The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power Super Bowl Trailer Might Show Sauron And The Blue Wizards
Breaking down everything in The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power Super Bowl trailer
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The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power Super Bowl Trailer Might Show Sauron And The Blue Wizards?
Yesterday’s trailer for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is the latest in a week of glimpses at the Amazon-produced series. First, we got character posters which gave away very little, then an in-depth Vanity Fair article which gave away a little bit more. I delved into both to give you a little more insight based on my extensive knowledge of Tolkien’s works. Newcomers and long-time fans, welcome all, and bask in analysis and predictions aplenty.
There was a lot of football during the Rings of Power trailer watch party, but I’ll let it slide as this is the first time we’ve seen any moving pictures of the show. The minute-long trailer is packed full of action, but there are a bunch of important details that we’re going to dive right into, beginning with that big city at the start.
This is Númenor, Tolkien’s version of Atlantis. It’s been confirmed by Vanity Fair, but in all honesty it was pretty obvious. The very first thing we see is the star (or sun?) sigil on the entrance to the port, which also appears on Elendil’s chest in the character portraits released previously. Then there’s the Argonath-style statue (the Argonath that guard the kingdom of Númenor on the banks of the Anduin appear in the Lord of the Rings) and the flat-topped mountain of Meneltarma. My money’s on it being the port of Romenna or Andunië, but it’s definitely Númenor.
“Haven’t you ever wondered what else is out there?” a meek voice questions over the shots of Númenor. We cut to a very-Jackson-and-Boyens-trilogy slow pan of the Middle-earth landscape with two travelers (more on them later), before cutting to the young lass who is probably our narrator for this trailer. She’s likely a harfoot (the early hobbits) or just a young human, but I would guess the former – hobbits tend to have accents since Sean Astin and Billy Boyd’s dulcet West Country and Scottish tones graced our screens 22 years ago.
Back to those travelers then. They carry great elk antlers on their backs, and are described as human hunter-gatherers “who are not particularly central to the story,” according to Vanity Fair. However, with Amazon condensing the timeline of the Second Age, I wouldn’t be surprised if the pair turn out to be Alatar and Pallando, the Blue Wizards. The rights to the pair are a little shaky – Amazon only has the Appendices to work with, where they are only mentioned by way of the collective Istari, all five Wizards – but these characters being hunter-gatherers fits with Alatar being a Maia of Oromë, the god of hunting. Pallando is just his mate, basically. Vanity Fair says that the pair are here to give “a sense of scale and world-building,” but it would be cool if future seasons take us further east and south, to the regions of Rhûn and Harad where the Blue Wizards roam. This one’s a bit of a stretch, but if Amazon pulls it off, I’ll be happier than a hobbit with a pint.
It’s now, after the first third of world-building, that we see our first elf. Galadriel is climbing on a sheer wall of ice, which many suspected to be the Helcaraxë, which the elves crossed to get from Valinor to Middle-earth. However, Vanity Fair confirmed that this was instead Forodwaith, where Galadriel is hunting down the remaining servants of Melkor (Sauron’s boss). While this is a departure from the canon, Forodwaith is mentioned in the Appendices, and Helcaraxë is not. This section will likely be used to introduce characters and themes: Galadriel is good, Melkor is bad, there was previously a war between the two races, etc.
From here we move to the non-canonical shipwreck, which appears to be an important plot point in the early stages of the show. Amazon-created character Halbrand meets Galadriel here, and his dramatic unveiling of her pointed elvish ears suggests that there is tension between the two races.
If you thought we were going to miss out on Legolas shenanigans in this series, don’t you worry. Arondir catches a flying arrow with his bare hand and promptly shoots it back to where it came. The way this comes across is more Aragorn sword-slapping Lurtz’s throwing knife (DiD yOu KnOw ViGgO hIt ThAt In OnE tAkE) than Legolas scampering up falling rocks like stairs, which gives me faith for a more grounded feel to Amazon’s series. The troll that appears next, however, does not.
CGI is CGI, but the troll feels a bit too Goblin Town to tickle my pickle. However, it is sandwiched between an elf that appears to be Gil-galad, an important looking meteor (we’ll come back to that), and Galadriel riding to war. I’ve already heard complaints about the latter, but Galadriel canonically fights in Tolkien’s Unfinished Tales – even participating in the kin-slaying against her uncle Feanor in some versions. While Amazon doesn’t have the rights to this, it could have feasibly used the background to influence its character decisions and motivations.
Now we see the dwarves. Short-haired Elrond seems to be having a rock-crushing contest with Durin, while new character Disa sings. Singing was important to Tolkien’s dwarves, as they used it to see where to mine – and where not to. It’s clear that they didn’t heed this advice in Moria, so there will likely be some foreshadowing of the Balrog here. After all, it is known as Durin’s Bane.
A man crawls out of the fire of that meteor that Gil-galad was watching so intently. The meteor could be how Amazon introduces the Istari to Middle-earth early, and this could be a young Gandalf. The young harfoot girl appears to be pulling the man out of the flames, so this could begin Olórin’s relationship with the halflings. Alternatively, this could be Annatar (Sauron), but to be completely honest, he’s not sexy enough for that. However, it would be a shocking opening to Annatar’s character to see him become friends with the harfoots (harfeet! [yes I’ll make that joke every time]) and connive his way into their society, only to kill them all. This would explain why they aren’t present in The Lord of the Rings while giving the audience their first glimpse of Annatar’s evil heart. The meteor is probably the most important part of the trailer, and also the part we know least about.
We also see an elf who is apparently Finrod in battle with what appear to be orcs, and the trailer ends on the young harfoot’s small hand clutching a rugged figure. Annatar pre-makeover, or Istari come early? It’s impossible to say for sure.
It’s worth noting that, according to author of The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films Doug Adams, this trailer was not scored by Howard Shore. The Lord of the Rings composer is said to be on-board with the series, but we haven’t seen evidence of that yet.
The Rings of Power Super Bowl trailer gives us a good look at the series without giving anything away. Most of us know the story already, but we can start to see where Amazon will weave its narrative threads and 22 main characters together. From this initial look, there don’t appear to be any major departures from Tolkien’s work – and the departures that do happen don’t seem to contradict the canon. My biggest worry would be introducing the Istari early and the ramifications of that, but that’s far from confirmed. I’d also be somewhat satisfied if it meant we got to finally explore the stories of the mysterious Blue Wizards.
After watching the trailer, Galadriel and Arondir are the parts of the series I’m mostly looking forward to, but seeing Disa’s story in golden-era Moria is also exciting. And I’m always happy to see the best boy Gil-galad; I hope he steals the show.
Link Source : https://www.thegamer.com/lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power-super-bowl-trailer/