How would you have written The Rings of Power?

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Mithadan

My initial reaction is what Bethberry does not want; there's plenty of good stuff in the appendices to base a story upon without taking a red pen to "canon." The counterpoint is that no matter what Amazon did, there would be folks that would complain.

Oh, I'm sorry that what I thought was a joking comment is misleading; I mean it as a joke at my expense because of how I have tried to address overwhelming complaints about the series, complaints so strongly (even stridently) expressed that they would have turned off possible new members to the Forum who are excited about the series--my response to what I felt was similar to "review bombing". I meant simply that there have been lots of complaints about what went wrong with the Amazon series but not much in terms of how, specifically and positively, it could have been done better, from a conceptual standpoint, rather than what is wrong with a character's depiction or plot holes. I had hoped that the quote I provided would have made clear that there is lots else in Tolkien to consider other than Galadriel as the central POV.

It seems to me that a Second Age series could focus on two different aspects: either the rise and then fall of Numenor (as the quote suggests) or how Sauron was able to attract followers. The first would highlight the hubris of men while the second perhaps would show the attractiveness of authoritarianism and how fear leads men into error. That second possibility would, I think, be very relevant to today's context. I would mean that as applicability rather than allegory. Such approaches would have required a careful introduction to the Age, perhaps through a narrative monologue as is given to Galadriel at the opening of Jackson's LotR trilogy, but preparing viewers for different things other than the familiar hobbits. ("There were earlier battles, in a very different age, when men made disastrous decisions, and elves as well; when dwarves had a lively culture and there were no wizards to help in the fight against the Dark Lord." Or something along those lines. It could indeed be spoken by Galadriel, to provide a bridge, without making her the central character. Such a monologue could even address the differences Tolkien made in the younger Second Age Galadriel from the older more serene Third Age Lady of Lothlorien.

And while Bethberry doesn't seem to want a list of complaints, here are some suggestions where things could have been different.

- Don't make Galadriel a warrior princess. But I get this. Amazon did what Tolkien did. "Unwin wants a sequel. What can I hook on to from what I wrote to create a new story with a bridge to the old story." Galadriel is the "hook."

- No need for the magic tree. Simply take 10 minutes to explain why the Elves might want their Three Rings (and the others).

- No need for the Stranger. Again, I get the "why." He's popular and compelling.

- No need for Halbrand as portrayed. The Annatar/Sauron the corruptor story is fine.

- Why kill Celeborn (if he is "dead")?

- Make Gil-Galad and Celebrimbor better and more compelling characters. They are important to the story are JRRT wrote it.

Just a few quick thoughts.

I would never deny the value of complaints. Everything is open to negative criticism, all the myriad adaptations we have already seen of his works, as well as Tolkien himself.(Sorry/not sorry if that is blasphemous.) For me, there is really not something like "faithfulness" to Tolkien's lore, because every adaptation is an interpretation and in particular movies as a different genre from fiction require different qualities. But as I hope I have tried to explain above, I meant productive questioning of the adaptation rather than a niggling over individual parts.

But to address your points, Mithadan: I didn't get the feeling that Celeborn is dead; rather that he is MIA.

I agree that Celebrimdor and Gil-galad should be more prominent and compelling. I liked the idea of showing Gil-galad as a wily politician, but some how that aspect of his character was dropped. Making the two elves more compelling characters would have quite easily been done by focusing on either the Numenor aspect or the Sauron aspect rather than on Galadriel.

And maybe I missed something but I thought it could be better brought out why the elves were fading, not simply through leaves turning black/brown, but something more in line with how or why they are fading.

Anyhow, I hope this opens up more ideas for discussion and doesn't stifle positive complaints.