A series of quotes and paraphrases from Tolkien's works are used to express displeasure with the show:
"Evil cannot create anything new, they can only corrupt and ruin what good forces have invented or made."Explanation A common saying amongst critics to express their displeasure over the show's changes and other creative liberties regarding the source material's story, presentation and characters. It has gotten to the point that the teaser trailer for the show has been flooded with the quote in the comment section, even in other languages like Russian and Greek. Ironically, it's not even a real quote but a very loose paraphrase, and apparently comes from this very wiki'sEvil Is Sterile article, where the real quote (in context, specifically about the origin of Orcs as corruptions of prior existing beings) is also found. While the basic idea is there, the meme usage often puts the line in quotation marks and attributes it directly to Tolkien, when he didn't write it, thus undercutting the appeal for better accuracy.
"There is no curse in Elvish, Entish, or the tongues of Men bad enough for such treachery."Explanation Due to the above not being an actual Tolkien quote, some have shifted to this, a line said by Treebeard.
"But as the theme progressed, it came into the heart of Melkor to interweave matters of his own imagining that were not in accord with the theme of Ilúvatar..."Explanation Same as above, but this one is a quote from The Silmarillion.
"How long has it been since Saruman bought you?"Explanation Gandalf's line (Éomer's in the movies) to the traitorous Grima Wormtongue, repurposed toward those who talk about the show in a positive or even cautiously optimistic light, essentially accusing them of being paid Amazon shills. It's particularly directed at hosts of Tolkien discussion channels on YouTube who were invited to a special Rings of Power promotional event in London.
Juxtaposing a quote from executive producer Lindsey Weber with a quote by Peter Jackson, to suggest that the show is shoehorning in modern political messaging rather than sticking to Tolkien's own themes:
"It felt only natural to us that an adaptation of Tolkien's work would reflect what the world actually looks like." (Vanity Fair, February 2022) "There are certainly themes Tolkien felt were important. We made a promise to ourselves at the beginning of the process that we weren't going to put any of our own politics, our own messages or our own themes into these movies. What we were trying to do was to analyse what was important to Tolkien and to try to honour that. In a way, we were trying to make these films for him, not for ourselves." (Peter Jackson, The Return of the King DVD, 2004)
Various comments describing ridiculous scenarios supposedly in the show (e.g., "I loved it when Galadriel said It's Morbin' Time", "When Elrond said "Get to the choppa!" I got chills.") as a way to mock the adaptational changes, which are seen by some as carelessly running roughshod over Tolkien's canon.
Don Lemon the Elf, a.k.a. Don LembasExplanation People have poked fun at the resemblance of Arondir to CNN news anchor Don Lemon, who ironically has claimed to not be much of a fantasy fan himself.
"Eminem is Sauron"Explanation It was initially reported by fan social media accounts that the SDCC 2022 trailer shows off Sauron's "Annatar" guise, a fair-skined elf. Unlike prior depictions of Annatar like in Middle-earth: Shadow of War, The Rings of Power's version has short hair and an appearance that some critics unflatteringly compared to rapper Eminem. Later it was clarified that it wasn't Sauron but an original character.
, February 2022) 