The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power series

Hi there! I have thoughts!

First thought -- you should all subscribe to this podcast that starts next month:

https://www.megaphonic.fm/bythebywater

Because it's, well, mine. Jared and Oriana and I will have plennnnnty of thoughts on this. And we already have, starting with her post today (and yes, subscribe to the Twitter feed please)

And for now, here's @Schwindter's initial thoughts on the news that the Amazon's series's first season focus will be the Second Age and, very likely, the Fall of Numenor. https://t.co/tGr9Qo1X2z

— By-the-Bywater (@BytheBywater) March 7, 2019

So here's what we've been able to figure -- based on the exact details of the map (and I think just about everything that's named will play a role), this is almost certainly a 'rings origin story' set in the middle of the Second Age. Rivendell does not exist, the Ost-in-Edhil predominance clearly means this is going to focus heavily on Celebrimbor, the forging of the rings of power, Sauron-as-Annatar and the eventual invasion of Eriador and Numenor's response/intervention.

On the one hand this is an intriguing blank slate -- Tolkien wrote very little specifically dealing with all this aside from appendices/backstory, and the bulk you can find he did write in more detail is scattered fragments collected in Unfinished Tales. On the other hand there's arguably the danger of overexplaining things that only needed details, and tonally they have to invent a lot of dialogue that has to balance entertainment with the estate's presumably watchful eye.

One thing I can think of is that this'll be a new casting of Elrond here, so who's the young Hugo Weaving? (In essence.)

my fav part of the map was that before Mordor, there was a perfectly enclosed region that nobody settled--was it just a dark and miserable place even before evil dropped in?

I'll definitely listen to that podcast.

I read the Silmarillion as a kid, but this isn't material that I know well. I feel like the challenge of adapting legendarium material will be to give it grounding and immediacy, the way the hobbits counterbalance the epic sweep of LOTR.

xpost At the very least, probably dry and arid, though there's a comment in LOTR that the Sea of Nurnen, though 'bitter' (a la the Dead Sea, I'm guessing), was surrounded by arable land that could be irrigated by the rivers that feed into it, and that Aragorn granted the area to Sauron's slaves who worked said fields. Gorgoroth itself was probably pretty bad in general thanks to Mt. Doom but there's no real further detail in terms of that pre-Sauron era.

I feel like the challenge of adapting legendarium material will be to give it grounding and immediacy, the way the hobbits counterbalance the epic sweep of LOTR.

Very. Tolkien himself was well aware of this when it came to the original work -- Christopher in the intro to the first Book of Lost Tales quoted a comment from Tolkien where he acknowledged this kind of deeper work on his part would be of less interest to many readers because of its "'heigh stile' -- no hobbits!" And since the hobbits as such don't really interact with these big Second Age events in any specific way, it kinda leaves the field open.

Worth noting that another Unfinished Tales entry -- which I'm particularly fond of -- called Aldarion and Erendis has the closest to 'daily life in Numenor' as Tolkien ever wrote, and there's moments of 'regular' people cropping up in the story here and there. Not enough to totally go on, though.

Forwarded your podcast to a huge Tolkien nerd friend, who subscribed immediately. Will report back!

Ha, nothing is happening for another month (very busy schedule on my end and we also wanted to get a visit to the Tolkien exhibition in NYC under our belt). But we figured we could stoke interest a bit!

Anyway, thanks!

Meantime I have to wonder if they're going to stick with that title as it stands -- The Lord of the Rings on Prime is, how you say, unwieldy and inaccurate. Idle thought, though, is that if this is a Rings of Power origin story, arguably the whole idea is showing how Sauron became such a figure, etc., and then the prime mover for millennia for any number of things. The map extensions to the east and south could factor in.

just seen it described under the twitter heading of

young sauron

cunts

Just curious if this has the potential to be amaaaaazing or if it’s better to be more skeptical at this point.

How amaaaaaaazing do you find the showrunners’ previous work?

yung nec

tiny 'mancer

Are we finally going to find out how they became Lords of the Rings?

How the Ringwraiths learned to work as a team

How Gandolf got his beard.

And hat!

How amaaaaaaazing do you find the showrunners’ previous work?

Wow, yeah, this is brutal. How do you get this kind of project with almost no track record?

Writer (4 credits)
Flash Gordon (screenplay) (announced)
2020 The Lord of the Rings (TV Series) (created by - 1 episode) (announced)
- Episode #1.1 (2020) ... (creator)
Untitled Star Trek Sequel (written by) (pre-production)
2016 Star Trek Beyond (writer - uncredited)

guys

tiny 'mancer

I like it.

it is said that Sauron's original name was 'Mairon or "the admirable", though this was altered after he was suborned by Melkor. Despite this, he continued to call himself Mairon the Admirable, or Tar-Mairon "King Excellent"

lol Sauron is such a dweeb

He'll grow out of it. Who hasn't had a D&D phase?

Sauron = Kylo Ren

it'll be interesting to have sauron as an actual character here, not just the symbol of cosmic and eternal evil

just thought of a title for a Young Aragorn series that might revive its fortunes

"Ranger Things"

Things are starting to settle in...

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=12244913

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?objectid=12245671&ref=twitter

This is going to come out in perfect time for my kid to probably get really interested in it and for me to be a cranky sourpuss about the entire thing.

"Let me tell ya about the golden times, kid. They had to hand etch the CGI Gollum a pixel at a time."

the budget for this is $1.5 BILLION, what the fuck

muppets or gtfo

i'm trying to figure out how i will feel if the whole thing comes off like The Hobbit

im going to withhold judgement until i tetsuo and take everything with me

Okay we have some actual news here:

https://deadline.com/2019/07/the-lord-of-the-rings-j-a-bayona-direct-amazon-series-juan-antonio-bayona-1202640048/

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom director

oof

Thankfully not the only thing he's done. (The Orphanage, etc.)

We got a cast member!

https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/lord-of-the-rings-series-amazon-cast-markella-kavenagh-1203268175/

And we've had several cast members since though they've still officially confirmed nothing HOWEVER...per a friend in Auckland who sent this along, looks like filming begins next month.

A little new news re the Amazon series that's not in the forthcoming episode (already recorded) -- an Auckland listener says these are all up over the city, and that filming starts next month. pic.twitter.com/af377i741q

— By-the-Bywater (@BytheBywater) January 7, 2020

i completely forgot they were even making this

By default we've been tracking this on the podcast. It's all been very weird -- on the one hand, lots of firm commitments (they've already renewed for a second season, Bayona's been in Auckland for at least a month now, etc.), on the other hand a lot of weird caginess -- the slowly dribbled out casting stories via Variety/Deadline, none of which have been confirmed specifically by Amazon, and otherwise only a few local press mentions in NZ itself. It's strange to say but they've been a lot clearer about casting for The Wheel of Time, which is also a big Amazon production. (WoT also noticeably has been a lot more varied in its cast -- let's just say that even with potential limitations of the source material, the cast for this series has been pretty pale so far.)

(My cohost Oriana has had some TV writing room experience, and even she's been puzzled at how some of this has been happening.)

how would a cast for a tolkien adaption NOT be pretty pale?

Does NED RAGGETT smoke pipe-weed?

xpost Thus my notes re limitations, you see.

Okay, an actual formal cast listing at fucking last. No word on what specific roles each will be playing, though. (Also notable: non-white actors!)

A grand journey is defined by its travelers. Meet the first members of our fellowship. #LOTRonPrime. A THREAD.

— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) January 14, 2020

nazanin boniadi! I was so mad they killed her on Homeland I quit watching it.

I watch way too much shit but I have absolutely no idea who any of these ppl are

I don't know what's wrong with my eyes but I initially misread their hashtag as #LOTRonLifetime. If only, right?

Nazanin Boniadi:
http://https%3A//www.iranhumanrights.org/wp-content/uploads/001-en-28-1-e1559760285301.jpg

well fuck that

https://www.iranhumanrights.org/wp-content/uploads/001-en-28-1-e1559760285301.jpg

I have no idea who anyone else is though.