Media previews

[Eldy]

Thanks for the quote, Voronwë! Color me impressed, and more inclined to believe that the showrunners are indeed the Lore buffs some reports have made them out to be.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

It also is a clear-cut example of them using g something from a source other than the LOTR appendices (assuming this will actually be in the show).

[Anduril]

Eh, is the factoid that he coined the term not mentioned in one of the fan wikis? Anyone could look those up for free.

Hair aside, if you told me the first pic was of Elros and Elrond reuniting after a few decades, I'd believe it...

[Eldy]

Following up, Nerdist has a similar exclusive, this time about Gil-galad.

https://nerdist.com/article/lord-of-the ... ve-images/

There's more editorializing in this one, and I'm not sure how much stock to put in it. The mentions of Elrond being thousands of years old and Sauron calling himself Annatar are both concepts from the book, but are highly questionable to be included in ROP based on other things we've heard.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

In the Second Age, one of Gil-galad’s strongest working relationships is with Elrond. He knows the half-elf needs to prove himself. Elrond is thousands of years old, but he has some adolescent qualities. Elrond is trying to find his place in Middle-earth. And in that, Gil-galad mentors him. “Gil-galad is going to encourage him to take the first steps and the journey towards his ultimate destiny,” Walker says. “But he does it in the way a loving parent would, which is to allow them to make their own mistakes or to encourage them to do things and convince them that it was their idea in the first place.”

What nonsense!

[Eldy]

Yeah, the idea of the son of Eärendil and brother of Elros Tar-Minyatur being a scrappy young up-and-comer hasn't sat well with me since we got our first hint of it, even if the show is explicitly set only a few hundred years into the Second Age.

[Frelga]

Nice photos. Looks like someone is burdened with a glorious purpose.

[Anduril]

Sauron calling himself Annatar... highly questionable to be included in ROP based on other things we've heard.

Wot. You mean in the first season? The timeline stuff with Elrond I get because of the darn compression or crunch.

That's a scythe not a spear/lance. Jackson might have done it too but eh. And Gil-galad's color scheme could have been silver based on LOTR alone but also parts of HOME. Ar-Pharazôn the Golden should be the one in gold.

even if the show is explicitly set only a few hundred years into the Second Age.

If or though? Because if that's all there is, well sheesh, look at how short the era of Númenor was. Now it's supposed to shine very very brightly but the light that burns twice as bright burns half as long then? Say goodbye to the slow decline, the oppression of other men etc.

[Eldy]

Wot. You mean in the first season? The timeline stuff with Elrond I get because of the darn compression or crunch.

The name "Annatar" is in the grey area with regards to rights—it's not mentioned in LOTR, but is possibly one of the things the Estate will let Amazon make use of any. Based on the leaks, the most convincing theory IMO is that the show-original character "Adar," a "corrupted" Elf played by Joseph Mawle and called by the code name Oren in early reports, is Sauron, but there are a variety of competing theories based on various tidbits of information and different individuals' conjecture. Of course, leaks inherently need to be taken with a healthy serving of salt, but the lack of even a hint of Annatar as we know him from the books is, at a bare minimum, curious.

[Eldy]

In reply to your edit:

If or though? Because if that's all there is, well sheesh, look at how short the era of Númenor was. Now it's supposed to shine very very brightly but the light that burns twice as bright burns half as long then? Say goodbye to the slow decline, the oppression of other men etc.

I said "if" mostly because the idea seems borderline preposterous to me for many reasons, including the ones you mention, but a number of comments from the showrunners (and the Vanity Fair writers, who seem to have had closer contact than with them than most) point to a very short timeframe. Galadriel has been in Middle-earth for "a few centuries," Orcs are so deep in hiding that many believe them to be in extinct, Númenor is still on the rise, Sauron hasn't made his presence felt, etc. I expect defenders of the show to brush off most if not all of these changes as superficial, but they collectively create a vastly different situation than the book versions of Elendil and Isildur (two of ROP's main characters) experienced.

[Alatar]

That's a scythe not a spear/lance. Jackson might have done it too but eh. And Gil-galad's color scheme could have been silver based on LOTR alone but also parts of HOME. Ar-Pharazôn the Golden should be the one in gold.

Have to say I diasagree with this entirely. I love the design of Aiglos, and its neither a scythe (which as the blade on an inner curve) nor a spear/lance but it is very "elvish". Also, really? Only Ar-Pharazôn should be golden? Talk about removing an entire colour palette from contention. Although the prologue uses a very washed out style, its very clear to me that the Elves, including Gil-galad are in Gold, while the Men are in silver/steel.

That said, I don't have the same connection to the minutiae of the source material you guys have, mainly because I think most of it is inferred. V may hate the idea of Elrond being "adolescent" but there's nothing of substance there to contradict it, and I appreciate that the writers are trying to give us some depth to the characters instead of a bunch of archetypes.

I'm actually getting much more positive vibes than I started with. I really hope I enjoy it! And I'm setting myself up to enjoy it as much as I can. I feel if I start building negativity now, that's what I'll feel when I watch, and I'm trying to avoid that. There's way too much toxic fandom out there.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I also like the look of Gil-galad (and Aiglos), and I"m cautiously optimistic about the show overall. I still don't like the adolescent Elrond, but we'll see how it plays out.

[Inanna]

The ad playing on Indian TV for this series is really very nice. It shows a young boy stepping into the world of Tolkien geekdom & fandom with this show. And it’s a young Indian boy. Me likey.

ETA: for grammar and unnecessary autocorrect.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Nice!

[Eldy]

Welcome to Númenor: Get an exclusive look at The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - Entertainment Weekly

Now this is the preview I've really been looking forward to! Have yet to read the full article, but as usual there's a bunch of new pictures:




Cynthia Addai-Robinson as the queen regent Míriel


Maxim Baldry sets sail as the young Isildur


Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) rides along the Númenórean coastline with Elendil (Lloyd Owen)


Trystan Gravelle as Pharazôn


Míriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) leads the Númenórean army into battle, with Isildur (Maxim Baldry, third from left) by her side


Director Wayne Che Yip speaks with Cynthia Addai-Robinson and Trystan Gravelle on the set of 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.'


Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) sees red in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.'

[Eldy]

First takeaways as a book!Númenor fan:

—Míriel is a "queen regent," a position she never held in the book. If she's a regent for her father, it's possible we'll see something recognizably like Pharazôn's coup in the Akallabêth, but I'm not holding my breath for that at this point.

—Speaking of Pharazôn, he looks more like Míriel's uncle than her first cousin. (In a draft timeline, they were born only a year apart, though that is not "canon" by any stretch of the imagination since it also puts Elendil in that same generation, eliding Amandil's role as a friend of Pharazôn when they were young men. I admit my mental picture of Pharazôn is shaped by the drafts of the Akallabêth—"a man of great beauty and strength/stature"—but it would be silly to expect Amazon to use those.)

—In case the controversy over "Amazon" Galadriel wasn't enough fun, look forward to years of Discourse(tm) about Míriel in armor leading her army (and wearing a really goofy-looking helmet).

—Is the woman next to Isildur in the group shot Carine? I've no idea, but it would be my guess.

—I know very little about maritime history, but Isildur appears to be standing on an at least two-masted ship. It's possible that's a galley, but I'm not sure. In the Akallabêth, the Númenóreans continued to use ships with oars until the very end of their history (Ar-Pharazôn's armada included "many strong slaves to row beneath the lash," as did the Black Númenóreans' very distant descendants in the late Third Age), but I have a vague headcanon that the Númenóreans used tall ships, but that's one of the technologies that was lost in the Downfall. I'd be tickled if Amazon ended up doing something like that.

More thoughts to follow, most likely, once I've read the article.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Wow, a lot to sink your teeth into, even without reading the article! I'll hold off on saying anything for now.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

—Is the woman next to Isildur in the group shot Carine? I've no idea, but it would be my guess.

Nope, not Carine, but only because Carine's name has apparently been changed to Eärien.

[Eldy]

Nope, not Carine, but only because Carine's name has apparently been changed to Eärien.

Yeah, that's what I get for not reading the article first. But I was busy yesterday! :V

I'm encouraged by the line (pointed out to me by someone on TORn) that Anárion is offscreen "at the start of Rings of Power," implying he'll make an appearance later on.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Me too, though it is possible that he will be "off screen" for the duration of the show, and never mentioned. We'll see.