[+] The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - SPOILERS ALLOWED

[Hriston]

You treat my joke with far more gravitas than it deserves!

But Shakespeare drew on classical sources, and whilst we are probably more familiar with the Graeae from Greek myth (also see: Furies, Fates, Gorgons), the term "wyrd sisters" that Shakespeare used refers the Norns of Scandinavian myth. Wyrd meaning fate. Given Tolkien's fondness for northern European myth, is doesn't seem inappropriate to draw upon this when expanding on his work.

Agreed. I think it's notable that the Norns of Scandinavian myth were also said to visit newborn children to determine their destinies, similar again to the biblical Magi.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I'm pretty sure they will explain the mail. Because on TV every detail has to have an elaborate backstory.

This is what happens when a generation of TV writers grow up reading Star Wars novels.

 

[OB1]

Regarding the Balrog shown at the end of the episode, I'd guess that it will be confronted (likely with help from the elves or perhaps from the Stranger, perhaps that's how Sauron get's into the good graces of everyone) and pushed deeper and sealed in mountain, allowing the mine we saw in this episode (and in Fellowship) to be opened. Millenia later, when those mines are exhausted, the Dwarves begin looking for a new vein, go too deep, and bring about the end of their kingdom.

Regarding the timeline of the 2nd age in general, it appears that much is being compressed into 10-20 years that we'll see in the show (based on the current age of Isilldur, if nothing else). If I had to guess, we'll see the forging of the rings next season, a 'golden age' of the rings in the third (where elves, dwarves and humans all create great works in a short time with the power of their rings), Sauron's deception revealed in the 4th, and the last alliance of elves and men fighting Sauron in the 5th. It's a story inspired by Tolkien and meant as a prequel to the films.

Finally, I love what this show is doing (again, I don't have any Similarian background and have only ever read the novels once) and have been massively enjoying it. It's using the medium well and the storytelling is wonderfully functional in a way that a lot of modern shows have forgotten how to do. I know who the characters are, as well as what they want and what is in conflict in any given scene.

 

[ART!]

Amazon's rights to Tolkien's work are the same rights that producer Saul Zaentz bought in the 1970s, leading both to Ralph Bakshi's animated Lord Of the Rings and eventually to Peter Jackson's films. These rights only include material from The Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit. So anything that's mentioned in those books (including Lord Of the Rings' lengthy appendices) is fair game, but anything exclusive to The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, or Christopher Tolkien's 12-volume History of Middle Earth, is off limits. So the Amazon series probably can't touch The Fall of Gondolin, for example.

"As long as we’re painting within those lines and not egregiously contradicting something we don’t have the rights to, there’s a lot of leeway and room to dramatize and tell some of the best stories that [Tolkien] ever came up with.” - showrunner McKay

So, they have some leeway to do stuff but not a lot.

TBF, since it was never really finished even by Christopher, it's all fan fiction.

If they wanted to negotiate limited use of things from works outside TLOTR & TH, they could. For instance, if character X isn't mentioned in those but they want to use just the name but not that character's story, that is a thing that could theoretically be worked out.

If these three
View attachment 263655

Are the same as these three

View attachment 263656

Then it would be cool, given Sauron's previous association with werewolves.

This is very cool, even if it's not the case!

My theory is that these three are cultists of one of the blue wizards - or maybe the leader of these three is one of the blue wizards. The Harfoots are east of Greenwood the Great (what will be called Mirkwood), which works for the blue wizards.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

My theory is that these three are cultists of one of the blue wizards - or maybe the leader of these three is one of the blue wizards. The Harfoots are east of Greenwood the Great (what will be called Mirkwood), which works for the blue wizards.

Hmm, I tend to think of the wizards as being charismatic, but I guess that's really only true for Gandalf and Saruman. Weird creeps as wizards certainly is possible. The casual, pointless cruelty to the harfoots would be disappointing as hell for wizards, though.

 

[Hriston]

Hmm, I tend to think of the wizards as being charismatic, but I guess that's really only true for Gandalf and Saruman. Weird creeps as wizards certainly is possible. The casual, pointless cruelty to the harfoots would be disappointing as hell for wizards, though.

Not that Saruman didn't turn out to be disappointing for a wizard, but he did a lot worse.

 

[ThrorII]

Not really, Tolkiens dwarfs live maybe 400 yrs whereas Elfs live Thousands. Theyll be skipping a couple of Dwarf generations and 8 or so humans each time shift, imagine trying to keep track of all those. At least with HotD its the same character just at different ages

Tolkien's Dwarves lived for an average of 250 years.

 

[TheSword]

I have to laugh at the dismissive calling it fan-fic.

You could say the same about lots of products. As has been discussed the source material (appendixes) isn’t exactly riveting stuff.

It’s possible for the writers to conceive of the series in relation to the Silmarillion and other works without actually using the protected elements. They actually have a huge amount of lee way if the owners of that IP aren’t fussed about the usage… particularly if interest in the series raises interest in their own IP. They are free therefore to allude and fill in the spaces.

 

[Maxperson]

Regarding the Balrog shown at the end of the episode, I'd guess that it will be confronted (likely with help from the elves or perhaps from the Stranger, perhaps that's how Sauron get's into the good graces of everyone) and pushed deeper and sealed in mountain, allowing the mine we saw in this episode (and in Fellowship) to be opened. Millenia later, when those mines are exhausted, the Dwarves begin looking for a new vein, go too deep, and bring about the end of their kingdom.

That's a possibility for this show. It really wouldn't make sense for them to delve too deeply and awaken something like a Balrog if they knew it was there, but it's a better idea than any other that I've seen so far.

 

[RuinousPowers]

Regarding the Balrog shown at the end of the episode, I'd guess that it will be confronted (likely with help from the elves or perhaps from the Stranger, perhaps that's how Sauron get's into the good graces of everyone) and pushed deeper and sealed in mountain, allowing the mine we saw in this episode (and in Fellowship) to be opened. Millenia later, when those mines are exhausted, the Dwarves begin looking for a new vein, go too deep, and bring about the end of their kingdom.

Regarding the timeline of the 2nd age in general, it appears that much is being compressed into 10-20 years that we'll see in the show (based on the current age of Isilldur, if nothing else). If I had to guess, we'll see the forging of the rings next season, a 'golden age' of the rings in the third (where elves, dwarves and humans all create great works in a short time with the power of their rings), Sauron's deception revealed in the 4th, and the last alliance of elves and men fighting Sauron in the 5th. It's a story inspired by Tolkien and meant as a prequel to the films.

Finally, I love what this show is doing (again, I don't have any Similarian background and have only ever read the novels once) and have been massively enjoying it. It's using the medium well and the storytelling is wonderfully functional in a way that a lot of modern shows have forgotten how to do. I know who the characters are, as well as what they want and what is in conflict in any given scene.

Unless there is a planned, but unannounced, time shift this Durin's Bane will refer to this Durin. There isn't going to be a millennia wait. But I do hope it doesn't happen next episode. But why show the balrog if you aren't going to use it.