‘The Rings Of Power’ completely changed the Second Age of Middle-earth

I watched the first two episodes on Amazon Lord of the rings: Ring of power and left pleasant surprise By a lavishly produced show.

I was a little impatient, but I really liked the world view, visual design, music and costumes.

We knew there were some big changes to established lore, and we knew the showrunners were condensing the Second Age into a more manageable timeline. I have even more doubts and reservations about what is going to do with this property and what the story actually is.

Yes, part of this has to do with Galadriel (Morphid Clarke). I find myself actively hating at this pointIt’s hard to feel optimistic about a show where the central protagonist is also the weakest link.

Forbes details‘The Rings Of Power’ Has Galadriel IssuesTo Eric Kane

But it’s not just one character that’s starting to feel out of place, or just plain wrong, and whether it was the broad changes made to Tolkien’s established Second Age lore that were needed, or a different approach? I’m starting to wonder if there was a need for an adaptation would have made more sense.

The timeline is probably the biggest problem and kind of a headache.The First Age ended with Morgoth’s defeat, but that was thousands of years ago at this point, not to mention the existence of Sauron. Few people remember Morgoth ever being there. Southland raises Morgoth as the war was fought yesterday.

This leads to other awkward moments. In Episode 3, Galadriel and Elendil travel to the Temple of Law, the library of ancient Numenor, where they discover that Sauron’s Seal is actually a map of Southland. There is an old document that they easily and almost instantly discover, containing a map and some writing in the enemy’s “Black Language”. Galadriel reads it:

“It speaks not only of a place, but of a plan, a plan to create its own realm where evil will not only endure but thrive, a plan that will be carried out if Morgoth is defeated…his successor. by.”

“Galadriel?” asks Elendil.

“Things are worse than expected,” she replied breathlessly.

“Then Southland is in grave danger.”

“If Sauron really does come back,” says Galadriel, pausing for dramatic effect.

Cue dramatic music.

This scene was painful to watch. Just terribly moody in the worst possible way. Did Black Speech’s notes really say the plan was to create a realm where evil could not just survive, but thrive? How to talk to each other while churning?

“Lord Sauron, what are your diabolical plans? Should Morgoth be defeated?”

“Let’s create a realm!”

“Makai?”

“a very Realm of Evil! “

“Where can all our evil survive?”

“but also survive fool! A world full of evil! Buhahaha!“

“Oh, I love you, Sauron! So demonic!

“Yeah yeah I think you wrote it all down. No? If you don’t mind go ahead. I need to send this to all my evil friends so they know the plan too! And be sure to draw a map. In fact, we map a lot so that the elves can find clues to the whereabouts of our new realm of evil!”

“Elf, Your Highness?”

“Yes, what good is the realm of diabolical conspiracies and pure evil without luring in the good guys? If they can’t find us, how do we properly mumble to ourselves? , can we please them with all our evil plans?”

“Wonderful! Morgoth couldn’t have put it better, oh dark and wicked!”

“Bwahahahaha!!!”

“Dark Lord, what shall we call this new realm?”

“Mordor!”

“Mordor!”

“No, you should roll ‘r’ like this: Mordor! “

etc.

For that matter, I don’t know how this will change. Galadriel believed that Sauron was still there. Even though I find what I presume to be very old documents (from the time when human spies were probably sent to spy on orcs, since no one in generations has seen orcs) ), Sauron has returned.

And the whole “if Morgoth is defeated” bit sounds ridiculous. Morgoth was one of the most powerful beings in existence. I don’t think anyone had a contingency plan to create a realm of evil if the Dark God was killed. All of this seems to give a very human and deadly motive and logic to beings operating on entirely different levels. Why not create an area? Why is this set up like a contingency plan?

Sauron disappeared at the end of the First Era, and few people, save the ancient elves like Galadriel, remember him ever existing. But here we get into all sorts of timeline issues.

Sauron returned from hiding around SA 1,000 (the year 1,000 of the Second Age) and began setting up shop in Mordor, amassing an army of orcs, trolls, and other villains.

Elendil was born in SA 3119. After more than 2000 years, Long after Sauron’s return to Middle-earth, long after the forging of the Ring by Celebrimbor, who was tricked by Sauron into disguising himself as Annatar and blinded by his own ambitions.

It all happened around SA 1600 and culminated in Sauron’s devastating attack on Elysion, where he captured and tortured Celebrimbor, took the Nine Rings, and learned where the Seven were, but I didn’t learn where the elves kept the three.

Towards the end of the Second Age, many centuries later, Sauron was captured and held prisoner by the Numenoreans. Sauron corrupting the people and their leaders, and Elendil and Isildur leading the nation’s survivors to the middle led to the fall of the kingdom. -The Earth on which they founded Gondor, eventually teaming up with the Elves of Lyndon, the last alliance of humans and elves, to defeat Sauron in battle.

As such, the show incorporates the forging of the ring, the return of Sauron, the fall of Elysion, and possibly the eventual capture of Sauron and the fall of Numenor all in one show and one timeline spanning a very short amount of time. It’s a very radical compression of Second Age, but if done right, we’ll see how it holds up over several seasons.

The trick is to make it work, and if a scene like Hall of Law is going to work, I wouldn’t expect much. It’s necessary, and if the show essentially introduces itself as taking place in a time when Sauron is gone and no one remembers him, it doesn’t work. The characters know exactly who he is and who Morgoth is. It’s as if the First Age had just ended last year. These things directly contradict each other.

Still, most fans aren’t hardcore enough to care, so I can see why they’d want to combine everything into one story. , then it makes sense to take him prisoner. Timeline (with such powerful and awe-inspiring power that Sauron’s army deserted him and fled without a fight).

Sauron can then be brought to Numenor, where he can prick the king’s head with an insect and sow the seed that will turn that kingdom into darkness and evil.

But there’s also a weird timeline here that doesn’t make sense. There’s already a lot of debate about who is loyal to the elves and who isn’t in Episode 3, but this makes more sense later on when Sauron starts turning his Ar-Pharazôn into Morgoth’s acolyte. It’s strange to establish this schism now rather than after Sauron’s arrival.

Another approach Amazon could have taken with this show was an anthology-style show with different eras in self-contained arcs, connected by immortal elf characters. A season or two may have been the forging of the Ring and the fall of Elegion. The next few seasons may have told the story of the capture of Sauron and the fall of Numenor. I have.

Of course, this means updating the cast (minus the elves) every few seasons, which in itself is definitely a risk.

I think this could all work as one condensed timeline. I can understand why they’re approaching it this way, but the risk is a jumbled, disjointed end product that trips on its own feet. Hopefully not, ring of power You’ll soon find that progress, Episode 3 definitely made me more anxious than before.

can check out my discussion With my friend Patrick, who knows more about Tolkien lore than I do. is needed.

Follow me please twitter Also Facebook.