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The Downfall of Amazon's The Rings of Power and Its Financial Fallout

A Failing Experiment in Middle-earth

When Amazon Prime Video launched The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, expectations were sky-high. Boasting an enormous budget of approximately a billion dollars for just two seasons, the series was billed as one of the most expensive television productions ever. However, the show failed spectacularly both critically and among audiences. Instead of embracing constructive criticism, Amazon took aggressive measures to suppress negative feedback—disabling the rating system and deleting unfavorable reviews—highlighting how much they prioritized image control over genuine engagement.