The Rings of Power

Amazon's Lord of the Rings TV show premieres on Sept. 1 and provides a new look at Middle-earth, Sauron, Galadriel, and other iconic things audiences will ...

One of the best locations in The Rings of Power is also one of the worst in the Lord of the Rings movies: Moria. In both The Rings of Power and The Lord of the Rings, elves that wish to retire from the land of mortals can sail off to paradise in a very somber ceremony. [a fictional history of Middle-earth](https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Orcs#Years_of_the_Trees), a race of exclusively evil people that exist solely to give the bad guys an army. Early on in The Rings of Power, we do get a glimpse of LOTR’s big bad as he appears in those movies, but he almost certainly will take on a different and surprising form in The Rings of Power. So they brought in the harfoots, a nomadic group of little folk who stay out of sight but still get into trouble. One thing that appears to have changed very little between then and now in Middle-earth is its orc problem. This makes it all the more sad to see him as such a chill elf lad in The Rings of Power — he’s going to see some stuff that makes him a significantly less fun person. He’s one of the few links between every screen adaptation of Tolkien’s work, as Elrond was there for it all. For now, the show is taking us [mostly someplace new](https://www.polygon.com/23331136/lord-of-the-rings-middle-earth-map-rings-of-power). [sprawling cast](https://www.polygon.com/23032806/lotr-rings-power-release-date-cast-trailer). This lets fans participate on another level entirely, making every new tidbit that the show reveals a puzzle in and of itself, a pocket mystery where we already know the end, but not the “how” or “why.” [isn’t overly familiar yet](https://www.polygon.com/23329258/lord-rings-power-review-episode-release).

The same cannot be said for the strange bearded man who came shooting out of the sky and crash-landed a few hundred metres from the harfoots' latest sticking ...

From what we learn in the Fellowship of the Ring, Saruman was somewhat of a good guy until he became a Sauron acolyte in the Third Age. Before Gandalf was wrangling hobbits, he was known as Olórin, and during that time he was a sort of spirit that lived in Valinor (the heavenly elf kingdom across the sea), watching over the Elves. Sauron's whereabouts are unknown, and we're not really all that sure what he looks like under all that armour (or as a big eye flame). So, maybe Olórin got himself into a bit of trouble in some far-flung part of the globe, and wound up getting hoofed out by some sort of mythical beast. With the aid of, presumably, some sort of momentary superhuman strength (and her pal Poppy), she sticks him in her cart, drags him to a nearby field and keeps him hidden away, trying to nurse him back to good health like a lost cat. Our initial assumptions are that the harfoots will figure quite prominently in whatever the overarching story of the series turns out to be, as the hobbits did in the original trilogy.

The Rings of Power's Stranger doesn't just have a lot in common with wizards, he might actually be The Lord of the Rings' Gandalf.

The Valar sent he Stranger to Middle-earth. And like Gandalf, Sauron is one of the Maiar. Gandalf the Grey died in The Fellowship of the Ring. “There I lay staring upward” from a mountaintop he said, “While the stars wheeled over, and each day was as long as a life-age of the earth.” Like the Stranger, Gandalf looked to the stars for guidance. This powerful being sent by the Valar—who came from the sky, is impervious to fire, and has powers of a wizard—really loves the color grey. And what was the significance of the constellation he highlighted with fireflies? So if he ever came to Middle-earth previously they might not have even known the shapeshifter’s real identity and purpose. So is the Stranger a wizard? By the start of the Third Age, the Valar had separated Aman from the physical world. The Valar eventually relented and came to Middle-earth to defeated Morgoth for good. He might also be the first incarnation of a great hero [The Lord of the Rings](https://www.theonering.com/) fans know and love. That’s where Valinor sits, the realm to which Galadriel refused to return at the end of episode one.

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We are going to learn and learn and learn, and finding out what exactly is going on might not be so quick” In J.R.R. Weyman said: “They were pretty clear at the beginning that what they were bringing me was a character who had, at his core, a really deep and primal purpose. Once I began to tap into that, and feel that deep in the core, then other things flowed out of that.” One of the most popular theories about who the Stranger could be is Sauron - the main bad guy from the Lord of the Rings films. The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power: who is The Stranger?

One ring to rule them all? So be it. Prime Video's spares-no-expense series is, so far, paying off.

Rings Of Power seems just as focused on the ties that bind communities and people to each other, not just the darkness that binds the Ring. And the men of the west, who we will meet soon, are living on the island of Númenor. All this comes to a head toward the end of the episode as a flash of light slices the sky and a meteor falls to Earth near Nori’s camp. For all his talk of friendship, Elrond has been a piss-poor friend to Durin, the prince of under the mountain. Elrond missed the birth of his children, his wedding, and all the little things in between. The optimistic Rings Of Power finds the world to be a place of majesty and mystery, a world worth fighting for. Prophecy starts playing a bigger role in the comings and goings of things with The Stranger’s arrival. But we Harfoots are free from the worries of the wide world, we are but ripples in a long, long stream. The arrival of hunters and wolves near their camp signals to Nori and a local elder named Sadoc Burrows (Sir Lenny Henry) that trouble may be afoot down south. In The Rings Of Power, the viewer never consumes one story, but a whole history in a few lines. Every bit of its ecosystem has a story to tell that illuminates and enriches the others. [The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power](https://www.avclub.com/tv/reviews/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power-2022) doesn’t delineate between the end of one story and the beginning of the next.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power kickstarts on an expensive, expansive note but would have been justifiably enjoyed on a big screen.

What is unfortunate is that The Rings of Power deserves to be seen on the big screen to truly enjoy the expansive nature so painstakingly brought to life by J. Given the unthinkable budget attached to The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, the fantasy series is as breathtaking as you'd expect, interlacing the gorgeous real-life locations with CGI effects spruced out when needed, but never distracting. [The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power](https://www.pinkvilla.com/photos/lord-rings-rings-power-dazzling-cast-breaths-fire-premiere-show-1181863), a brief brush-up won't hurt anyone! For me, the slow pace is a bit of a downer, but also understandable, given the 50-episode approach towards the source material. Payne and Patrick Mckay-led series charters significant events of Middle-earth's Second Age, most importantly, the forging of the Rings of Power. As advertised heavily, no expense was spared for The Rings of Power and if you're wondering if the end results justify the magnanimous hype, let's find out!