What The Rings of Power Can Learn from Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
When Amazon announced The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, a new TV series that takes place within Middle-earth, fans were surprised to say the least. Not since 2013's The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies has there been new tales based in the world of The Lord of the Rings content. Little was known about the series for a long time, in part due to a COVID-related production delay, but Amazon revealed the first Rings of Power trailer earlier this week in anticipation of the show's September premiere. Judging by the trailer, the showrunners do seem to be taking some liberties with the source material, and the show could learn from the mistakes and successes of Middle-earth: Shadow Of Mordor.
Shadow of Mordor is one of the most notable non-canonical games within the universe of J. R. R. Tolkien. The game largely ignores the characters from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy in favor of its new protagonist Talion. Monolith Productions does, however, root Talion firmly within the lore of Tolkien; the character travels to notable locations within Middle-earth and meets a handful of canon characters. The way Shadow of Mordor manages to balance the new and the old is something that The Rings of Power would do well to learn from.
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The most important lesson from Shadow of Mordor is to refrain from reinventing the wheel and instead utilize the groundwork that's already there. One great way the developers accomplished this was by embracing the locations of Middle-earth. A majority of the events within the game take place in, unsurprisingly, Mordor, which is an iconic part of Middle-earth. Talion is also captain of the rangers of Gondor and consequently lives atop the
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