How The Rings Of Power Showrunners Feel About The Backlash To The Lord Of The Rings Series

"The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" has had a mixed reception from audiences. Season 1 got a lot of attention, and Season 2 continued to top streaming charts when it aired. But at the same time, many of the creative decisions made in the show have polarized viewers and created plenty of not-so-positive reactions. The showrunners aren't taking this lightly, either. Heading into Season 3, they are approaching criticism with a cautious balance of respect and practicality.

"We would be bad at our job if we didn't care somewhat what people think of it," Patrick McKay told SFX magazine (via GamesRadar). McKay shares responsibilities for the show alongside his co-showrunner, JD Payne. While the pair are listening to the feedback, both good and bad, they're taking everything with a grain of salt. "That doesn't mean that they're suddenly in charge," McKay clarified, referencing the viewers who have taken issue with the series.

While "The Rings of Power" has had its fair share of trolls just looking to cause trouble, not all critics of the show are coming from a place of bad faith. Many have given honest, and, in some cases, constructive feedback. The showrunners count themselves among the ranks of these critics, too. "We listen to what people say, and we want people to love it," said McKay, "but we are our hardest, harshest critics. What's working and what's not working, we're going to learn from."

While JD Payne and Patrick McKay are listening to feedback about the first two seasons, they do think they're improving heading into Season 3 of "The Rings of Power," which is being billed as a soft reboot. In an interview with IGN, McKay described the new season as "a great jumping-on point for fans," which is good news for those who got lost in the lore or weren't able to keep up during the complex storytelling of the first two seasons.

J.R.R. Tolkien's world is about as complicated as high fantasy gets. While the first two seasons are visually stunning and full of interesting characters and storylines, the sheer number of names, places, and events has been staggering. In a world where streamers are creating content with so-called "second screen viewing" in mind, it's no surprise that "The Rings of Power" has taken a soft reboot approach for its third season. But what can we expect from it?

In short, it looks like everything is going to come into focus. There are already hints at some changes for Season 3, like less time spent with the Harfoots, which, if true, could leave more time to focus on other storylines. Whatever it ends up looking like, the showrunners think the narrative is getting better as they approach the midpoint in their planned five-season story arc. "We're getting more confident in our storytelling," McKay said to SFX, "and in Season 3, we feel like the show has hit its stride."

With Season 3, JD Payne and Patrick McKay finally had the opportunity to make some changes based on the feedback that "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" has received. Season 1 was experimental (Tolkien's world has typically been adapted in movie form, not serialized television). Even after it came out, it was hard to adjust to audience feedback right away, as most of Season 2 was already written before Season 1 aired.

"In terms of how [viewer reactions] impacted Season 2, we wrote most of Season 2 before Season 1 came out," McKay explained when he and Payne sat down for an interview with Vanity Fair in 2022, when they were still hard at work on the sophomore season. "We're refining the last bits of it now as we're starting to shoot. But really, the cake was kind of baked before the audience response came in."

This seemingly wasn't the case for Season 3. The showrunners had a few years to plan, write, and shoot this next chapter in their Second Age story — all with plenty of audience feedback. When Season 3 comes out, it will be interesting to see if the soft reboot concept is able to help more people keep up with (and enjoy) this dramatic chapter in Middle-earth history.

"The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" Season 3 comes to Prime Video on November 11, 2026.