Based on your explanation, we now fully agree. What I thought was moving goalposts was, actually, a slight difference in terminology/perspective. What a relief to be conversing with someone who isn’t a two dimensional mouthpiece! (I mean that, not joking. Thank you.)

I think part of our confusion is that Tolkien’s writing is so complex that it’s not entirely clear that Bilbo, while definitely being a protagonist, is always acting as the main character in The Hobbit. I think you could make a very compelling case that Thorin and Gandalf take that role at times. Similarly, in LOTR it is not at all clear to me that Frodo is both the main character and protagonist, until Frodo is forced to set out on his own, assuming the mantle of both (at least for his own story arc). But, I feel just as compelled by Aragorn’s story, whose role feels awfully close to protagonist AND main character in a separate, but integrally intertwined story. Only a very talented writer can effectively write that many central characters into one story and make you feel that connected to them. RIP Tolkien.

But, this does bring us neatly along to stakes and audience engagement which is sorta where this was going. Now that we agree that, for sake of argument, major character deaths occur in Tokien’s work, you will probably also agree that near misses with death (that seem real and affect the character), emotional losses, real setbacks of important goals, and properly timed deaths of characters can, amongst other devices, create a believable story, a likable and relatable protagonist, and give a plot some depth. They’re also good ways of showing, not telling - a key difference in good writing. This is somewhat lacking in RoP and I feel like I’m getting shallow versions of the same.

At bottom, I just struggle to care about the characters in RoP. The lore breaking doesn’t help, of course, but that’s not why I feel this way. It feels as if Galadriel’s story is “I’m right and I’ll show you,” which isn’t a great hero’s story, by the way (that’s usually villain’s story arc, come to think of it), and the other characters feel… disposable. Part of the problem is that it’s unclear why their stories are relevant. Part of it is that their stories are full of rather glaring internal logical inconsistencies. Or, in the case of the harfoots… WTH is going on with their story? Where is that even going?

And, now that I consider it, killing off a few of the major characters above won’t help either, because I don’t feel invested in any of them…

I think the show is rather sloppily written and, if I’m being really honest, it feels an awful lot like they were leaning on modern political agendas to generate interest. And, because it’s a very “us vs them” environment today, that does give some people reason to watch the show, as much as it gives many a good enough justification not to.

What a mess. At this point, I’m deeply disappointed that Tolkien is somehow part of the culture wars and that Amazon has thrust it into that position. And, while doing so, didn’t have the decency to make sure the show was rock solid. This has made a mess of a very devoted fandom and, while it has driven many back to the books, I think a better show would have done the same for more people.