The battle has begun. And not the battle for Middle-earth, but to prevail in the congested streaming market through extremely ambitious blockbusters attached to heroic fantasy. On the one hand the house of the dragonprequel to Game of Thrones, on HBO Max. For another The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Powerset thousands of years before the trilogy of J. R. R. Tolkien famously made into a movie by Peter Jackson. the rings of power It has required a millionaire investment by Amazon, which has just released its first two episodes, unleashing an intense discussion on social networks. For now, the tone is nice overall. The series aims to have liked it. But it has also caused surprise because of something that happened in the first episode, a shadow of the past. It presents the different plots that will structure the series (which, according to the platform’s plans, would extend to five seasons), and one of them is headed by Galadriel, played by Morfydd Clark. Set in the Second Age, The Rings of Power starts from a context in which Morgoth appears to have been defeated, with his lieutenant (Sauron, perhaps you know something) unaccounted for. Still Galadriel, haunted by the memory of her dead brother Finrod (Will Fletcher) is hell-bent on finding Sauron. The rings of power begins with her expedition. However, the elven king of Lindon, Gil-Galad (benjamin walker) thinks the quest has gone on long enough without any results, and offers Galadriel a reward to travel to the Undying Lands: the highest honor her race can attain. And this is where things get weird. Because Galadriel embarks in the Gray Havens in the direction of said lands, until in the middle of the journey he thinks better of it and jumps from the ship. From the water, we can see how his companions are absorbed by a mysterious light, and the question is inevitable: are those elves dead? Is going to the Undying Lands something like a ritual suicide, typical of an immortal race as the elves suppose?

It’s a tricky business, because it would give it a sinister angle at the end of The return of the Kingwhere we remember that this same itinerary was followed by Gandalf, Bilbo, Frodo, Elrond, Celeborn and Galadriel (now played by Cate Blanchett, and supposedly holding out until the end of the trip). Did they all commit suicide? What does it really mean to go to the Undying Lands? From Direct they have gone to ask the same showrunners of The Rings of Power, J. D. Payne Y patrick mckay.“The answer is yes. Or not… You know, we loved the idea of ​​starting the story in a similar place to where Tolkien’s novel ended. We thought there was something intriguing about this.”replied the latter, playfully. “We also think that the theme of death and immortality in Tolkien has always had something intriguing, and more so in the world of the elves. Elves are immortal, but up to a point. They have a kind of time limit for their immortality. And when they reach it they have to go home, which is also a kind of death to go to heaven, and we wanted to embrace all the ambiguities and layers within that.”McKay prefers to leave it ambiguous, and concludes: “We would not be able to answer that question. Only Tolkien could.”. The Undying Lands is another name for the continent of Aman, a continent where the first city of the elves, Valinor, is located. It is there where the ships go, and where theoretically the chosen crew could rest for all eternity. Since Valinor is the home of the Valar (the most powerful beings in this world), it is not unreasonable to conceive it as something similar to Olympus: a posh spiritual retreat attended by the most illustrious personalities.

Well, the elves may not have died, but they have certainly begun a rest that will last all eternity, and that may well have required the abandonment of their physical form. Galadriel knew that if he reached Valinor he would never be able to return to Middle-earth, so he has decided to postpone this destiny a little longer. We’ll see what it leads to. Do you want to be up to date with all the latest movies and series? Sign up to our newsletter.