In the world of J.R.R.
Tolkien, Middle-Earth itself is as much a character as any of the story's heroes or
villains.
Now, with the release of Amazon's upcoming Lord of the Rings prequel, fans should expect
to return to a few familiar locations.
If there's one place that serves as a focal point of the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy,
it has to be Mordor.
This is where Sauron makes his home in Middle-Earth, and it's where the One Ring was forged, too.
As a result, Frodo's entire journey is undertaken with the goal of reaching the Land of Shadow.
From the story's beginning to its very end, Mordor, Mount Doom, and Sauron's tower of
Barad-dûr are crucial to the plot.
The good news for Tolkien fans is that these are very important locations in the Second
Age, too.
An appendix to The Return of the King explains that, roughly 1,000 years into the Second
Age, Sauron chooses Mordor as a land to make into a stronghold.
"Its black gates are guarded by more than just orcs.
There is evil there that does not sleep."
This is when he begins the building of Barad-dûr — which isn't exactly an overnight project,
as it takes the Dark Lord and his servants six whole centuries to complete construction.
The very year Barad-dûr is finished, Sauron enters the forge of Orodruin and creates his
One Ring.
With all this in mind, it seems pretty much definite that the Amazon series will return
to Mordor — and give fans the chance to see the darkest corner of Middle-Earth in
its prime.
The elves are far more involved in Middle-Earth's politics during the Second Age than they are
in the Third.
At this time, one of their most powerful kingdoms is Lindon, located just to the west of what
will later be known as the Shire.
Lindon is a vastly powerful kingdom that's ruled by the elven high king, Gil-galad, whose
herald and right-hand man is a young elvish noble named Elrond.
By the time of The Lord of the Rings, just a small remnant of Gil-galad's people remain
in Middle-Earth, having maintained a dwelling at the elvish haven of Mithlond.
Also known as the Grey Havens, this is where Frodo and Bilbo reunite with Elrond, Galadriel,
and Gandalf, and set sail into the West at the end of The Return of the King.
As will be the case for many of the show's locations, the Grey Havens of Amazon's series
will seem very different to how it's portrayed in Lord of the Rings.
Rather than appearing as an empty, faded stronghold that quietly ferries elves across the sea,
Mithlond will likely be a thriving crossroads and safe haven for all the Free Peoples of
Middle-Earth.
Elrond spends many of his early days serving Gil-galad in Lindon.
At one point, he leads an army out of the elvish kingdom to battle the emergent forces
of Sauron.
When his host is defeated, Elrond retreats northward to the edge of the Misty Mountains,
where he establishes a new stronghold called Imladris.
Also known as Rivendell, Elrond's homely home attracts countless refugees of the ongoing
war against Sauron, and eventually becomes a critical base of resistance against the
Dark Lord.
Even to casual fans, Rivendell is one of the most recognizable locations in all of Middle-Earth.
Both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings make multiple stops at the elvish refuge,
the most famous of which is the Council of Elrond during The Fellowship of the Ring.
In all of these cases, Elrond's domain is depicted as a quiet and peaceful refuge from
the world's many perils.
But things were very different during the early days of Imladris.
In fact, Elrond's fortress remained under siege for years after it was first established
— painting quite a different picture than the blissful oasis of calm that fans of the
movies have come to expect.
No doubt the show's creators will leap at the chance to bring the First Siege of Imladris
to the screen, giving fans a glimpse of this familiar location in a very different age.
Lothlorien is an ancient elvish realm, with various woodland folk having lived there since
the earliest days of their history.
Even as late as the Second Age, however, the land looks very different to how it’s portrayed
in The Lord of the Rings.
For one thing, Galadriel and her husband, Celeborn, aren't in charge — at least, not
initially.
Partway through the Second Age, Galadriel does arrive in Lothlorien, but even then as
a visitor and not a ruler.
The huge, silver-barked and golden-leafed Mallorn trees that define the look of the
Third Age's Lothlorien aren't there, either, as Galadriel is the one who initially brings
the seeds for those mighty arboreal wonders.
Nonetheless, Lothlorien plays an important role in the events of the Second Age.
The realm is ruled by the elvish leader named Amdír, who fights — and dies — alongside
his kin during the War of the Last Alliance.
So, while this version of Lothlorien will likely have a very different vibe to Galadriel's
realm, you can probably make a safe bet that it'll appear at least once in Amazon's upcoming
series.
The Fellowship's journey through the Mines of Moria is one of the most famous sequences
in The Lord of the Rings.
The nine travellers expect to meet Gimli's cousin, Balin, but their hopes are quickly
dashed when they discover the dwarven kingdom in ruins.
Moria is also notorious for being home to Durin's Bane, the monstrous Balrog that Gandalf
confronts on the Bridge of Khazad-dûm.
"You know what they awoke in the darkness of Khazad-dûm.
Shadow and flame."
In the Second Age, however, there's no fiery demon on the premises just yet, as the dwarven
kingdom of Khazad-dûm is still very much in its heyday.
As such, during the time of Amazon's series, all those empty hallways and dusty tombs will
be well-lit, thriving, and positively filled with dwarves.
The Doors of Durin were also constructed during the Second Age, as a kind of collaboration
between the dwarves of Khazad-dûm and the elvish craftsmen of Eregion — chief among
whom is Celebrimbor, the elf-prince who forged the Three Rings.
Fangorn Forest is a unique place in Middle-earth.
Not only is it a dense, ancient wood, but it's also the only known place where the Ents
still live during The Lord of the Rings.
During the Second Age, however, this sprawling woodland is much larger — and may even connect
with the Old Forest, which lies directly adjacent to the Shire, hundreds of miles away.
In the books, Tolkien frequently hints that the forests of Middle-Earth may once have
been far deeper than they currently appear.
In The Two Towers, for example, Treebeard tells Merry and Pippin that, in the past:
"I could walk and sing all day and hear no more than the echo of my own voice in the
hollow hills."
In addition, at the Council of Elrond, the learned elf points out:
"Time was when a squirrel could go from tree to tree from what is now the Shire to Dunland
west of Isengard."
In other words, Frodo's entire journey from the Shire to the walls of Moria took place
over a land once filled with forest.
This is no big surprise, of course; Tolkien was a huge lover of nature, and especially
of trees.
As such, it seems like a fitting tribute to the author himself to offer viewers a glimpse
into Tolkien's great forests at their absolute greatest.
Nestled at the northern edge of Mirkwood, the Woodland Realm plays a central role in
the events of The Hobbit.
King Thranduil captures Bilbo and his dwarvish compatriots during their quest to the Lonely
Mountain, and later plays a crucial role in the story's final battle.
But that isn't the first time that the woodland elves become entangled in the affairs of Middle-earth.
In fact, by the time of The Hobbit, the kingdom has already existed in Mirkwood for thousands
of years, since the first half of the Second Age.
At this point, Mirkwood is known as the Greenwood, and it's here that Thranduil's father, Oropher,
decides to set up shop.
Oropher's people ultimately get mixed up in the events of the Last Alliance, and the elvish
king is slain during the Battle of Dagorlad.
After this, Thranduil returns to the Greenwood with the remnants of his army, constructs
the great Halls of Thranduil, and takes his people underground for the next few thousand
years.
Before Frodo, Sam, and Gollum enter Mordor, they travel through a pass that's home to
Minas Morgul, the ghastly city inhabited by the Nazgûl and their armies.
The trio avoids the city by climbing a steep mountain stair, battling through Shelob's
Lair, and finally arriving at Cirith Ungol, another fortress built right into the mountainside.
Both of these insidious strongholds are filled with all kinds of evils — but they don't
start out that way.
They're actually the work of the men of Númenor, who build both fortresses to defend their
newly-founded kingdom of Gondor against the forces of Sauron.
While Cirith Ungol isn't constructed until the Third Age, the city it guards is founded
towards the end of the Second, easily fitting into the show's timeline.
Under Gondor's rule, Minas Morgul is known as Minas Ithil, the Tower of the Moon, and
is supposed to act as a sister city to Minas Tirith.
Expect to see the construction of Minas Ithil play a significant role in the later episodes
of Amazon's series.
Okay, let's rip this band-aid off quickly: the truth is, there's little to no chance
that you're actually going to see the Shire in the Amazon series — at least, not as
you know it — since the actual hobbit-filled Shire doesn't appear on the map until well
into the Third Age.
But that doesn't mean the land itself can't make an appearance.
For one thing, the Shire lies near Gil-galad's kingdom of Lindon, which is likely to feature
prominently in the show.
Additionally, Galadriel and Celeborn temporarily rule over a colony of elves in the region.
One way or another, there's a good chance we'll get to see those rolling green hills
again, even if they don't have any halflings living in them just yet.
The nearby community of Bree-land is more likely to show up in the new show, though.
This region is well-established by the Second Age, and initially constitutes part of Gondor's
sister kingdom of Arnor.
While it probably won't look quite the same, Bree and its fellow townships could definitely
play a role in the story.
When Frodo, Sam, and Gollum journey through the Dead Marshes, they encounter some creepy
aquatic ghouls that haunt the vast, mucky quagmire.
But who were these spirits, and just how did they end up lost in that forsaken corner of
the world?
The answer lies in the Second Age — and, in particular, the War of the Last Alliance.
This epic confederation of elves, men, and dwarves attacks Sauron in Mordor itself, but
before they enter Mordor, they fight a huge battle against Sauron's forces before the
gates of his domain.
"A great battle, long ago… the Dead Marshes.
Yes, yes, that is their name."
In The Two Towers, Gollum explains:
"They fought on the plain for days and months at the Black Gates.
But the Marshes have grown since then, swallowed up the graves; always creeping, creeping."
Amazon's prequel is almost guaranteed to show this battle in all its macabre glory — albeit
probably not until a much later season.
In The Lord of the Rings, the invasion of Gondor begins with hordes of orcs invading
a ruined city called Osgiliath.
From there, they attack the capital city of Gondor at the time — Minas Tirith.
Except that, if you go back far enough, it's actually Osgiliath that stands as the capital
of the nation.
Minas Tirith, meanwhile, is simply a tower-fortress built to help protect the nearby city.
If Amazon's show depicts the fall of Númenor and the establishment of Gondor — which
it almost certainly will — it's likely to feature a much more impressive version of
the city of Osgiliath.
From there, the chance to explore the surrounding lands of Gondor, and the budding tower of
Minas Tirith, will be just too epic for Amazon Studios to resist.
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