Summary
Middle-earth comes to the small screen — although there’s very little about this adaptation that could be considered ‘small.’
J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth has been in the popular consciousness for over 85 years. Since the publication of The Hobbit (1937), the world has devoured The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien’s other unfinished writings, animation, film adaptations, role playing, and countless pieces of fan fiction. In the wake of the success of The Game of Thrones, a television series seemed like a perfect fit for the streaming age. So, what does a billion dollar show look like?
That depends on who you ask. Between social media and competitive demands for our attention, Amazon’s THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER was judged harshly before a single frame of footage had been screened. It’s always fun to see people accuse fantasy and sci-fi shows of being ‘fan fiction’ or ‘cosplay,’ as if to imply that there is a ‘real’ version out there somewhere. Of course, when something has become part of the modern mythology, it’s hard to separate the vision in your mind’s eye from what can be achieved on screen. (Sometimes, people are just racist dicks).
Which is why Tolkien fans have so regularly returned to the core texts so many times, looking for pieces of his broader fictional history scattered like archaeological finds throughout the prose. Yet this prequel series offers a particular conundrum. The posthumously published The Silmarillion (1977) was a creation myth of a legendarium set in the First Age, and The Lord of the Rings takes place almost entirely in the Third Age. Yet the TV series sits in the “long Saga of the Jewels and the Rings” smack bang in the middle of the Second Age, a period largely unexplored in Tolkien’s published writings.
The era was first chronicled (at least in print) in The Appendices of The Lord of the Rings, and fleshed out in parts of The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales and The Fall of Númenor (2022). It culminates in Isildur defeating Sauron during the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, last depicted on screen in Peter Jackson’s The Fellowship of the Ring (2001). Beyond that, TV showrunners Patrick McKay and JD Payne have been given a fair bit of free reign to fill in some of the gaps.
When their series opens, it’s with the similarly epic defeat of the First Enemy, Morgoth – Sauron’s former master and predecessor. Despite the relative peace, Elven warrior Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) continues to hunt for the evil lord, partly in search of vengeance for her dead brother Finrod. Even as the High-king Gil-galad (Benjamin Walker) decrees she should be honoured by living an eternal life by sailing to Valinor, Galadriel is convinced that Sauron will return and chooses to stay in Middle-earth.
From here, the series tackles a handful of occasionally convergent storylines. Rebellious Harfoots – halfling forerunners to the Hobbits – Nori Brandyfoot (Markella Kavenagh) and Poppy Proudfellow (Megan Richards) find a mysterious Stranger (Daniel Weyman) in a burning crater. Galadriel meets the enigmatic Halbrand (Charlie Vickers), survivor of a shipwreck, who she suspects is something more. The duo land on the island kingdom of Númenor, ruled by queen regent Míriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), who long since fell out with the Elves and is reluctant to return and fight the coming darkness. Half-Elven architect Elrond (Robert Aramaya) visits his old friend Prince Durin (Owain Arthur) of the Dwarves in Khazad-dûm.
In the Southlands, healer and mother Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi) fights against the encroaching evil in her homeland, while skirting around an unrequited romance with Silvan Elf Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova). Meanwhile, Bronwyn’s son Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin) keeps a dark secret. Then, of course, there’s Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards), the brilliant Elven smith who begins work on forging some objects that could save his race. What could they be?
Which barely even scratches the surface of describing the many things that happen in this eight-part debut season. At times, it’s almost overwhelming to think about how much is going on, let alone to stop and remember anybody’s names. (I tend to have this problem in the first season or two of any fantasy or sci-fi series – although a fair chunk of background reading didn’t go astray this time). While there’s a couple of cliffhangers, and a few ‘…and that’s the origin of that’ moments, this should all be considered foundational material. Hell, it might even get the people who have only seen the movies seeking out some of the extended mythology. Wouldn’t that be a thing?
Speaking of the movies, McKay and Payne have unquestionably chosen to recall the look and feel of Jackson’s two trilogies while being careful to distinguish themselves from that version of the story. Just as Tolkien tapped into a shared mythological vocabulary (while crafting his own languages, of course), it’s only natural that the shared cinematic language of the award-winning blockbusters is quoted here. It certainly doesn’t hurt that the stunning photography and vistas come courtesy of the fantasy realm of New Zealand again. (It will be interesting to see what the second season, which has moved production to the UK, maintains this consistency).
Which is not to say that THE RINGS OF POWER hasn’t developed its own distinct visual style as well, drawing on everything from the illustrations of John Howe to the Rankin/Bass cartoon of the 1970s. The result is something that feels close to authentically Tolkien, even if it doesn’t always follow his text. Introducing a chunk of new characters along the way, fans would be hard-pressed to not be at least a little bit excited to see the Dwarven kingdom of Khazad-dûm and the spectacular island kingdom of Númenor come to life. In The Lord of the Rings, these were tombs to history, and I must admit to my breath catching a little bit when each of them was revealed.
Similarly, familiar characters Isildur (Maxim Baldry), Elrond and Galadriel are given a new perspective in this very different context. Morfydd Clark in particular is magnificent as the warrior Elf, torn between duty and conviction. Robert Aramaya and Owain Arthur have a delightfully merry war of words that nods to the Legolas/Gimli friendship, just as much as Bronwyn and Arondir suggest Beren and Lúthien (or Aragorn and Arwen if you prefer). Indeed, while the latter are concoctions of the new series, these characters (and their actors) are some of the revelations of the show, giving us not just a romantic story but a human (and elven) thread to hold onto. Naturally, the series wanted its Hobbits, so they drew on the footnoted Harfoots to fill this void. While their inclusion was controversial at first, the wonderful Kavenagh, Richards, and Lenny Henry bring true pathos to their storylines.
“The Second Age,” Tolkien once wrote to publisher Milton Waldman, “is on Earth a dark age, and not very much of its history is (or need be) told.” THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER is an ambitious series for even attempting to do so. Whether it is successful or not is a question that can only be answered several seasons hence. Some may say it changes Tolkien’s meaning while others could readily point to the series playing fast and loose with timelines. Yet if it proves anything over the course of eight episodes, it’s that it very much wants to build a Tolkien tale in its own fashion. Here is a truly epic start to a series that has dug its heels in for the long haul. After all, the road goes ever on.
You can read more thoughts on Tolkien in my column The Read Goes Ever On: a structured reading (and in some cases re-reading) of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. For now, Namárië!
2022 | US, New Zealand | DIRECTORS: J. A. Bayona, Wayne Che Yip, Charlotte Brändström | CREATORS: J. D. Payne, Patrick McKay (based on The Lord of the Rings and Appendices by J.R.R. Tolkien | WRITERS: J. D. Payne, Patrick McKay, Gennifer Hutchison, Jason Cahill, Justin Doble, Stephany Folsom, Nicholas Adams | CAST: Morfydd Clark, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Robert Aramayo, Owain Arthur, Nazanin Boniadi, Maxim Baldry, Markella Kavenagh, Megan Richards, Lenny Henry, Daniel Weyman, Charlie Vickers, Tyroe Muhafidin | DISTRIBUTOR: Amazon Prime Video | EPISODES: 8
