I think this statement:
"It will be impossible for Amazon to please the millions of Tolkien fans, despite the enormous budget for the series," Tom Forte, an analyst for investment firm D.A. Davidson wrote"
is pretty inaccurate. I think they COULD have pleased virtually EVERY Tolkien fan, they just chose to please the twitter mob instead. No actual human would have complained had they stuck to the books, or introduced "diversity" from whence it was in the books. The show does this in places. I also don't think an experienced script writer pre-2017 would have had Galadriel as abrasive as she is, that could have EASILY been avoided. There are some really basic pitfalls this show is stumbling on, almost all of which could have been avoided. Maybe this was the best we could get from an even larger mess?
Anyway, 3 eps is far too early to tell. The real value of this show to Amazon is, in my opinion, it's ability to sell merch, tie-ins, and the like. Amazon will never re-coup a billion in subscribers alone, they need fans buying art books, comic adaptations, soundtracks, licensed games, replica props, DVDs, etc.