Warning: This article contains spoilers for Season 2 of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.”.“

Last week Rings of power The episode “Doomed to Die” depicted the highly anticipated Siege of Eregion – a deadly battle from the original writings of JRR Tolkien that marked the beginning of the war between the elves and Sauron.

The stakes were high in the penultimate episode of the Middle-earth series as Sauron’s power continued to grow and the orcs began their attack on the elves.

However, for some fans, the fight lacked the epic proportions they had hoped for – and that they had previously seen from Peter Jackson Lord of the rings Trilogy.

Here’s a closer look at what the series got right and wrong regarding the pivotal battle in Middle-earth, according to superfans online.

Why is the siege of Eregion significant?

The Siege of Eregion marks the downfall of this important elven kingdom, which was also the birthplace of the Rings of Power.

At its height, Eregion experienced a unique time in elven history, marked by harmonious relations with the dwarves that included open trade and cooperation. However, the orcs posed a looming threat on the outskirts of the kingdom.

However, the aftermath of the siege led to the deterioration of this alliance, creating a rift that became a recurring theme in Tolkien’s works.

Some fans say the pace of the fight was off

To know more about fans’ reactions to the Rings of power Depiction of the siege, Yahoo Entertainment spoke to Tolkien expert William Smith, host of the Green Lanterns Podcast and moderator of the subreddit r/LOTR_on_Prime

“As far as pacing goes, I think the internet didn’t like some of the start-stop moments, like (half-elf ruler) Elrond leading the charge and making them stop on a dime,” Smith said. “It also seemed to change from night to day or day to night quite abruptly, but I liked the look of it.”

This sentiment was reflected on the r/RingsofPower subreddit, where one Reddit user said it felt like the fight in Episode 7 was “put on pause when it’s convenient.”

“The fight goes up and down, not according to the logic of the fight, but just to make room for conversation,” the user wrote.

According to fans, the stakes seemed low

Smith said that fans upset about the battle wanted to see larger forces in the battle rather than a closer fight.

“(Viewers) knew that these were great forces competing, but most of what we see is the battle on a more intimate, close level,” Smith explained. “Instead of focusing on the scaled-down battle with thousands of characters on screen, the show focused more on who was in close proximity to our POV characters.”

For Redditors, this POV approach lowered the emotional stakes.

“We see that the orcs have begun to scale the walls. But here Celebrimbor’s intern is sitting at the front, unarmed and in her velvet dress. …How am I supposed to care about all this action and drama when the characters right before it don’t even feel the need to pay any attention to it?” wrote one Reddit user, who clarified in his post that they are not a “lore- “Nerd”.

“This show continually fails to convey the enormity of the events depicted. At this point it borders on a parody. Stopping a cavalry charge is a crazy move. Not to mention they only have one damn troll? There would easily be tens of thousands of elves in the city defending the walls, but there are maybe 20,” another user replied.

Some felt that the battle was just of great significance and had no real significance.

“The battle felt very hollow as key events such as the elven cavalry charge, the mountain troll, the siege engine explosion, the orcs scaling the walls were constantly introduced… all of which seemed to have no impact on the battle and it “Apparently only included because they thought it would be cool,” one user wrote.

Fans weren’t impressed by the size

To Smith, Rings of power Audiences were looking for the epic battle depictions they had come to expect from the film trilogy.

“I think people just want to see more scale in the battles. When you look at movies and other series, the battles that are highly rated online are usually the ones that constantly feature a lot of extras and have a lot at stake. A massive force defending an area against another massive force,” Smith said.

Redditors confirmed this opinion online.

“The whole experience seemed strange. The films (both (and) The Hobbit) felt much grander in the battle sequences. It feels like Elrond and (Elven King) Gil-Galad have about 100-300 elves on horseback and no other troops,” another user commented.

“It felt like the battle was designed by someone who has never seen a battle or even knows what a battle or siege would look like in reality. (Peter) Jackson’s films had pretty good performances,” another user replied.

Favorite characters were underused

Many fans felt that the fight missed an opportunity to showcase favorite Tolkien characters.

“My biggest complaint was how little they used Damrod in the battle. “I feel like the troll was designed to be a true terror, and yet his time on screen felt lackluster, especially given the ease with which he was defeated,” one Reddit user wrote.

“My biggest criticism, as well as the others you listed, was why wasn’t Gil-Galad in command of the army? The elf is a crazy, powerful character who can fight against beings as powerful as Sauron, but the courtier who disobeyed his king several times is the commander of the army? Why?” another Reddit user commented.

What the fight did right according to fans

Opinion was far from unanimous, as some viewers were thrilled with episode 7.

“This episode was incredible! I feel like I haven’t seen a decent fight like this in ages!” commented one Reddit user.

“It was one of the most epic battles I have ever seen on television. It definitely reminded me of early Game of Thrones,” one user wrote.

“The fight was visually impressive. Was it on par with Helm’s Deep (Jackson’s Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers) or (game of Thrones) battles? No. The execution felt somewhat chaotic and disorganized at times. “The real highlight, however, was the claustrophobic tension between Sauron and Celebrimbor,” wrote another user.

“I enjoyed the siege overall and where it left our characters in the aftermath, and now we have to prepare for the season two finale,” Smith said.

What critics say

While some fans may have disagreed with Prime Video’s depiction of the Siege of Eregion, the episode received a 100% fresh rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, “Season 2, Episode 7 is a spectacular episode, epic in scope and extremely entertaining,” wrote MN Miller for FandomWire.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is now streaming on Prime Video.