Middle Earth has never looked so good. On Monday, Aug. 2, Amazon dropped a first look photo of the new Lord of the Rings series and announced a premiere date set for next year. It's really a good news/bad news situation. So, while we wait 14 months for the actual show — it'll hit Amazon Prime on Sept. 2, 2022 — let's spend our time overanalyzing every pixel in this revealing first look photo.
This new LOTR show will take place during the Second Age of Middle Earth, a period thousands of years prior to the events of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. It'll feature a brand new story and never-before-seen cities of Middle Earth. The first official still from the show teases one such location. It's a sprawling kingdom, featuring white domed buildings, elaborate bridges over waterfalls, and plenty of trees. An unidentified characters stands on a hill in the foreground, looking out at the city.
My first thought looking at this image is that it reminds me a lot of Rivendell (where the Fellowship of the Ring is originally formed). The white stone, the waterfalls, it all screams of elves. But what city is it? And what does that mean for the Lord of the Rings series?
The Two Trees Of Valinor
Zoom in on that flash of bright light in the background and you'll see what looks like two burning trees, one bright yellow, the other giving off more of a white glow. As fans noted on Twitter, these appear to be the Two Trees of Valinor, aka The Trees of Valor. The Two Trees, called Laurelin and Telperion, were the first source of light when The Valar first settled on Arda (essentially the Tolkien version of Earth). The trees were eventually destroyed by Melkor, who was the first Dark Lord of Middle Earth — Sauron's evil predecessor — and their last remaining essences became the Sun and the Moon of Middle Earth.
The interesting thing to note here is that the Trees of Valor were destroyed before the Second Age, which is when the Lord of the Rings show is set to take place. So, whatever is going on in this photo is likely a flashback or a prologue to the series. And, if that's the case, then who is the person in the photo?
Only a few characters have been officially confirmed in the new Lord of the Rings series, including Galadriel (played by Cate Blanchett in the movie trilogy). The elf, set to be played by Morfydd Clark, is known to wear long, white robes. And, due to her elf immortality, has actually lived long enough to have seen Valinor and carried on through the Second and Third Ages. Plus, having her open the LOTR series would provide a nice symmetry with the trilogy, as Galadriel also narrated that original prologue, introducing the rings and Middle Earth to the audience.
What do you think of this first photo? Are counting down the days to September of 2022? Let us know in the comments.
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Images: Courtesy of Amazon Studios