Imagine the most expensive series in history focused on Tolkien’s Universe—what could possibly go wrong? Well, nearly everything, it seems. The year 2022 marked the launch of Amazon Prime’s most anticipated show to date, aiming to rival HBO’s Game of Thrones. But despite director J.A. Bayona’s best efforts, after the initial episodes The Rings of Power rapidly lost momentum, with some viewers struggling to stay hooked on ponderous, meandering storylines.
So, what might and what might not be in The Rings of Power for this upcoming season… well to work that out we need to take a little look at copyright rules…
The series from the start is set a long way away in time from the tales set out in the well-known books of the Fellowship of the Ring and Bilbo Baggins’ adventures in The Hobbit, focusing on the era of “The Second Age,” far earlier in time from Frodo and the One Ring.
But the producers had a fairly major problem – showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay secured rights to the Lord of the Rings trilogy: “The Fellowship of the Ring,” “The Two Towers,” “The Return of the King”, plus “The Appendices” to those and also to”The Hobbit”. However these only make passing mention of what happened back in the Second Age. Tolkien set out most of that in other works, including “The Silmarillion” and “Unfinished Tales”, which, due to copyright law, The Rings of Power series is not allowed to use, meaning the writers had to come up with some rather convoluted solutions to get the story right without referencing the forbidden books.
However for this new season, it appears that some elements and passages from Tolkien’s “The Silmarillion” and “Unfinished Tales” relating to the saga of men, the kings of Númenor, and the Rings of Power, in addition to the complete rights of the stories licensed in “The Lord of the Rings” appendices, may be able to be included, based on information that the showrunners have been able to reach at least some agreements with the estate of the late writer, who own the rights to the unlicensed works.
Now… Spoiler Alert, you have been warned!!
What happened in the first season of The Rings of Power
Set thousands of years before ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’, during the Second Age, an elf named Galadriel searches for Sauron, a servant of the First Dark Lord, a Valar or god named Melkor, or Morgoth as he was variously known (the deity embodying evil). Driven by ambition, he participated in the theft of precious jewels of great value called Silmarils, created by the elf Fëanor, sparking a war between elves and gods (Valar) to reclaim these gems.
Though the series glosses over it, it’s crucial to reference the books and clarify that Melkor, with the help of a giant spider named Ungoliant, destroyed the Two Trees of Valinor (symbols of elvish magic and strength) and stole the Silmarils, igniting the fury of the Noldor elf clan, who, under Fëanor’s leadership, vowed to retrieve the gems. Their anger and desperation led the Noldor to commit atrocities against their kind, slaughtering many elves of the Teleri clan to seize their ships and set forth to Middle-Earth, where the Dark Lord was hiding, thus defying the Valar’s (angelic powers) authority by embarking on a mass exodus without the deities of Arda’s (the land where all Tolkien’s stories occur) permission.
Subplots Narrated in the First Season of The Rings of Power
The main story, Galadriel and her quest to find Sauron: Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), suspects an ancient evil is resurging after visions and nightmares of what’s to come. She seeks an alliance with the island of Númenor, the most long-lived of men, to wage war against Sauron.
Elrond, a prominent member of the elf community, seeks to rekindle old alliances and friendships with an old friend, Durin IV, hoping his most prized treasure, the Mithril from Khazad-dûm, will save them from an uncertain fate.
Halbrand: the castaway found by Galadriel on her return to Valinor, hides his darkest obsession. Manipulative (he will convince the elves to forge the rings of power) and evil, this character finally reveals himself as the successor to the Dark Lord of Middle-Earth.
Elendil and Isildur: who will become the greatest kings of men, forge alliances with Galadriel to protect the island of Númenor from a dire fate.
The Harfoots and the Meteorite Stranger: the nomads and ancestors of the hobbits encounter a mysterious magical character from the sky.
Mordor and the Orcs: and finally, the growing threat of the orcs in the south transforms the land into the realm of Sauron, thanks to the eruption of the volcano Orodruin (or the well-known, Mount Doom).
What to expect from Season 2
The fervent rumors within the community about Season 2 of The Rings of Power have been relentless, many debunked by Amazon, which, unlike the first season, now has access to excerpts or certain pages from the Silmarillion to bolster the script around Sauron’s story.
It seems that in this second season, the character of the Dark Lord will be the main protagonist in his scheme to turn the southern lands into Mordor. Expect plot twists, battle scenes, more details on the Mithril, and the Balrog of Khazad-dûm.
Regarding men, both Elendil and his son Isildur will arrive in Middle-Earth to reverse the Akallabêth or the submersion of Númenor under the waters, as Galadriel foresaw in one of her visions.
What we’d like to see in Season 2 of The Rings of Power
Given the deluge of false leaks by Amazon itself to protect the original script, we’re eager to see these in Season 2:
Hopes for iconic characters like Tom Bombadil to appear and play significant roles, having been overlooked in Peter Jackson’s films.
The Music of the Ainur, the origin of Tolkien’s world and universe.
The tale of the Mearas, the legendary horses known by Gandalf himself, whose most famous specimen is “Shadowfax.”
How Sauron secretly forges the One Ring and imbues it with his power.
References to the Valar or gods of Middle-earth and their Supreme God, Ilúvatar.
More details on Melkor (Morgoth), the god of evil and Sauron’s boss.
Finally seeing an empowered Celeborn in the plot, accompanying Galadriel.
