Fans of beloved franchises are eating well at the moment, as Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Marvel, and Game of Thrones are all taking over TV screens these days. HBO’s House of the Dragon and Amazon’s Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power are both powerhouses, and since they launched they do seem to be compared directly far more often, with House of the Dragon seemingly getting far more of the love and attention. During today’s ComicBook Nation the crew discussed if launching The Rings of Power alongside House of the Dragon was a mistake, and right now it does seem that all the buzz and love for House of the Dragon is impacting Rings of Power’s buzz and reception.
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During the show I said I feel bad for The Rings of Power every week because I’m giving it far less attention than House of the Dragon, and it’s because I’m not as invested in all of the impressive world and lore building the show has accomplished. Andor is also taking its time to flesh out the world but in its first three episodes the show has still found time to get you invested in the central character’s motives and journey, and while I appreciate that Rings of Power is fleshing out so much more, I’m still waiting for the hook of why I should care about all of that world-building in the first place and what is supposed to be pulling me through this story. This would be frustrating on its own, but those problems are only magnified when you have a show doing a better job of that each and every week running directly against yours.
Having things occasionally overlap is one thing, but as I said on the podcast, having it hit each and every week and therefore becoming a weekly topic doesn’t do the show that is lower on the rung any favors, so while the theory of similar shows propping each other up does happen, those tend to be the exceptions, not the rule. Looking back, having these shows run at the same time seems to have robbed Rings of Power of some of its thunder, so while Rings of Power might end up being a great show, scheduling it alongside House of the Dragon was a mistake.
“I too struggle with it,” Janell said. “I feel really bad that I feel I’m not giving the proper attention to Rings, but House of the Dragon, that show is just so good.”
While Kofi recognizes that the show is a gorgeous production and there are several scenes from the past two episodes that were exciting to watch, it still isn’t really clicking like House of the Dragon. “It just feels like Game of Thrones lite, and I know that lord of the Rings has endured much longer than Game of Thrones ever has, and has much more worldwide fame embedded in our culture than Game of Thrones, but I’m just looking as a modern TV viewer in the streaming era, and it’s just like…if I didn’t have to do this show, Rings of Power wouldn’t be appointment viewing for me. I’d be catching up on 3 or 4 of those puppies in one long movie block one day. It just isn’t keeping up pace with House of the Dragon.”
You can check out our full discussion on the topic in the video above, and make sure to let us know what you think on Twitter @comicbooknation!
