# Amazon Lord of the Rings series; The Rings of Power **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** middle-earth, amazon-prime, tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [March 3, 2019, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497 "2019-03-03T20:01:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2022, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/101 "2022-02-14T17:05:40Z")
There were elven towers to the west of the Shire. Nothing in that trailer makes me want to watch this at all. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2022, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/102 "2022-02-14T18:55:11Z")
I like the look of the new ads, but I do worry that there’ll be so many changes made even to what little we know about the Second Age that it will be a disappointment for true Tolkien freaks like me. > [@What\_Exit](#): > > …If you don’t know Glorfindel, he was a Noldorian Elf of the Light and a Captain of Gondolin. He died taking down a balrog then. He came back to Middle Earth sent by the Valar in the second age. He fought the servants of Sauron for the next 4500 years or so. Ring Wraiths were terrified of him. > > He can and should be part of this new series. Agreed. Tolkien was initially unsure as to whether there was a second badass Elf of the same name, or if the original Glorfindel was sent back from the West, and finally decided upon the latter. For more: > **[Glorfindel](https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Glorfindel)** > > Glorfindel was among the mightiest of the Elves, and was once the lord of the House of the Golden Flower in Gondolin. After his death in the First Age, he was re-embodied by the Valar and returned to Middle-earth millennia afterward. Glorfindel was... And see: [http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Glorfindel](http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Glorfindel) ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2022, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/103 "2022-02-14T18:58:10Z")
> [@Grey](#): > > Nothing in that trailer makes me want to watch this at all. Nothing immediately turns me off, though. So that’s something. > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I do worry that there’ll be so many changes made even to what little we know about the Second Age that it will be a disappointment for true Tolkien freaks like me. Yeah, this could be a massive disappointment. I still find myself looking forward to it. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2022, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/104 "2022-02-14T19:23:07Z")
Looks more like [Irish Elk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_elk) than the normal European one. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2022, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/105 "2022-02-14T19:29:15Z")
Looks like people with antlers on their back to me, not like any ungulate. But yeah, the antlers look like they might have been on an Irish elk, not a modern elk nor a modern moose. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2022, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/106 "2022-02-14T19:30:00Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Looks like people with antlers on their back to me, not like any ungulate. I was talking just about the antlers, yes. ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2022, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/107 "2022-02-14T20:58:34Z")
I never saw the point of Glorfindel. He was dead, but allowed to return…why? Because he’d already been written into LotR? And why add another royal elf to Rivendell? There doesn’t seem to be enough for him to do. There’s already Elrond, and there’s already a child of Elrond, and grandchild of Galadriel, why not have her do something besides hang around pining for Aragorn? Surely the Evenstar of her people has some powers? Replacing Glorfindel with Arwen is the only change that Jackson got right. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2022, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/108 "2022-02-14T21:02:17Z")
What no love for Elladan or Elrohir? ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2022, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/109 "2022-02-14T21:21:23Z")
Tolkien knew what to do with them; they played a role in several adventures. Arwen is depicted as more important, but is given nothing to do except get married. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2022, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/110 "2022-02-14T21:22:07Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > **Glorfindel** being left out of the Lord the Rings movies was a big hit for me. Having another elf with power somewhat on scale (but different) of Galadriel was very cool. Naw, there Jackson was right. Bring in yet another male? For one scene? Much better to show Arwen as a bad-ass. > [@Capn\_Carl](#): > > There doesn’t seem to be enough for him to do. There’s already Elrond, and there’s already a child of Elrond, and grandchild of Galadriel, why not have her do something besides hang around pining for Aragorn? Surely the Evenstar of her people has some powers? > Replacing Glorfindel with Arwen is the only change that Jackson got right. Yep, and sadly, the scouring of the Shire and Bombadil had to be cut. But sure, he should be in this series. And Bombadil. Jackson had to cut some stuff out of his films. But in a series like this, they can add. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2022, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/111 "2022-02-14T21:51:40Z")
They’re off screen just as much. In fact most female characters in Tolkien’s works act as motivating forces for the men. Add in the theme of elven fading and passing from the world and Arwen as an active character makes little sense. Jackson’s use of her was inspired and the ford scene works brilliantly with her defiance. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2022, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/112 "2022-02-14T21:51:46Z")
Can and should are very different things. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2022, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/113 "2022-02-14T22:22:02Z")
Jackson made the right decision to cut Bombadil and the Scouring. He had to make cuts somewhere to fit the books into movies, and those two were both things he could cut fairly cleanly, without leaving too many loose threads. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2022, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/114 "2022-02-14T22:25:31Z")
Barrow Downs I missed. Bombadil I did not. The movie already kind of felt like it had 4 endings. Adding the scouring would have been anticlimactic in the extreme. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2022, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/115 "2022-02-14T22:51:57Z")
It was anticlimactic in the books, too. That didn’t make it less important. (I don’t object to the cuts. I agree that something had to go to fit the story into the movies.) ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/116 "2022-02-15T01:05:59Z")
> [@Capn\_Carl](#): > > Replacing Glorfindel with Arwen is the only change that Jackson got right. One of very few, I’ll grant you. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/117 "2022-02-15T01:08:05Z")
Are you factoring in the Hobbit? ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/118 "2022-02-15T01:09:16Z")
No, sorry. I was only thinking of the Fellowship trilogy. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/119 "2022-02-15T01:13:32Z")
Mostly busting your chops, but I think people have a false memory of how many changes there actually were in the LotR trilogy. There were A TON but 90% of them are carved out cleanly enough that no one cares. One of my favorite subtle ones is that Gandalf was away for 17 years between Biblo’s party and Frodo’s escape. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497/120 "2022-02-15T01:40:39Z")
Oh, for sure. I was just thinking of the little “story” changes like giving more personality to the Uruk-hai boss and such to make his battle with Aragon interesting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-the-rings-of-power/830497.md?page=7)