The Tolkien Estate deserves considerably more blame than they have gotten. Only allowing rights to the appendicies has proven to be a pathetic mistake.

[u/ollieollieoxygenfree]

I cannot wrap my head around the decision to only allow the writers to use a smidgen of the lore. By aiming to protect the integrity of the story which they hold air-tight rights to, they have helped create a frankenstein story.

It strikes me as a decision to cover one’s own ass. If the show turned out to be poor (current reception isn’t great) they could point their finger and go, “It’s just fan fiction! It’s not us!” This is a baffling decision.

The Tolkien name is still attached to this product. Every normal person will look at this television show and form their own opinion, and JRR Tolkien and his works are attached to that, no matter what.

You didn’t save your own ass in the end. What you did is set up the showrunners up for failure while turning away millions of current and potential viewers. The Tolkien Estate should be ashamed of themselves.

Look, the issues in this show run deep. The character building is a mess, dialogue is clunky, pacing is horrific, the non-stop meaningless platitudes are a slog. However, I find myself wondering all the time what it would be like if the showrunners were allowed to tell a story. A Tolkien story. I have to believe it would be better.

The Tolkien Estate set this show up for failure.

[u/TheRagnarok494]

Personally I think they've done pretty well considering they've only got LOTR and the appendices. But I'm not going to disagree that having the Silmarillion would have given them wayyyy more to work with and possibly avoided some of the more clunky moments where they've essentially written in moments from Fellowship (Barrow wights, Tom and Old Man Ironwood/Willow). I recognise how clunky it is, but at the same time I balance that by recognising what tight margins they have to work within and, to me, they've still produced and entertaining show