The furor around both Amazon Prime’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and HBO’s House of the Dragon has finally started to die down, but fans aren’t quite ready to let go of either series. They both have plenty of wonderful qualities, and their first seasons got plenty of viewers hooked, but there are several details that make House of the Dragon a clear step up from Prime’s venture into Middle-earth.

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That isn’t stopping Rings fans from obsessing over the series, of course. As they reflect on the first season, fans are digging into the backstories—and future prospects—for a number of the top characters, including Isildur. The character was introduced as a young man in the Prime series, but fans with an eye on his future are struggling to process the character in his youth. 

Even without fresh episodes of the two fantasy heavy-hitters, fans of the genre have plenty to look forward to. The fantasy world is awash with wonderful content, from fresh series and upcoming films to webcomics and book releases. One genre of webcomic, in particular, is turning heads, as people dig into the wonderful reversal of the typical villainous archetypes. 

Isildur’s debut in Rings of Power leaves fans pondering his past—and dark future

The first season of Prime’s Rings of Power introduced viewers to Isildur in his youth, but longtime fans of the franchise are struggling to see him as anyone other than the man who will someday fail mankind. Long before he defeated Sauron and fell to the corruption of the One Ring, however, Isildur was an impactful and impressive man, one whose future in Middle-earth goes far beyond his experience with the Ring.

A look at what House of the Dragon did better than Rings of Power

The debate surrounding House of the Dragon and Rings of Power will likely never truly cease, but there are certainly some things that each show does better than its competitor. House of the Dragon may not boast nearly so epic a scope as Rings, but its well-defined plot line and thoroughly-examined characters put some solid points in House of the Dragon’s favor. 

A range of villainous webcomics flip the script on the classic characters

A new trend in webcomics is reversing the expected story, and allowing the villainous leads we’ve become so familiar with over the years to finally redeem themselves. There are a number of stellar options in the burgeoning genre, from My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! to The Villainess Lives Again, Villains Are Destined to Die, and Kill the Villainess. These creative and intriguing webtoons follow the villains of the story, rather than the typical “hero” character, and provide a very different spin on the idea of good and evil.