The Lord of the Rings - The Rings of Power: J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, Sauron and the 2nd season

The Lord of the Rings - The Rings of Power

The Lord of the Rings - The Rings of Power was undoubtedly one of the event series of this 2022. Not perfect, the series conceived by J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay has however achieved its goal, that of making people talk about itself. Not always for the right reasons, but the Amazon Studios production certainly received more than the classic 15 minutes of popularity. Not only are fans of Tolkien's work very demanding and vocal, but the production, despite the seemingly infinite budget, also had to work with only a portion of the work of the author born in Bloemfontein, the Appendices to The Lord of the Rings.

Very rich and interesting material, but which left holes that inevitably had to be filled for the TV series. A few hours before the end of the first season of The Lord of the Rings - The Rings of Power we heard J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay talk about these difficulties, as well as how they are preparing for the new season.

Originally faithful

The budget of The Lord of the Rings - The Rings of Power has seen it all "We have always tried to be faithful to Tolkien's universe and the material of the appendices, but we also tried to tell things in our own way ", said the two authors trying to explain the way in which they approached the creation of the series. "With the first season being a re-introduction to the world of Arda, with an initial approach to new places and new characters, as well as the huge underlying mythology. We wanted it to be all introductory and as clear as possible," too. for those who have never read the books or seen the movies. With the second season the authors will try to be more faithful to the original material, even if they will not give up introducing new characters, as well as continuing to develop those introduced in these first eight episodes.

The series will continue, however, to tell how Middle Earth was formed as we know it. So the pelopiedi will continue to be called in this way until they "become" hobbits, we will discover how and why the rings of dwarves and men were created and above all we will continue to follow the evolution of Sauron and how he came to create the Unique Ring.

From this point of view J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay have exploited a lot of a philosophy very popular in recent years in Hollywood, namely the one that allows you to freely interpret certain details, especially physical ones, unless is specified in a certain way. So as to unhinge some convictions / conventions while remaining faithful to the original material. An approach that has allowed many modern series to be more inclusive, but which in the case of The Lord of the Rings - The Rings of Power was used to have the Dark Lord of Mordor, usually represented as an ethereal presence that controls everything thanks to the his eye, which wanders in flesh and blood through Middle-earth, sowing discord and pursuing its aims.

"In the second season evil will have revealed itself and will no longer have to act in the shadows", continue the showrunner, and starting from the second season it will therefore be interesting to find out how Sauron, free to act, will assemble his empire of evil and how elves, dwarves and men will act to oppose him. Among the allies on which "the forces of good" can count there is certainly the Stranger, the other great unknown of the first season. Now we know with certainty that it is not Sauron and that he is an Istar, a magician, but we still do not know for sure his identity.

The Stranger from The Lord of the Rings - The Rings of Power still hides some secrets The gray dress, the physiognomy and some phrases said suggest Gandalf, but there could be some surprise. "During the season we also left other clues that point to Saruman or the Blue Mages," said J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay. In the second season, however, the wizard and his little foot-foot friend will head to Rhûn, an area never particularly deep in Middle-earth, to continue discovering who he really is. It will be an opportunity to allow the production to go on to "fill in the gaps" left by the appendices and explore Tolkien's universe in a whole new way.

The criticisms, inevitable

The creation of the one ring will be at the center of future seasons of The Lord of the Rings - The Rings of Inevitable Power a comment on the criticisms received in this first season, reaching a bit everywhere. "There are those who, among those who define themselves as intransigent Tolkenians, accused the series of too much courage and of having strayed too far from the books and ideas of the author and who, among the progressives, spoke of little character," they said. showrunner. "You understand that there will always be someone who does not like things. We have tried to create something as faithful as possible to Tolkien and our narrative ideal. We are okay with ourselves and for this we come to terms with everyone: fans, Tolkien Estate, fans of the last hour ".

" The intention was above all to capture Tolkien's tone and to be faithful to his universe, "said J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay. But it is not always simple, just think of magic: "for example, its rules are not well specified in literary works, but the city of Rhûn, mystical and ancient, is mentioned. It is something not elaborated by Tolkien, especially shown, and in which we decided to enter without betraying the master's tone and spirit. The three hunters are also a novelty. A curious but complex idea that we saw as a challenge ". How to fill and interpret the spaces left free by Tolkien will, therefore, also be the key for the future.

The second season of The Lord of the Rings - The Rings of Power is already in the works and will be broadcast by Prime Video . The first season is, however, already available on the streaming platform.

Have you noticed any errors?