I genuinely wanted to love this. I find myself returning to the other LoTR media throughout my life. The books, movies, soundtracks, and audio recordings all have a place in my heart. Now I am sitting home on maternity leave, genuinely hoping to give season 2 a shot and hope they heard the criticism from season 1. And the pacing is just absurd. Who did they make this show for? Not old fans certainly, but it also seems unattainable for new fans.