These new additions have divided fans of the original Tolkien texts. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re talking about scenes in the “Rings of Power” series that either did not originate from J.R.R. Tolkien’s source material or were significantly expanded upon through creative liberties.
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00:00I'm the one your Lord Father wants.
00:02Set them free,
00:04and I will go willingly.
00:06Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're talking about scenes in the Rings of Power series that either did not originate from
00:12J.R.R. Tolkien's source material, or were significantly expanded upon through creative liberties.
00:18My children have endured cruelties your bravest couldn't bear to hear spoken aloud.
00:24Are you prepared to spend their lives so freely,
00:28Adar?
00:30Number 10. Galadriel's lost brother.
00:33This mark was left as a trail for orcs to follow.
00:37The last time I saw it was on my brother.
00:40In the Rings of Power, one of Galadriel's motivations is vengeance for the death of her brother Finrod.
00:45As her early voiceover dictates,
00:47Finrod lost his life while fighting the war against Sauron and Morgoth.
00:51The tragedy fuels Galadriel's resounding hatred for Sauron.
00:55As told by the Silmarillion though, Finrod's fall is much more elaborate.
00:59In text, Finrod made an alliance with early men,
01:03ancestors of Aragorn in fact, and this kinship inadvertently contributed to Finrod's demise.
01:08My brother, Finrod.
01:17And my husband.
01:20Husband?
01:22Celeborn.
01:23While Finrod was murdered by Sauron in both versions,
01:26Galadriel's direct desire for retaliation is embellished on the show.
01:30The series also has Galadriel believing that her husband Celeborn perished in battles against Sauron.
01:35And so, we hunted.
01:40To the ends of the earth, we hunted Sauron.
01:45Number 9. The Rite of Sigyn Darag.
01:48Remarkable. I never dreamed to find your city so changed.
01:53Now of twenty years, Ulduar.
01:55Has it been only twenty?
01:58Tolkien never explicitly wrote about a friendship between Elrond and Prince Durin.
02:02But it's certainly a significant part of both the TV characters.
02:06It's in the spirit of the elven and dwarven bond shared by Legolas and Gimli.
02:10Well, this is a thing unheard of.
02:12An elf will go underground, when a dwarf dare not.
02:17Their kinship is best represented by the challenge of Sigyn Darag,
02:20the dwarven tradition of strength.
02:22Elrond uses it as a means to converse with Durin in the midst of a politically complicated Middle-earth.
02:27Here we go, elf.
02:31Elrond admirably holds his own.
02:33But his forfeit ultimately allows for dialogue that aims to establish a major alliance between dwarves and elves.
02:39Twenty years may be the blink of an eye to an elf.
02:44But I've lived an entire life in that time.
02:48A life you missed.
02:52Number 8. Miriel as the Queen Regent
02:55No one kneels in Numenor.
03:00Sorry.
03:03Speak, elf.
03:05As daughter of Numenor's king Tar-Palantir,
03:08Miriel is Queen Regent of the Numenorean people when we first meet her.
03:12And when Galadriel and Halbrand end up here,
03:14the Queen Regent makes certain to establish her authority.
03:17In Silmarillion history, though, Miriel holds no such command.
03:21The scene in which she shows Galadriel the Palantir never happens either,
03:25though it does foreshadow a great catastrophe that is consistent with Tolkien's writing.
03:44Adding to Miriel's character development includes a desire to reconnect the relationship between elves and men.
03:51Another conflict which has been dramatized in the adaptation.
04:05Number 7. Gil-Galad explains the divinity of Mithril
04:21He channeled all his hatred into the tree to destroy it.
04:24We've got a lot of love for Mithril, since it saved Frodo's life in The Fellowship of the Ring.
04:29But Amazon's series grants a further level of divinity to the metal that's, quote,
04:33as hard as dragon scales.
04:35Elf-king Gil-Galad expresses his belief to Elrond
04:38that there's an existential design behind this enigmatic material.
04:41As Gil-Galad sees it, the light of the heavenly Valar is present in Mithril,
04:46and the possession of that substance's power will rescue all of Elfkind.
04:50A power.
04:51A power as pure in light, as good, as strong, and unyielding as evil.
04:59They say it seeped down the roots into the mountain depths, where for centuries now, it has waited.
05:07Since the show also indicates the presence of Mithril in the dwarven minds,
05:11this is a setup for interaction, and hopefully, cooperation between elves and dwarves.
05:16I promised Durin never to reveal his people's secrets.
05:19And what if keeping your promise to his people meant ensuring the doom of your own?
05:38While the Lord of the Rings prologue does make a mention of Harfoots,
05:41the Rings of Power lets us really get to know them.
05:44They are ancestors of the hobbits that we know from the Third Age,
05:48and this introductory scene emphasizes their sense of community and resourcefulness.
05:53You know the rules. We're not supposed to be out this far.
05:56If we didn't do everything we weren't supposed to do, we'd hardly do anything at all.
06:00It's also the gateway to the audience with a few protagonists
06:04that the Tolkien prologue would not have otherwise allowed,
06:07most notably Sadek Burrows and Norrie Brandyfoot.
06:10Some of their communal traditions,
06:12such as the trailfinders and use of star books,
06:15were also invented for the show.
06:17It adds to the history of their race,
06:19albeit with particulars that have been newly developed for the series.
06:23If you don't mind, I'd just like to sit a while.
06:28Watch the sun come up.
06:32Number 5. Meeting Tom Bombadil
06:35Tom Bombadil is one of the most talked-about Tolkien characters,
06:39one that's only now making an on-screen appearance.
06:42In The Lord of the Rings, he saves Frodo and the gang in the Old Forest,
06:46and he makes comments suggesting that he may be one of the oldest folks in all of Middle-earth.
06:51We get to see him meet the stranger here,
06:53and he offers possibly important advice about heavy tasks
06:57that he has to do in order to survive.
06:59We get to see him meet the stranger here,
07:01and he offers possibly important advice about heavy tasks that still need to be done.
07:18His playful magical powers make him eccentric and enigmatic,
07:22trying to capture the essence of his character from the book.
07:25And his tendency to save people from unruly trees is still ever-present.
07:40Number 4. Forging the Elven Rings
07:50In Season 1's finale, Hellbrand unlocks the riddle
07:53that ultimately allows successful forging of the Elven Rings.
07:56While Sauron certainly influenced their creation in Tolkien's words,
08:00that didn't happen quite the same way.
08:02In the show, the Elven Rings were the first to be created,
08:05despite being chronologically last in the books.
08:08Tolkien also writes specifically that they were
08:11"...unsullied for having never been directly touched by Sauron."
08:23I had hoped to do the same for Middle-earth.
08:26The Rings of Power isn't exactly contradicting Tolkien's story,
08:29but the idea of using alloy,
08:31along with Hellbrand-slash-Sauron's direct participation in molding the three,
08:35provides a brand new scene.
08:37The use of Finrod's dagger as material was also added,
08:40though that story element does strengthen Galadriel's bond with the Rings
08:44and the optimistic potential that they represent.
08:53THE CREATION OF MORDOR
08:56THE CREATION OF MORDOR
09:20Tolkien never specifically described the exact creation of Mordor,
09:24but the Rings of Power writers have inferred their own version.
09:27During a consequential battle between humans and orcs,
09:30a follower of Sauron's evil servant Adar uses a magical sword
09:33to cast a wicked spell on the surrounding land.
09:36What follows is flooding, blackened skies,
09:39and a volcanic explosion that births Mount Doom and the land where shadows lie.
09:43Analyzing the text suggests that the eruption of Mount Doom took much longer,
09:47and Sauron shows his realm in the Southlands more for its geographic isolation
09:51than for a fiery and scary appearance.
09:53However, shortening the timeline of Mordor's creation
09:56helped the seventh episode's narrative reach a speedier climax.
10:13HALBRAND THE DECEIVER
10:15Introducing Halbrand may be one of the most controversial decisions
10:19that the Rings of Power showrunners have yet made.
10:24Not until you tell me who you are.
10:28You know who I am.
10:30Who you really are.
10:34Galadriel, I'm afraid I don't...
10:37His story sort of follows the model of Tolkien's writing,
10:40as book Sauron embodies a false form that ultimately manipulates the elves.
10:45He's a prominent cast member here, though,
10:47and his journey with Galadriel is a unique creation.
10:50Halbrand's cunning friendship with her is new,
10:53and it ultimately leads to this pivotal moment
10:55when Galadriel deduces that her ally is not who he seems.
10:59No penance could ever erase the evil you have done.
11:02That is not what you believe.
11:03Do not tell me what I believe.
11:05It seems the show writers wanted us to first meet Sauron with a human-like personality,
11:09perhaps in hopes of making the Dark Lord even more detestable as the story develops.
11:15Now who is this man?
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11:35Number 1. The Stranger's Identity
11:38A wizard does not find his staff.
11:42It finds him.
11:43Back when the Rings of Power was just a trailer,
11:46one of its biggest mysteries was the astral meteorite that carried the Stranger.
11:50There's been plenty of uncertainty among fans about his identity,
11:53but season 2's finale let us know,
11:55and it did so with one notable callback.
11:58Gandalf.
12:04That's what they're going to call me, isn't it?
12:08Now let the song begin.
12:10Though Tolkien's unfinished tales has Gandalf arriving in Middle-earth during the Third Age,
12:15there are hints in other texts that suggest he may have visited at earlier times.
12:20The writers ran with that idea and told an unexplored origin story for the emblematic wizard.
12:25Awakening the Balrog of Moria was another unwritten moment that we see.
12:37Run.
12:39Run, father!
12:45Run!
12:51The presence of both in one episode is darkly poetic,
12:54since Gandalf is ultimately the one that slays Durin's Bane.
12:58What was your favorite Rings of Power scene that didn't come from the books?
13:01Let us know in the comments below.
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