Amazon's making their own Lord of the Rings series. It seems unlikely that it will be good, but it could have potential. If only the writers take one lesson from the reaction to Game of Thrones. Game of Thrones was a show that seemed too big to fail. Yet after the show ended, many fans were left confused and unsatisfied. This all has to do with how the show ended and the effort –or lack thereof– that the writers put into it. Of course, no show can please every fan. However, it seems to some fans that the Game of Thrones writers didn't try very hard to please anyone. The Amazon Lord of the Rings series could suffer from a similar problem where the writers think the show is untouchable. Unfortunately, that isn't true of any show.
Though show writers should be able to be creative and write the stories they want to write, if they make the wrong choices, they could end up with loads of disappointed fans. That's never a good thing. As hard as it might be to deal with, fans will always have opinions. Usually, these opinions are the result of having a lot of passion for whatever they're a fan of. That passion needs to be respected and nurtured if possible. Therefore, the writers of Amazon's Lord of the Rings series should learn from the reaction to Game of Thrones, especially its ending. All show writers really could learn from it, but especially those writing in the same genre. Though Game of Thrones proved that not all fantasy fans are looking for pure escapism, it also proved that there are specific ways that writers can go too far with making things realistic.
Many people don't want to escape into a fantasy world only to find the same problems as the real one. Fans also do not want to be shocked over and over in the name of supposed realism. A plot twist or two is fine, but there's no need to go overboard. There needs to be a balance between surprising the audience and giving them what they came for. In the end, all most Game of Thrones fans wanted was an ending that made sense; and one that respected the characters they spent years following. Anyone watching the Amazon Lord of the Rings series will likely want something similar. Not much is known about the series so far, yet it is safe to say that it will have a lot to live up to.
Not only will it have to deal with Game of Thrones comparisons but also the comparisons to the Lord of the Rings movies. That's a lot of hype to deal with. It might be a bit daunting for the show's writers, but hopefully, they're up to the task. No writer can please every fan; there will always be things that aren't to some people's tastes. Yet, there is a way to satisfy the majority of fans. The Lord of the Rings movies certainly managed it. And hopefully, the Amazon Lord of the Rings series will as well. There will undoubtedly be some fans rooting for it to work out, and it could if they learn from the reaction to Game of Thrones. So what lesson can the writers of Amazon's Lord of the Rings series learn from Game of Thrones? It's two-fold: respect your characters and respect your fans.
What Game of Thrones did right in the beginning and middle of the story should not be overlooked. The show did an excellent job of developing all of its characters so that every fan had someone to root for. Unfortunately, that very thing is why so many fans disliked the ending. It seemed, to some, to disrespect the characters that fans had spent years rooting for. The ending of Game of Thrones was awful for everyone, except the remaining members of the Stark family. Yet, it was particularly difficult for Daenerys Targaryen and her fans. Daenerys was so close to achieving her goal of reclaiming the Iron Throne, but at the last minute, she went mad and decided to slaughter the city of King's Landing instead. Then her lover (and nephew) Jon Snow seemingly has no choice but to kill her.
What the writers of the Amazon Lord of the Rings series can learn is this: give characters development, yes, but only development that actually makes sense. They can also learn that if a character's ending surprises fans too much, it will probably backfire. Yes, writers should be able to take risks. Yet, those risks should not come at the cost of a good story. If fans have no idea how a character developed into who they evolved into, it probably means the writers made a mistake somewhere. The Amazon Lord of the Rings series writers will hopefully respect their fans enough to give all of their characters good development, with fitting ends for all. Note that a fitting end does not have to be a happy end. It just has to be an end that fits the character's arc up to that point.
If the Amazon Lord of the Rings series takes this two-fold lesson from the reaction to Game of Thrones, it could succeed. The question is: will the writers listen? Or will the Amazon Lord of the Rings series one day be a cautionary tale, similar to the ending of Game of Thrones? All fans can do is wait and see.
Of course, not everyone will agree that the writers should take a lesson from the Game of Thrones fans. After all, they should be able to create the show they want to. Yet it would be a shame if they didn't as it's really quite a good lesson. And it wouldn't have to come at the cost of the writers' creativity as long as they don't want to write a nonsensical ending for any of their characters.