Familiar Territory
New Line Cinema
Right off the bat, the early seconds of the clip put us on solid and recognizable ground, particularly for those familiar with both author J.R.R. Tolkien’s landmark fantasy series and Peter Jackson’s live-action adaptation. Eager fans, many of whom have been hunting for the slightest hint about the direction that “The Rings of Power” will take, couldn’t have missed the implication of choosing Morfydd Clark — rumored to portray a young Galadriel in this series — to recite the voiceover narration that guides us through the title announcement. Reminiscent of Cate Blanchett’s Galadriel becoming the very first voice we hear in the opening sequence of “The Fellowship of the Ring,” somberly laying out the history of the Ring and Sauron’s rise to power in Middle-earth long before, Clark definitely sounds like she’s channeling a very similar sort of energy to create a thematic bridge between the two properties. But not a directly canonical one, as this series remains obligated to avoid directly referencing the Jackson movies.
The score, too, adds even more of a subtle connection between this new series and the famous Middle-earth movies that everyone on the planet is most familiar with. We previously brought you the news that Howard Shore, the masterful composer of “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, was in talks to return for the same duties on “The Rings of Power.” Though it’s unclear if he had a hand in this announcement video or if this is merely a placeholder musical theme that will be replaced in the show itself, the opening notes in the trailer sure seem to evoke Shore’s memorable motif for the One Ring. To some, it might seem counterintuitive to even subconsciously bring to mind the unparalleled heights of Jackson’s trilogy, but it does make a certain amount of sense to give fans a solid foundation on which to build their understanding of this never-before-seen period in Middle-earth history. Set in the Second Age, thousands and thousands of years before the events of “The Lord of the Rings,” casual viewers could quickly find themselves overwhelmed by the sheer amount of lore that Tolkien packed into these stories, much of which will be pulled from the appendices he included at the end of “The Return of the King.” Time will tell if using the familiar to introduce something brand-new will pay off.
Breaking Down Everything The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power Trailer Just Revealed
Join us as we dive deep into “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” and attempt to lay out everything that the title, the announcement video, and the press release all reveal about this thrilling new era of stories set in Middle-earth.
Familiar Territory
New Line Cinema
Right off the bat, the early seconds of the clip put us on solid and recognizable ground, particularly for those familiar with both author J.R.R. Tolkien’s landmark fantasy series and Peter Jackson’s live-action adaptation. Eager fans, many of whom have been hunting for the slightest hint about the direction that “The Rings of Power” will take, couldn’t have missed the implication of choosing Morfydd Clark — rumored to portray a young Galadriel in this series — to recite the voiceover narration that guides us through the title announcement. Reminiscent of Cate Blanchett’s Galadriel becoming the very first voice we hear in the opening sequence of “The Fellowship of the Ring,” somberly laying out the history of the Ring and Sauron’s rise to power in Middle-earth long before, Clark definitely sounds like she’s channeling a very similar sort of energy to create a thematic bridge between the two properties. But not a directly canonical one, as this series remains obligated to avoid directly referencing the Jackson movies.
The score, too, adds even more of a subtle connection between this new series and the famous Middle-earth movies that everyone on the planet is most familiar with. We previously brought you the news that Howard Shore, the masterful composer of “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, was in talks to return for the same duties on “The Rings of Power.” Though it’s unclear if he had a hand in this announcement video or if this is merely a placeholder musical theme that will be replaced in the show itself, the opening notes in the trailer sure seem to evoke Shore’s memorable motif for the One Ring. To some, it might seem counterintuitive to even subconsciously bring to mind the unparalleled heights of Jackson’s trilogy, but it does make a certain amount of sense to give fans a solid foundation on which to build their understanding of this never-before-seen period in Middle-earth history. Set in the Second Age, thousands and thousands of years before the events of “The Lord of the Rings,” casual viewers could quickly find themselves overwhelmed by the sheer amount of lore that Tolkien packed into these stories, much of which will be pulled from the appendices he included at the end of “The Return of the King.” Time will tell if using the familiar to introduce something brand-new will pay off.
The score, too, adds even more of a subtle connection between this new series and the famous Middle-earth movies that everyone on the planet is most familiar with. We previously brought you the news that Howard Shore, the masterful composer of “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, was in talks to return for the same duties on “The Rings of Power.” Though it’s unclear if he had a hand in this announcement video or if this is merely a placeholder musical theme that will be replaced in the show itself, the opening notes in the trailer sure seem to evoke Shore’s memorable motif for the One Ring.
To some, it might seem counterintuitive to even subconsciously bring to mind the unparalleled heights of Jackson’s trilogy, but it does make a certain amount of sense to give fans a solid foundation on which to build their understanding of this never-before-seen period in Middle-earth history. Set in the Second Age, thousands and thousands of years before the events of “The Lord of the Rings,” casual viewers could quickly find themselves overwhelmed by the sheer amount of lore that Tolkien packed into these stories, much of which will be pulled from the appendices he included at the end of “The Return of the King.” Time will tell if using the familiar to introduce something brand-new will pay off.
What’s in a Name?
Those who’ve brushed up on their Tolkien lore (or, alternately, just paid attention during the extremely efficient prologue preceding the main storyline of “The Fellowship of the Ring”) already know that Sauron’s initial rise to power stretches back millennia, back when he still had human form (as opposed to that big, flaming eye stuck on top of his tower in Mordor) and was gifted with the ability to seduce powerful individuals with little more than his voice. The title of this new series turns our assumptions into all but confirmation: Sauron will appear in the flesh and at the height of his powers as “Annatar” in “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.”
“…the significance behind the subtitle will not be lost on J.R.R. Tolkien fans, foreshadowing an epic story that welds the major events of Tolkien’s Second Age together: the forging of the iconic rings.”
As summarized in the trailer narration, taken directly from Tolkien’s “Ring Verse” poem in the books, we can expect the series to cover how Sauron commissioned a total of 19 Rings from the Elves (after teaching them his skills in the first place under the guise of friendship) that would allow their wearers to perform extraordinary feats, such as creating the Elven realms of Rivendell and Lothlórien or helping the Dwarves accrue their great wealth. Once Sauron forged his own additional Ring that would control the others, however, the Elves wearing the Three Rings immediately became aware of his deception and his evil intentions.
