Rings of Power promise a visual feast from Middle-earth and beyond, but it’s not The Lord of the Rings, which many viewers are used to. Having obtained the rights to the film adaptation in 2017, Amazon invested a lot of money in “Rings of Power” in the hope that the next big fantasy TV phenomenon will become a Prime Video exclusive. The reaction of fans to the trailers has been predictably ambiguous so far, since in “Rings of Power” familiar faces (Galadriel, Elrond, Isildur) are mixed with stories from J.R.R. Deeper knowledge of Tolkien and completely new characters created specifically for television.
Regardless of your opinion about the Rings of Power as a concept, it is not difficult to understand what this money was spent on. In production since 2018, only the budget reports of the first season of “Rings of Power” advertise an approximate figure of $ 462 million. This time and money led to a series of stunning visual images capturing the glory Numenora, the horror of Galadriel’s memory, the mountain splendor of Middle-earth, the dark miracle Kazad-Duma and many other places. The costumes are distinguished by unsurpassed attention to detail, and the design of everything from garfoots to orcs is fully consistent with the award-winning achievements of Peter Jackson’s films. From an aesthetic point of view, “Rings of Power” is exactly what anyone can want from the Lord of the Rings series.
Looking under the hood, you can see a completely different story. Rings of Power is largely based on The Silmarillion, and just as the posthumously released collection (edited by J.R. R. Tolkien’s son, Christopher) marked a sharp departure in tone and style from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, Amazon’s Rings of Power is likely to be taken by surprise fans of Peter Jackson’s films, despite their similar appearance. Even those who can read The Silmarillion from cover to cover may not fully know what to expect from The Ring of Power, as the footage from the trailer makes it abundantly clear how loudly Amazon is ringing the bells of change with numerous characters and storylines just for television. Whether you’re a Tolkien veteran or a casual fan of Jackson’s films, “Rings of Power” offers very little familiarity.
How will the Rings of Power differ from the Lord of the Rings
“Rings of Power” will differ from “The Lord of the Rings” in almost every possible way, starting with the structure of the plot. Both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit tell about adventures — journeys with clear destinations and goals with the participation of brave groups of adventurers. The Rings of Power will have a much looser structure, focusing on several different races and kingdoms, from the hairy Harfoots to the elves of Gil-Galad. Instead of traveling through Middle-Earth, the Rings of Power explore the landscape of Middle-Earth when a new evil arises to challenge the dominance of elves and humans. In this respect, “Rings of Power” is closer to “Game of Thrones” — probably by design, since Jeff Bezos was looking for “Prime Video’s answer to “Game of Thrones” when buying the rights to Tolkien’s “Second Age”.
Another significant difference between “The Ring of Power” and “The Lord of the Rings” will be the timeline. Although the main adventure in The Lord of the Rings actually takes place throughout the year, give or take, Frodo’s journey seems solid and compact, and the same goes for Bilbo joining Thorin’s company in The Hobbit. As confirmed by the footage from the trailer, the Rings of Power will span millennia, telling stories from Tolkien’s First Era (The Two Trees of Valinor, The Murder of Relatives, the Oath of Feanor) up to the life of Isildur more than 3,000 years later. If “The Lord of the Rings” covered one key period in the history of Middle-earth, “Rings of Power” promises a broader overview of events from Tolkien’s legend, more like a biblical text full of old myths and forgotten fairy tales from different worlds.
Rings of Power, of course, will have a central narrative, but this is another huge difference from The Lord of the Rings. Judging by the footage from the trailer, the plot of Amazon Second Age revolves around a stranger who descends into Middle-earth like a flaming meteor. There are no obvious comparisons between this story and J.R.R.’s story. The Second Age of Tolkien, suggesting that the Rings of Power would make far more radical changes to knowledge than Peter Jackson ever did. Without a narrative framework coming directly from Tolkien’s unmistakable pen, “Rings of Power” faces the challenge of reproducing the same sensation as “The Lord of the Rings,” no matter how good the physical shell may be.
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