Prime Video is making a big change to the story of Middle-earth. The third season of ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ will shake up the timeline of the Second Age.
According to a new report, the new season will show the “War of the Elves and Sauron.” In J.R.R. Tolkien’s original books, that war took place under very different conditions, but the show plans to flip those conditions around.
How ‘The Rings of Power’ Intends To Show Order of the One Ring and War
The official synopsis for the upcoming season says, “Jumping forward several years from the events of season two, season three takes place at the height of the War of the Elves and Sauron, as the Dark Lord seeks to craft the One Ring that will give him the edge he needs to win the war and conquer all Middle-earth at last.”
For people who have read Tolkien’s ‘The Silmarillion‘, this is a complete turnaround. In the original version, Sauron made the One Ring in secret before the war started, and he used it to take control. Only after he put on the Ring did the Elves realize how badly they had been tricked.
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They took off their own rings right away, and that is what triggered the war. By having Sauron enter the war while still trying to figure out how to make the Ring, ‘The Rings of Power‘ is rewriting the cause and effect behind the Second Age’s biggest war.
The Series Had to Shrink a 1,700-Year War for TV
The show has changed Tolkien’s timeline before, but this one comes with heavy consequences for the book fans. In the original texts, the War of the Elves and Sauron went on for years. It ended when the Elves and the Númenóreans beat the Dark Lord for a while.
All of that happened nearly 1,700 years before the more famous War of the Last Alliance. Having Sauron forge the Ring during the war, instead of before it, changes why he does what he does and how desperate he really is.
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Still, some fans say the change makes sense for television. One recent analysis of the show’s changes reads, “Tolkien’s lore is simply too expansive and complex for any series to adapt in its entirety.” Stretching a war over thousands of years would confuse casual viewers.
What the Time Jump Means for the War of the Last Alliance
The time jump also sets things up for the Third Age war that fans already know from Peter Jackson’s movies. The show looks like it is blending the War of the Elves and Sauron with the latter War of the Last Alliance, which viewers saw in the opening of ‘The Fellowship of the Ring‘.
Production is already going on at the UK’s Shepperton Studios. The premiere is expected later this year, which goes against rumors that it had been pushed to 2027. The showrunners are sticking with their shorter timeline.
As the “Dark Lord seeks to craft the One Ring” in the middle of a full war, the series keeps choosing fast-paced drama over following the books to the letter. They are betting that a quicker, more aggressive timeline will work better for Middle-earth than a strictly accurate one.
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