I've seen many complaints about the mystery box trope, specifically surrounding <em>The Rings of Power</em>, suggesting that they're tired of TV shows doing this. While I understand the issue comes from TV shows falsely laying out mystery intrigue and then failing to pay it off with satisfying answers, I don't think mystery boxes are inherently bad. There's so much fun and community bonding that can come from a mystery box and the engagement surrounding theorization; the issue is that the trope often gets used to misdirect audiences from something that's entirely blatant, obvious, and uninteresting.
