In this episode of Human Friend Digital, Jacob and Jeff wander far from digital marketing and deep into the hills of Middle-earth. What begins as a friendly debate about The Rings of Power becomes something more: a meditation on storytelling, adaptation, and what gets lost when myth is compressed for streaming.

Jacob, steeped in Tolkien lore, explains why the Amazon series falls short—not because it lacks budget, but because it lacks the soul of the original works. He compares the First and Second Age to a slow simmer, full of long arcs and mythic scale, something a single season of TV struggles to capture.

They imagine a better show: a True Detective-style anthology based on Tolkien’s deeper writings—tight, mythic, and focused.

And along the way, they touch on The Hobbit films, the strengths of The Lord of the Rings adaptations, and even the tax policy of Gondor (or lack thereof), comparing Tolkien’s high myth to George R.R. Martin’s grounded realism in A Song of Ice and Fire.

It’s part literary critique, part nerdy celebration, and part heartfelt frustration.

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