The debut of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on Prime Video is in many ways a new age of Middle-earth adaptation. Set firmly in the Second Age, thousands of years before the events of the The Hobbit, this TV series sets out to explore the the age of settlements in Middle-earth when the civilizations of elves, men and dwarves were at their peak.
It’s an era many Tolkien fans never expected to see on screen, as J.R.R. Tolkien had only bullet-pointed the big things that end up relating to the events of the Fellowship. So how did a TV series based on the appendices, or notes at the end of The Return of the King, end up with a billion dollar budget?
Must be in production within two years (to avoid development issues like what happened with The Hobbit films)
Cannot retell what’s been told on screen
Tolkien Estate or family must be involved
Additional rights to characters and stories may be available on a case-by-case basis
$1 billion budget for Season 1 (including the rights purchase price)
Illustration by: Tim Peacock / THR
How does this differ from the rights Peter Jackson used to win all those Oscars? J.R.R. Tolkien had sold the film rights to United Artists (founded by Charlie Chaplin) back in 1968 to help his family cover any death & estate taxes that were to come upon his passing. Later he claimed it was his own naivety that these rights were sold in perpetuity — basically for all time. The film rights would never again revert back to the Tolkien family for total control, and Saul Zaentz bought those rights from UA in 1976, immediately making animated films from Rankin & Bass and Ralph Bakshi, then later working with Peter Jackson. Saul Zaentz died in 2014, his LOTR rights were sold to Embracer Group in 2022, and Amazon acquired United Artists/MGM in 2022.
The only thing not included in those forever rights were to a TV series “over 8 episodes long”, and the family realized TV production may actually be able to tell some stories at quality and scale. They requested pitches from all of Hollywood, and it was Jeff Bezos personally who shared his love for the books and offered an amount showing that passion: $250 million. It was perfect timing as the streaming wars were just heating up, and Amazon had just created a department called “Amazon Studios” which had been searching for a major franchise to use as the tentpole and foundation for their video experiment.
November 2017
Christopher Tolkien announces he is handing over management of Middle-earth to the next generation. His life-long focus on the expansion of Middle-earth was primarily through book form. With his oversight, the deal with Amazon was done, creating a canvas for the next generations of Tolkien family to make their mark on the Legendarium. Christopher Tolkien would pass on to greener shores three years later in January 2020, at the age of 95.
May 2018
After receiving Spy Reports, TheOneRing.net reports that Amazon’s massive TV series will be about YOUNG ARAGORN. The single-sourced news breaks the internet and trends above the royal baby’s birth, but is never confirmed by the studio. Four years later, ESQUIRE confirms the early rumors as one of many pitched to the studio.
[BREAKING] We have confirmed from multiple sources that @AmazonStudios new billion-dollar #LOTR series will open its first season centered on a young Aragorn.
Dream job confirmed! Writers J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay announced as the showrunners for the Lord of the Rings TV series. While unknown to any fan, and with an empty IMDb credits page except for an unproduced Star Trek script, these guys were well known to Hollywood insiders as insanely talented script doctors (a job that never gets credited) and Tolkien uber-geeks. They couldn’t help but be compared to another big fantasy show with two unknown showrunners: Game of Thrones.
Patrick McKay (who no longer wears glasses in press photos) with writing partner J.D. Payne (who always has glasses)
March 2019
After nearly a year of of silence, innuendo and discourse, LOTR on Prime springs to life with a single tweet: Welcome to the Second Age. A map is revealed showing Númenor, a place fans never thought they would ever see.
— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) March 7, 2019
July 2019
Who’s in charge of LOTR? Amazon drops a surprise creative team video introducing showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay, along with an all-star team of peak TV writers, legendary Tolkien artist John Howe, and Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey.
The inclusion of Tom Shippey allows fans to breathe a sigh of relief as a trusted name in Tolkien scholarship is on board to make sure the lore is managed fairly. Amazon later chooses to abandon this LOTR youtube channel and posts all future content on the broader Prime Video channel.
We needed to find somewhere majestic, with pristine coasts, forests, and mountains, that also is a home to world-class sets, studios, and highly skilled and experienced craftspeople and other staff. And we’re happy that we are now able to officially confirm New Zealand as our home for our series.
Patrick McKay & JD Payne, Showrunners
Another sigh of relief from fans! New Zealand IS Middle-earth! Rumors started flying that Amazon really was “getting the band back together” with Weta Workshop, Weta FX and the Oscar-winning teams jumping on board. These rumors were never confirmed by the studio and the rumors persist three years later. In the end, Rings of Power involved 1,500 digital artists around the world with over a dozen VFX studios.
Other TORn Spy Reports start getting picked up by mainstream media as Deadline confirms Howard Shore involved with the new LOTR show. TORn-folk knew about this six months prior!
January 2020
Production begins in New Zealand as Amazon finally announces the cast of of what NZ locals called “Untitled Amazon Project.”
April 2020
COVID-19 takes the world by storm. Production is shut down as the entire island nation of New Zealand goes into lockdown. Nobody is allowed into the country.
Summer (or NZ Winter) 2020
Production resumes in NZ under new pandemic protocols, one of the first countries in the world to get back to work. Tons of movies & TV shows try to film in NZ but find that LOTR is so large it has hired nearly all the best entertainment people in the entire country. The country’s covid-zero policy limits who can fly into the country on a very selective basis with long hotel quarantines. This in effect leaves the LOTR creative team to film the show they want with minimal studio involvement (Amazon Studios are based in Los Angeles). It also limits what marketing can do, as there are no press set-visits due to lockdown. The entire show basically becomes a big dark secret and leaks are few and far between.
October 2020
Reports of nudity in Amazon’s LOTR show reach fever pitch. Based on casting descriptions for background extras “comfortable with sheer clothing” and the hiring of an “intimacy coordinator” the fan reaction was loud and swift. Clifford “Quickbeam” Broadway eloquently laid out the responsibility to the lore here on TORn.
January 2021
Show synopsis leaks to the TheOneRing.net as this site begins to receive bits of information from people excited about the work they are doing on the production.
April 2021
TORn reports that Tom Shippey is off the project, later confirmed by Dr. Corey Olsen (The Tolkien Professor), beginning a long and tense conversation between fans and studio. In the absence of official releases, incomplete information will continue to fill the air for the next year and a half.
In the weeks after we reported several other high-profile departures include lead designer Rick Heinrichs, the pause or possible disbanding of the writers room, and an unsubstantiated narrative began taking form of a troubled production playing loose with lore.
Whereas we had a constant trickle of information and leaks during Peter Jackson’s productions, this was an explosion of information on the secretive show — and a method of delivery that Amazon would employ for official releases going forward.
August 2021
Aug 2 – Untitled Amazon Project (UAP) wraps production in New Zealand with a massive party for the large crew & cast. NZ is still in lockdown with strict restrictions on travel into the country.
Aug 3 – First OFFICIAL image from the LOTR show is released featuring… the light of the Two Trees before the First Age! No context is provided of who the foreground character is or what we are looking at, only that it is a still from the opening of the first episode. Fans debated what is going on as this is clearly not the Second Age, not Numenor, not even in the Middle-earth map they had released earlier. Does Amazon have rights to this era? What story are they telling? Without any context, an all-star fan group spent hours analyzing every pixel.
Aug 12 – Amazon Studios in Los Angeles announce Season Two production is moving to the UK – allegedly to the surprise of all involved including actors, producers, vendors, workshops and even the NZ government who had offered a generous tax break on the basis of a production keeping kiwis employed for multiple seasons.
December 2021
An unmarked package arrives at TORn HQ — a wooden box with a copy of the complete LOTR saga — and leather bookmark at the first page of the Appendices. We confirm for the first time that Amazon’s rights begin and end within the pages of that one book — The Lord of the Rings (and any Second Age references they might glean from The Hobbit) — but every single word is up for expansion. For example , the two-sentence mention of Harfoots in Chapter One begat an entire storyline for a set of TV show characters.
January 2022
The title of the show, after nearly 5 years of mystery, is revealed to be The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
February 2022
Amazon reawakens with a new name — Prime Video — and launches a deluge of official releases
Feb 3 – 22 character posters given to 22 influencer and media outlets (without context of who the torsos belong to) keep fans guessing who and what we are looking at.
Feb 10 – Vanity Fair publishes a FIRST LOOK with photos from the production, interviews with the showrunners, and a complete overview of the billion dollar mysterious show. TORn chatted with the co-writer of the article for even more details.
Feb 13 – Super Bowl trailer. FINALLY some footage! We spent 6 hours analyzing the trailer!
Feb 15 – The infamous “Superfans” video
While TORn parterned with some of the best voices in fandom for an epic 6-hour trailer review livestream featuring Ph.Ds, tiktokers, studio and media execs, stan twitter and lore YouTubers, Prime forged in secret another Super Bowl trailer review. Flying out dozens of fans to the Spanish island Mallorca to an old castle ruins in the middle of the night, they showed them the trailer, then filmed an hour long discussion about the excitement of the trailer. But the final edit posted to YouTube was three minutes of cringe with very little discussion about Tolkien or Middle-earth, instead focused on inclusion and diversity. Participants in the video were shocked how it was edited. While nearly all fans agree that representation matters, the video was tone deaf for the time and place and target audience. Given the frustrations of a near-blackout of information for three years combined with a series of no-context releases, it was a stunningly bad effort that was quickly deleted. They do know that what matters to Tolkien fans is… Tolkien. Right?
Online discourse really heated up in the wake of this monster drop of releases. A lot of the old, tired voices of hate and bigotry — some of the same ones that took issue with Ian Mckellen playing Gandalf because he was gay — now started criticizing the idea of diverse cultures in Middle-earth. To be clear, Tolkien rarely describes skin color, and he made a conscious effort to write stories that everyone around the world could see themselves in. This would come to dominate social media chatter about the show for the next six months, but cooler minds knew better than to focus on it.
May 2022
Prime Video flies out Tolkien influencers from around the world to London for a preview of the show. The “London 30” represented nearly 10 million core followers from eight different countries, with over a dozen published books on Tolkien between them. This second effort at working with Tolkien fans went much better, with an intimate setting and controlled environment. Some got more enthusiastic about the show, but more importantly most everyone came away with confidence in the creative leadership — a vacuum that had existed since the Tom Shippey news a year earlier.
The Rings of Power debuts a full proper trailer online while San Diego Comic-Con fans get an extended look at some extra footage, plus a giant Hall H panel with the showrunners and actors hosted by Stephen Colbert. Fandom seems united in positive impressions! They have a balrog! Prime Video also collaborated with TheOneRing.net for an SDCC party which the entire cast attended. It was the first time fans really got to see and know who is doing this next LOTR thing, and it was the first time many in the cast had interactions with the fandom. Everyone had a great time as the conversation turned very positive.
Separate from Amazon and Tolkien Estate, the film rights to LOTR long-held by Saul Zaentz are sold to video game publisher Embracer Group for a rumored $2 billion. Everyone expected Amazon and Jeff Bezos to win the auction for the rights — after all, they had already spent $250 million just for TV rights, half a billion dollars producing one season, and $8 billion for MGM which included some Hobbit rights. Spinoff movies and games are going to happen no doubt, independent of the TV show.
The screenings of power! Prime begins previewing the first two episodes to fans around the world. LA, Mexico City, NYC, Mumbai and London all got big preview event screenings, which fans were invited to.
Then on August 31, Prime Video rented hundreds cinemas in eight countries for free screenings of the two-part pilot directed by J.A. Bayona.
September 2022
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power debuts on Prime Video streaming service at 9pm ET Thursday Sept 1, before settling into its weekly release of 11:59pm ET every Thursday night.
Since that first announcement in November 2017, this five-year journey to TV screens, full of rumors, leaks, fan events and a pandemic, has been an incredible experience for all involved — but especially the hard working cast and crew that have grown closer together through all the trials and tribulations. We can’t help but see many parallels to the Peter Jackson films, where that cast formed lifelong bonds of family and friendship. This new cast of LOTR really feels like a family as we journey into the next five seasons of this Middle-earth adaptation. Congrats to all for a well-reviewed start to the show!
As the co-owner of this website, having been here from the very beginning, I’ve seen my share of online Tolkien community related collective anxiety. Our massive community is not dissimilar to that of Star Wars – we have our whacko fringe segment and we have the numbers to attract a matrix style army of Russian bots.
Weeding through all … of … that … noise (if that sounds exhaustive, that’s intentional) is so hard to accomplish in 2022. Apparently with age, comes wisdom, and apparently with wisdom comes the ability to dissect myself from most of the drama in the lead up to ‘The Rings of Power.’
Sure, did I occasionally get caught up in the tasty morsels of ‘Tolkien with nudity’ or the ‘Gam(of Thrones)ification’ of Tolkien? I admit – it caught me every few months. But all in all, through most of this journey to September 2nd, I found myself more concerned about aggressively protecting the ‘good’ in our community. Protecting those of us who don’t tell you how to enjoy your Tolkien. Aggressively pursuing the bad actors, trolls and goblins of the online space. Yup, I’m looking squarely at you Twitter. Your cesspool of existence had me pretty close to closing down our official account a few times!
Calisuri & Xoanan get One Rings
Just a Casual Fan…
All that said, I decided to write my thoughts on ‘The Rings of Power’ today because I feel I may represent a segment of our community that simply is Tolkien adjacent these days. Sure, we were avid fans and very active 20 years ago, but work, families, and simply time have calmed that passion down…just a tad.
I should also mention, for the umpteenth time, that I am a ‘Hobbit’ and ‘Lord of the Rings’ reader. I tried to read the Silmarillion ages ago…not again. Nope, I didn’t read the Histories of Middle-earth or the new books that mystically appear every few years. I’m just a fan of Tolkien’s most popular works – judge me if you will.
With the multiple premiere’s happening around the globe, TORn staff were attending and reporting through the generosity of Amazon. Last week, I had actually scored a pass to the NYC Premiere, but after an enjoyable vacation I came back with a cold worthy of Sauron’s envy. I had even bought a sweet outfit for the occasion, but alas, it was not to be. (Nope, it wasn’t COVID, oddly enough.)
So like everyone else, I waited patiently until the show premiered last night on my Amazon Prime account. I should also note, that I’m such a casual fan these days, that I ended up watching the first half of the Penn State vs. Purdue American football game (PS – Penn State is where this website found its genesis), before deciding to check to see if ‘The Rings of Power’ was out a bit early. And yay…it was!
So it begins. Lights off, Apple AirPods Pro Max activated, and let’s do this!
My first thought… my first reaction… Welp… this is exactly what I wanted to see. They got me. I’m in.
I’m going to share a minor-spoiler stream of thoughts. I’m doing this for those of you who are like me – casual, Tolkien adjacent fans. Folks who may not be the most educated Tolkien scholars of the bunch – nor – *gasp* – really want to be. Folks who don’t want to participate in the drama of the community and just want to watch a good show and celebrate with the community.
So my quick review: this show nails it.
I wanted – no, needed – a thread – a connection to the films I so loved 20 years ago. ‘The Rings of Power’ delivers big time.
Just a few clear reasons why…
We get Galadriel, one of the best characters in all of Tolkien’s works, as the lead, the main focus of the series. I’m pretty sure I had not seen Morfydd Clark in any other show/movie before this show, and she is simply a gem. The strength she exudes with just a stare is mesmerizing, and her acting prowess is top notch. This series is in great hands with her in the lead role. The decision to focus on Galadriel from the very start is genius. I truly want to know her story, and I can’t wait to learn more.
We get breathtaking action and visuals. How cool is it to see battle sequences of Middle-earth in such gigantic scale. Did I really just watch a Fell Beast take out a giant eagle?!
We get amazing music from the talents of Bear McCreary. Throughout both episodes, it is clear Bear understands the musical ethos that is required for this world. So amazing. (Yes – already listening on loop while working!)
We get a taste of the innocence and simplicity of Hobbits with the whole Eleanor Brandyfoot plot. Markella Kavenagh is wonderfully cast in this role as a bright eyed mischievous Hobbit…err…Harfoot. In fact, when I look at her, I think of those quick takeaway shots of those cute Hobbits watching fireworks. (Pretty sure those were PJs kids?) And I’m pretty sure, by the end of this series, we are going to get the clear implication that Bilbo and Frodo are descendants of Eleanor. (Oh wait, my lack of Tolkien knowledge might be coming through…is that already spelled out in a genealogical chart somewhere?)
We get an Elf military that is stationed throughout areas of Middle-earth to protect her ungrateful residents? Noice! Wait – a Legolas 2.0 with Ismael Cruz Córdova’sArondir? YES. If you aren’t excited to see him kick some major arse in this series, check your pulse. BTW – he’s okay right? I mean…we did get a bit of a cliffhanger with him in Episode 2. (Obviously we do)
We get to see a whole thriving Dwarven culture. Am I really under the mountain and watching the genesis of semi-familiar names and their eventual (spoiler!) downfall? After all, I did see that Balrog in the trailer…you all are going to delve too deep…aren’t you…?
We get some REALLY impressively designed baddies. That orc/goblin that shows up in Bronwyn and Theo’s house…nightmare fuel. The ‘worm’ of the ocean – can I can get a fine art print of that in someway? That brief look right before taking out the raft…yikes!
Who the heck is this Meteor Man? How cool would that be if that’s Gandalf? Probably won’t be – but I’m game for having no clue, and finding out as the show unfolds. I do get a baddie vibe, but obviously they are trying to lead the viewer in that direction.
Hold up. I was worried this show might not be something I could watch with the family. Sure, the baddies are a bit scary, but as of right now, this is a family (10+) show. Well done, Amazon!
Two episodes in, and there is so much to love about this series.
You know you got it right when…
The biggest compliments I can give this series are twofold:
I did not look at my phone the entire time. This is pretty impressive, considering the Penn State game was very close at halftime and I had relatives and friends dinging my phone and watch. The ‘tap’ of the watch was going mad at some points during the show, but I was so engaged in the show, I didn’t bother. And also…I ALWAYS look at my phone during shows.
I usually will make myself some popcorn during shows. I’ll get up, walk away from the TV with my headphones on and watch from the kitchen. Nope – not in this case. Popcorn was only made when the first episode ended.
In summary, I’m fully in. Well done to the entire team involved in this production. Sure, it was insanely expensive, but for this Tolkien adjacent fan, you’re nailing it.
If you are a casual fan of Tolkien and Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings, you are going to absolutely love ‘Rings of Power.’
It’s been a long wait for Prime Video’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” — a test of patience doggedly undertaken by eager fans of J.R.R. Tolkien; fraught with slow leaks of information and faceless posters. For the artists and creators making this new series it was much more of an arduous journey, I’m sure. All roads must lead to the television set this Labor Day weekend as we finally arrive at this grand moment: we all get to return to Middle-earth.
Television? It might as well be a huge silver screen, for these sumptuous first two episodes are filled with director J.A. Bayona’s painterly and vivid images; awash (sometimes literally) with cinematic scale one cannot deny.
Lindon Under Moonlight, the Kingdom of Gil-galad, High King of the Noldor
Just letting these glorious images rise and crest over you is an experience in itself. Bayona immerses the senses with a sure hand while story beats gently move along.
After being away from any new adaptation of Middle-earth for a decade the audience is beckoned to rediscover insanely lush Elven forests and Dwarven Halls at the pinnacle of their glory. I remember seeing various things in Peter Jackson’s LOTR — like decayed statues appearing subtly behind Frodo’s shoulder in the odd scene. In this Second Age timeframe Rings of Power is the ultimate way-back machine (we are talking thousands of years) to when those freshly-hewn statues still resonated from the original sculptor’s determined chisel. Likewise we sense the determination of showrunners Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne — building visual hints and connections to our existing ideas of what Middle-earth looks like while employing unique brushstrokes of their own. Bear McCreary shines with a luminous score. The opening theme crafted by Oscar-winner Howard Shore is surprisingly understated yet filled with omen (it is not heard in the opening episode, just the following 2-8).
Details and Grand Scale in Middle-earth
Production Design, Costumes, VFX and Tech Departments are firing on all cylinders here, mesmerizing you with rich details barely on screen for a scant few seconds before moving on to the next wondrous reveal. They’ll need to buy a big trophy case for all the Emmys. Trust.
It is satisfying to see such care put into everything. The scale of Tolkien’s Secondary World deserves it; and indeed these early episodes work hard to establish context to this newly envisioned world we Tolkien fans know as Arda. Newbies and casual viewers will not be at a loss, which is saying something considering the further reaches we are exploring. I particularly liked the ingenious use of Tolkien’s maps. They are ubiquitous (to the delight of every nerd in the house). The editors use clever cross-dissolves that sweep the audience across both a map and spectacular arial shots of New Zealand. Geographical names shine with golden letters as the map fades away — the letters have now become a convenient “lower-3rd” establishing our location. Such thoughtful touches deepen the immersion.
Remember when Amazon started their marketing campaign with just a blank map?
Actually, we are gifted with visits to places in Arda frequently discussed by academics and fans alike yet have NEVER been revealed on-screen. To me it is quite interesting, even thrilling to see these places!
Striking far afield from any other Tolkien adaptation, we are no longer confined to the geography of Bilbo’s journey or the events of the War of the Ring. Even though we won’t get to Númenor until Episode 3, a vivid series of gorgeous locales are at the forefront here: Lindon on the western shores of Middle-earth, the Southlands where Men dwell (which is indeed the far Southeast of Núrn before it was Mordor), Rhovanion where the Harfoots migrate, and above Eregion right up to Khazad-dûm’s unassuming western door. Another future gate to be built there will be significant and familiar. Striking deep into the Wilderlands, the Sundering Seas, the frozen wastes of Forodwaith, Rings of Power satisfies that wanderlust to see strange and distant lands from the pages of Tolkien.
And yes, everything I saw in the first two episodes feels very much like Tolkien, albeit with a sprinkling of new characters and plotlines he never penned.
Licensing Governs What We Witness Here
If you’re like me, you’ve certainly heard quite enough hand-wringing from folks worried that “The Appendices” of LOTR are barely enough to sustain a series. Look, the Tolkien Estate went ahead and licensed the 2nd Age stories as a complete package deal, with the intent that new creators could crystallize an epic story from them. Way back in time John Boorman had a chance at LOTR and it failed to manifest (thank heavens); then suddenly Ralph Bakshi created a remarkable first feature film adaptation of it. Also on television rights side there was the animation classic that won the Peabody Award — Arthur Rankin Jr. & Jules Bass’ The Hobbit. Later indie New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson would helm a worldwide 3-year juggernaut of cinema. Will you look at that! Such an evolution of different adaptations have appeared since Professor Tolkien himself sold the rights. I’m highly intrigued now to have five seasons of deeply artful portrayals of Middle-earth and that is an encouraging thought.
I’m looking forward to talking at the Thanksgiving table with family and dropping stuff about of The Fall of Númenor — yet this time everyone will get it.
Khazad-dûm at its glorious height.
Granted, whether they stray too far from lore is yet to be seen, but I’m open minded. All signs here point to a careful foundation being built; meant to support epicness yet to come. Certainly we shall revisit this entire Season One after it’s completely available.
I am not envious of the Rings of Power writer’s room having such a unique challenge. They are not adapting, I sense, but rather it seems like a distillation. An alchemy of mixing ingredients guided by the Appendices. They are trying to distill the essence from the ancient fibers of pages that Tolkien insisted on inclusion in the 1955 publication of “The Return of the King,” much to his Publisher’s displeasure at the delay. He wanted the Appendices available to support his wider Legendarium. Of course, deviations and constricting of time are just going to happen, as they do in any adaptation requiring different idioms of delivering a well-told story. I would point to Miyazaki’s remarkable deviations from Diana Wynne Jones’ “Howl’s Moving Castle.” I see his adaptation as a blissful, rich distillation of her work. Though clearly not the novel, it stands as a unique, moving piece of art.
Is there A Prologue?
Yes, and it’s a doozy. This all-too-brief Prologue includes the shadow of Morgoth over the Two Trees and a gasp-inducing shot from The War of Wrath. Was that really Ancalagon the Black we just saw taking down a giant Eagle or was that some Fell Beast of Morgoth? Saruon appears in a stunning tableaux invoking a Frazetta painting dripping with evil — it is but a fleeting moment. This setup provides the context between the First and Second Ages that a general audience would need. Deep readers of Tolkien will not find “The Silmarillion” levels of detail in this highly-condensed opener. Galadriel narrates, naturally. She is but a child at this time, living in Tirion, conversing with her brother Finrod. No other siblings; so don’t expect First Age minutiae not included in the license. Emotions pure enough to fuel an Elven memory are Bayona’s main concern here. A few critical points of history are established and then we swiftly move on. Beleriand by name is not mentioned. We have Lindon and Eregion now as the centers of Elven life in Middle-earth.
But that brief moment in Valinor is genuinely lovely in the most Tolkienesque way.
The Strength of a Great Cast
To the show’s credit the many appealing characters played by a winning cast handle things flawlessly. Hands down, casting was crucial as it has been in previous adaptations. Note the scene where two Elves look each other in the eye and discuss metaphysical things in earnest. How refreshing a narrative placement for these ideas to live and breathe. Even if Tolkien didn’t specifically write them, I’m glad to see it in this type of television.
The grand design of these character’s arcs are only hinted at during the establishing efforts of Episodes 1 and 2 but the larger supporting legs of this giant table are already apparent:
I know there’s supposed to be a 5th leg supporting the table — the rise of Sauron — but in these opening episodes he is nowhere to be seen, that we know of, either as Sauron or Annatar.
All of the secrecy in the world is piled up to shroud Sauron’s true identity from audience and characters alike. This is also true of The Stranger. As far as deliberate mysteries, I find these are the biggest two. We are all looking for signs of Annatar — the fair form Sauron could take to fool others. Fan theories are rampant. If we are playing a “Where’s Waldo” among characters looking for Annatar, well, I’d say I cannot even tell who Waldo is yet. A new human character from the Southlands named Halbrand has opening dialogue which makes me alert: “Looks can be deceiving.”
My current favorite theories about The Stranger (bracingly portrayed by Daniel Weyman) include him being one of the Istari, the Wizards of the Third Age, or even better being the Maiar Eönwë himself, arriving in a meteor to suss out the presence of Sauron. Let the guessing games continue with hearty speculation! Will fortune favor this bold choice by the writers? I’m very curious indeed.
It’s quite an interesting dance the showrunners have found themselves waltzing. From interviews with McKay and Payne we know things will get squishy with a very condensed timeline. Yes, two Durin’s are alive at the same time, I know, but let us see where this goes…
The Height of Dwarven Might
My favorite thing of this whole endeavor, so far, is the realization of Khazad-dûm — the mightiest Kingdom of the Dwarves under the Misty Mountains. Destined to be found when the first forefather of all Durins looked into the Kheled-zâram, the Mirrormere, and beheld the crown of stars above his head. A location forever cemented in our minds as a ruined, Balrog-infested nightmare; but here how things are so different, so fresh, so alive!
We get the dynamic interplay between Robert Aramayo’s elegant Elrond and his dear friend Prince Durin IV, a cinderous Owain Arthur. Against the backdrop of the a truly extraordinary, verdant Dwarven Kingdom these two bicker and fight and test and forgive and reconcile all within this one episode and I’m immediately drawn in. I just loved this stuff and how it represents Tolkien’s dynamic relationships between Elves and Dwarves. The vibrant Sophia Nomvete brings life to Disa, the better half of the fiery Dwarf Prince, and her energy uplifts everything.
Fans are going to ship hard for Durin IV and Elrond, mark my words.
Celebrimbor is ready to steal the show at any minute, you can catch magnificent glimpses from Charles Edwards. You can tell he is the lightning about to strike somewhere in the distance. Yet after his character is tantalizingly introduced he then stays offstage, waiting outside the door (literally at one point).
Durin IV and Disa
What Else is Good?
The Harfoots are amazing. Suddenly everyone will press “Pause” to freeze frame a closer inspection of those props and items. Great credit to the Property Masters and Art Department — what they came up with is grand. It is delicious to see how the Harfoots keep themselves hidden yet immediately can be set adrift to migrate to other places where fields and weather might be more kind, as generations demand over time. Thus continue traditions of the finest agrarian ingenuity deserving of early Hobbits.
A most satisfying portrayal of the Southlanders bears a dynamic worth exploring. Descendants of Men known to have worshipped Morgoth have immediate tension between them and Sylvan Elves who watch over their lifelong settlements. Sharply-observant Arondir (Ismael Cruz Cordova) walks into the Public House and is glared down by all the patrons. I’m sure there are few who can smolder onscreen the way Cruz Cordova can smolder. He is mesmerizing to watch. As a fiery healer, Nazanin Boniadi is a good counterpoint to him. She and her son Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin) have a future part to play in much greater things, methinks, especially with that weird Sauron-infested blade Theo seems to have kept hidden away for no reason. After seeing these segments with the Southlanders you’ll never see Mordor the same way again. It’s rather, shall we say, lovely.
Playing a Bit Outside the Box with Lore
There’s a huge moment that might be way too SPOILERY for you but here we go, stop reading for two paragraphs then continue — it’s in the 1st Episode and we need to talk about this rather binary choice that was given to Galadriel. I don’t want to say, just yet, that any one leg of this table is a little wee bit wobbly — but if there were such a thing, this is it. This early serving of Galadriel’s motivations and actions are in many ways resonant and beautiful, but at one point when Gil-galad offers her to access the Gift of the Valar and return to the Undying Lands (what’s that about), there was a story-point I really had to get my head around. I worked too hard for it, actually.
I wondered why such a powerful character would just jump from the ship right before it enters Valinor, leaving the most powerful Noldorin Elf adrift in the empty waves: no rations, no fresh water, no plan, nowhere to go. I thought for a moment, have they written themselves into a corner here? Then after sharing some thoughtful conversation with Tolkien Professor Corey Olsen and Matt Nerd of the Rings we figured this was maybe a lore-moment that would raise a few eyebrows.
Maybe it seemed really “out there” but it’s a binary choice ultimately to dramatize what Valinor looks like — as a place, as as destination for the sprit and body and soul. It occurred to me this huge set-piece is here for television audience’s sake. So a few Seasons moving on, when Ar-Pharazon seeks out this same place, audiences will recognize what is at stake. This is where books adapted into TV can vary the most wildly, folks, where big attempts at dramatizing the metaphysical can be, well, dictated buy the visual economy of televised storytelling. I daresay her standing on the shore and politely saying “No,” and refusing to even get on the boat would be rather dull in the end.
Me quibbling that aside, the ferocity and wisdom in Morfydd Clark’s eyes is compelling. She delivers a great performance as Galadriel, glints in her eyes of great tragedy and also light. Halbrand, played with a studied glare by Charlie Vickers, has a strange pouch around his neck bearing a strange sigil, and how quickly he hides it.
Being teased by strange mysteries hidden within a newly visualized Middle-earth is where this series is headed, and I’m glad to take the ride.
Once we get past this entire First Season’s run of 8 full episodes we shall have a better grasp, certainly, of how they manage to keep these plates spinning. One wonders, dimly, what changes we will see between this and future Seasons. The many riches on display in this first Season were produced solely in New Zealand — everything going forward will be new Heads of Departments, new crew, new studios, and perhaps a difference in approach and energy. That remains to be seen yet I am most curious.
An Overall Rating, But Only So Far
Giving an overall rating should really wait till then: but if we are all insisting then I’ll give these two Episodes a solid 8.5 out of 10, where things are yet to be resolved, this number will certainly change.
The Rings of Power is eager to please, as I said on Twitter. There is wonderment and a strong undercurrent of greatness that could be a real knock-out, if the stars align, or the Meteor Man arrives. One need not be afraid to enter gamely into Lore discussions (“Why is there even a Meteor Man?”) because from those open-handed chats we all learn and appreciate more about Tolkien — and what we love about him. Again, pass or fail, The Rings of Power surely will bring new readers with a healthy curiosity. And so in the end we get to engage and encourage an ongoing fandom.
DragonCon is upon us! For the first time since 2019, the full Dragon (almost – numbers are slightly limited again this year) is being awakened. And TORn staffers are there to share the fun.
You can find staffers deej and greendragon at TORn’s ‘fan table’ (which we believe will be in our usual spot, in the Hyatt opposite the entrance to the Art Show) throughout the con. We’ll have new button and shirt designs on sale, and all kinds of fun things for fans to look at. You can also sign up at the table for the Evening at Bree costume contest! (Sign up is also available in the High Fantasy Track Room, Marriott L401-403).
Events of interest to Tolkien fans during DragonCon are as follows:
Thursday 1st 7pm TORn’s Rings of Power preview
A last chance to speculate what’s coming in Prime Video’s highly anticipated show, before it becomes available to watch at 9pm ET. Spoiler-free speculation! Marriott room A601-602
Friday 2nd 5.30pm Behind the Scenes of The Rings of Power
TORn staffer greendragon hosts a panel with very special guests artist John Howe and dialect coach Leith McPherson, talking about their work on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power – and beyond. Hilton Grand West
Friday 2nd 8.30pm An Evening at Bree
TORn is delighted to join the High Fantasy track again to host a long standing DragonCon tradition. Party like a Hobbit! We have three live bands this year, to get toes (hairy and otherwise) tapping – The Brobdingnagian Bards, Beth Patterson, and Landloch’d. We’ll also have the Elf Choir, and of course the costume contest. If you’d like to enter, please sign up in advance of the evening, at the TORn fan table or the High Fantasy track room. Our panel of judges this year will be cosplayer Joshua Duart, together with very special guests John Howe and Leith McPherson.
Saturday 3rd 1pm War of the Rohirrim
Find out more about this exciting anime film, telling the tale of Helm Hammerhand – coming April 2024. Marriott room L401-403
Monday 5th 10am Rings of Power After Hour
Discuss and reflect on the first two episodes, and what may or may not be to come this season and beyond!
Let the games begin! Please come and say hi if you’re in Atlanta; see you in the belly of the beast!
The rollout of the Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power TV series has re-energized Middle-earth fandom, and one thing is clear, we all love to get together, online, at conventions, and at the theater and talk Tolkien.
Reading The Hobbit during the Baggins Birthday Bash
The Baggins Birthday Bash, coming to Los Angeles at 11:30am on September 24 at Griffith Park’s Mineral Wells picnic area is the perfect way for SoCal Tolkien fans to gather and party like Hobbits. There will be games, there will be food, there will be plenty of Tolkien discussion going on, and I’m sure we can fit some fun in there somewhere.
Regarding food, in the before times it was a big buffet, and last year, we decided to ask everyone to just bring enough food and drink for their own party. This year, it will probably end up being a bit of a hybrid. Some will just bring what they want to eat, and a few will bring shareable dishes, and we’ll let the food and drink sort itself out. It would be nice if some folks bring extra picnic plates and cups, maybe some paper towels, and of course, everyone should bring a portable chair or blanket and a popup if you have it.
We would like to bring back the Cake or Cupcake contest for the best Middle-earth designed desserts. We’ve had some really creative and beautiful designs in the past, so start contemplating now on how to wow your fellow fans this year. Costumes are welcome, as usual, especially any new 2nd Age costumes. If we do trivia, there is a decent chance it will include some references to the Rings of Power show, since the 5th episode will have screened just 2 days before the picnic.
Please do RSVP on our Facebook Event page, located at: https://www.facebook.com/events/1271178800320132/ and read through the About Details, including selecting ‘see more’ to access the directions for those driving from different sections of Southern California in order to get to Griffith Park and the Mineral Wells section of the park.
TORn Tuesday’s co-host Justin flew around the world — at his own expense — to experience the first showings of Prime Video’s huge The Lord of the Rings: The Rings Of Power with fellow fans in NYC and London. Now having seen it twice, after years of the most spoileriffic leaks, here is his review of the first two episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on Prime.
Producers Lindsey Weber, JD Payne and Patrick McKay introducing themselves to fans in NYC
Back in 2002, I sat down in a theater full of fellow Ringers at midnight as an unknown jovial British man with a deep voice walked out to introduce The Two Towers. Andy Serkis had come at the invite of TheOneRing.net to opening night. Nobody knew who he was other than the IMDb credit and 3 seconds of trailer time — and this guy looked & sounded nothing like Gollum. There was also a lot of chatter leading up to the release of The Two Towers that book lovers were terrified of — that the elves had been reassigned from the books to honor the last alliance at Helm’s Deep (ruining Tolkien’s greatest battlefield reunion in The Return of the King). Leaked set pics showed Arwen fighting at Helm’s deep. Jar Jar Binks all-CGI characterization had “ruined” Star Wars, and all-CGI Gollum was ready to ruin Tolkien.
The lights dimmed. The screen showed the familiar landscapes. Then the camera dived INTO the mountain to replay one of the greatest scenes of Fellowship (natch, film history). Oh great, I thought, another film that does “when we last left our heroes” recap. And then the camera follows Gandalf as he falls into battle with Durin’s Bane, as an epic choral music laments their fall into the great chasm. I lept out of my seat! I couldn’t believe a movie had just shown me things I had never seen before, never expected, and a style of storytelling I didn’t think possible. The Two Towers changed my movie going life, and it is still my favorite of the trilogy.
My Rings of Power take after seeing the pilot episodes twice and really diving into the visual details:
Prime Video’s The Rings of Power brings back that feeling of discovery. It changes what television is capable of. It redefines multi-storyline TV. It completely immerses you in Middle-earth from the start, and delivers an incredible storytelling experience that stays true to the tone of Tolkien while necessarily charting a new path.
The Rings of Power finally delivers on Gimli’s promise to the Fellowship that his kin would provide a warm welcome in Moria. We finally see dwarven culture at its pinnacle — a fully realized society that is well-fed, well-worked, and well-machined. These dwarves will feel familiar to Hobbit trilogy fans, with great-looking, practical makeup FX (allegedly supported by Weta Workshop), but it’s the characterizations that really take this culture beyond the comedy of the movies. Fans of deep lore will rewatch the dwarven scenes to spot the many Easter eggs of items lost to time in the books.
All the other lands and races are equally fully realized, even the orc culture. We are all aware of the amount of effort needed to accomplish creative at this level thanks to Peter Jackson’s Appendices. It’s obvious hundreds of top creative talent are collaborating on this show. There is a visible sense of pride in the work from all the details both visual and narratively. This is a billion dollar TV show and it shows. It takes that much support to realize Tolkien’s vast imagination — which is larger in the Second Age than the Third Age seen in the films. The Second Age just has more of everything. More societies. More cities. More arid lands. More areas to explore. More destruction. My biggest fear now is that future seasons of The Rings of Power may not get the same generous budget, knowing what enormous cataclysms are to come.
Writing on the show is peak television at its pinnacle. Prime has assembled an all-star fellowship of writers from the best shows on TV — Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Hannibal, Game of Thrones, and more. Absolutely no characters from the vast collective on this show feel cardboard, short changed, nor one-dimensional. Everyone quickly has motivations created and their place in society established. TV has never seen a character break as bad as Sauron, the lord of all the rings, and the pilot episodes set up the stakes for Middle-earth.
J.A Bayona was absolutely the right director to establish the look and feel of this show. From his water work with The Impossible to the dark tones of Penny Dreadful, Bayona captures the existential dread that Middle-earth may not know is coming. Showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay are living our collective fan dream overseeing this massive project. Their imaginations are reaching for the same great heights that JRR Tolkien famously attempted, yet still under the guardrails and guidelines he established. Tolkien envisioned filmmakers expanding his Legendarium with his “other minds and hands, wielding paint and music & drama” and these guys are up to the task. Having chatted with them many times over the last six months it’s clear that these other and hands are the right ones to continuing shaping the history of Middle-earth.
Fans may forget that Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings was full of no-name actors. It was Orlando Bloom’s first work, Billy Boyd’s first movie, and the biggest job for the hundreds of longtime kiwi actors. Rings of Power continues that tradition of unveiling top talent on the global stage. These folks are future stars. All the recent discourse of how they look and talk — also things fans also complained about in 2001 — is put to rest the minute the show starts. There is no wink at the camera or in-your-face notice me going on. These performances live in Middle-earth, period. Tolkien’s source text allow for a very expansive visual canon which the filmmakers are developing with the highest of standards. All the fears fans have of this “looking like television” are proven invalid. Better than other space and superhero TV shows, this is Middle-earth looking exactly like it should: the proper continuation of a $6 billion franchise and most-awarded film series of all time.
Even if it’s not a continuation. We have covered the rights situation numerous times over the last 4 years on this site and on YouTube. Testament to loyalty to JRR Tolkien is the involvement of Simon Tolkien (the current elder family stateman) in the production of the show, and no less that 11 living Tolkien relatives showing up to the London premiere. It’s a privilege to have Royd Tolkien a longtime friend of TORn, but to have his family there at The Rings of Power premiere unlocked a feeling I didn’t know this franchise needed: full support of the sub-creator’s legacy, and a proper continuation of his life’s work. There’s a trust in the show there, now, that I didn’t know was missing.
Royd Tolkien & Justin at the London ScreeningTolkien Professor Dr. Corey Olsen, Clifford Broadway and Nerd of the Rings debate lore of the TV show in NYC
I’m looking forward to the many debates fans will have, and we will have at TheOneRing.net, over the choices made by the filmmakers. I’m reminded of the TORn staff that walked out of The Two Towers theatrical opening, disgusted that Frodo and Sam were at Osgiliath with an unrecognizable Faramir. My favorite film of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings has its detractors and I respect their perspectives, and The Rings Of Power will undoubtedly generate similar debates that can only strengthen our love of Middle-earth. Maybe we should bring back RINGER REVIEWS so all us fans can share our assessment of each of the 50 episodes to come.
As I walked out of that first screening, and now a second one in London, my one word review of Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power two-part pilot remains:
PERFECTION. No Notes.
Huge thanks to all the teams at Prime Video that have supported the fans throughout this journey of creation, for inviting hundreds of fans to these free screenings around the world, for all the support at Comic-Con and DragonCon, and for all the friendly (sometimes intense) conversations as we shared the excitement for this show. Fans are happy to be seen, and will be very happy with the finished product.
Tune in every Tuesday at 8pm ET for TORn Tuesday LIVE with Clifford & Justin, and chat anytime on the TORn Discord at https://discord.gg/theonering
