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Playing devil's advocate, seems to me having a story based on lore in the Appendices is the safest bet as far as adaptation goes. You have the outline for framework but within that lots of room to maneuver. Unlike adapting a fully fleshed story such as LoTR or TH I think it'll have a much better chance at being good, since there's less screen to book comparisons.
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It has to be great! It is the most expensive!
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Middle Earth Tube
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None of them represent what the creator would have written: rather, they take us on a visit to that world as visualised by a new writer. The same thing applies here: it won't be Tolkien - but nothing except the books ever will be (unless Christopher reveals that his father penned a secret movie script before he died). I think I would rather have a good 'new tale of Middle-earth' series than a bad or even mediocre direct adaptation. No, it won't give us the scenes we love - we won't get to see a proper rendition of Frodo's stand at the Fords of Bruinen, or Gandalf's confrontation with the Witch-King (side-note: apparently my favourite scenes all involve defiant people on horseback, that's kinda weird) - but, to paraphrase Sam: they can take us to see Elves, Mr. Frodo. Elves! I will gladly let them have the Adventures of Young Strider Meeting Everyone With a Name, if they will let me spend an hour in Lothlorien. hS |
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If it's good, yes. If it's not, no. :D If instead of 'good original vs mediocre adaptation' the choice is 'bad original or bad adaptation'... then I just won't watch it.
hS |
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Latest news here! Check it out!
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Just saw a new article about the proposed series.
They describe it as a "partnership" between Amazon and the Estate (wonder how CT feels about that). One quote that stands out: Quote:
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The rumours I've seen are that they've approved 5 seasons (risky!), with the first probably being Young Aragorn. I think it's likely that the other seasons will follow the first, chronologically, which means... well, what are the options? -Adventures of the Old Took. Obviously a bit out of its timeline, but viable, and a hilarious notion. -Adventures of Tom Bombadil. ^_^ -Adventures of Balin in Moria. A bit of a downer. -Adventures of Not-So-Young Legolas (And Tauriel). Time to reuse those Hobbit movie sets! -Adventures of Evil Saruman. C'mon, we could definitely have a season of Saruman's fall into darkness. (Again, serious timeline issues, but this is Movie-earth.) -Adventures of Young Imrahil. If Young Aragorn doesn't cover the Corsairs, then this Dol Amroth-centric series will. -Adventures of Young(??) Galadriel. Who wants to stay in the woods when you can go be shiny at people? -Adventures of Young Theoden. Horses! ... more horses! -Adventures of Young Talion. Because what we really need is Mordor the Green and Pleasant Land, right? ... right?! -Adventures of The War In The North. I suppose we should pay lip service to the whole plot of the books, yeah? In which case... -Adventures in Scouring the Shire. Hey, PJ left it out, so we get to put it in. And, finally... -Adventures in Gardening. Just a whole season of Master Samwise peacefully tending his garden, looking after his kids, and being the best dang mayor the Shire has ever had. hS |
Regarding the young Aragorn point-the appendices do give some material to work with.
My attitude towards this is cautious neutrality-if it turns out to be good and faithful both the lore and spirit of the work then I will be pleased. If its mediocre then well at least it wasn't terrible, if its terrible well then I will be unhappy but unsurprised. |
I was thinking about this thread the other day. Assuming that this series doesn't become a cesspool of intersectional politics, I'd genuinely like to see all original characters and storylines, with the known Tolkien characters in the background or in cameo appearances.
The reason for this is because we already know the fates of the existing characters, which takes some of the adventure out of the story. Example: Aragorn is in a cliffhanger ending. Well, it's not really a cliffhanger because we know that, no matter what, Aragorn will survive to appear later in Rivendell and save Middle Earth afterward. |
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'Should you be giving certain people bad ideas?'
Formendacil, I found what you wrote here interesting:
Nah, the real twist will come (at the end of season three or four) when Aragorn is killed and Evilagorn takes his place as part of some long con to infiltrate Lórien--but it turns out that Arwen is there and he falls as head-over-heels as his twin did and he commits to BEING Aragorn thenceforth and was actually the Strider that we come to know in The Lord of the Rings all along--the pipeweed (such an unelvish habit) is the only indicator left. However, I then asked myself this question: 'Should you be giving certain people bad ideas?' :D:(:rolleyes: |
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We could only guess at this point...but maybe "completely original" in terms of characters and plot, but a "faithful adaptation" in terms of setting, background and overall vision (in what leads up to Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings"). It can be successful and funny that essentially the Lord of the Rings isn't so much a black and white battle between good vs. evil. It's more about the battle between Hope and Despair. "Hope" in the even the very wise can not predict all ends, there's always a "Fool's Hope." Despair in "there is no hope, I know and can predict what the end is going to be." For me, when I think of the Hollywood business, despair has won. I know we're going to get the same recycled, uninspiring, dumbed down attempts to be "original" and appeal to the masses. |
https://www.google.com/amp/s/news.av...1832655334/amp
the Amazon teaser has a map that extends beyond the sea of Rhun. To be pedantic, I don't think the orocarni were that close. They should be further in the east. Anyway, though we are getting these minor teasers, and Amazon must be intending to build hype slowly. |
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Someone on Reddit (who amusingly refers to it as "That stupid mountain range") claims that this non-Tolkien addition to the map predates this Amazon series and possibly appears in the films too. I'm curious as to where it originated. UPDATE: Maybe it originates from the "official" (ie film-official) maps made for the Hobbit films, e.g. this. I wonder why on earth anyone felt the need to add a non-canonical element to the maps for that. Maybe at some point in the film script "Eastern Dwarves" were going to be mentioned or something, along with the kitchen sink presumably. However, the Reddit person claims (in a rather vehement discourse in another thread) that they pre-date even the Lord of the Rings films, although they don't give any evidence for that. If it is meant to be the Orocarni, presumably the coast wouldn't be far away and Rhûn as a whole would be tiny. In my opinion, Rhûn should be huge: far, far larger than the Middle-earth we see, like comparing Europe and Asia. |
I agree. Rhun should be vast.
I suppose it could be a connecting chain of the orocarni which stretch westward or something. But given the fact that it is so noticeable and the series is about Aragorn who did go to Rhun-I think that might be why the map has more of Rhun shown. Becuase it will be a location of the series. Also I find it amazing people were getting so excited over the lack of Beleriand "it must be the second or third age, no Beleriand!" I was like well yes, they don't have the rights to the silmarillion. |
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Those rivers coming east off the Sea of Rhun aren't on the Tolkien maps either; they seem to originate from the old Middle-earth Role-Playing game (MERP). This map (1997) shows them, for instance, though I can't find any maps around that date that extend further east. (This version from 1982 doesn't show the rivers or the mountains.) Interestingly, overlaying either Ambarkanta map IV or V onto my map matching Beleriand to Himling-Fuin-Morwen (you can line up the Blue Mountains and the shore of Beleriand easily, and the endpoint of the March lines up with the Bay of Balar nicely) puts the Orocarni anywhere between the eastern edge of Mirkwood, and the Misty Mountains themselves. It's pretty clear that Tolkien originally thought of his world as a lot smaller, and that the Misty Mountains and the lands around them were a much later addition. Someone on the Reddit thread has pointed out that the compass is labelled really weirdly: instead of N-E-S-W, it reads D-Th-Nd/Ng-Z/Nj (depending on which version of the Cirth you look at; it can't be Hobbit-style runes or Norse runes, because it uses characters those don't have). That doesn't match any of the known Middle-earth languages (and no, it's not a copy of the Thorin's Map compass either), and the Hobbit/FotR maps from the films were labelled in English. My best guess is that they used a font set up in a strange order - the Shadow of War game did that with their Tengwar, and people are generally pretty bad about checking. But you never know, there might be something to it. hS |
Seven for the Dwarf Lords, in their halls of stone.
"Calenardhon". Suddenly this map is 10x more exciting. EDIT: Could it be the War of the Elves and Sauron? We've got the Ring poem, and the presence of old names like Calenardhon (assumed Gondorian but could be earlier) and Lindon (almost always Second Age). We've got a big obvious space to the right of 'Eriador', and no similar space to fit 'Arthedain' (if they were doing the Fall of Arnor). And it would make a good story, in the Game of Thrones way: Celebrimbor delving into Forbidden Arts with Satanic help, Numenor, if not going full slaver yet, at least utterly disregarding the rights of the local peoples, Lindon forting up and refusing to let anyone in, and Annatar the Bright wandering around stirring up trouble... (This was suggested to me by someone on another forum, but most of the detail is mine.) hS |
Time to indulge in some serious pedantry
The Orocarni (if that is what those are supposed to be) should be a much larger mountain range.
Given the names on the map, I agree with Huinesoron that the Second Age looks more likely. |
They've said Young Aragorn, second age would require either the Silmarillion, or the writers are delving ever deeper into outright fanfic.
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As for Young Aragorn: yes, they did indeed. So why are they posting maps featuring Calenardhon and Lindon? The latter could be a mistake; the former would require them to have forgotten about Rohan, which Aragorn will probably actually visit. hS |
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I would love to say this is utterly ridiculous and inconceivable, were it not for the fact that Shadow of Mordor did precisely that with, well, Mordor. ... Well, we should at least know soon enough what they're playing at with the map. hS ("Eorl? Nay, Eorl was my father, young Aragorn; he fought alongside your father Isildur in the Last Alliance. I am Theoden, and I will gladly serve at your side, even should an evil wizard o'erthrow my will and make me his puppet...") |
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As for compressing the history, they must know that's going to enrage the Tolkien fanbase. Shadows of Mordor was popular because of its innovative and dynamic game mechanics, not its story, Amazon won't be able to use that to get away with it here. |
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For anyone still thinking about the map, I've just posted a thread over in Books that includes evidence that those eastern mountains are actually Tolkien's own creation, though not necessarily the fabled Orocarni. hS |
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Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
"Laurelindorenan". Whatever this is, it's NOT the late Third Age. "Enedhwaith" is interesting; Tolkien Gateway says that the published book used "Enedwaith", without the h, but Tolkien adopted the h in later writings. Christopher used "Enedwaith" in Unfinished Tales. "Ras Morthil" is notable only because the Druedain lingered there for a long time. "Belfalas" is very potentially interesting, because of its status as a Numenorean Faithful stronghold. In a nice touch, the compass on the Twitter version (but not on the browsable map) has been updated with the correct Tengwar labels - Formen, Romen, Hyarmen, Numen. hS EDIT: Someone has pointed out that there were 3 days between the first and second maps, and 7 between the second and third. So... expect another one on the 6th March? ~hS |
If the show isn't about Aragorn, I wonder what it could possibly be about.
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-The name of Ost-in-Edhil. -The details of how exactly the Three were hidden, including Celebrimbor's love for Galadriel. -Celebrimbor being used as a banner by Sauron. -The Siege of Imladris, though this is pretty well implied. Obviously there's a lot of detail around Galadriel which isn't found in the LotR license, but if you stay away from her, you can tell virtually the entire story. The second possibility, to my mind, remains the Fall of Arnor. The presence of Calenardhon on the map points at this, though Laurelindorenan argues against it. So far as I can recall, the final fall of Arthedain and the breaking of the Line of Kings comes entirely from the Appendices, so no licensing issues there! It's also possible that the series is about Young Aragorn, but starts with a historical episode, a prologue writ large, showing how all this came about: the fall of Eregion provoked the first involvement of Numenor in the affairs of Middle-earth, while the fall of Arthedain obviously gave us Aragorn's line. Seems like an odd thing to tease, though. hS |
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This puts my entire self-image as a Tolkien-nerd into question... :eek: |
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