…and I stand corrected. The map as newly updated is now most likely to be at the end of the Second Age and the first war against Sauron (ending with his physical form being destroyed, the ring lost, etc as shown in flashbacks in the movies).
EDIT: Alternatively, this could take place in the mid-Third Age, when Mordor first started stirring again and the Kingdoms of Men splintered.
OK based on THAT map the show looks like it will be about the Fall of Arnor and the Witch King of Angmar, which is almost 1,000 years before Aragorn is born.
If they want a Game of Thrones-like that is probably a good choice. The Kingdom of Arnor…with the high Numenorean king ruling from Annuminus over both Arnor and Gondor…sunders into three separate kingdoms, and by the end all three kingdoms are wiped out completely. Nothing left but a pile of ruins and scattered rangers. Plenty of political intrigue there.
Also Gondor’s attempt at vengeance results in the line of kings becoming broken until Aragorn.
Nevermind!
SECOND AGE CONFIRMED BOIS! PEAK NUMENORIAN POWER! TAR to the AR!
Sorry for all caps. I think this will be the first major Second Age material ever produced outside of the Silmarillion, Histories of Middle-earth, books no one reads…
Second Age map is pretty dope for Tolkien geeks. Eriador UNTOUCHED by war/men. Just look at all those trees.
That’s…incredible. Really the best possible outcome, in my opinion.
No kiddin’! That’s great news.
And now I want an updated LOTRO, in a modern engine, set in the Second Age. The show sounds great, but actually exploring that map would be even better :)
Did the War of the Silmarils mod ever get released? Not a modern engine, but built off of a good one in its day.
So Tom Shippey, Tolkien scholar extraordinaire, is involved with this which is a good sign. He recently gave an interview and revealed some things albeit he claims he doesn’t know everything about the show.
Quick Highlights
-The show must maintain the form of the Second Age. Basically it has to hit all the significant story beats. The writers can fill in the gaps.
-The Tolkien Estate has veto power over everything (apparently)
-The First Age and even Third Age…maybe including the Lord of the Rings proper are “off limits”
Meh. Jackson’s LoTR movies had a lot of good qualities, but ultimately weren’t satisfying for me. Further, even one of the medium’s better examples (GoT) ended up with a bad finale despite direct input on GRRM’s part.
But fandom is as fandom does.
Isn’t the 2nd Age like… 3000 years or something insane?
3441 years. No doubt not much happens and we’ll end up with a show where everyone sits around a campfire telling stories of the events of the 1st age.
Well, as you probably know, there’s nothing in the world more powerful than a good story! Or so I’ve heard recently.
The Second Age? So all the boring stuff like the rise of Numenor and it’s eventual spread into the rest of Middle Earth, war between the elves and Sauron, the destruction of Eregion and founding of Rivendell, the corruption of the Numenorians, the forging of the rings and creation of the Ringwraiths, and the Last Alliance of Elves and Men and the great war against Sauron in which Isildur defeats Sauron by hacking off his ring, thereby setting into motion the events that lead to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
Meh. I’d much rather have “The Further Adventures of Gimli and Legolas” instead.
;-)
…or a Tauriel/Legolas romcom!
Yeah, but the first age is so much better with the tale of Turin and the fall of Gondolin. I mean the second age is basically a reboot when then writers realized that destroying he end boss ruined the tension and basically just leveled up the boss’ apprentice.
At least the third age does something with the old boss. Evil spirit seeking to return is at least something different from going for a third version of ‘the old boss apprentice becomes new boss’
(/s, for the record)
And we will get a First Age Tolkien series at some point, either when:
OR
Either way, we are likely to see it before ~2030.
That’s it, we need to form a production company and start pitching ideas to Amazon while they have the license and obscene amounts of money!
The movie does not do this scene justice at all and creates some common misconceptions. Gil-galad, the last Elven King of the Noldor in Middle-earth, and Elendil, High King of the Dúnedain took Sauron down but both were also slain in the process. Isildur essentially cuts the ring from Sauron’s “corpse.”
Idk, Isildur’s…desire…for the Ring is pretty well communicated.
Isildur: Gonna be in his bunk.
That scene never took place…it’s pure Hollywood fiction.