Author Topic: Amazon's Lord of the Rings series is set in Second Age!  (Read 2415 times)

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Online Hurin

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Amazon's Lord of the Rings series is set in Second Age!
« on: March 08, 2019, 10:56:59 AM »
The new TV series that Amazon is throwing money at is not about the adventures of a young Aragorn, but is rather set in the Second Age:

https://ew.com/tv/2019/03/07/lord-of-the-rings-series-second-age-amazon/

I personally am elated. I expect we'll get to see some of the forging of the rings, the corruption of the Nazgul, the Last Alliance, and the downfall of Numenor. That alone will be worth the price of admission for me!
'Last of all, Húrin stood alone. Then he cast aside his shield, and wielded an axe two-handed'. --J.R.R. Tolkien

'Every party needs at least one insane person.'  --Aspen of the Jade Isle

Online Hurin

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Re: Amazon's Lord of the Rings series is set in Second Age!
« Reply #1 on: March 08, 2019, 11:01:16 AM »
By the way, check out the east part of the map they released: there are mountains on the east of Khand that extend up to the region east of Rhun. Was that mountain chaing and the forest to the west of it ever fleshed out by any old ICE modules?
'Last of all, Húrin stood alone. Then he cast aside his shield, and wielded an axe two-handed'. --J.R.R. Tolkien

'Every party needs at least one insane person.'  --Aspen of the Jade Isle

Offline Majyk

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Re: Amazon's Lord of the Rings series is set in Second Age!
« Reply #2 on: March 08, 2019, 11:46:32 AM »
OMG, OMG, OMG, Please don’t suck!
Please spend GoT+ money at the cast, crew, and locations.

This is very exciting until we get a Shadow World series...
 ;)

Online Hurin

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Re: Amazon's Lord of the Rings series is set in Second Age!
« Reply #3 on: March 08, 2019, 11:51:04 AM »
Please spend GoT+ money at the cast, crew, and locations.

Done! Last I heard they had committed to at least a 5-season run and a 1 Billion dollar budget. Yes, I wrote that correctly: 1 Billion dollars! (hahaha... my Dr. Evil laugh).

'Last of all, Húrin stood alone. Then he cast aside his shield, and wielded an axe two-handed'. --J.R.R. Tolkien

'Every party needs at least one insane person.'  --Aspen of the Jade Isle

Offline Tolwen

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Re: Amazon's Lord of the Rings series is set in Second Age!
« Reply #4 on: March 08, 2019, 03:36:49 PM »
By the way, check out the east part of the map they released: there are mountains on the east of Khand that extend up to the region east of Rhun. Was that mountain chaing and the forest to the west of it ever fleshed out by any old ICE modules?
Nope. This geography is 100% original by Amazon and has no corresponding or similar feature in the MERP modules.

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Tolwen
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Online Hurin

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Re: Amazon's Lord of the Rings series is set in Second Age!
« Reply #5 on: March 08, 2019, 05:30:01 PM »
By the way, check out the east part of the map they released: there are mountains on the east of Khand that extend up to the region east of Rhun. Was that mountain chaing and the forest to the west of it ever fleshed out by any old ICE modules?
Nope. This geography is 100% original by Amazon and has no corresponding or similar feature in the MERP modules.

Interesting! I wonder: which map from ICE showed the furthest east? I do remember seeing something of Khand -- or was it Near Harad? -- that showed a bit of the region south/southeast of Mordor. The farthest east I think they got in the lands of the Easterlings was just the eastern part of the sea of Rhun? I do seem to recall some verbal discussions though of peoples further east, as well as the place where the Elves awoke (Cuivienen). I don't recall any maps of that though.
'Last of all, Húrin stood alone. Then he cast aside his shield, and wielded an axe two-handed'. --J.R.R. Tolkien

'Every party needs at least one insane person.'  --Aspen of the Jade Isle

Offline Tolwen

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Re: Amazon's Lord of the Rings series is set in Second Age!
« Reply #6 on: March 09, 2019, 01:47:46 AM »
Interesting! I wonder: which map from ICE showed the furthest east? I do remember seeing something of Khand -- or was it Near Harad? -- that showed a bit of the region south/southeast of Mordor. The farthest east I think they got in the lands of the Easterlings was just the eastern part of the sea of Rhun? I do seem to recall some verbal discussions though of peoples further east, as well as the place where the Elves awoke (Cuivienen). I don't recall any maps of that though.
Pete Fenlon drew a continental map already very early in the history of MERP (around 1982 or so). You can find it here for example. A Google search also reveals other sites.
The main issue with it is, that it is nice to look at and was acceptable for its day, but nowadays its issues are myriad and therefore at odds in almost all major aspects with Middle-earth lore based on Tolkien. In the context of continental mapping it was also discussed in Other Minds, Issue 1.
In context with the Amazon map, you may notice that both have a mountain chain east of Mordor, but on the Amazon map it starts far to the north, whereas in the MERP map it starts only south of Mordor's eastern border.
The Amazon map has a lightly shaded mountain chain southeast of Mordor that is vaguely reminiscent of MERP's mountains in that area. On the MERP map, the "next" north-south mountain chain (the Orocarni) are located near the eastern end of the continent (far away from the area depicted on the Amazon map). For the one east of the Sea of Rhun, there is nothing comparable.

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Tolwen
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Online Hurin

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Re: Amazon's Lord of the Rings series is set in Second Age!
« Reply #7 on: March 09, 2019, 10:34:01 AM »
That is exactly what I was looking for, Tolwen. Thanks!

With the map question firmly answered, I was wondering where I might read more about some of the different Easterling/Khand tribes in an ICE book.

I found the MERP fandom site has a good article and a list of MERP books that mention Harad (and Khand): https://merp.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Near-Harad .

Similarly, the MERP Fandom site gives a good summary of the history of Near-Rhun, together with a list of Merp Modules that deal with it: https://merp.fandom.com/wiki/Near-Rh%C3%BBn

On the latter site, there is even a Fenlonian close-in map of the SW shore of the Sea of Rhun, which I don't think I had seen before. 
'Last of all, Húrin stood alone. Then he cast aside his shield, and wielded an axe two-handed'. --J.R.R. Tolkien

'Every party needs at least one insane person.'  --Aspen of the Jade Isle

Offline Tolwen

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Re: Amazon's Lord of the Rings series is set in Second Age!
« Reply #8 on: March 09, 2019, 03:17:47 PM »
With the map question firmly answered, I was wondering where I might read more about some of the different Easterling/Khand tribes in an ICE book.
Frankly, the ICE books had not much in them, as Easterlings were never a focus in any of them. And what little they had, it was always the "steppe nomad" stereotype. Ironically, all the Easterlings we read something of in some depth (the Wainriders and the Balchoth) were expressively no steppe nomads, which makes the MERP choice highly questionable even for back then (at least if fidelity to the source is of any relevance).

I found the MERP fandom site has a good article and a list of MERP books that mention Harad (and Khand): https://merp.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Near-Harad .

Similarly, the MERP Fandom site gives a good summary of the history of Near-Rhun, together with a list of Merp Modules that deal with it: https://merp.fandom.com/wiki/Near-Rh%C3%BBn
Almost all of it is assembled from either MERP, original material and other fan sources. I know this guy from earlier times and he is a fan of these cultures beyond Tolkien's map. MERP's treatment of "Easterlings" is peripheral in some modules, but IMO it lacks a coherent approach based on the original source. The "Inland Sea" (see below) would have been a good first step, but even that failed to materialize due to the foundering of the old ICE.
They had some books on the Far South, but nothing on Near Harad. That was planned as well, but came to naught like so many other ideas back then.

On the latter site, there is even a Fenlonian close-in map of the SW shore of the Sea of Rhun, which I don't think I had seen before.
Oh, that is a nice colorization of my Rhovanion map (at least part of it). The whole file (in B/W) can be found on the OM Facebook site (see my signature for a link). This map is based on the unpublished MERP manuscript for the Inland Sea annd later published as a fan-product of the same name. It is good, though it shares MERP's deficiencies (naturally, due to its origin).

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Tolwen
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Online Hurin

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Re: Amazon's Lord of the Rings series is set in Second Age!
« Reply #9 on: March 09, 2019, 08:43:14 PM »
Thanks for getting me up to speed Tolwen!

I do agree that the Easterlings and Greater Rhun were a bit of a missed opportunity for the old ICE. The Haradwaith was a bit better served (Greater Harad, Warlords of the Desert, etc.), but I would have also liked to have seen something on Near Harad beyond Umbar.
'Last of all, Húrin stood alone. Then he cast aside his shield, and wielded an axe two-handed'. --J.R.R. Tolkien

'Every party needs at least one insane person.'  --Aspen of the Jade Isle

Offline Siltoneous

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Re: Amazon's Lord of the Rings series is set in Second Age!
« Reply #10 on: March 11, 2019, 02:15:20 PM »
Best news I've had all day.  Thanks for catching this, and passing on the good word.
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Offline Witchking20k

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Re: Amazon's Lord of the Rings series is set in Second Age!
« Reply #11 on: March 12, 2019, 01:51:07 PM »
I think it was Forest of Tears?  That was great.  Loved the Sea of Rhun module too.  IMO one of the best things about MERP is/was that each module was like discovering a new piece adding color to a whitewashed puzzle.  You see it all before; but the modules added color and vibrancy you didn't know existed, and always hinted to the next piece.
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Offline Cory Magel

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Re: Amazon's Lord of the Rings series is set in Second Age!
« Reply #12 on: March 15, 2019, 09:39:55 PM »
This and future seasons of The Expanse will be the final straw that makes me subscribe to Amazon Prime.

I have a Middle Earth campaign idea that actually starts with the sinking of Numenor, so it will be interesting to see where this goes.
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