If you asked 100 LORD OF THE RINGS fans what their favorite thing about those films was, a very high percentage would probably quote some bit of wisdom that one of the characters drops during the series.
It's just in the DNA of the series and really everything Tolkien wrote, too. The man likes an insight.
But when it comes to storytelling, wisdom functions like exposition. If you're not careful it's going to kill the forward momentum of your story, and maybe even break the audience's suspension of disbelief.
Think of Episode 7 of RINGS OF POWER. It's definitely a "Everything is bad now, we need to step back and reconsider our reality" moment, which is fine. But it is chock full of "People have Insights Now" moments. And even though I like a lot of those moments—Galadriel's conversation with Theo is particularly great—as a whole it doesn't really work. There's just so much it draws attention to itself. It almost feels the writers saw their chance to finally "do a Tolkien" and so now here it is all at once.
It also draws attention to itself precisely because there is pretty much nothing else going on. That's almost always the wrong time to do any kind of exposition. Exposition needs the audience to be distracted in some way; it's the kind of thing we try to slip in as writers, not something that we step up and deliver.
Conflict, action, sex—these are the kinds of moments where you lay exposition. And if you're really good, you let the challenges of those events seem to force the exposition. "I'm only saying this because you're forcing me to, or because I am absolutely terrified, or because I just want you to stop talking and get into my bed." Exposition works best when it feels earned.
When it comes to Wisdom Bombs, Tolkien does often drop them in quieter moments. But it's always sparing—you get one moment like that in each film, or maybe two. And it's still always a response to struggle. Frodo is losing it, so Sam says something that helps him through. Or Frodo is afraid, and Gandalf, Aragorn or one of the Elves tell him stuff to help him. They haven't fixed his problem, but their wisdom serves as a kind of encouragement. Don't give up, kiddo.
In episode 8 we get a great example of this: The Stranger is freaking about who he might be, and Nori drops this: "Only you can show what you are. You choose by what you do." BOOM. For me, maybe the most memorable line in the first season. (The writers really try to sell that whole light and darkness thing that Galadriel's brother tells her in the pilot, but it's just a little too dense an idea. A Wisdom Bomb is sort of like a great episode or season ending—it should come as a complete surprise and yet make you go oh of course!)
And I think a big part of why it works is because it is offered precisely as the Stranger is Going Through Stuff. This is not a break in the action, it IS the action.
There's also the fact that it comes from such an unexpected source. Nori is a sweetheart, but she's a kid. We expect her to be kind and idealistic, but not wise.
So, Some Ideas on How to Do A Wisdom Bomb Well: 1) Put it in the middle of some kind of conflict or struggle, where it seems like a natural, earned response of the characters rather than an insight of our own as writer; 2) Have it stand on its own—do not give us six bits of wisdom in 60 minutes, one is enough; 3) Try to have it come from somewhere that we're not expecting—Nori teaching Gandalf (Oh it's definitely Gandalf); or Galadriel chilling out from being Action Hero to actually help a child; 4) Make it both surprising and accessible.
I've got a little more to say about RINGS OF POWER but I'm going to be away for the next week, so probably it'll have to wait.
In general, I think it's definitely an episode to consider rewatching. There is a lot of good writing going on there. Go RINGS OF POWER writing staff!
