Over the extended Labor Day weekend, I came across a Daily Beast review whose headline read: “Rings of Power Season 2 Is So Much Better Than House of the Dragon.” As someone who has seen both series, I can safely say that The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’s second season, with three episodes released thus far, is not better than House of the Dragon, a prequel to Game of Thrones.

Still, I was curious to see how reviewer Nick Schager, entertainment critic for the Daily Beast, backed up this assertion. But he did not. It’s not hard to see why: He’s clearly wrong.

To start, the visual differences between the two fantasy shows are night and day. Rings of Power is marked by ambitious CGI effects that look cheap despite its exorbitant production budget, whereas House of the Dragon makes use of practical sets that are enhanced by VFX. Unlike director Peter Jackson’s cinematic trilogy, the visuals of which lent a sense of verisimilitude, the prequel’s version of Middle-earth is devoid of any realism.

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Rings of Power may look like a pretty desktop screensaver of a Caribbean beach or sunflower field, but the show’s surface-level beauty doesn’t ground audiences in its distinctive, mythical world. Though the show uses a mix of practical effects and real-life locations, the overbearing CGI serves as a painful reminder that many scenes are filmed on a soundstage with a green-screen backdrop.

By contrast, House of the Dragon boasts a cinematic quality unmatched by generic fantasy shows. Scenes are filled with depth and elaborate set designs, the cinematography is well thought out, and the photo-realistic dragons display the VFX artists’ careful attention to detail. All these visual elements add to the perception that Westeros is a real place inhabited by various kingdoms and houses, even though it’s a fictional world. It’s easy to get lost in a story when its creators meticulously build upon a literary world they respect. I cannot say the same of the Rings of Power showrunners and writers with their treatment of J. R. R. Tolkien’s work.

The flowery dialogue in Rings of Power comes across as pretentious and nonsensical. From the first season, it’s obvious the screenwriters were trying to emulate Tolkien’s poetry and prose. The attempt is even more noticeable in the second season. Word salads from the Stranger (Daniel Weyman) such as, “No one can give you a name. It is yours already. It is who you are. And when you hear it spoken, you feel your heart glow,” force me to do mental gymnastics to piece together what he’s saying. If this character, who clearly resembles Gandalf, does end up being identified as the famous wizard, it only affirms how inferior his lines in Rings of Power are to Gandalf’s eloquent wisdom in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Other lines are cringe-inducing. The promise by Sauron (Charlie Vickers), disguised as the angelic Annatar, to Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) that the latter will forever be remembered as “the Lord of the Rings” caused an audible groan, akin to the roar of a Balrog, to rise from the depths of my soul. The explicit reference illustrates how the writers are incapable of subtlety.

House of the Dragon avoids heavy-handed writing. Each episode’s script features straightforward dialogue from writers not trying to be clever. Instead, they write pages and pages of earnest conversations with serious implications for characters, which meaningfully advance the plot.

For example, Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney) rides into battle on his dragon to prove himself after his mother Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) berates him for not fulfilling his kingly duties. During the battle, Aegon is caught in the crossfire and is gravely wounded by his brother Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell), who aspires to sit the Iron Throne himself.

Aegon’s near-fatal burns lead Aemond to rule in his stead as prince-regent, a position that boosts his ego. One fraught conversation between Aegon and his mother initiated this chain of events. There are many more examples of how the show’s writers create dramatic consequences from characters’ actions and reactions.

Character development is not one of the Rings of Power’s strengths. Almost halfway through the second season, it’s still unclear who certain characters are and what they want. Sauron’s motivation is easy to determine: He wants to accelerate the forging of the rings to dominate Middle-earth, and to do that he deceives Celebrimbor into forging the remaining rings.

What about Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), the main protagonist? She wants to defeat Sauron because he killed her brother. Simple enough. But if revenge is her sole motivation, then why is she tempted to join Sauron? Is it because he’s a hunk? Hard to say. Numerous questions come to mind as the series repeatedly shifts attention to at least eight different story lines, most of which add to my confusion.

For example: Why is the Stranger traversing the Middle Eastern equivalent of Middle-earth with two Harfoots? Where are they going? The only thing this story line does well is remind me of Frodo and Sam’s grueling journey to Mordor. Unlike the three Lord of the Rings films, Rings of Power is far from epic.

Meanwhile, House of the Dragon competently introduces characters and spells out their relationships to one another while the overall story progresses. The Targaryen family tree can be complicated, though it becomes easier to follow over time. Their motivations become apparent as the civil war between the two factions heats up.

Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) strives to become the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms under the belief she was chosen as her father’s successor. Rhaenyra’s efforts are opposed by her half-brother Aegon, who believes he’s the rightful heir and wants to retain control. These are clear rationales for conflict.

For these reasons, Rings of Power is not on the same quality level as House of the Dragon. If you enjoy watching the Lord of the Rings prequel series, don’t let me ruin your fun. Just don’t expect others to trust your opinion without providing reasoning.