It’s starting to look like Amazon’s Lord Of The Rings series won't be about Aragorn, after all
Last month, we reported that the official Lord Of The Rings on Amazon Prime Twitter account had released a blank, interactive map of Middle Earth as a way to entice fans and potentially tease out information about the forthcoming series. Since then, that map has been updated with a wealth of new information, some of which teases that the series will not, as was as previously rumored, be about the adventures of a young Aragorn, the ranger played by Viggo Mortensen in Peter Jackson’s film series.
Over a series of four tweets, Amazon has peppered the map with a variety of labels, from large, recognizable region names like Mordor and Eriador to little-known rivers and tributaries that only the hardcore fans will care about. But there are a couple of names that were added to the latest (and, perhaps, final) tweet this morning that set the new series in a fairly specific point in the history of Middle Earth.
Minas Anor is the previous name of the white city of Minas Tirith, which is prominently featured in Return Of The King. Minas Ithil is the previous name of Minas Morgul, that big scary green fortress that Frodo, Sam, and Gollum slink past on their way into Mordor. The fact that these two cities are signified by their old names means this series should take place before the 2000th year of the Third Age, when Minas Ithil fell to the Nazgul and was renamed. That’s a good 900 years before Aragorn was born.
Fans had an inkling that this is where things might be headed when a previous version of the map labelled the region of Rohan with Calenardhon, which is what it was known as before everyone’s favorite horse lords from Two Towers came down from the north and settled that land. Some might say this is pretty irrefutable evidence that Amazon’s series will be about the kingdom of men during the Third Age, in the wake of their first defeat of Sauron. Either that or they’re completely ignoring canon and doing whatever they want.
With the series premiere date still years away, we’re certain this won’t be the last of Amazon’s clues, and with a new biopic trailer dropping every few weeks, it’s not like we’re starved for Tolkien content these days anyway.
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