Creating the darkest chapter of the adventure

One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them; one ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.” Gandalf’s famous words kicked off the series from showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Inspired primarily by the appendix to J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings novel series, the Amazon Prime Video offering begins thousands of years before the novel and depicts the major events of Middle-earth’s Second Age, which is before the Dark Lord Sauron brought his terror and the Orcs to seize power. While the first season explored how Gladriel, an Elven warrior, believed that evil was returning to Middle-earth, the second edition shows the rise of Sauron and the crafting of the Nine Rings for mortal Men, Seven Rings for the Dwarves, and Three Rings for the Elven Kings.

So what does it take to create a film adaptation of Tolkien’s popular books and offer audiences a breathtaking fantasy world? Painstaking attention to detail and respect for the source material, say Payne and McKay as they break down the creation of the series.

Charlie Vickers as Annatar and Sauron

History and its narrators

“At this point, [our partnership] “It’s like a left-brain, right-brain relationship,” says Payne, who reveals that they began writing the second season in 2020. At times, they even found themselves on different continents while writing the material. But after a successful 27-year collaboration that began with directing a short college play, the duo knows exactly how to use each other’s strengths to deliver a powerful script. McKay notes: “[It could be] “He writes one scene and I write another. Or I work on one script while he works on another. Our collaboration now feels like a marriage.”

This “marriage” has reached a new milestone with the show’s second season. Reflecting on how the books resulted in 50 hours of screen time, McKay shares, “When we were hired, we promised a story with a beginning, middle and end. We felt strongly that the first season [should be about] Reintroducing Middle Earth and its mythology to the audience while maintaining the antagonist, Sauron. [played by Charlie Vickers]in the shadows. Now he’s out! So this time it’s a different, darker adventure.”

Ismael Cruz Córdova as Arondir; Maxim Baldry as Isildur; Nia Towle as Estrid

Every detail matters

When constructing such an intricate fantasy story, it is imperative to be meticulous and create a story without loopholes or contradictions. What aspects did you have to be careful about? “Everything,” Payne says. “Every word, every shot, even the color of the costumes. You could pick any frame from the show and we could point to 15 things we had had meetings about. We saw 10 different versions of it.” [every story]and I heard the pros and cons of different collaborators.”

The season also introduces new characters, including Tom Bombadil, played by Rory Kinnear, a figure much loved by Tolkien fans but never before seen on screen. “He sings, he has pets and he keeps bees. He rhymes. He’s magical. He’s full of gravitas and ancient wisdom. He’s got a really unique and funny character,” McKay enthuses. Integrating such a quirky character was a challenge they relished. According to the books, Frodo and the other hobbits often hung out with him. “He’s the oldest being in Middle-earth. It seemed like too lovely an opportunity to pass up. We’re always looking for untapped veins of Tolkien gold that we could bring into the show, and this was one of them.”

JD Payne and Patrick McKay

Navigating the known and the unknown

Everyone is aware of what happens in the Lord of the Rings book and films. How do you keep audiences engrossed in the series? Payne says this was a question they often asked themselves. The answer was simple: a story you hear often can be told in a new way. “Tragedy is one of the greatest forms of drama. When you watch Titanic, [you know] It will sink. But the important thing is how it will sink, what is happening in people’s lives and who sacrificed their lives to make sure that [the heroine] “It didn’t die,” he says. To keep audiences engaged and surprised, the duo weren’t afraid to make tough choices, whether it was shortening a scene to keep the momentum going or expanding it to let a powerful performance shine. “We were constantly trying to catch the audience off guard and create a story with a good pace. It moves fast, but it slows down when it’s time to do so as well. It’s a balancing act,” McKay explains.

Why did they decide to depict the Second Age, rather than starting with Morgoth’s war? McKay explains that they were aiming to “find a sweet spot” between what the audience already knew and the new information to make the connection easier. “Amazon got the rights to the books and the appendix. There are other books that tell the story of the First Age in great detail. But it wouldn’t be possible if you only had the appendix to tell the story of the First Age and still do it justice,” McKay explains. Interestingly, Tolkien never wrote the Second Age novel. He scattered little stories here and there, alluding to this legendary era. “He never fixed in his mind exactly how these stories played out. It’s a story that, although [the audience] “I think maybe they know where it ends, they haven’t heard it before. Hopefully, that will allow us to have surprises and twists and turns along the way,” Payne adds.

Humanizing the villains

While The Lord of the Rings depicts orcs as vile, conscienceless creatures, Payne and McKay showed their human side in The Power of the Rings. The idea came from Tolkien’s treatment of them, Payne says. “Tolkien had a fraught relationship with orcs. On the one hand, he needed them to be minions of Sauron, who our heroes could fight later and not feel so bad for when they were killed. On the other hand, the book has scenes where orc couples tell each other that they hope to find peace, a home and life one day. So Tolkien shows the integrity of the characters. We built on that and took it to the next level and de-demonized them.”

By making the villains relatable, they heightened the tension and drama, creating characters who are not only feared, but understood. McKay explains: “[Alfred] Hitchcock has a great line about how the best villains are sympathetic. I think he was referring to Claude Rains’ character in Notorious. [1946]Claude Rains’ character does horrible things and is a villain, but you understand what his motivations are.”

Respect for Tolkien’s legacy

There would have been no Lord of the Rings without Tolkien. This was a fact that the book’s creators kept in mind at all times. While crafting the prequel using the novel’s appendix, Payne and McKay held detailed discussions with Tolkien’s estate. “We have the enormous privilege of working closely with the Tolkien estate. That includes Harper Collins, the book publisher, Elaine Cinema, who made the original films with Peter Jackson, and members of Tolkien’s family,” Payne says. “We approach them with a lot of humility, reverence, and also joy. It’s a great way to have a friend to talk to on the phone,” McKay adds.

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