Rings of Power

Among the issues with The Hobbit films was that the individual Dwarves were not very well fleshed out as characters. Outside of Thorin Oakenshield (Richard ...

By the time of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, the Dwarves have grown bitter by having to constantly search for a place of residency. In a flashback sequence in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the Dwarves that have survived Smaug’s attack flee to the city of Azanulbizar outside the gates of Moria. The Dwarves essentially reform their civilization in the kingdoms of the Misty Mountains. It’s here where they discover the book of Balin (Ken Stott), a member of Thorin’s company that was slain after trying to retake Durin’s city. In the Second Age, Sauron’s army attempts to wipe out the Elves that have survived the destruction of Eregion. The Dwarves of Khazad-dûm also grew to detest Orcs due to a series of invasive attacks. After mining too deep within the ground, the Dwarves awakened the ancient monster known as “the Balrog.” The Balrog was one of the original monsters created by the dark lord Morgoth, Sauron’s predecessor. [an alliance with Celebrimbor](https://collider.com/the-rings-of-power-celebrimbor-explained/) (Charles Edwards) and the Elves of Eregion, Khazad-dûm enhanced its security features by constructing several defensive structures, including the bridge seen in The Fellowship of the Ring. “Durin the Deathless” began a dynasty of Dwarf rulers in Khazad-dûm who would lead the kingdom to prominence. Although Moria is nothing but ruins in The Fellowship of the Ring, The Rings of Power shows the metroplex at its height. The Dwarves reluctantly agree to join the armies of men and Elves in order to wage war against the ultimate source of evil in Middle Earth. [The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power](https://collider.com/tag/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power/) has [the potential to improve upon its predecessors](https://collider.com/the-rings-of-power-review-lord-of-the-rings-amazon/) by expanding the role of the Dwarves.

Believe it or not, it's been nearly a decade since Peter Jackson's third and final Hobbit movie, The Battle of the Five Armies, was released in theaters. It's ...

That’s long, long before the events of the movies, but there are still plenty of memorable characters and places that pop up in both. If you’re a completionist, you can also throw in the animated movies from the late 1970s and early 1980s. Not everyone has that amount of time! We’ve collected some relevant clips for you! While Rings of Power may take place thousands of years before the movies, it’s natural to want to revisit the earlier editions of the franchise and brush up on some of your Middle-earth knowledge. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Believe it or not, it’s been nearly a decade since Peter Jackson’s third and final Hobbit movie, The Battle of the Five Armies, was released in theaters. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (watch on The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Amazon’s mega-sized series is one of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (watch on The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (watch on

What's going on with the young human boy Theo – and the mysterious sword he's found?

[Rings of Power release schedule](https://www.gamesradar.com/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power-release-schedule-amazon-prime-video/) to make sure you don’t miss a moment of the show. [Another theory suggests](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4UHEGaoarY&t=52s) (opens in new tab) that the sword may be the legendary black blade of Gurthang, one of a pair of swords forged during the First Age by a Dark Elf. Interestingly, Muhafidin went on to compare the sword to the One Ring in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, hinting it may have the same corrupting power. Theo actor Tyroe Muhafidin has shared some insight on the mysterious blade, hinting that it will give his character a "purpose". [some viewers are convinced](https://www.reddit.com/r/LOTR_on_Prime/comments/x3t88r/secret_identity_predictions/) (opens in new tab) Theo could actually become the character. The weapon itself may be a Morgul blade, the sword carried by the Witch-king of Angmar during the Third Age. There's a lot unfolding in the first two episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. However, the Witch-king – a mortal man corrupted by a ring of power, given to him by Sauron – first emerged during the Second Age, and This is a possibility given the sword was found in the Southlands, an area where many of the humans were allied with Morgoth. A lot has been made of their former treachery in the show – it's the reason Arondir and his fellow Elven soldiers are stationed there. As Theo is packing his belongings following the Orc attack, he holds the sword once again and a drop of his blood runs towards Sauron's mark. He left under mysterious circumstances – could Theo's bloodline link him to the weapon?

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The company could [use some goodwill](https://www.wired.com/story/hbo-max-discovery-plus-combined/). Perhaps giving people a reason to hit the box office to see one of the biggest TV shows of the year—if not the biggest TV show of the year—is just the thing. Understandably, Amazon spent millions of dollars on the show as a way to get people to subscribe to Prime, not get their butts into cinema seats. Also, Rings of Power is a TV show, not a movie, so its format isn’t exactly conducive to the cinema experience. [Covid-19](https://www.wired.com/tag/covid-19/) pandemic, and while blockbusters like Spider-Man: No Way Home and Top Gun: Maverick have proven there is still an appetite for big-screen experiences, the future of movie theaters is the subject of much hand-wringing. [AMC ad](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiEeIxZJ9x0), which has been playing ahead of screenings at the theater chain for months, revealed that it’s getting a sequel.

The Silvan Elves are a bit more interesting. Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova) and his companions are a colonizing force, occupying the Southlands. They express ...

Overall, we’re intrigued and excited about watching the next episode, and that’s exactly what the early episodes of a new show should do. Episode 1 has the stronger climax, though, with Galadriel’s leap off the boat to Valinor and that very Game of Thrones-like comet with a mysterious man inside. And by the way did you notice how he wraps himself in a grey-ish blanket… But the series is already compressing millennia of that history into one human’s lifetime for this adaptation, so who’s to say they won’t introduce one of the Wizards early? The sea serpent attack is a great example of the sort of thing that, while the scene is invented for the series, feels like something that would happen in Tolkien’s stories (and as different as the world of Narnia is, the fact that there’s a well-known sea serpent passage in his friend C.S. If so, the most likely options would seem to be the two Blue Wizards, Alatar and Pallando. The ritual during which veiled women strip the warriors of their armor is rather odd, but Galadriel’s choice, a single tear running down her cheek, is a moving and emotional moment. Since Elves don’t age, these are literally the same characters we meet hundreds of years later in The Lord of the Rings, so naturally their clothing, accents, culture and so on more or less match what we know from the later stories. Following two young female Harfoots, rather than four young male ones, also helps to further separate their story from that of the later Hobbits we know so well. The reveal of exactly why Durin (Owain Arthur) is so cross with Elrond is also a nice touch. [in our spoiler-free review](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power-review/), the series is stunningly beautiful, the set, costume, and visual effects work is impeccable, the acting is great, and it all has the feel of a tale with an epic scope. We meet five different cultures from four different peoples over the course of these two episodes; Ñoldorian Elves, Silvan Elves, (Wo)Men of the Southlands, Harfoots, and Dwarves.

There can be no middle ground on Middle-earth, as reactions to The Rings of Power demonstrate.

“It’s all in the detail,” says Atherton. That shows the strength of feeling here but, at the same time, how it can go a bit extreme.” Other less savoury criticism has focused on the diverse casting, because, as Lenny Henry, who plays the harfoot elder Sadoc Burrows, put it: “They have no trouble believing in a dragon, but they do have trouble believing … Some have taken umbrage at the fact that there are “Hobbit-esque” characters – called harfoots – in the show, as Tolkien wrote that hobbits did nothing noteworthy before the Third Age. [Guardian review](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/aug/31/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power-review-so-astounding-it-makes-house-of-the-dragon-look-amateur) called so astounding it made the rival HBO series House of the Dragon “look amateur” – covers the Second Age of Middle-earth. “They have to invent characters, they have to invent storylines, but keep it within that skeleton.

A women wearing armor and carrying a sword walks away from a burning building. Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) takes center stage in Amazon's new prequel series.

That hasn’t always been a bad thing; action and fantasy films embracing the nuances of morality and subverting the logic of cinema have led to some of the 21st century’s best filmmaking. And just as I often felt nervous while watching Game of Thrones whether it had a coherent endpoint in mind as it weaved and bobbed through Westeros, I worry that The Rings of Power will be stuffed with too many invented subplots and side characters that ultimately don’t have anything to do with the story besides adding more run time. Among the hobbit-like Harfoots, we see the spunky young Nori Brandyfoot (Markella Kavenagh), and in the world of men, there’s the healer and single mother Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi), who strikes up a romance with a warrior elf Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova). In short, it explores Middle Earth’s Second Age, which takes place thousands of years before the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and is not based on any of Tolkien’s novels, but rather the information gleaned in their appendices. To answer the question: The Rings of Power is not like Game of Thrones, at least not in that way. Anonymous sources told the fan blog [The One Ring that](https://www.theonering.net/torwp/2021/07/20/110907-spy-report-incredible-details-from-amazons-lord-of-the-rings-characters-sexless-nudity-halflings/) while there will be nudity in the series, it would be “sparse and not sexualized.” Happily, many of the most important ones are women: Amazon’s series centers on a younger Galadriel, played by Morfydd Clark (Cate Blanchett in the films), a warrior elven princess intent on avenging her brother’s death by Sauron. [published](https://dc.swosu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2138&context=mythlore) a scathing critique of the women of J.R.R. (For context about what happens to the women of GoT, in the first two episodes of House of the Dragon, there’s a brutally graphic childbirth scene in which [both mother and infant die](https://www.vox.com/culture/23316570/house-of-the-dragon-heirs-review-recap-childbirth-scene), and in the second, a grown man almost [marries a 12-year-old girl](https://www.vox.com/culture/23327326/house-of-the-dragon-episode-2-rogue-prince-review-recap-rhaenyra-alicent-rhaenicent).) “It is technically an epic fantasy adventure, but I don’t think it hews to the same kind of ideas of masculinity and power that a lot of these stories traditionally do,” the writer Karen Han told the Had Game of Thrones cast such a shadow over the entertainment world that a high fantasy series without sex and gore was considered unprofitable? Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.

Amazon's ambitious “Lord of the Rings” prequel series has finally arrived. Here are seven takeaways from the first two episodes.

Part of the challenge for Payne and McKay — as it was for Tolkien and Jackson — is to tell a story with clearly defined heroes and villains that leaves room for those heroes to be complicated. No “Lord of the Rings” plot really gets going until the heroes leave home. In a climactic moment at the end of the first episode, Galadriel chooses not to join her comrades, and instead jumps off their boat before the light transports them. The humans in Middle-earth are weary of the elves patrolling their lands and acting haughtily. And unlike “House of the Dragon” — which so far has kept most of its action confined to one or two locations — “The Rings of Power” spreads its story around. It’s hard to avoid comparing the TV “Lord of the Rings” with the much-hyped “House of the Dragon,” given that both are pricey prequels, derived from beloved works of fantasy fiction, arriving at the same time. That said, anyone who loved “Thrones” will find it hard not to notice how “The Rings of Power” keeps viewers oriented by zooming across a cool-looking computer-animated map, much like in the HBO hit’s opening credits. Now that the first two episodes of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” are finally available to Prime Video subscribers, we have some answers to long-lingering questions. “The Rings of Power” similarly sets the stage cleanly and clearly. There may be some benefit to remaining Tolkien-neutral when it comes to “The Rings of Power.” Though the series draws on the author’s detailed notes about his fantasy realm, the showrunners, J.D. Part of what made the “Lord of the Rings” movie trilogy a success was that Jackson and his team simplified Tolkien’s saga, beginning with a prologue that explained what viewers needed to know. Long ago there was a grand battle between the evil Lord Sauron’s armies and a coalition of heroic humans and elves, and in the aftermath an all-powerful ring fell into the wrong hands, so now it must be taken to a volcano and destroyed.

But as might be the case with "House of the Dragon," a prequel series to a beloved fantasy property might spook off newcomers unfamiliar with the original ...

The showrunners for "Rings of Power" are J.D. Of course, Elves are immortal in Tolkien's world, and their participation in Second Age events was canonized in "The Silmarillion." There are Dwarves, too -- King Durin III and his brood -- who live in prosperity in the city of Moria before an unfortunate encounter with a (It's worth noting that Tolkien's son made these comments around the release of Jackson's first "Hobbit" film, which received far more middling reviews than his first three films in Middle-earth.) Oh, and don't expect immediate resolution to the series' storylines -- Payne told Amazon's cast list is exhaustive (but notably missing a few names, including that of the unknown actor thought to play Sauron). Whether you've pored over "The Silmarillion" repeatedly in advance of the new show or you don't know the difference between an Orc and an Ent (one's a goblinesque monster and the other is a talking, walking tree creature, for the record), here's what you need to know before you watch "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power." She's back in the prequel, this time played by Morfydd Clark, and by the looks we've gotten of her in the trailers, she's just returned from battle when we catch up with her. We may or may not get to see the Lord of the Rings himself in his corporeal form -- Amazon is keeping mum on how he'll appear in the series, but he'll undoubtedly loom large over it. It's likely meant to be presented as a fictional historical account written by several authors -- possibly including one Bilbo Baggins -- that covers everything from the origin of Tolkien's world to its later ages. , the action is set in Middle-earth's Second Age, "thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Now is the Tolkienites' time to geek out --

Daniel Weyman is aware of all your Rings of Power theories on who the Stranger is—and he just revealed he knows the mysterious characters identity.

"And I suppose the best thing to say is that while we were working, I, at each point in the story, knew exactly where the character was and who he was and what he was going through. But here's what we do know: actor Daniel Weyman fully knows the identity of The Stranger, and is aware of everyone's theories about him (which have been around since The Rings of Power trailer dropped). Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is finally out on Prime Video and we need to discuss "The Stranger."

The Rings of Power takes place in the Second Age of Middle-earth, thousands of years before Frodo takes the ring to Mordor in The Lord of the Rings. While elves ...

Most will remember Galadriel as one of the most powerful elves in The Lord of the Rings, but here she is still young. During The Rings of Power, which takes place during the Second Age, Elrond is living in Lindon serving the current Elven high king, Gil-Galad (Benjamin Walker). The Rings of Power takes place in the Second Age of Middle-earth, thousands of years before Frodo takes the ring to Mordor in The Lord of the Rings.

Its primary leads are a young Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) and Elrond (Robert Aramayo) — elf characters from the two film trilogies, in which they were portrayed ...

However, in the first episode of the series, a similar oath is taken, though not directly referred to as the Oath of Fëanor. The Silmarils were three jewels that contained the magical light of the two trees of Valinor. This is because, at the time of his arrival in the first episode, several dark events are also simultaneously shown. In fact, ships make more frequent appearances in The Rings of Power than they did in the two trilogies. He communicates with fireflies and makes them take the shape of a constellation, which Nori deduces is what he intends to find. Yet the lineage of one of them continues and is seen as the White Tree of Gondor in Jackson’s LOTR trilogy. Galadriel was born here and is seen travelling back to in the first episode. Thousands of years later, the harfoots evolve into the hobbits seen in the two trilogies. The White Tree of Gondor, which has been dead for a long time, eventually comes back to life after Aragorn is crowned king in the film. “Two episodes isn’t enough time to make a conclusive decision, but I quickly tired of Córdova’s brooding and the ethereal blandness of some of the supporting elves. “Most viewers will see The Rings of Power on a small screen, but it is best designed for a theatrical experience (like what was offered to some critics before release). Ensuring that people around the world will be able to watch this outstanding achievement in television history unfold at the same time on their TV sets, Amazon simultaneously released the two episodes of The Rings of Power worldwide.

Both Rings and Dragon serve similarly fantasy-obsessed audiences, but they have different age ratings, which may end up being a factor in the scale of their ...

Episodes one and two of the show pulled in Tolkien, the author of the That rating indicates the show is “intended to be viewed by mature, adult audiences and may be unsuitable for children under 17.” So, viewers wanting to watch the free episode will need to log into YouTube to confirm their age. 2, the 49-year anniversary of the death of J.R.R. 31, and the rest of the world was given access via Prime Video on Sept. [in theaters](https://qz.com/rings-of-power-lord-of-the-rings-free-theater-tickets-1849441060) on Aug.

Much like in the original trilogy, Galadriel has an important part to play in Middle-earth's Second Age. Jim Vejvoda. Adam Bankhurst.

So we come to that world at its height, but at a particularly precarious moment and a moment at which something like the appearance of an elf might have a big impact.” Another big question in The Rings of Power will be how the people of Numenor will react to Galadriel or any elves who may land on their shores. That was some time ago, and since then Elves haven’t made much of an appearance on the island. And half of the population or so feels very indebted and connected to Elven ways, and half or so feel that they are their own people who do things in the Numenorean way. “If Galadriel were to turn up in Numenor, it would be quite an event because they have not seen an elf in a very long time,” Weber said. Her long, elven life alongside her power and brilliance helped her become, as Tolkien put it, the “greatest of elven women.”

The default color on many TVs is too blue, but a quick tweak can improve accuracy. James Martin/CNET. What's happening. Picture settings ...

You can also take a look at the [best 4K TVs available](/tech/home-entertainment/best-4k-tv/). If your TV is getting the resolution you want from your sources, new HDMI cables won't make the image look or sound better, so you can save your money. You might need to pay for a higher tier to get that, depending on the service. The contrast control adjusts how bright the bright parts of the image are. As mentioned above, the next step to fine-tuning your TV to perfection is getting a setup disc. In other words, the bright areas of the image still have detail, and aren't just awash in white. [Input lag](/tech/home-entertainment/best-gaming-tv/) is how long it takes for you to press a button on a game controller and then to have an onscreen effect in the game. On newer Sony TVs this setting is labeled Brightness, and on Roku TVs there are five settings (Brightest to Darkest) in addition to a backlight control. [Filmmaker](/tech/home-entertainment/filmmaker-mode-could-make-tv-settings-easier-on-lg-samsung-and-vizio/). Believe it or not, your TV doesn't always come looking its best right out of the box. It's one of many fantasy series bursting with sophisticated special effects, and you can stream all of that magic from the comfort of your couch. [The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power](/culture/entertainment/the-rings-of-power-review-a-familiar-epic-middle-earth-adventure/) started its epic journey on Sept.

Amazon Prime's new The Lord of the Rings prequel brings viewers back to Middle Earth with a familiar nostalgic soundscape of ethereal voices, yearning horns ...

The Mystics – Bear McCreary The Boat – Bear McCreary Valinor – Bear McCreary McCreary composed the nine hours of music in just eight months, which was then recorded across four days. Sauron – Bear McCreary The Stranger – Bear McCreary Galadriel – Bear McCreary The harmonic language has this middle eastern progression.” “When we’re with the Elves, you’re going to hear choirs ethereal voices. I’m not trying to rock the boat or unpleasantly surprise you.” [A trumpeter played ‘Misty Mountain’ from The Hobbit in a stairwell… R.

Elves, Harfoots, humans, and trolls — a new adventure in Middle-earth begins. Galadriel and Elrond Image via Prime Video.

Galadriel dives overboard, into the water, the shimmering light above her, and surfaces just in time to see the wall of clouds closes again, shrouding the sea and her in darkness. Ever curious, she follows it to the sight of impact, where she finds an unexpected sight: a nearly naked man, curled up in the center of the fiery hole. “You and I must look to the new sunrise.” He tells Elrond he’ll be working with Lord Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards), “the greatest of Elven smiths” on a new project. A flock of white seabirds bursts through the clouds and encircles the boat while the elves break into harmonious song. But her mother, Marigold (Sara Zwangobani) urges her daughter to find satisfaction there in their village; the Harfoots are the only creatures of Middle-earth who are just responsible to their community, and that relationship is how they survive. When he asks for more details on the poisoning (and is unconvincingly rebuffed), Rowan (Ian Blackburn) shouts at “knife-ears” (rude!) that “One day our true king will return and pry us right out from under your pointy boots.” Arondir goes out back to share a charged moment with Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi), a local healer, who seems way happier to see him than anyone else in town. She and her company kneel in their armor (somehow both fierce and luxuriously draped — the elven magic gives them both immortality and impeccable fashion) as High King Gil-galad (Benjamin Walker) honors them for their efforts. He tells her that a stone sinks because it looks down into the dark water; a boat floats because it looks up to the light. While surrounded by orc corpses embedded in the walls, Galadriel finds the three-pronged sigil carved into the stone, a sign that Sauron survived. As the Two Trees of Valinor are destroyed, the elves sail East across the Sundering Seas to Middle-earth to battle Morgoth’s orcs and to restore peace. Over the objections of Thondir (Fabian McCallum), she pushes the party through a blizzard and into a massive ruin of jagged stone. [The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power](https://collider.com/tag/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power/) begins with this assurance, intoned in the dark by Galadriel (Morfydd Clark).

In a July interview with Screenrant during San Diego Comic-Con, actor Daniel Weyman had this to say about his time as The Stranger. "They were pretty clear at ...

Tolkien didn't write much of anything about what Tom was up to during the First Age or the Second Age, only that he was in Middle-earth hanging out with his wife, Goldberry, who was also a river spirit. That means The Stranger landed in front of Nori a very long time before Gandalf is sent to help fight Sauron. In the books he is at the Council of Elrond after having rescued Frodo from the Ringwraiths and not Arwen. It's possible this could be part of Annatar's disguise and he'll change after a good shave, but with the information we have right now it's unlikely to be him. We are going to learn and learn and learn, and finding out what exactly is going on might not be so quick." "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.

The new Amazon Prime series based on the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien is rated TV-14.

The first two episodes of “The Rings of Power” introduced some frightening creatures and menacing characters. This series is not based on a Tolkien book, but on the six-part “appendices” about Middle-earth history that follow his book “Return of the King.” The so-far mild sexual innuendo and references will likely pass over kids’ heads. The entire series is expected to cost more than $1 billion. But there are some familiar elves — notably Galadriel — and evil forces we’re all too familiar with. Amazon paid $250 million for the rights, and that’s just the beginning.

“The lord of the Rings”, a film trilogy based on J.R.R. Tolkien's novels, set the standard for blockbuster adaptations of beloved books.

After all, what made “The Lord of the Rings” so effective was the simplicity of the underlying idea. More than that, “The Rings of Power” is a statement of Amazon’s grand aspirations. As Galadriel, the hero of the show, once proclaimed: “The quest stands upon the edge of a knife. Now “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”, a series on Amazon Prime Video, will attempt to match that success. [Game of Thrones](/culture/2022/08/19/house-of-the-dragon-is-a-slick-follow-up-to-game-of-thrones)” or Netflix’s “Stranger Things”. “The lord of the Rings”, a film trilogy based on J.R.R.

Amazon Studios' new The Lord of the Rings show is pretty, but also pretty dull, at least at the start.

Hopefully the little bit of momentum in the second episode continues and the series picks up the pace. The Fellowship was perfect because for most of it you just had one elf around to do some sick archery and banter with a grouchy dwarf. (They literally have twigs and leaves in their hair, messily cram berries into their mouths, and are in great need of the invention of bathtubs and napkins.) I'm happy with this, and it does a lot to explain the wanderlust of Bilbo, the durability of Samwise, and the curiosity of Pippin. The rest of the elves, including Elrond, not a ruler yet but a younger assistant to the regional manager, figure that since Sauron hasn't been seen lately, he's probably not worth worrying about. The first two episodes of Amazon Studio's The Rings of Power, the television prequel series to The Lord of the Rings, aired late yesterday. When sitting down to play a new game, sometimes the wait between 'sitting down' and 'playing' is a gulf of unskippable cutscenes.

That makes us think it's been held up by COVID-related delays. Countless items from Funko POPs to Hasbro action figures have release dates well into 2023 ...

Because it's a strategic co-op experience, you'll get a lot out of it if you have like-minded Tolkien fans in your life. This is one of the better The Prancing Pony Inn is from early in Fellowship of the Ring rather than Rings of Power, but hey, it's too cool not to mention. For those hunting down a relatively quick and agile tabletop experience set in Middle-Earth, this card game based on the books is well worth a look. While he doesn't often interact with heroes during Lord of the Rings (which definitely isn't the case in Rings of Power), Sauron's presence is felt nonetheless thanks to his great eye watching over everyone like some cosmically powerful peeping Tom. Tolkien's book of myths and legends will do the trick, and it just so happens to be getting a gorgeous new illustrated edition as of early November. And if you want to see whether it's worth bothering with, you can also check out our [Rings of Power review](https://www.gamesradar.com/lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power-episode-1-2-review-recap/). While the landscape is slightly different in Rings of Power for reasons that will become abundantly clear as the series progresses, it's broadly the same in terms of landmarks. You can find out more in our guide on how to While that doesn't mean it isn't in the works (with a budget reportedly in the hundreds of millions, it's beyond ridiculous to think that there isn't some kind of merch plan for the series), it does mean you'll have to wait an unclear amount of time for anything official. As such, it's plausible that the Rings of Power merch has had a similar fate. With the new Amazon show causing quite a buzz online, you might be wondering if there's any cool Rings of Power merchandise out there.

While Sauron is one of the most iconic pop culture villains, thanks to Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Morgoth is a more obscure villain. And as ...

When he felt he could no longer stand to the combined forces of Middle-earth and the Valar, Morgoth pledged for his life, trying to break peace after all the pain he caused. The story of The Rings of Power starts many centuries after Sauron vanished, and before he would rise as a new Dark Lord. In order to protect the Children of Ilúvatar, the Valar united and attacked Melkor in his fortress in Middle-earth, defeating the villain. Also known as the Wars of Beleriand, the great battles that marked the First Age of Middle-earth always involved Morgoth, the Elves, and the Silmarils, dragging other people and the Valar into the conflict multiple times. And as the first episode of The Rings of Power explains, the evil lord was around for a long time, since his war against the Elves raged for centuries. So, when his sentence came to an end, he claimed to be regretful of his actions, and vowed to help the Valar and the Elves to prosper.

While there's lots of other things going on in this episode, a big chunk of it (rock pun!) hinges on why the dwarven prince Durin is absolutely pissed at Elrond ...

While there is a world of tragedy and tradition in [the immortal society](https://www.polygon.com/lord-of-the-rings/22610056/lord-of-the-rings-where-elves-go-when-they-die-grey-havens) he built, it’s all [terribly self-serious](https://www.polygon.com/lord-of-the-rings/22565789/lotr-legolas-weird-faces-expression-orlando-bloom-elf) in the way a lot of lesser high fantasy inspired by Tolkien comes across. In Middle-earth, dwarves live longer than humans (about 300 years to humankind’s roughly 100, when things go well) but it’s still, as Durin tells Elrond, a lifetime, a significant piece of his finite time alive on Middle-earth. In hashing out his beef with Elrond, Prince Durin (Owain Arthur) is a window to the dwarven perspective on Middle-earth. Check out the second episode of Amazon’s [The Rings of Power](https://www.polygon.com/23329258/lord-rings-power-review-episode-release), and reconsider. But the best thing about Rings of Power’s second episode is that it also takes them seriously on a dramatic level. Tolkien’s fantasy humanoids](https://www.polygon.com/lord-of-the-rings) is best, dwarves or elves, I would go with dwarves every time.

"The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" star Morfydd Clark discusses what she would say to Tolkien fans surprised to see Galadriel as a badass warrior.

And even before Frodo carried the Ring of Power, it was his uncle Bilbo Baggins who discovered it deep within the Misty Mountains after it abandoned Gollum, who ...

The Meteor Man has come to Middle-earth, and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power fans already are trying to figure out who he is.

The cast of Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power including Charlie Vickers, Morfydd Clark, Robert Aramayo, and Ben Walker along with executive producers JD ...

Prime Video has instituted a 72-hour review delay to screen out the most vocal (and potentially bad-faith) critics of its Lord Of The Rings show.

While on Collider Ladies Night, Markella Kavenagh details her experience joining The Rings of Power and bringing Nori Brandyfoot to life on screen.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power kicks off with a "meteor man" mystery fans are trying to solve... By Lacy Baugher | ...

Elrond, Galadriel, and Gil-galad's heads edited onto the cats from the 2019. Shout out to Mashable's Art Team for honoring this extremely unhinged art request.

'The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power' TV series is set before the events of the original Tolkien books.

One of the best parts of the first two episodes of The Rings of Power was two former bros reuniting to smash some rocks.