Amazon's upcoming Middle-Earth series is set to take place in the Second Age, one of the
least-explored eras of Tolkien's myth. And although these events take place thousands
of years before The Lord of the Rings, there are still many ways Amazon's series could
connect to the original trilogy.
One of the original rumors swirling around Amazon's series claimed that the show would
revolve around a young Aragorn. This was pretty exciting for Tolkien fans, as Aragorn's pre-Lord
of the Rings story is replete with romance, drama, and action.
At a young age, the king-in-exile loses his father, spends decades wandering in the wild,
fights alongside Théoden's father in Rohan, saves Gondor from an attack while in disguise,
and falls in love with Arwen over the course of three long decades. The Walking Dead's
Tom Payne stirred the waters even more when he casually mentioned that the Amazon show
was casting Aragorn.
And then the news dropped that the series would be set during the Second Age, seemingly
putting an end to any hopes of seeing Aragorn again. This is because, although the ranger
is no spring chicken at 87 years young during the events of Lord of the Rings, he's definitely
not going to be walking around many thousands of years earlier. But there is still one chance:
from day one, it's been reported that Amazon has the rights to a spin-off series along
with the primary show. Maybe it's there that fans will reunite with the future king of
Gondor?
Gandalf's epic stand against the Balrog at the Bridge of Khazad-dûm is one of The Lord
of the Ring's most iconic scenes, and the ensuing duel on the peak of Silvertine really
is a battle for the ages.
But while this fight has gone down in literary and cinematic legend, it raises one important
question. Just where did this giant, fire-breathing monster come from? Fortunately, the Amazon
show has a chance to answer that very question. See, back in the First Age of Middle-earth
history, there were actually quite a few Balrogs, with Tolkien himself suggesting that there
were, at most, seven of these beasts running around and causing havoc. Most of them, however,
were defeated and killed during the War of Wrath at the end of the First Age.
As the Second Age begins, one of the Balrogs flees from this catastrophe, desperately searching
for a place to hide. Eventually, it decides that it will bury itself deep in the subterranean
passages under the Misty Mountains, near the dwarven kingdom of Khazad-dûm. There, the
creature would remain in cozy anonymity for several thousand years, until far into the
Third Age, when the dwarves would come across the last known Balrog during a mining expedition.
"You know what they awoke in the darkness of Khazad-dum. Shadow and flame."
If Amazon wants to connect their show to the original trilogy, what better way than to
follow the origin story for Durin's Bane: the very Balrog that would eventually confront
Gandalf in The Fellowship of the Ring?
The elven lady Galadriel has already made her presence known in The Lord of the Rings,
and featured heavily in Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy, too. But that's not particularly
surprising, after all, Galadriel is one of the oldest beings in Middle-earth, clocking
in at over 8,000 years old during the original trilogy. Of course, this makes her an obvious
candidate to play a major role in the Amazon show. It's a fact that the studio clearly
is aware of, too, since rumor has it that they already cast the character way back in
late 2019.
This will be an excellent way to tie the original movies in with the new streaming series. Galadriel
is a mover and a shaker throughout the Second Age, showing up more than once and playing
a pivotal role in the forging of the rings of power.
But the production team can take Galadriel's role even further, if they want to. This is
because, during the Second Age of Middle-Earth, Galadriel visits Lothlorien for the first
time. Now, that doesn't mean she gets her magic mirror and becomes "the Lady of the
Golden Wood" right there on the spot. But she does pay her first visit to the woodland
realm during the time that will be depicted in the show, providing an easy and satisfying
excuse to take the audience on a stroll down memory lane.
Anyone who's familiar with The Lord of the Rings will be very much aware of the terrifying
powers of the Witch-King of Angmar.
"The one who will lead Sauron's armies in war. The one they say no living man can kill."
Sauron's chief lieutenant is the one who heads up the hunt for the One Ring, stabs Frodo
on Weathertop, leads Mordor's attack on Minas Tirith, confronts Gandalf at the gates of
the city, and ultimately dies in an epic duel with Éowyn. From beginning to end, the Witch-King
plays a pretty hefty role in the saga of the Third Age.
But The Lord of the Rings is just his final act. In truth, the Witch-king has a long and
epic story that stretches way back into the Second Age. In The Return of the King, Gandalf
refers to the Witch-King as:
"King of Angmar long ago, Sorcerer, Ringwraith, Lord of the Nazgûl."
Much of what Gandalf is referencing here harkens back thousands of years, to when Sauron initially
helped create the Rings of Power during the Second Age. When the Dark Lord gave nine of
these rings to the great leaders of mortal men, the chief of these was the king of Angmar.
In The Silmarillion, it's even stated that Sauron was particularly successful in ensnaring
three great lords of the Númenórean race, and it's likely that one of these was the
Witch-King himself. Considering it's been all but confirmed at least some of Amazon's
series will take place on Númenór, it seems like it'd be more of a surprise if the Witch-King
didn't show up.
When people think of Elrond, they typically picture a brooding elf, a grieving father,
a ruminating councilor...and generally a bit of a downer. Seriously, though, apart from
a quick scrape with Nazgul in The Hobbit trilogy and some flashy leadership in the intro to
The Fellowship of the Ring, Elrond is typically portrayed on the screen as a leader who doesn't
often get his hands dirty.
The thing is, though, by the time of The Lord of the Rings, Elrond is thousands of years
old. He was born at the end of the First Age and, as it happened, played a very hands-on
role in the events of the Second Age. For example, Elrond is one of the few people who
sees through Sauron's disguise when he helps the elves create the rings of power. He leads
a portion of the armies that initially fight against the Dark Lord when he begins gathering
said Rings of Power, too, and even possesses one of the three elven Rings to boot. At one
point, Elrond's home Eregion is destroyed by Sauron's armies, and the elven lord retreats
northward, where he establishes his own elven stronghold, a place he names Imladris, otherwise
known as Rivendell.
Elrond's new fortress holds out against Sauron and remains a key rallying point for the Free
Peoples of Middle-Earth for thousands of years to come. Elrond also plays a leading role
in the Last Alliance, and remains a dedicated warrior in the struggle against Sauron. As
such, he's bound to have a pivotal role in Amazon's prequel series.
Legolas Greenleaf is one of the most important yet underdeveloped characters in all of Tolkien's
mythology. Despite being a key member of the Fellowship of the Ring, no one's quite sure
how old he is, or just what he had really been up to before the original trilogy kicked
off.
At the end of the day, though, this could end up providing an unexpected boon for the
team at Amazon Studios. The lack of backstory or history for the iconic elven prince offers
up a great opportunity to work him directly into the primary narrative, without throwing
things off from the source material. Now, it's worth pointing out that this has been
done before…with mixed results.
So yeah, Legolas' role in The Hobbit wasn't exactly a success. But with a little bit of
respect and restraint, Amazon could nonetheless work him into their story, and cement his
status as a useful throughline across the ages of Middle-Earth's history.
Hobbits might well be the most recognizable aspect of Tolkien's story, but strangely enough,
they're nowhere to be found prior to the Third Age. In fact, they don't even arrive in their
homeland of the Shire until 1600 years after the Second Age ends, although a bunch of elves
do occupy the same area for a while during that particular era. Sadly, this means that
any meaningful part played by the good-hearted, hairy-footed people will have to take place
in flash-forwards, unless the show eventually progresses into the Third Age itself.
But that hasn't stopped Elijah Wood from voicing his willingness to cameo in the show, if they're
willing to work in a role for him. He already did exactly that in The Hobbit films, appearing
in a scene that jumps forward in time before the main story got rolling. If Amazon's team
does follow Peter Jackson in framing their story around the stories of the hobbits, it's
bound to make a lot of fans very happy indeed. After all, who doesn't want to see the Shire
again?
The Dead Marshes are a pretty freaky place. This swampy, haunted marshland lies to the
northwest of Mordor, stretching for miles and miles in every direction. This is the
place Frodo, Sam, and Gollum journey through on their way to Mordor, and it's also where
Frodo has a rather unpleasant encounter with the ghostly apparitions of some fallen warriors.
Eventually, the trio find their way out of the swamps and arrive at the Black Gate, leaving
this strange and unsettling chapter firmly in the rearview mirror.
So just where did these haunted swamps come from? Well, fans of the books will know that
the wetlands used to be much smaller and considerably less creepy. However, a huge battle was fought
there at the end of the Second Age, during the War of the Last Alliance. Over time, the
swamp spread out, swallowing up the graves of the fallen warriors, including orcs, elves,
and men alike. Soon, the marshes had grown into a dark, haunted wasteland, one that was
inspired by Tolkien's own experiences during the Battle of the Somme. But the growth of
the Dead Marshes isn't just a deeply fascinating and unexplored part of the Middle-Earth story,
it's also yet another way that Amazon could connect the events of their show with the
adventures of Frodo and the Fellowship.
The ruins on top of Weathertop create the backdrop for one of Frodo's most harrowing
adventures. In The Fellowship of the Ring, apparently abandoned by Aragorn and facing
an attack from the Nazgul, Frodo and his hobbit friends seek protection by retreating to the
ruins on the crest of the hill of Weathertop. There, they're attacked by five ringwraiths,
and Frodo is stabbed with a poisoned blade, before Aragorn arrives in the nick of time
to save them.
It turns out that that ruin isn't just a heap of rubble, though. They're actually the remains
of a fortress that was originally built thousands of years earlier, when Aragorn's Númenórean
ancestors arrived in Middle-earth and established two new sister kingdoms: Gondor in the south
and Arnor in the north.
Weathertop is part of the Kingdom of Arnor, and the hill initially had a tower built on
top of it, which acted as a key fortress of the northern kingdom. Not only is the fortress
important, but it was also home to one of the seven palantíri, the same stones that
Saruman and Sauron eventually steal and use to communicate in The Lord of the Rings. Weathertop
becomes a much bigger deal in the Third Age, but it could nonetheless make a welcome return
during the events of Amazon's series.
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