It seems like we have our first character confirmation regarding Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings TV Show, which will be set in the Second Age.
According to TheOneRing.net’s Twitter, Galadriel, Elrond, and Sauron are all confirmed characters for the upcoming show. Sauron, of course, is a given considering the biggest events of the Second Age revolve around his actions. You can read our post earlier in the year HERE, we detailed the Second Age timeline and highlighted what we could expect from this show.
Elrond’s confirmation is a pleasant surprise, at the time of our writing the first post we figured the show would focus on the Fall of Númenor. Of course, the show could eventually grow into that storyline, but with the news of Elrond’s presence we think it’s a safe bet to surmise that the show will follow the War of the Elves and Sauron storyline. During this time, Sauron manipulates Elven smiths to create the Rings of Power. While he helps the Elves to create these rings, in secret, he was also making the One Ring. Celebrimbor begins to understand what Sauron is plotting, the Three Rings are hidden, and the War begins. Celebrimbor, Gil-galad, Elrond, and Sauron are all major players in this storyline. I, for one, am really excited about this possibility, we’ll finally get the chance to see Elves fight at the height of their powers. Yes, Legolas was the epic moment generator for the movies but Elrond, Gil-galad, and Celebrimbor are on a different level.
How Galadriel fits into this story we’re, unfortunately, not 100% knowledgeable about that information. We know that Galadriel was around Middle-earth at that time, and that she received one of the Three Rings of power, but as for her part in the Second Age? We’ll need to do some more research into the History of Middle-earth texts because there’s no mention of her name during the War of the Elves and Sauron, not in The Lord of the Rings books. Regardless, since she received one of the Three Rings of Power she had a part to play.
The biggest question we have regarding this news is, who is going to play Elrond and Galadriel? For us, it’ll be very hard to find two actors to top the performances of Hugo Weaving and Cate Blanchett. In our opinion, the studio should make sure they come back and reprise their roles. We’ve heard rumblings of recasting Galadriel to make her a “young Galadriel,” while nothing has been officially confirmed we would pump the brakes on this move. It’s not like Elves age throughout their years like we do. A thousand year old Elf isn’t going to look like a teenager, but before we continue our rant let’s give ourselves a frame of reference.
- Legolas, according to the movie guide, was 2931 years old in The Lord of the Rings. Other sources have said he’s less than 1,000. The truth is, we don’t know for sure, but we know he hasn’t been around as long as Elrond or Galadriel.
- Elrond, according to TheOneRing.net (we’ll trust that they’ve done their research, having visited the site often), is over 6,000 in The Lord of the Rings.
- Galadriel was born in Valinor before the destruction of the sacred trees and before the Kinslaying. We can guess that she’s some age over 7000 years old.
Now, we know (at least from the movies) that Elrond looked the same from the end of the Second Age to the end of the Third Age. The events of The Lord of the Rings took place roughly 3,000 years after Isildur cut the Ring from Sauron’s hand. If Elrond looks the same during The Lord of the Rings and The Last Alliance of Elves and Men (a 3,000 year gap). Then, it’s safe to assume that Elrond will look the same roughly 1,800 years before the Last Alliance during the War of the Elves and Sauron. We feel this logic would also cary over for Galadriel who’s, at least, 1,000 years older than Elrond.
Casting younger versions of these characters just doesn’t make logical sense to us, especially not when we’ve grown to know and love Elrond and Galadriel as Hugo and Cate. Will our words sway the powers-at-be at Amazon? No. Will these characters get recasted for a younger version? Probably. All we’re saying is, there better not be a teenage or 20 year old playing these characters. Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving were in their 30s-40s when they shot The Fellowship of the Ring and casting someone 10 years younger than that would look too far off. At least, in our opinion it would, besides, with today’s technology you could age someone down without it being too obvious. It’s our hope that they would choose an an actress and actor close to that age range. Not just because we liked Hugo and Cate but because Elves are immoral beings blessed with long life, that should be shown every chance that you get.
What’d you think about these character confirmations? Are you excited about the returns of Elrond, Galadriel, and Sauron? What about the potential casting? Are we way off base, should we be more open to younger versions of these Elves? Let us know!
Thank you for taking the time to read through this, we hope you’re having a great day, remember, a light from the shadows shall spring.
– The Wandering One
Of Blades and Kings 