Amazon’s ambitious and expensive new series, Lord Of The Rings, Rings Of Power dropped today giving high fantasy fans a special gift going into the Labor Day Weekend. The series, which is one of the most expensive TV projects ever brings viewers to Middle Earth, the mythical land that JRR Tolkien created with The Hobbit and expanded on through the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, both of which have been brought to screen in multiple forms.
The story for ROP is not based on any specific novel but instead built from the appendices of The Lord Of The Rings, which were actually quite extensive in painting the history of the peoples of the world he created.
It is important to understand that when Tolkien created the world of Lord Of The Rings he was not simply writing a story, he was intending to create an entirely new mythology complete with fully realized languages, races, and philosophies.
Unlike HBO’s House Of Dragon, the new Amazon series is neither a sequel or a true prequel to the better-known stories/movies, though it will certainly be seen as a spiritual successor. It does not take place in what we would call “the same cinematic universe”. Yes there will be people playing characters that are recognizable from the previous movies, but that is because some of the characters are immortal and played a role in the history of their people long before most of us met them. The costumes and sets will also be very similar, but this is because there was already a recognized architectural style and look for the various races based on art developed for the books in the first place. Therefore, a new director is not going to decide that his version of the elves will prance about in pointy shoes and live in trees making cookies.
So the best advice is to enjoy the show, don’t look for easter eggs, though you know there will be plenty said about them, and get lost in it.
