What should Amazon’s Lord of the Rings prequel series be about? Here are 13 ideas
By Corey Smith
Young Aragorn
Descended from Numenorian kings, who were granted longer lives than other men, Aragorn is 87 years old at the start of the Lord of the Rings saga. What was the future king of the Reunited Kingdom of Gondor doing for the decades before that? Quite a lot, actually.
At the age of 2, Aragorn’s father was killed by orcs, leaving Aragorn to be raised by Elrond in Rivendell. It was here that Aragorn and the elf Arwen met in much the same way as did their ancestors, Beren and Lúthien. So bam: the show has romance. From there, Aragorn is off to the races. He befriends Gandalf early on, travels to every corner of Middle Earth, captures and interrogates Gollum, and guards the Shire with his fellow Rangers. Bam: the show has adventure.
Aragorn serving in disguise in the armies of both Gondor and Rohan would provide the large-scale battle scenes Amazon is looking for, while navigating his relationships with Arwen and Elrond would give us the personal drama we need. Using one of Tolkien’s more popular characters as the centerpiece would make for an easy sale, and sprinkling in a few of the others such as Gandalf and Elrond could be arecipe for success. This is the show Amazon is rumored to be making, and it’s a good pick.