- The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is the most expensive series in the history of television entertainment, with an estimated production cost of one billion dollars.
- After the release of the trailer for the show, fans of Tolkien’s work began speculating about the show’s plot and characters
- The Amazon series is set to take place before the known events from the Peter Jackson movie trilogy
- Tolkien fans should be prepared for deviations from the famous writer’s work
- The Rings of Power will appear on Amazon Prime Video on September 2 this year.
- You can find more of these stories on the Onet homepage
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power series has been announced in the Sindarin language, the language of the Elves of Middle-earth. In the announcement of the Super Bowl (the last game of the NFL Championship in American football) – which is, admittedly, a somewhat non-elves event – the first trailer for the much-anticipated Amazon series was shown. Five years after acquiring the TV rights for a modest $250 million. And seven months before the premiere of the first episode, which will appear on the catwalk on September 2, the producers want to impress the images with as many audiences as possible.
For most American football fans who sat in front of the screens that night, the “rings of power” are still new. For Tolkien fans, many of whom are European, the first trailer means a sleepless night (the Super Bowl takes place in the US, hence the time difference). Tobias M. Eckrich, president of the German Tolkien Society, a programmer by profession, took a day off from work. Shortly after midnight in Europe, he was playing the detective again.
While the casual viewer only recognizes a few quickly edited images from a richly-produced fictional series, witty Tolkienst sees the so-called Second Age of Middle-earth and, with a bit of luck, may even be able to determine the indicative year in which the series takes place. Every scene, every prop, every character, and every word can be a prime clue here.
second era
On the one hand, the series’ creators – show makers Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne – have to be very careful and be very careful, on the other hand – Tolkien’s work is invaluable for serial marketing. Fan portals such as Fellowship of Fans and TheOneRing.net are an integral part of an unprecedented game between producers, PR workers and viewers which – so far – includes: a progressively expanded map, an official synopsis, a title video announcement and 23 mysterious no-show posters Only 23 pairs of hands.
However, every little thing opens the door to an almost infinite world for loyal fans: it was enough to get acquainted with the island of Númenor on a previously published map to find out where the largest serial event in the world, which is likely to cost one billion dollars, will go.
In fact, the story told in the “Rings of Power” is already well known. However, the interpretation of it takes a few breaths – after all, JRR Tolkien’s Middle-earth is the largest realm depicted in literature. It features invented geography and many languages, invented myths, peoples, and history that Tolkien divided into three separate eras. The most famous of them is the Third Age, because both “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” take place in it.
The pharaoh and the tiger
“The Silmarillion” was scheduled to be released with “The Lord of the Rings” during Tolkien’s lifetime, but it failed. It’s all about the first era. The second age, now forming with “Rings of Strength”, is real cabbage and peas by comparison. It is a “dark age” as Tolkien himself put it, and “little is said about its history”.
However, this did not prevent Tolkien from talking about the second age in almost all of his books. Tolkien’s followers, currently puzzled over the alleged plot of the Amazon series, should at least have access to the infamous appendices of “The Lord of the Rings,” the later two chapters of “Silmarillion” and corresponding chapters of “Unfinished Tales of Middle-earth and Numenor.”
Unlike The Lord of the Rings, The Rings of Power is not a fully developed fantasy novel, but in its main assumptions resembles a medieval historical narrative that tells history even earlier: about the exploits of brave warriors; alliances of elves, humans and dwarves; The plots of Sauron, the great villain of Tolkien. It’s also a story about the pride of a king named Ar-Pharazôn, whose desire for immortality literally wipes out Tolkien’s Atlantis in ruins. (The maps that still show Nimenor have nothing to do with the Third Age if only for this reason.)
Once upon a time in the year 3255
Ar-Pharazôn (“Rings of Power” seems to portray him as Pharazôn and give him one of the main roles) is one of the easiest ways to chronicle the action of the series. From the Chronicles of the Years attached to The Lord of the Rings it appears that this rebellious prince ascended the throne of the Kingdom of Nimenor in 3255 of the Second Age – after the civil war and before the final dissolution of the rule. Númenorean-elven Alliance.
There will be other important characters from “The Silmarillion” (these good ones on the other side of course) in the Amazon series in the Amazon series. It is already known that such friends of the elves as Elendil and his son Isildur will play the main roles.
However, Nimenor will be just one of many scenes in “The Rings of Power.” The title itself, which was announced recently in the trailer, refers to the next chapter of “The Silmarillion,” which takes place in the fairy settlement of Lyndon and ties the series closely to Peter Jackson’s films.
Still image from the series “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”
“The Three Kings of Elves”
This is where old friends are waiting for fans, such as the great Elf Galadriel or half-Elf Elrond – and here they make the rings, for which the Tolkien saga takes its name:
Trzy Pierścienie dla królów elfów pod otwartym niebem,
Siedem dla władców krasnoludów w ich kamiennych pałacach,
Dziewięć dla śmiertelników, ludzi śmierci podległych,
Jeden dla Władcy Ciemności na czarnym tronie
W Krainie Mordor, gdzie zaległy cienie
["Wiersz o Pierścieniu" z powieści "Władca Pierścieni" J.R.R. Tolkiena]
In the Second Age (and later the Third Age), this “lord of darkness” is Sauron, who, according to the Silmarillion, infiltrates both Númenor and Lindon society. However, the two events are separated by 1,800 years, because Sauron, like the elves, is – at least in theory – immortal. So Power Rings have a problem with time, but you’re also likely to have a problem with chronology. The experts would definitely shake their heads.
Maybe flashback is a way to help create a bridge between these years, or maybe just between seasons of the Ring series – five or more, we don’t know exactly – there will be long periods of time that the narrator will have freedom of connection.
Elves do not care about time (for example, Galadriel, who is several thousand years old, will not leave Middle-earth until the end of The Lord of the Rings), but the Neminorians and dwarves in the mines of Khazad-dom do.
Speaking of which, what about the hobbits, Tolkien’s most famous characters that didn’t even exist in the Second Age?
Still image from the series “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”
‘He looks weak, fragile and cowardly’
Purists, be brave now. It was always assumed that the so-called protohobbits would be indispensable elements of the series’ plot. Evidently, the writers did not dare to dismiss these little creatures and fill in the gaps of the Second Age with them either. Tobias M. Eckrich, president of the German Tolkien Society, describes the Amazon series as “the only licensed fan fiction of the Silmarillion in existence.”
This is bad? With elven princes, dwarves, and humans only described by Tolkien, “rings of power” can become the equivalent of the “crown” chain, which in turn goes against Tolkien’s belief that in the course of the world they are “often not so” great and powerful (…), but it seems It is weak and unknown.” If Tolkien had turned “The Silmarillion” into a novel rather than a narrative, he wouldn’t even be able to handle a traditional cast.
Therefore, not all 23 hands that recently hit the Tolkien fan community in poster form (see below) can be attributed to a character invented by Tolkien himself. Fans soon recognized Middle-earth luminaries as the Elf Galadriel or the Dwarf King Doreen III on the posters – but the man in shiny black armor may not represent the arch-villain Sauron, but an apocryphal prince.
Posters promoting The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power series
meteor man
The mystery of Sauron remains unsolved at the moment, and will likely remain long after the start of the first season of the Amazon series. Sauron appears, as stated in The Silmarillion, “in hundreds of forms” and can deceive “all but the wisest”. So, at least for a while, the show will take the form of “who’s who” instead of “who did it”.
It is unlikely that another suspect, the so-called Meteorite Man from the posters, is the key to solving the mystery of Sauron. He is portrayed as a gray-bearded, sloppy gentleman who in the show – according to a leak from the plan – wakes up with amnesia next to a meteor and is likely connected to the Proto-hobbit plot. However, Meteor-Man holds an apple in his hand, which Tolkien’s friends associate not only with the decline of the human race – a common motif in the famous writer, and even a constant motive for Sauron’s actions.
Judging by the game the developers are playing with their fans today, the narrators of the Ring series have perfected their craft…
The Rings of Power series will debut on Amazon Prime Video on September 2.
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