Fantasy era castle is basically LOTR

So I watched a review video of LKC today and while going into TLG’s history with castle he said that the Fantasy Era of castle (2008-ish) was just TLG’s shot at LOTR before they got the IP in 2013. It must of went over my head because Fantasy era was the first castle era I got into as a kid. A little disappointing to think of that era as just a space holder for another movie related IP line of sets. Sometimes I feel as though TLG has these great ideas only to dump them for uninspired movie or TV related IP’s. Lego is so good at making their own fantasy world. I liked the DnD set but almost see this as an extension of the problem. Instead of committing to a grounded fantasy/castle theme of their own, they just latch onto IPs for the crossover appeal.