I made my wife watch the LOTR trilogy while she was on bed rest pregnant with our twins.

OnlyForNow said:

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My wife has decided that she wants to read the LOTR trilogy.

She does not normally like fantasy books like this. Read and enjoyed Harry Potter, but that's barely into this kind of realm.

Y'all have any advice for getting her to stick with it? I think she is gonna get bogged down early on in FOTR when the hobbits are leaving the Shire and get into Tom Bombadil's land - although a very essential part of book 1 and the series it does go quite slow.

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The best thing to do is have her look at it as small portions. Read one chapter a day. That should help her get through. I absolutely disagree with the previous post about how she wouldn't like it if she doesn't like Book 1.

As anyone who has read the series knows, the Return of the King is absolutely epic.

A set photo has been leaked on twitter.

Is this a picture of the super-secret #Numenor Set or is it the Penguin Estates? I guess I should call my landscaper, Helen Dale pic.twitter.com/NdnbPIX2PA

— MrPenguinsPoppins (@PenguinsPoppins) September 20, 2021

Seeing that it has been promoted by the guy who has managed to break a number of scoops, I'm inclined to believe it, even if looks like it could be right out of Minas Tirith.

Already removed

SpreadsheetAg said:

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Already removed

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That was one revealing staircase.

Noticed that the audio books for LotR are included in the current 2 for 1 sale on Audible.

I got The Nature of Middle-earth for my birthday. Haven't had time to dive in yet. Has anyone read it? Thoughts?

Solo Tetherball Champ said:

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In an interesting development, twitter user fellowshipoffans (give him a follow) and theonering.net have both independently broke that the person in the image below is none other than Finrod Felagund.

Most notably:
Finrod was the big brother of Galadriel
One of the leaders of the Noldor when they left the undying lands
The first important elf to encounter men and befriend them
Aided Beren on his quest to recover the Silmarils (Holy Jewels) and in the process was captured by Sauron after losing a magical rap battle, before being killed by a werewolf.

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I love his stories in the Silmarillion. Will be very interesting to see how and what they adapt.

SIAP, but I just recently saw reports from July that said Sauron/Annatar will not appear in season 1. I'm really interested to see where they start, what they focus on first, etc.

The Dog Lord said:

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SIAP, but I just recently saw reports from July that said Sauron/Annatar will not appear in season 1. I'm really interested to see where they start, what they focus on first, etc.

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Well, we will have a decent idea by the end of the weekend.

Follow FellowshipofFans on twitter. Or just wait here, I'm sure the news will make it around her eventually.

I don't know that it will be an issue. If they are following the time line Sauron is not the original bad guy. He was a lieutenant in the 1st age IIRC

I thought most of the series was going to take place in the Second Age, when Sauron is the main baddie. Maybe the first season is going to actually take place in the First Age.

chase128 said:

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I thought most of the series was going to take place in the Second Age, when Sauron is the main baddie. Maybe the first season is going to actually take place in the First Age.

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It's not.

The latest rumor is that the first two episodes of season 1 are functioning as a bit of prologue. Whether it is an entirely separate narrative from the rest of the series, or if it is merely heavy on flashbacks and expeditionary dialogue is unclear at the moment.

Isildur is confirmed to be in the show. Speculation is about 90% sure he is played by Maxim Baldry.

https://twitter.com/FansFellowship/status/1451965794016010242?s

What's the update on the timeline for the show? I feel like I was reading about it 2 years ago...

Second age and likely culminating in the battle seen in the prologue of FOTR.

Oh lol. Still no word.

redline248 said:

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No, like...when will it come out?

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L O L

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Second age and likely culminating in the battle seen in the prologue of FOTR.

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Bro I didn't even think you were responding to me haha

redline248 said:

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No, like...when will it come out?

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September 2022 is what the current rumor mill is saying.

that is awful

So I introduced my daughter to the Hobbit movies last year and we have now started the LOTR trilogy, which she is totally into other than being absolutely terrified of Golum. We're about 2/3rds of the way into the Two Towers and I'm really enjoying watching them over and with a fresh pair of eyes. I've read the books through maybe twice, but not in decades.

My question is - what is Saruman's end-game for helping Sauron? Does he really think Sauron will share the rule of Middle Earth, like allow Saruman to have Rohan - while he controls the rest? Or is his sole motivation being - alliance with Sauron, then find the ring first. The movies make it a marked point that he creates the Uruk-hai to be loyal to him alone and to deliver the hobbits alive with the ring. Is that the case in the books as well? Surely he's too shrewd to believe that Sauron would share the power.

In the rewatch, I am continually mesmerized by the acting work of first Sean Bean, and then Bernard Hill. This could be a contest or just a discussion, or maybe we already had this discussion and I'm just too tired to remember, but he has to be one of the best "second act" characters of all time, right? I realize that is a sort of narrow scope - since it only involves movies that have a sequel or are a trilogy, but who else has been an amazing contribution to a story overall who wasn't in the first movie?

Just enjoy and don't overthink. It is what it is.

Deniro in Godfather II has to be up there.