‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ screenwriter Gennifer Hutchison explains changes made to ‘The Lord of the Rings’ canon with regarding the forging of the elven rings in the season 1 finale. Hutchison, known for her work on ‘Better Call Saul,’ co-wrote the season finale with the showrunners. JD Payne and Patrick McKay.
“The arc of the Elves needed an ending”
‘The Rings of Power’ tells the story of the Second Age of Middle-earth, and the season finale has Galadriel, Elrond and Celebrimbor forging the Three Rings of power belonging to the Elvess: Narya, Nenya and Vilya. Tolkien lore describes the Three as being forged after the Seven Rings of the Dwarves, the Nine Rings of Men, and before the One Ring of Sauron. However the series shows that these Three Rings are forged first, as a way to end the events of Season 1.
In an interview with Inverse, Hutchison has describe what inspired that choice to move away from canon from Tolkien:
“So much of the season is about the elves and their journey, and Galadriel’s journey, and the fading of Eregion. So we wanted to tie those rings into this story. It was about narrowing our focus on them and making those rings culminate the season. Because we had to do rings. It felt like the climax of that arc, rather than trying to manipulate the timeline in a different way.”
Although not a very momentous change to canon, this decision in the forging order of ‘Rings of Power’ demonstrates that keeping Tolkien’s tradition is secondary to telling a story And while some fans may have a problem with this philosophy, the writers have decided to cross whatever wires they need to serve the construction of a narrative, without being forced to bend over backwards by canon. With season 2 still a long way off, it will be the fans of the series who will judge if the changes are justified.