Lord of the Rings series!?

[Voronwë the Faithful]

If it were just a case of a small side story showing a few small people staying out of the way and disappearing, that could possibly work. But they aren't hiring SIR Lenny Henry to stay out of the way and disappear.

[Frelga]

Maybe a framing story? Somehow?

[Alatar]

You should probably avoid this Voronwë. Its only going to annoy you!

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Time will tell. But I managed to mostly enjoy the Hobbit films and they certainly took a lot of liberties that I didn't agree with. So I think I can separate out my likes and dislikes better than some. I'm still looking forward to seeing what they do with this material, though since I have discontinued my Amazon Prime membership and have no intention of renewing it, I'm not when I will get a chance to watch any of it. Mostly likely I'll know everything there is to know about it before I ever get to see it for myself!

[RoseMorninStar]

They wouldn't necessarily have to stay out of the way &/or disappear, it could be a separate but simultaneous story line. Perhaps the way different peoples of earth might have experienced a huge event -a volcanic eruption- in different parts of the globe in the year 3000 BC.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Sorry, I'm not buying it.

[elengil]

They wouldn't necessarily have to stay out of the way &/or disappear, it could be a separate but simultaneous story line. Perhaps the way different peoples of earth might have experienced a huge event -a volcanic eruption- in different parts of the globe in the year 3000 BC.

Yes, I'd say the reshaping of the world would certainly qualify to be seen from a variety of perspectives!

[RoseMorninStar]

Sorry, I'm not buying it.

And I'm not selling it. Just one possible hypothesis.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Holy freakin' cow.

Lookie here:

LOTR Prime.jpg (325.31 KiB) Viewed 3081 times

That ain't Númenor, and it ain't Middle-earth either.

ETA: Oh, I guess we should also mention we have a date: September 22, 2022

[kzer_za]

So yeah, that's definitely two trees in the background...quite a flex there. I always expected some kind of PJ-style First Age prologue, but that they opened with this as the first official image suggests it'll be more substantial.

The rumor mill is that the first two episodes from JA Bayona will be a sort of self-contained prologue. So I wonder if they'll take place in the First Age before a big time jump and we'll actually spend more time setting things up there than anyone would have expected?

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Hollywood Reporter confirms that it is an image from the first episode (or at least they claim that it is).

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv ... ssion=true

The above photo is from the show’s first episode, but the studio is not identifying the character or actor at this time (so let the speculation begin).

I am fairly sure that the character depicted is Mairon, the future Lord of the Rings.

[kzer_za]

I like the idea! Not sure about the timeline though. How early did Sauron fall, or is it vague enough to leave some wiggle room?

[Voronwë the Faithful]

The earliest mention of Sauron that I can think of is in "Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor" where it states:

And Melkor made also a fortress and armoury not far from the north-western shores of the sea, to resist any assault that might come from Aman. That stronghold was commanded by Sauron, lieutenant of Melkor; and it was named Angband.

So that would suggest that before the Elves ever arrived he was already not only a servant of Morgoth's but already ensconced in Middle-earth. Which would make my theory untenable.!

[Inanna]

That is just glorious. The image, I mean.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Agreed. I'm pretty gobsmacked by it, to be honest. I wonder how I am going to be able to watch this show, without renewing my Prime membership (which I am determined not to do). Watch I will, however.

[elengil]

Agreed. I'm pretty gobsmacked by it, to be honest. I wonder how I am going to be able to watch this show, without renewing my Prime membership (which I am determined not to do). Watch I will, however.

You can probably buy it on DVD when it comes out? That's what I did with Good Omens.

[Jude]

I was able to get Good Omens from my library. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to do the same for this series, as long as I don't mind waiting.

On the other hand, amazon has often offered me a free trial of Prime when I've ordered in the past. I've always turned it down, but maybe when the series comes out I'll order something for the first time in years, take the free trial and then cancel it when the time is up.

[Frelga]

Good Omens was a collab with BBC, IIRC. I don't know if we can assume there will be a DVD.

I'm in complete sympathy with not subscribing to Prime, but I'm sure there will be a way to watch the show.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

My latest speculation on who the figure in the image is.

I'll go out on a limb and suggest it might be Fëanor. That would provide an excellent lead-in to the story of the Rings, and be a nod to Tolkien's desire to tell the tale of the Jewels and the Rings as one long narrative.