The Second Age of Middle-earth: A Prime Setting?
Ever since Amazon announced they had obtained the rights to produce a show inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth, the internet has been abuzz with theories and speculations about where, when, and (most importantly) who will be featured in history’s most expensive television series. For awhile, there was the rampant theory that the show would follow the adventures of young Aragorn in the years before Fellowship (a prediction I myself ventured soon after the initial announcement), but Amazon appears to have at last laid these rumors to rest with the following tweet:
This, of course, raises several new questions, foremost among them being: what storylines from the Second Age’s 3500 years will Amazon pursue and how will they make their show accessible to fans of the books and those who prefer the films? I hope to offer a few speculative answers to both questions, as well as consider the available evidence suggesting the Second Age will be Amazon’s prime setting.
Begin with a Map
On first reading the line “Welcome to the Second Age,” I was not convinced Amazon’s billion dollar show would limit itself to that span of three thousand or so years. While the statement may seem conclusive, its close pairing with the map of Numenor (shown above) leaves room for some ambiguity since the isle of Numenor exclusively existed in the Second Age. Therefore, any story touching upon Numenor (as, for example, Aragorn’s does) could include flashbacks to the short-lived isle of long-lived men. However, further evidence suggests Amazon has other ideas.
The very first post on the Facebook and Twitter accounts for LotRonPrime is a quotation from J.R.R. Tolkien: “I wisely started with a map”. Since then, they have released a series of images that slowly fill in place-names on a map of Middle-earth. Most of these locations will sound familiar, although several notable names are (so far) missing, such as Gondor, Arnor, and the Shire. The first picture in this series is especially interesting in one major detail: the inclusion of Calenardhon.
In 2510 of the Third Age, Calenardhon was renamed after a band of riders rode to the relief of Gondor. In gratitude for their help, the steward Cirion ceded these lands to the horsemen which, for the last 500 years of the Third Age, were known as the plains of Rohan. The inclusion of the older name on the map suggests Amazon’s story takes place before the Rohirrim’s southern migration and, therefore, long before the birth of Aragorn.
When paired with the map of Numenor — which appears to be an extension of the Middle-earth map — the conclusion seems more and more inescapable that Amazon wishes to set their show exclusively in the Second Age. Also, since Gondor and Arnor were not founded until the end of the Second Age, it’s possible Amazon is adding names to the map in the order they were settled, which would explain why the elven lands in Eriador are much more detailed on the most recent map than the southern or eastern parts of Middle-earth.
This raises a few challenges for Amazon, perhaps the most notable of which is the lack of recognizable characters. Elrond, Galadriel, and Sauron are all major players in the Second Age, but the list becomes very thin after that. The hobbits (as an entire species) are who-knows-where while Gandalf is still waiting to catch the boat from Valinor. The burden therefore falls on the show-runners to make viewers care about their story as an entity in itself and not just because it kind of ties in with the movies they’ve been watching for almost 20 years.
A New Ring Cycle
Here follows a brief summary of Middle-earth history: Someone makes a shiny thing. Bad people want it and try to take it. Bad things happen for a long time until the good people use the shiny thing to mostly prevail. Repeat.
In the Second Age, the elven smith Celebrimbor sets out to make a bunch of rings that — by drawing on the strength and will of the bearer — can bring power, wealth, and safety to the bearer’s people. Sauron — an unemployed almost-god who once served ultimate evil and has spent the past few years looking for a new job — offers to help the idealistic elf, and Celebrimbor agrees. This leads to the completely unforeseeable twist wherein Sauron (acting as the original model for smartphone makers everywhere) corrupts the rings so they work until they don’t. The rings bring prosperity and security for a time, but, ultimately, attract destruction.
There then follows a long series of wars between Sauron and everyone else. In the first war, the Numenoreans step in just before Sauron wipes out the elves, then look around at the wide-open lands of Middle-earth and think “this would be a nice place to colonize” and so they do. In the second war, the new Numenorean king Ar-Pharazon (who thinks a four hundred year lifespan is too short compared to the elves’ immortality) decides to challenge Sauron for superiority in Middle-earth. Sauron promptly surrenders and Ar-Pharazon brings him home. Eventually, Sauron earns the king’s favor and convinces him to attack the gods’ home in Valinor, which leads to the flat earth being bent and Numenor sinking beneath the waves.
The few Numenoreans who escape the island’s destruction found the kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor and join forces with the elves to defeat Sauron once and for all… kind of. The Second Age concludes when Isildur cuts the Ruling Ring from Sauron’s hand, but — as people who’ve seen the first few minutes of Fellowship know — the victory is not final and comes at a great cost.
These, then, are the major events that Amazon will use as the primary driver of their story. Given that most of their social media posts have included lines from the verse Celebrimbor heard when Sauron finished forging the One Ring, it seems likely that the show will follow the saga of the rings and so claim to be a Lord of the Rings prequel. One problem though is that, since the One Ring was made in 1600, they have to cover events lasting at least 1800 years in a way that both honors the passage of time and feels consistent. Another problem is the lack of recurring characters in this narrative, with most of the major players dying early or appearing late. Fortunately, there are many ways Amazon could choose to solve both issues.
An Age of Ambiguity
Perhaps Amazon’s main reason for choosing the Second Age is that it allows the most freedom for adaptation. Most of The Silmarillion is dedicated to material from the First Age, while a majority of the Appendices in The Lord of the Rings (the other main source for Middle-earth history) is devoted to the Third. The two of them together present a more developed picture of the intrigues and wars from the Second Age than the abbreviated form given above, but are still little more than a skeleton from which Amazon can build almost anything they want. This show will be the first to portray Eregion in the days before the elves retreated into seclusion and Numenor at the height of its power, ideas that are at once alluring and terrifying for fans still feeling burned by the Hobbit trilogy.
In terms of structuring their show, perhaps the most loyal solution Amazon could adopt would be to create an anthology that focuses on a different character each episode. However, this would make it difficult to sustain viewership and would still require a great deal of originality to translate Tolkien’s text into hour-long episodes.
It therefore seems more likely that Amazon will either choose an existing character or create a new one to be a constant throughout the 1800 year plot. An original character has just as much potential to fail as succeed: the risk and reward lying in how the show balances the character’s perspective with their influence on the larger narrative. An elf who interacts with the great and powerful and plays an indirect role in the shaping of Middle-earth history — similar to Uhtred in The Last Kingdom series — could be interesting, whereas a “Mary Sue” who inserts themselves into every situation and solves every problem would be bad.
Perhaps the best and most likely solution would be to make Elrond the main character. As standard-bearer to the elven king Gil-galad, Elrond is in prime position to interact with all the major characters and events. He could be sent by Gil-galad to visit Celebrimbor’s forge and speak with Sauron. Perhaps, at a later date, he could even bear to Gil-galad out of the devastation of Eregion the ring, Vilya, which he himself will come to wear in time. Also, as brother of Numenor’s first king, he would naturally have reason to visit the isle on occasion and check in on his increasingly great-nieces and nephews.
Whoever the main character is, they have to be suspicious of Sauron since no viewer is ever going to trust him, even if he does call himself Annatar, “Lord of Gifts.” Canonically, Elrond and Gil-galad were both wary of Sauron before it was cool and repeatedly warned the other elves of his imminent treachery. This attempt to resist the Second Age’s inexorable tragedy could make for a compelling story, perhaps culminating in a scene where Elrond mourns Gil-galad’s death under the shadow of Mount Doom while everyone around him celebrates.
Whether the character is original to Amazon or Tolkien, I think the show’s success or failure will mostly depend on how compelling that person is, especially since fans of the movies will see very little they recognize.
Conclusion
The Second Age is an interesting setting for a billion dollar show, especially one so clearly intended to catch viewers as they start looking for a new Game of Thrones. Although there are political intrigues (and full out civil wars) in Numenor, they are more abundant in the courts of Gondor and Arnor during the Third Age. The Silmarillion also offers more storylines independent of the struggle between good and evil (specifically The Children of Hurin) that would fit better in the current market of cynical fantasy. It’s still unknown if Amazon acquired the rights to Silmarillion material when Christopher Tolkien stepped down as head of the Tolkien Estate, but the decision to set their story at a time mostly covered in The Silmarillion makes this seem more likely.
To what extent Amazon will tailor their show to appease Thrones fans remains unknown. Personally, I hope they will use the largely unexplored lands of the Second Age to tell a story of friendship and courage that preserves the spirit of Tolkien while also feeling wholly new. However, recent experience with prequels that live in the shadow of their superiors leaves me concerned, especially when I think of those times The Hobbit tried to be inventive and remember how much material Amazon will have to create. For the moment, though — with so little known — , I try to keep Tolkien’s most enduring message in mind and hope for the best.
