ICYMI: First Age Fears Remain In ‘The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power’ Teaser
by Erik Amaya
Amazon has released another teaser for the upcoming The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power series and boy, does Middle-earth look wonderful in the Second Age. Of course, that beauty was hard-won by the likes of Gil-Galad (Benjamin Walker) and Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), who seemingly reveals some of what she witness during one of the toughest battles in the previous age. That experience is driving her to seek out the Enemy she believes survived the War to Wrath, even as Elrond (Robert Aramayo) tries to tell her it is okay to put down her sword. Of course, we know her suspicions will turn out to be correct as the Enemy’s chief lieutenant, Sauron, will rise up to become the Lord of the Rings, but in the moment, is some grief also motivating Galadriel’s quest?
Also of interest is the opening mention of the time before the Sun and the close-up on the Two Trees. That they’re being mentioned at all is surprising, but we wonder if their prominence will lead to an explanation of Galadriel’s connection to the them and the Silmarils which, in turn, led to all the strife in the First Age. Thanks to the work of J.R.R. Tolkien, those connections matter even if they are not part of Amazon’s license to The Lord of the Rings. Hopefully, the company and the Tolkien estate made arrangements to include some material not mentioned in LOTR for the sake of lore consistency.
Then again, the show is importing characters like Isildur (Maxim Baldry) and Ar-Pharazon (reportedly played by Trystan Gravelle) to the early part of the Second Age, so some ideas are more malleable than others. Perhaps Galadriel is just motivated by the death of her siblings in that hellish battle glimpsed in the teaser. Or, like Gil-Galad’s words in the preview, she reckons it’s best to be on guard for the return of the Shadow.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power debuts September 2nd on Prime Video.
