Highlights from Inside The Rings of Power Article

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is still months away from release on September 22, 2022. Despite that, Amazon has begun its advertising campaign to raise awareness of the show. Part of that is a trailer that may be released this weekend.  Another part of that is an article in Vanity Fair about the creation and filming the first season of the show in New Zealand (the 2nd season was moved to United Kingdom).  The article is worth reading if only for the pictures but below are a few highlights that are story specific.

- One of the plots is between Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) and Halbrand (Charlie Vickers) who have "entwined destinies". Galadriel is trying find any remaining collaborators of defeated Morgoth (Middle Earth big bad before Sauron) while Halbrand is trying to get away from his past.

- Amazon has not released the budget of the first season but VF estimates five seasons will cost at least $1 billion

- The show is intended, like Tolkiens' books, to be for all ages but that also means there will be scary and violent moments with themes that kids may not understand.

- The Second Age version of the Hobbits are called "harfoots" who live in secrecy.

- Tolkien's Second Age timeline has events taking place over a 2500 year period. Show creators are compressing those major "events into a single point of time".  If tried to stay true to the time line, human characters are dead of old age between seasons as events keep jumping foward in hundreds of year increments and many major characters couldn't be introduced until late into the series run.

- Characters mentioned:

Prince Duran IV (Owain Aruthur), dwarf prince of Khazad-dum

Disa (Sophia Nomvete), dwarf princess of Khazad-dum

Arondir (Ismael Cruz Cordova), elf

Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi), human girlfriend of Arondir, mother and healer for village of Tirharad in Middle-Earth's Southlands

Elrond (Robert Aramayo), young elven leader of elvan capital city of Lindon (yep same Elrond as played by Hugo Weaving in the trilogy)

2 harfoots, no names mentioned (Megan Richards and Markella Kavenagh), find a mysterious man

Celebrimbor (Charles Edward), elven smith who helps forge the Rings

Isildur (Maxim Baldry), sailor and eventual ruler of Gondor. Young version of the same man who eventually cuts off the One Ring from Sauron's hand to end the Second Age.

Sauron, Second and Third Age big bad. For first season more lurking in background creating that tension of incoming danger. May not be seen on screen for awhile.