RINGS OF POWER had its season finale on Friday, and after a lot of episodes with not a lot going on, I thought the writers did a ton of different things right. I'm going to spend the week digging into some of the lessons we might take from a really solid first season finale, starting with What a Satisfying Character Payoff Looks Like.
One of RINGS' big first season problems is that pretty much none of the characters that it wants you to pay attention actually have an emotional arc to follow. Galadriel is like an arrow show from a bow. She just keeps going. Arondir and Bronwyn are good and brave. That's pretty much their thing. Nori and Poppy, too.
Halbrand and the Stranger are both stuck being mysterious because that's what the writers need. Elrond is just around, mostly, sort of giving off a wise Obi-Wan vibe but not really having to do anything hard yet. (Sigh.)
Durin has a real arc, but it's a little bit of a head fake. You never quite believe he's not going to be there for Elrond. But his choices do have real consequences, which is satisfying. First Point of a Satisfying Character Payoff: The character's choices must have hard consequences for them. (Or, in the case of Satisfying Character Arc, their journey must involve costs and bring about change in them.)
But the two biggest characters arcs in the first season go to relatively minor characters. First there's Sadoc Burrows, whose name I didn't even know until I sat down to write this because he's mostly been in the background being gruff and complainy about Nori and the Stranger. He gives his life in the finale to help save the Stranger. So, hard consequences for their choices? CHECK.
But he also has these subtle changes as the season goes on. He goes from fearing and distrusting the Stranger to being kind to him after his initial attempt to heal their stopping place fails. He also insists on going with Dori, Dori's mom and Poppy to try and help protect the Stranger from the spooky witch people. All of which is to say, he has a legit arc. Second Point of a Satisfying Character Payoff: The character makes a series of choices that are risky or challenging for him and in the end involve both costs and growth.
Sadoc's story also involves The Third Point for a Satisfying Character Payoff: A Grace Note. Rather than simply dying, Sadoc gets to sit with his friends and watch the sun rise. It's not necessary, but it underlines the sense of completion that his arc has come to, and it gives us in the audience a chance to actually just sit and feel things. That's what a grace note should do—underline the import of what's happened and give us a moment to take it in.
So many shows just rush on to the next thing and forget the grace note. Don't forget the grace note.
The other character who gets a huge arc in this season is Miriel, the queen regent of Numenor. Much like Sadoc, Miriel starts in a kind of one note of resistance of place. But then she agrees to go to the Southlands, which is a big leap for her and one that has costs for her politically (which is underlined by both the debate in the town square and the burnt ships). And that risk pays off with her actually helping save the Southlanders, and then also costs as Mount Doom blows and she ends up losing her sight. But, in a classic storytelling move, her blindness also brings with it a much greater wisdom about what is important, and in the finale she sails back to Numenor with a great clarity of purpose.
So, Consequeneces: CHECK. A series of risky choices and costs: CHECK. And the one other thing that Miriel gets, basically her version of a grace note but what I'll call The Fourth Point for a Satisfying Character Payoff: An Iconic Look. Her with that wrap around her eyes is obviously classic but it also just really pops. In fact, if you think of character designs in the show, at the end of the season suddenly she has one of the most iconic looks of all. I'd say it's the Stranger, then Galadriel, then Miriel.
And that is no small thing. It might sound crazy, but it's true: Fans root for characters with iconic looks. Their looks signal their importance. Giving Miriel that new look, combined with everything else, and I am all in on her.
Tomorrow: THE FALSE POSITIVE.
