I was happy with howThe Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Powerseason 2 handled a particular character, but I hope that future seasons will leave him out. The Prime Video series has been controversial for its many divergences from Tolkien canon, inspiring an ongoing, heated debate about what sorts of changes are too far. While any screen adaptation of the Second Age of Middle-earth would require significant alterations to work,Rings of Powerhas gone beyond this by introducing canon characters outside their normal parameters. A notable example of this is Tom Bombadil.
One of the bigger surprises ofRings of Powerseason 2 was the appearance ofRory Kinnear’s Tom Bombadil. This is a character of Tolkien’s own invention, who aided Frodo and his Hobbit friends during the first leg of their adventure in theLord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ringbook. Bombadil is a deeply strange character, andthough his place within the story has long been defended by Tolkien, on-screen adaptations tend to leave him out.Rings of Powerchallenged this by introducing Old Tom in season 2, and though his role was strange, I was quite happy with how it all turned out.
Rings Of Power Handled Tom Bombadil Perfectly In Season 2
Rings Of Power Captured Tom Bombadil’s Sparkle
Rings of Powerintroduced Tom Bombadilrather unexpectedly, but I feel that his character was still handled well. The Stranger—who was officially revealed to be Gandalf in season 2—met Old Tom in Rhun while on a hunt to learn more about his identity and purpose.Rings of Powerpresented Bombadil as a sort of guide for Istari, which is not a role Tolkien ever explicitly gave the character. Additionally, there’s no indication inLord of the Ringsthat Bombadil ever settled in Rhun. In fact, it’s noted that the strange being wouldn’t leave his realm of Withywindle and the Old Forest.
Still, I like the creative libertiesRings of Powermade here. The show refrained from providing too many answers about Tom Bombadil, andKinnear’s performance was just as quirky and mysterious as it should have been. Bombadil stated inLord of the Ringsthat he had traveled all around Middle-earth, so it’s reasonable that he could have observed the damage in Rhun during the Second Age. Additionally, it’s canon that Gandalf would seek council from Bombadil, so establishing the idea that Old Tom had essentially trained the wizard is interesting. It was a risk that I feel was paid off.
Including Tom Bombadil Was A Major Risk For Rings Of Power
This Would Always Be A Controversial Choice
Rings of Powerhas taken a lot of risks with canon, and it hasn’t always paid off. I still roll my eyes at the origin story the series created for mithril and the idea that only this ore could prevent the Light of the Eldar from fading (the light of the Two Trees of Valinor exists in the very sun, moon and stars, so this explanation inRings of Poweris useless). After the controversy that such changes invited inRings of Powerseason 1, Prime Video might have shied away from including Tom Bombadil in season 1. After all,this is a character that other adaptations have avoided.
10 Ways The Rings Of Power’s Tom Bombadil Is Different To The Lord Of The Rings
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power introduced its own version of the Tolkien character Tom Bombadil, with a few changes made to the original.
Old Tom is easily among the most mysterious characters in Tolkien’s works, and many over the years have questioned whether he ever should have been included. Tolkien defended Bombadil’s role, but he provided minimal explanation regarding how this character really fit within the legendarium. Over the years,the lack of answers is what has made Old Tom so charming and fun, so misrepresenting the character on-screen could be highly damaging.Rings of Popertook up the challenge of including Tom Bombadil, and it managed fairly well. However, Prime Video should avoid getting too close to the sun.
Prime Video Could Easily Take This Too Far
I believe thatRings of Powerseason 2 handled Tom Bomadil’s character well, but I fear that keeping him around would be pushing it. The more Old Tom is on screen, the more familiar he becomes to audiences.He would eventually become too commonplace and less mysterious—a regularLord of the Ringscharacter whose actions could be predicted and whose stake in Middle-earth’s big conflicts becomes too clear.Rings of Powermanaged to avoid answering many of the big questions that Tolkien purposely left ambiguous, but it likely couldn’t keep this up for several more seasons.
Rings of Power managed to avoid answering many of the big questions that Tolkien purposely left ambiguous, but it likely couldn’t keep this up for several more seasons.
I would love if Kinnear’s performance inRings of Powerseason 2 was the last we saw of this character. Perhaps the show’s version of Gandalf could even look for this mysterious guide, only to discover that he must face his road alone. Tom Bombadil could be referenced—and we know that Gandalf will meet him again one day—butkeeping this off-screen would contribute to the mysterious, other-worldliness of thisLord of the Ringscharacter. Otherwise,Rings of Powerwould risk undoing what it carefully managed in season 2.
