessarily his most recent. When did the Sun and Moon first appear? Are Orcs descended from Elves? Was Sauron fully evil when he first collaborated with the Elves on the Rings? The answers all depend on what text you read. So I think there is more freedom here for the show writers than many of their on-line critics acknowledge. Even more so when you consider the Second Age writings have very few scenes and dialogues between characters. We don't get to "know" Elendil, Isildur, Galadriel, or Sauron like we get to know Frodo, Sam, Aragorn, and Gandalf. Does filling in those details make them "unfaithful" to the books? In addition, some of the deviations they clearly have made -- the importance of mithril, Galadriel's dagger and quest, the dark elf Arondir -- do have important useful payoffs in the plot. The lack of mithril gives the writers an opportunity to show how Sauron aided the Elves in Ring making in an understandable way. It also leads to Galadriel giving up her dagger and (hopefully) giving up her obsession with avenging her brother (and perhaps starting her transition to the Wise High Elf we meet in the LotR?). Arondir's appearance allowed for the casting of a damn good actor (Ismael Cruz Córdova), and exploration of an interracial (Elf-Human) relationship by an interracial set of actors (likely emotionally engaging the viewers). I think those payoffs have been worth it. A tangent: I think the casting and acting has been excellent, the CGI beautiful, and the plot twist at the season ending clever (giving viewers a reason to watch the whole season all over again). I enjoyed it, and look forward to the next season.