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Spoilers Lord of the Rings TV series

According to the fan wiki: "Ostirith was a watchtower in the eastern foothills of the Ephel Dúath (Mountains of Shadow) in the Second Age, before the land became barren under Sauron's influence."
 
It's possible he's playing his role into being the "King of the Dead" that Aragorn freed from their oath. There was never a 'name' given to him, but the backstory was that these people once followed Sauron, but after his defeat they swore loyalty to Gondor.... Then when Sauron built up his power and the alliance was formed between Elves, Dwarves, and Men (which we see in the prologue to the first movie) that those men forsake their oath to Isildur/Gondor and did not join the fight. Thus they were cursed to live as spirits by him and not be granted peace after death.
Ooh! I like that idea! That makes more sense to me than him becoming a Ringwraith.

Though what I found interesting was that if I read the maps they were showing correctly, then Ost Tirith is located in the later Mountains of Shadow, and the storyline with the humans in the Southlands took place in the Nurn region of Mordor, which, granted, is pretty interesting.
Yeah, it really makes me think that the humans that fight "on Sauron's side" in LotR don't get much choice. It's more geography than ideology.
 
I wish the show would make it a bit clearer where these events are taking place. Maybe replace the sandbox intro sequence with a GOT map thing. I thought I had a dim view of the map of the world, but I've been completely lost where everyone is at in Middle Earth. I was under the impression the people getting attacked by Orcs were simply somewhere to the east of the Misty Mountains, not actually IN Mordor. I don't mind looking at maps while reading the books (actually I enjoy it), but I shouldn't have to do this watching a tv show.
 
I wish the show would make it a bit clearer where these events are taking place. Maybe replace the sandbox intro sequence with a GOT map thing. I thought I had a dim view of the map of the world, but I've been completely lost where everyone is at in Middle Earth. I was under the impression the people getting attacked by Orcs were simply somewhere to the east of the Misty Mountains, not actually IN Mordor. I don't mind looking at maps while reading the books (actually I enjoy it), but I shouldn't have to do this watching a tv show.
Well, they have showed maps. But I dig what you're saying. It took awhile for me to get my bearings.

BTW, I almost freaked realizing the Harfoots were in what becomes the Dead Marshes. One of the creepiest parts of the books for me.
 
Out of curiosity, does anyone know if the ‘Parade Scene’ was a homage/call-out to Faramir’s March/Departure from Minas Tirith in ROTK? Seemed like it…

Cheers,
-CM-
 
The show appears to be pairing Eärien up with another invented character, Kemen, the son of Pharazôn. I assume she will be involved in building the 500-feet tall Temple of Morgoth but she and perhaps Kemen will escape the Fall of Númenor. I expect she would also be involved in building Minas Anor, later to become the new Minas Tirith; the first one having been destroyed in the First Age. I could see Kemen perhaps becoming a Nazgul. I don't think they'll go with Eärien becoming one or we're in controversial boob-armour territory again.

Other pointers that some have suggested for Halbrand being Sauron, beside his interest in smithing, are that Bear McCreary's leitmotifs for the two characters are similar and translations from Sindarin of the name Halbrand include "hidden lord" and "high noble" as "hal" is a homonym.

To come back to the issue with Kemen, does anyone else also think his name sounds like a version of Khamul in another language?
 
Khamûl the Ringwraith? Certainly, both Kemen and Eärien appear to be on the side of the King's Men. I'm not sure why Eärien is though. Perhaps she's gathering intel for Míriel or her father Elendil, but that seems unlikely. Kemen is certainly a potential candidate for a Ringwraith.

ETA:...except according to the fan site: "Khamûl was called the Shadow of the East, the Second Chief, and the Black Easterling. He was the only Ringwraith whose name was given by J.R.R. Tolkien, as well as one of the six Ringwraiths not of Númenórean descent."

Khamûl | The One Wiki to Rule Them All | Fandom
 
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During that scene where he nearly froze Nori, it sounded like he was saying "Envinyatar!" Which is a title that Aragorn took after becoming king, so I dunno what the significance there is supposed to be. Maybe he's saying something else but it sounds similar.
After thinking about this some more, Meteor Man was probably chanting a spell to rejuvenate his arm. (Envinyata means to heal or renew.) So, nothing more significant than that.
 
Not really related to any of the discussion, but I hope we get to see Tom Bombadil in this show. Elrond talks about him in the Fellowship Of The Ring book so they could easily have them cross paths at this earlier point in his life, especially while Elrond may be travelling around the area.

"In those lands I journeyed once, and many things wild and strange I knew. But I had forgotten Bombadil, if indeed this is still the same that walked the woods and hills long ago, and even then was older than the old."

(from The Council Of Elrond chapter of FOTR)
 
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Do Amazon have the rights to use the characters of Tom Bombadil and Goldberry? Bombadil does not interfere in the affairs of other dwellers in Middle-earth unless absolutely necessary. His general passivity and lack of agency would not advance the plot, which progresses very slowly already as it is. Tolkien got his inspiration for the character from Väinämöinen in Finnish folklore, and, in my opinion, his decision to do so contributed precious little to the legendarium. Leaving the characters out of most adaptations is a sensible choice.
 
Do Amazon have the rights to use the characters of Tom Bombadil and Goldberry? Bombadil does not interfere in the affairs of other dwellers in Middle-earth unless absolutely necessary. His general passivity and lack of agency would not advance the plot, which progresses very slowly already as it is. Tolkien got his inspiration for the character from Väinämöinen in Finnish folklore, and, in my opinion, his decision to do so contributed precious little to the legendarium. Leaving the characters out of most adaptations is a sensible choice.

So what did Amazon buy? “We have the rights solely to The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King, the appendices, and The Hobbit,” Payne says. “And that is it. We do not have the rights to The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, The History of Middle-earth, or any of those other books.”

Tom Bombadil is in the Fellowship Of The Ring and they have the rights to that. That's where I typed out what was said by Elrond in reference to him (The meeting between him and the hobbits occurs earlier in the book).

I'm not saying he's going to join and fight, but Elrond certainly does talk about having encountered him previously in his younger/travelling days.
 
Did they introduce the Silmaris in the LOTR books at some point? I don't remember any references in any of the stuff I've read, so I assumed they introduced them in The Silmarillion, but they keep they talking about them in the show.
 
Did they introduce the Silmaris in the LOTR books at some point? I don't remember any references in any of the stuff I've read, so I assumed they introduced them in The Silmarillion, but they keep they talking about them in the show.
The Silmarils are mentioned in the Lord of the Rings itself and in the Appendices. In fact, Aragorn relates quite a detailed summary of events that took place in the First Age.

I'm not saying he's going to join and fight, but Elrond certainly does talk about having encountered him previously in his younger/travelling days.
I think it would be a mistake to turn Bombadil into an active character. He's more like a genius loci.
 
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Did they introduce the Silmaris in the LOTR books at some point? I don't remember any references in any of the stuff I've read, so I assumed they introduced them in The Silmarillion, but they keep they talking about them in the show.
They are probably mentioned quite a bit.
But the one mention that I remember straight away is about the specific Silmaril Earendil took into the heavens to become the Evening (and morning) Star in Bilbo's song about Earendil which he sings in Rivendell;

A ship then new they built for him
of mithril and of elven-glass
with shining prow; no shaven oar
nor sail she bore on silver mast:
the Silmaril as lantern light
and banner bright with living flame
to gleam thereon by Elbereth
herself was set, who thither came
and wings immortal made for him,
and laid on him undying doom,
to sail the shoreless skies and come
behind the Sun and light of Moon

The light of the same Silmaril (or rather its reflection caught in Galadriel's fountain) is also what lends the phial Galadriel gifts to Frodo (the one he uses to defeat Shelob) it's holy light (technically they mention the light of Earendil's Star there, but the light of Earendil's Star comes from the Silmaril he holds, so...)
 
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Aragorn does a big exposition dump about Beren and Lúthien Tinúviel and their relationship to the Silmarils on Weathertop just before Frodo gets stabbed by the Ringwraith.

ETA: My copy of The Lord of the Rings has an index so it's quite easy to find references to stuff from the First and Second Ages. I don't feel like reading it for a third time but I might listen to the audiobook. The question is which version is better - the Rob Inglis one or the Andy Serkis one?
 
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I have the Andy Serkis one and it's very good in my opinion. Of course since I mostly use audio books to fall asleep I haven't heard all of it yet.
I've read one or two reviews that rate Inglis' version higher due to various nit-picking complaints about the pronunciation and singing ability of Serkis. Just going by the snippets I've heard, I can't tell which I'd prefer. I might buy both readings of Fellowship from Audible and return the one I don't like. To tell the truth, I might well like both.
 
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