Amazon's Lord of the Ring Series to be set in the Second Age

[Popnfresh98]

Two tweets posted Thursday morning featured an expanded map of Middle-earth, notably including the island of Númenor, the civilization of Men from whom Aragorn descended, and which was destroyed thousands of years prior to the events of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. A link to a larger version of the map was accompanied by the text “Welcome to the Second Age,” referring to the centuries leading up to the Last Alliance of Elves and Men and the first downfall of Sauron.

This is absolutely awesome. No retreading of anything, a straight up second age show. Too bad it won't be until 2021 till we see it.

Hope the production design nails it like the LotR trilogy did.

 

[namebrand]

Looking forward to this more!

 

[BagginsOfBagEnd]

Sounds awesome...I am really looking forward to this!

 

[Sassafras]

Sounds awesome...I am really looking forward to this!

Yesss!!!!

 

[Wor-Gar]

I am not a Tolkien expert by any stretch, so vast is his world. So could someone here abbreviate "the ages" for me so I understand the basic chronology? Thank you in advance.

 

[DarkShadow]

I am not a Tolkien expert by any stretch, so vast is his world. So could someone here abbreviate "the ages" for me so I understand the basic chronology? Thank you in advance.

From what I understand, it's basically like this:

1st age: Started with the completion of Valinor (the undying lands in the films, where the elves go with Gandalf/Bilbo and Frodo at the end of Return of the King), and ends with the defeat of Morgoth (Saurons master).

2nd age: Started with the defeat of Morgoth, ended with the defeat of Sauron in the battle of the last alliance (which you see in the prologue in Fellowship of the Ring).

3rd age: Started with the first defeat of Sauron, ended with the final defeat of Sauron and Elves/Gandalf/Bilbo/Frodo sailing to the undying lands.

4th age: That what comes after the War of the Ring.

 

[kiwiatlarge]

Potentially we would be looking at something based around Aragorn's ancestors and/or the elder elves who have spanned across the ages. I wonder if they can afford Hugo Weaving? lol

On another note, wouldn't it be good if they could stick to the Weta practical effects seen a lot in Fellowship, rather than the digital effects abused by the Hobbit trilogy..

 

[Wor-Gar]

Thank you, DarkShadow. That helps a lot, very concise.

 

[rivera2171]

The armies of Numenor were so powerful that even Sauron feared them. When they came in full strength to confront Sauron, he surrendered to them.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Surrender isn't a satisfying climax.

 

[rivera2171]

But what happens when he is on Numenor will be...
Im excited for this (if done right). The second age was also when Sauron coerces the elves to make the rings of power...

 

[Popnfresh98]

The first age would be fun too, but I'm guessing armies of Balrogs and Dragons might be hard on the ol' budget there

The second age also had more political goings ons, and I'm guessing that's the reason Amazon chose to set it there. They want their own version of Game of Thrones. I'd expect more betrayal and backstabbing than Tolkien ever wrote into his work himself.

 

[BagginsOfBagEnd]

The first age would be fun too, but I'm guessing armies of Balrogs and Dragons might be hard on the ol' budget there

The second age also had more political goings ons, and I'm guessing that's the reason Amazon chose to set it there. They want their own version of Game of Thrones. I'd expect more betrayal and backstabbing than Tolkien ever wrote into his work himself.

This! I would love to see some of the First Age events on screen too...I finished reading the Silmarillion yesterday and there is some really, really excellent stuff in there that is very film and TV-show worthy.

 

[rivera2171]

I agree the First Age would obviously be the best in terms of fantastic characters and events. But I would think it would be difficult to portray some of the events from the book. The stories of the First Age are by far the best...