‘We looked at it’: The Rings of Power season 2 pays tribute to The Fellowship of the Ring movie in the most precise way possible, its creators confirm

Exclusive: ‘Yeah, we did look at the beginning’

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The Rings of Powerseason 2contains a very precise reference toThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring’s movie adaptation, according to its creators.

Speaking to TechRadar ahead of the hitPrime Videoshow’s return, J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay confirmed that there’s a very subtle but faithful call back to the first of six Middle-earth-set films directed by Peter Jackson. In fact, it’s such an understated homage that I suspect many people – Tolkien fanatics or otherwise – won’t have even picked up on it.

The scene in question can be seen at the 0:34 mark inThe Rings of Powerseason 2’s official trailer. It’s the briefest of clips from a much longer sequence in season 2 episode 1, which ends with Elven High-king Gil-galad, the hot-headed Galadriel, and Cirdan – the latter being one of Middle-earth’s oldest and wisest elves – wearing three of the titular rings. The trio was forged inThe Rings of Powerseason 1 finale, but this is the first time they’ll be worn inAmazon’s non-canonical TV series.

So, what’s so special about the aforementioned elves wearing said magical artifacts? As you can see in the image above, the three rings – Nenya, Narya, and Nilya – sit on one of each character’s middle fingers. That’s significant because, inThe Fellowship of the Ringsmovie adaptation, Galadriel, Gil-galad, and Cirdan are seen wearing the rings on their middle fingers, too. You can compareThe Rings of Power’s interpretation of this key moment withThe Fellowship of the Ring’sscene via the above and below images.

Okay, there’s a minor continuity error with Galadriel, who’s seen wearing Nenya on her left hand’s middle finger inThe Rings of Powerseason 2 as opposed to her right hand inThe Fellowship of the Ring. Still, that doesn’t take away from the fact that McKay and Payne, who are diehardLord of the Ringsfans, performed due diligence to ensure some artistic consistency between the two live-action projects.

Responding to my question about whether this was an intentional creative decision or just blind luck, McKay said: “How did we decide on what finger? Yeah, we did look at the beginning ofThe Fellowship[of the Ring]”, before Payne interjected: “Yeah, we wanted to be absolutely sure we knew where the elves wore their rings.”

So, there you have it.The Rings of Powermay not becanonwithinThe Lord of the Ringsuniverse that J.R.R. Tolkien created, but that doesn’t mean it eschews what’s written in the source material, nor overlooks how its largely faithful movie adaptations were filmed. Kudos, then, to the showrunners of one of thebest Prime Video showsfor ensuring some connective tissue between their production and Jackson’s firstThe Lord of the Ringsventure. Stay tuned to TechRadar for even more exclusives in the run-up toThe Rings of Powerseason 2’s debut on August 29.

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As TechRadar’s senior entertainment reporter, Tom covers all of the latest movies, TV shows, and streaming service news that you need to know about. You’ll regularly find him writing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus, and many other topics of interest.

An NCTJ-accredited journalist, Tom also writes reviews, analytical articles, opinion pieces, and interview-led features on the biggest franchises, actors, directors and other industry leaders. You may see his quotes pop up in the odd official Marvel Studios video, too, such as thisMoon Knight TV spot.

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