That's the Second Age for you. None of the major characters is supposed to be likable, except maybe Elendil. This is not a story about heroism and self-sacrifice. It's a story where powerful people do stupid things out of pride, great empires fall, and almost everyone dies.
That’s just lazy writing, akin to those cheesy horror movies where everyone has to be a complete idiot to die to the monster.
A much better story is where smart, cunning characters vie against one another. There’s eb and flow, give and take, maybe a few pivotal movements that set the characters down a path they’ll resist but ultimately succumb too. Where when they reach the end despite their best efforts looking back they made the (mostly) same choices but still failed. Early Game of Thrones was a masterpiece in this regard.
Some might take that as a criticism, but when it comes to the creative and performing arts I'm an unabashed elitist snob, and it's a perspective I recommend.
