Episode 149 - Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Premiere (w/Eli Holicky)

Dom is joined once again by resident Tolkien expert Eli Holicky to break down everything going on in the premiere of Amazon's already maligned prequel series for Lord of the Rings, subtitled the Rings of Power. Amazon bought the television rights for The Lord of the Rings for US$250 million in November 2017, making a five-season production commitment worth at least US$1 billion. This would make it the most expensive television series ever made. Showrunners J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay were hired in July 2018. The series is primarily based on the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, which include discussion of the Second Age, during which Sauron infiltrates and corrupts the elves and men in order to craft the rings of power. Per the requirements of Amazon's deal with the Tolkien Estate, it is not a continuation of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit film trilogies. Despite this, the production intended to evoke the films using similar production design, younger versions of characters from the films, and a main theme by Howard Shore who composed the music for both trilogies. Dom & Eli break down everything the show has going for it, the changes they've made to the original source material, and really where the motivation for most fandoms comes from nowadays, as Lord of the Rings seems to be the latest in a long line to be taken away from us the fans. All of that and more on new episodes of the #talkintvpodcast