I’m using @eamonorus-blog ‘s question here to do the post I’d been meaning to do for a while. But I want to give a bit of backstory first.
Initially, as many people were, I was very skeptical about the show. Tolkien adaptations and I have never gotten along and initial reveals about the show weren’t particularly inspiring. I hadn’t seen what I wanted to see out of a story about this particularly point in Middle-earth history; namely a deep dive into the political religious philosophy of Numenorean Kingsmen vs the Faithful. And not only that, I had some other lore and plot related concerns surrounding what was being released. MUCH of those issues have been settled since then within some of the recent promotional material but some still remain, namely;
- Why do we have two Durins living at the same time, considering they are supposed to have the same soul. - Where is Anarion that’s my fucking boy. (I’m more reassured about this one than I was before but it’s still present as a concern for now) - There is actually no feasible way to sensitively deal with the Numenorean slave trade, deforestation and colonialism without making Elendil a bad guy. - The Southlands plot is looking quite uncomfortable in terms of the implications it has for Middle men/High men politics but we really don’t know enough about it to say.
And really... that’s all the issues I have left! And what I’d say is, essentially, the things I’ve seen since the original first few leaks were released are more than exciting enough for me to still want to watch the show inspite of those four issues.
I have to start with talking about Numenor. Remember when I said I hadn’t seen what I wanted to see, the political religious philosophy of Numenorean Kingsmen vs the Faithful? Well since SDCC where RoP had a massive presence, that plot thread has been WELL in view. Trystan Gravelle (actor who’s playing Pharazon) has talked at LENGTH about the kingsman perspective, the worries and frustrations that drive him and the very understandable issues surrounding being a mortal in a world where immortal creatures exist and speak to you and ask you favours.
Lloyd Owen, Elendil’s actor, has mentioned that we find Elendil in a time of such high emotional turmoil that even HE is looking for more stability, turning away from the strict faithful dogma and looking more to the capitol. And Elendil having a crisis of faith? Perhaps the most exciting concept I’ve ever heard. I love Elendil’s crisis of faith I want to kiss it’s beautiful little head and tuck it into bed at night when it is inevitably resolved. Just the mere idea of watching Elendil struggle with these issues, not being just a stoney wall of holy righteousness, that’s interesting! I want to watch him go on that journey with his children! I want to see him discuss it with Pharazon and Miriel!
And these themes aren’t just present in the characters, the whole Numenorean set is riddled with such a depth of world building, I have to stim everytime I see a new thing about it. Numenor visually is what Peter Jackson never gave me for Gondor, there are COOLING TOWERS there are frescos and massive statues and tiny little secret shrines tucked away in street corners and adunaic graffiti over the top of elvish script!! Have you all seen Nimloth?
This is a terrible image but she’s absolutely beautiful in the trailers. And most vitally these more elven architectural arches built to honour her are falling into disrepair now that she is becoming more a symbol of what men are apparently barred from ever having, than a divine blessing.
I could go on and on about how excited I am just to see this Numenor, even if the rest of the show is absolutely terrible I will be excited to just turn the sound off and stare at more images like THIS and THIS and THIS
BUT I know not everyone cares about Numenor like I do SO, in terms of elf excitement (difficult for me, doesn’t come naturally but) The most promising thing I would say I’ve ever heard on the elf front is hearing Benjamin Walker (Gil Galad) talk about elves and their struggles in this particular era. There is going to be ELF POLITICS! They have thought about the tolls as well as the benefits of a somewhat immortal existence, Gil Galad and Galadriel have a RELATIONSHIP with each other that is both respectful and old and difficult, he’s talked about the need for elves to maintain a strict society given that grudges held can last forever, he’s talked about this weight of grief that the elves are trying to overcome by falling in love with Middle Earth. Like!! Even if you don’t like the specific way they’ve decided to go with some characters, doesnt that sound neat? Aren’t you intrigued? I know I am and I could not care less about elves.
The Dwarven stuff has to be the SECOND MOST exciting thing I want to see. Durin and Disa’s relationship is such a unique thing to see onscreen, we’ve never gotten a mainstream portrayal of dwarves who are in love with each other! And they are figuring out their own political discourse as well, they are treating with the elves, they are dealing with their family politics, Khazad Dum is at it’s HEIGHT and the sheer vastness of the design for the whole city just makes me buzz with a thrill each time I look at it. There’s also been a verbal acknowledgement from the writers team that dwarves have previously been depicted just for jokes on film, and that they all wanted to move away from that and treat dwarves with more care and respect. Which I’m all for! And I suppose this isn’t about the show itself but, did yall know Sophia Nomvete gave birth to her child a WEEK before she flew out to start filming the show? And they sewed special accomodations into her costumes to allow her to breast feed on set? That cast and crew members would take care of her baby whilst she was doing her scenes? I’m absolutely enamoured with Sophia honestly, she’s been the most elegant and bold and joyful ambassador for the series.
HOBBITS? Now for a long time I was really uncaring about the hobbit plotline, I love Lenny Henry but it seemed like an unnecessary addition to the show. BUT! Recently we got confirmation that we have entwives in the show. And isnt the idea of ancient hobbits interacting with entwives just the coolest? Especially when we know that will all go rapidly downhill VERy soon? And alongside the later seasons plots, they could be a great lead into a variety of aspects. I’m essentially accepting of them now and we’ll see how it goes.
The Southlands!! Are Mordor!! This is both terrifying and fascinating, we are going to see pre-sauron mordor, with what I can only assume are the people who... HOPEFULLY NOT ALL BUT SOME? Will become the slaves of Nurn. Which... as I said!! DICEY.. but still fascinating and I do want to see it.
There were a raft of short reviews from some folks who got to watch the first two episodes early and they were pretty much universally positive but the one that actually inspired me the most was a guy who said it was ‘beautiful’ but also ‘really dense and slow’. Which... isn’t that the greatest desire for tolkien fans? Fuck yeah give me the densest slowest show you’ve got.
The last thing I’ll say is like... I think I’m actually in a pretty good position. I think my already very great disappointment in the Jackson films has really helped me keep the right perspective for the show. It’s not going to be exactly what you all want it to be! The time compression is going to be frustrating, the character changes will be disorientating, the fandom that will spring up around it will have misconceptions about the lore and that WILL annoy you. But take it from me! You’ll survive and you’ll also still probably have a good time watching it to boot. Untense! Take a deep breath! This is an exciting new era for the tolkien fandom and you might as well enjoy yourself.
