Hasuwandil
Menegroth
Jan 13 2021, 5:34pm
Views: 3921
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Altaira was right: I was pleasantly surprised. I was expecting something more spoilerish, and for now I'm perfectly content with what was revealed. I also think TORn handled this leak very professionally. I'm still not quite clear what they mean by "confirmation", but I'd say the fact that they held onto it for a couple of weeks before releasing it demonstrates that it's not just a wild rumor they're passing along.
I have seen complaints that: 1) this doesn't tell us anything we didn't already know, and 2) any knowledgeable fan could have come up with it. I disagree on both counts, but I do see how some people could see it that way. In a separate post I'll address what I think this synopsis tells us.
After having sat through the whole hour and a half of TORn Tuesday, one thing that struck me about people's expectations for the series is that everyone (or most people, at least) seemed to be surprised about the scope of the show. In particular, the phrase "to the furthest reaches of the map" caught people's attention. Of course, there's still room for debate on what exactly that means, but I interpret that as confirmation of what I've been speculating all along about the show visiting places such as Harad, Khand, and Rhûn. There are possible story reasons for this:
- Sauron spent the first thousand years of the Second Age among the Men of the East, so that is basically his backstory, without going into First Age territory.
- The Númenóreans lived on a island in peace until after all the Rings of Power were forged. Many of them were mariners, however, so the best place for them to find adventure early on is on voyages across the Great Sea. Aldarion, for one, is known to have at least sailed past the coast of Harad. He also visited and traded with various kings in Middle-earth, at least one of whom gave him a diamond. Of course, the most notable source of diamonds is from Tolkien's birthplace, or thereabouts. Uttermost Harad?
- The only way to have Wizards/Istari in the show and be consistent with something Tolkien wrote is to introduce the Blue Wizards, who upon arriving in Middle-earth immediately traveled to the East to try to undermine Sauron's plans there.
- Of the Nine Ringwraiths, one is known to have come from the East, and there are five whose origins are unknown. (The other three are said to be Númenóreans, though whether from the island itself or its colonies is I think unknown.)
In addition to those story reasons, the fact that Amazon was looking specifically for extras that met certain descriptions such as "Eurasian" or "South American" seemed to me to indicate that they were not doing "color-blind" casting, but rather looking to represent homogenous groups of people, such as Easterlings or Haradrim. There are both wonderful possibilities as well as dangers with going that route. I started to write about them, but this post is getting long enough as it is.
Anyway, obviously Amazon wants to increase its chances for success and, as far as possible, decrease its chances for failure. However, I would say that having a limited vision for the show would definitely decrease its potential for success, even if it may also slightly decrease its chances for failure.
Hêlâ Auriwandil, angilô berhtost,
oƀar Middangard mannum gisandid!
(This post was edited by Hasuwandil on Jan 13 2021, 5:40pm)
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