Not sure yet. There are lots of competing theories. OFFICIAL First Pic of Amazon’s Lord of the Rings Series: TORn staff react | TheOneRing.net
Everything I've heard makes me dread this. Seems like they have just bought a hugely popular IP just to create some modern version that won't resemble anything that Tolkien wrote.
'Lord of the Rings' Amazon Series Moves Production to UK for Season 2 - Variety Amazon’s ‘criminal’ decision to move Lord of the Rings filming from New Zealand to UK sparks epic debate over ‘real Middle-earth’ Ashley @AshWHurst I'm sorry but it just doesn't sit well with me that season 2 of Amazon's Lord of the Rings series won't film in New Zealand. It feels criminal to film somewhere else. 7:59 AM · Aug 13, 2021·Twitter Web App Rob @colourfulsevens Replying to @AshWHurst i don't have a dog in this fight because i don't have much interest in the LOTR series, but the Scottish Highlands provide just as much awe-inspiring scenery. 8:01 AM · Aug 13, 2021·Twitter Web App
Even Tolkien himself said that nothing very interesting happened in The Second Age and he didn't write very much about it at all which means the writers are going to have to make a lot of plot and characters up on their own. Oof...
I'm trying to remember the show, don't think I saw more than a minute of it . . . was it an "adaptation" of the Shanarra fantasy stories? It was on a couple of years ago and the main complaint I remember was that the characters acted and sounded so anachronistic it was like they were slumming from Gossip Girl. Dave Mac
Amazon probably chose it just for that reason, to have a free hand doing anything at all. For myself I want to see movies about the trials and tribulations of monetizing elven and dwarvish narratives and dream shows.
Hobbits! We have Hobbits, people! Sir Lenny Henry confirms role as an early Hobbit in Amazon’s LOTR show Or at least one Hobbit, anyway. The article also contains a recap of what info Tolkien did provide on the origins of the Hobbits.
Perfectly said! In short, some would demand "make your own show - but only as I deem it should be made!"
Expecting the usual complaints from the usual crowd. That said, I did see a comment elsewhere that the existence of Hobbits at all in the Second Age of Middle Earth is decidedly non-Tolkien. I can see that being a valid complaint, but I have no idea if that's the case. Based on that article, it seems there's no reason you couldn't have halflings depicted as multicultural.
Lord Of The Rings: Sauron's Season 1 Absence Causes A Pacing Issue Amazon says no Sauron in season 1. I am not sure this is such a big deal if it's Morgoth is in the picture instead for season 1. Sauron is a sniveling twerp compared to Morgoth. The casual fan just doesn't know that I guess so it gives pause to this reporter. "Casual" being someone who hasn't read The Silmarillion.
Tolkien says they were there more or less in the Second Age. Albeit in what I guess you could call a proto-version of the 3rd age Hobbits. All we ever saw of the Hobbits in The Hobbit and LOTR was The Shire, a veritable dot on the map. Tolkien gives brief mention of others or in other areas out of story so I can only assume that it what the showmakers are going with here.
And in related news, the estate shuts down JRR Tokens. I guess it's like a crypto currency for games? You shall not pass: Tolkien estate blocks ‘The Lord of the Rings’ JRR Token
I forced my way through the first two episodes, and that is exactly what is seemed like. Didn't bother further.
Some speculation on how the series' story might unfold: Amazon's 'Lord of the Rings' can do one thing 'Game of Thrones' couldn't
“This is a title that we imagine could live on the spine of a book next to J.R.R. Tolkien’s other classics. The Rings of Power unites all the major stories of Middle-earth’s Second Age: the forging of the rings, the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron, the epic tale of Númenor, and the Last Alliance of Elves and Men,” said Showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay. “Until now, audiences have only seen on-screen the story of the One Ring – but before there was one, there were many…and we’re excited to share the epic story of them all.”
I really hope they find the right focus here. A quick check on the net suggests that the amount of time that passes between the "the forging of the rings" and "the last alliance of elves and men" is a little under two thousand years of history. And we've already glimpsed the latter in the Peter Jackson films (whether or not these are directly connected.) I really, really hope they don't try to lean too hard in the direction of connecting as much as possible to the LOTR story. Obviously, there are connections. But The Hobbit films suffered from too much of an attempt to mimic LOTR in the public's eye, including bringing back characters that really had no business in what should have been a smaller tale, all to set up a story they'd already told, with a side of fan service. The story of the Rings is important and a catalyst for so much that happens, but...and please, I'm certainly not saying anyone should...one could write an only slightly modified version of the tale of Numenor and not even put the rings in the story. Again, again, I'm not saying that would be good. But I'm saying that naming the series The Rings Of Power, and tossing the "last alliance" tale in there, seems like that same desperation to continue to tie everything back to the original films that were so successful. Those are just my fears. I'll be watching, and hoping for the best.
