Hey, guys, we had a great livestream when the news dropped about the
series formerly known as LOTRonPrime, so if you haven’t already, you can check that out
for some fun initial reactions and discussion from the chat.
But today, I thought it would be good to not only organize some of the highlights from that stream,
but also some follow-up thoughts and observations that I’ve had since then.
1) First off, the big news is the title is The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Personally,
I really like this title. It’s not too focused on a single character or realm,
like if it were named The Rise of Sauron or The Fall of Numenor. The Lord of the Rings has
fantastic name recognition and The Rings of Power
factor heavily in the Second Age and are at the root of a lot of the conflict.
2) As for the teaser itself, it features molten metal being poured in wooden molds, creating the
name of the show. This evokes the feeling of a forge, which is incredibly appropriate, given
the forging of the rings is not only Sauron’s greatest deception, but is the beginning of all
the conflict and devastation that takes place in the Second Age. And in case you were wondering,
Nature of Middle-earth editor Carl Hostetter shared via TolkienGuide that the script we
see on the side of the O reads: min ani dúhaur , which translates to 'one for the Dark-despicable
[one]' - likely a portion of the translation for “one for the dark lord on his dark throne”
Despite many initially thinking this was CG,
we’ve since learned from IGN’s behind the scenes feature and TheOneRing.net that
this was all filmed with practical effects, from the wood, to the metal, to the water.
3) Speaking of the water, one of my favorite moments from the reveal
is the timing of the narration during this part. Assumed by many, and later confirmed by one of
the show’s writers on twitter, the narrator is Morffyd Clark’s Galadriel, who is reading
the ring verse poem. After she reaches the line regarding the nine for mortal men doomed to die,
the scene is drowned in water. This is a really clever detail foreshadowing the Fall of Numenor,
the great realm of Men in the Second Age. I not only love this imagery, but the choice
of Galadriel to narrate this teaser. It calls back to Cate Blanchett’s excellent narration
of the LOTR prologue, utilizing an immortal and important character to this time period.
4) In one of the biggest bits of news that seemed to really fly under the radar,
it appears we also found out the rating of the series. As our friend The Tolkien
Professor pointed out on twitter, the Prime Video page for Rings of Power here in the US
has the show listed as TV-14. For all who feared the show would become a copy of
Game of Thrones in terms of adult content, this should come as some very welcome news.
5) Finally, we also got a press release with a statement from showrunners JD Payne and Patrick
McKay. 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 onscreen 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.”
This confirms what many of us have speculated for some time. We’ll see Celebrimbor and his
elven smiths forging rings of power, we’ll see Sauron become the incredibly powerful force
that would wreak havoc on the Free Peoples of the Second Age, the Fall of Numenor - the great island
nation of men that would include characters like Elendil and Isildur, ancestors of Aragorn. We’ll
not only see the One Ring and the Three Rings of the Elves, but also the Seven for Dwarves and the
Nine that would give us the Nazgul. And of course, they even name drop the Last Alliance of Elves
and Men - the climactic battle we first saw in the prologue of Peter Jackson’s Fellowship of the Ring
- and what could very well be what this entire series builds toward over its rumored 5 seasons.
So this is kind of crazy, but just as I was about to originally release this video,
Amazon confirmed on social media that the music we hear in this is indeed Oscar-winning composer Howard Shore.
Now, it's been rumored for a little while that he and Bear McCreary were working on this series together,
but this is our first official confirmation that the incredible composer from
The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies has indeed returned to Middle-earth!
All told, it was an exciting day for Tolkien fans eager to see and hear more about this adaptation.
We’ve got less than 8 months until the September 2nd release date.
It’s not every year we have a new Tolkien adaptation to look forward to,
so let’s enjoy the ride and see how it all pans out in September! And let me know what you guys
think of the title reveal in the comments. Did it get you hyped? When do you think we’ll get
a full-on trailer? Be sure to hit subscribe and the bell so you don’t miss all the great
Rings of Power content I’ll have here on the channel over the coming months!
Thanks so much for watching and subscribing and we’ll see you next time on Nerd of the Rings!