J.R.R. Tolkien Didn't Want a Lord of the Rings Sequel - Should We?

It’s harmless to accidental that The Lord of the Rings franchise is undergoing a spot of a resurgence close now. Even arsenic Prime Video continues to pump retired caller seasons of its prequel series, The Rings of Power, Warner Bros. is moving up with aggregate caller movie spinoffs. We already knew astir The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, which volition diagnostic Andy Serkis some successful beforehand of and down the camera. But present we’ve learned of a 2nd Rings project. The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past is simply a sequel to 2003’s Return of the King, and it’s co-written and produced by nary different than Stephen Colbert.

As breathtaking arsenic it is to spot truthful overmuch caller Middle-earth content, we’re not wholly sold connected the conception of Shadow of the Past. After all, the eventual Rings authorization – J.R.R. Tolkien himself – was against the thought of doing a sequel to the classical trilogy. Maybe helium was onto something? Let’s research what Shadow of the Past volition really beryllium astir and wherefore Tolkien wasn’t excessively keen connected exploring the Fourth Age of Middle-earth.

What Is The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past About?

The communicative chronicled successful The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy is lone the extremity of the iceberg arsenic acold arsenic the mythology of Middle-earth is concerned. Tolkien famously spent decades fleshing retired the past of this phantasy satellite via thousands of pages of worldly that lone saw work aft his death. Most notably, there’s The Silmarillion, a publication that provides a elaborate past of Middle-earth’s First and Second Ages and the archetypal warfare against the Dark Lord Morgoth.

But erstwhile it comes to the post-Return of the King timeline, Tolkien was comparatively tight-lipped. We truly lone cognize basal details surrounding the lives of characters similar Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and the Hobbits aft Frodo and Gandalf sailed into the West. And what we bash cognize doesn’t suggest that they faced immoderate large struggles connected the level of battling Sauron’s armies.

Essentially, Aragorn presides implicit an epoch of bid and prosperity for mankind, adjacent arsenic the elves proceed to slice from Middle-earth. While determination are assorted wars and skirmishes with the surviving orc tribes and rival kingdoms of men, Aragorn is mostly capable to unify the realm and enactment an extremity to the changeless rhythm of bloodshed.

Meanwhile, Legolas and Gimli proceed their bromance, travelling the onshore and getting into caller adventures. Samwise and friends proceed to unrecorded a peaceful beingness successful The Shire (though publication readers volition retrieve that there’s a batch of rebuilding that has to instrumentality spot that the movies ne'er got into). Eventually, Sam follows his person Frodo into the Undying Lands, followed by Legolas and Gimli aft the decease of Aragorn. Time continues to pass, and present we are now, successful what Tolkien estimated is astir apt the Sixth oregon Seventh Age.

In short, there’s not overmuch to prime isolated determination successful presumption of escaped ends oregon large conflicts worthy fleshing out. Tolkien did statesman enactment connected a full-fledged Rings sequel titled The New Shadow. That communicative was acceptable astir 100 years aft the decease of Aragorn, during the reign of Aragorn’s son, King Eldarion. But the writer lone coiled up penning astir a twelve pages earlier shelving the task (we’ll get much into wherefore successful a bit). What helium produced contains lone vague ideas astir a struggle involving a remnant of Morgoth called The Dark Tree and caller heroes Saelon and Borlas.

Even if Warner Bros. wanted to someway accommodate and soma retired The New Shadow arsenic a movie, we uncertainty they clasp the rights to that peculiar portion of Middle-earth lore. They’re constricted to the Rings books and their appendices. As such, the workplace is sticking overmuch person to the umbrella of the archetypal stories with Shadow of the Past. This movie is acceptable a specified 14 years aft the extremity of Return of the King and focuses connected Sam and his friends retracing their long, arduous journey, adjacent arsenic Sam’s girl Elanor grapples with a caller revelation astir the combat to destruct the One Ring.

Here’s the authoritative logline for the caller movie:

This suggests that the movie volition absorption mostly connected acquainted faces from the Rings trilogy. We person small uncertainty that Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, and Dominic Monaghan volition each reprise their roles, and there’s country for Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, and John Rhys-Davies (health permitting) to instrumentality arsenic well. But arsenic for the struggle of the film, we tin truly lone guess, arsenic Tolkien didn’t supply a batch to physique connected here.

We bash wonderment however overmuch of the movie volition really beryllium acceptable 14 years aft Return of the King. The crippled summary suggests that this aboriginal mounting could really beryllium a framing instrumentality that the movie uses arsenic a pretext to flash backmost to the War of the Ring struggle and research this long-buried secret. It’s worthy remembering that “Shadow of the Past” is the sanction of 1 of the aboriginal chapters successful The Fellowship of the Ring, specifically the 1 wherever Gandalf recounts to Frodo the past and quality of the One Ring.

The movie is besides said to beryllium drawn from Chapters 3-8 of Fellowship, which covers the play wherever Frodo and Sam archetypal acceptable retired from Hobbiton, are joined by Merry and Pippin astatine Crickhollow, task into the Old Forest, and brushwood the eccentric Tom Bombadil. Colbert specifically name-dropped Chapter 8, “Fog connected the Barrow-downs,” wherever Frodo and friends are captured by a Barrow-wight and saved by Bombadil. This whitethorn beryllium what the logline is referring to erstwhile it references the warfare being “very astir mislaid earlier it adjacent began,” arsenic Frodo’s decease successful the Barrow-down would person been a catastrophic improvement for Middle-earth.

Will the caller movie absorption much attraction connected this epoch of the timeline? Is it much of a companion portion to The Hunt for Gollum successful that sense? It definite looks arsenic though we’ll spot it accommodate immoderate of the aboriginal Fellowship worldly that ne'er made it into the archetypal film, peculiarly erstwhile it comes to Tom Bombadil and the Old Forest. Warners whitethorn beryllium looking to creation betwixt the raindrops of the movies much than trying to really physique a full-fledged sequel.

And successful immoderate ways, that attack could beryllium for the best. Tolkien intelligibly mislaid involvement successful producing a Lord of the Rings sequel, and it’s important to recognize why.

Why Tolkien Didn’t Want a Lord of the Rings Sequel

As we’ve already covered, there’s not a batch of existing worldly to gully upon erstwhile it comes to fleshing retired the post-Return of the King timeline of Middle-earth. What does beryllium is mostly dry, little accounts of characters dying oregon passing into the West. Tolkien lone precise concisely toyed with the thought of crafting a existent communicative retired of this era, and helium didn’t get precise acold earlier shelving the full thing.

Tolkien made his thoughts connected the substance beauteous wide successful assorted letters helium wrote implicit the years, letters which person been collected successful the publication The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien.

In 1 letter, Tolkien wrote, "I person written thing beyond the archetypal fewer years of the Fourth Age. (Except the opening of a communicative expected to notation to the extremity of the reign of Eldarion astir 100 years aft the decease of Aragorn. Then I of people discovered that the King's Peace would incorporate nary tales worthy recounting; and his wars would person small involvement aft the overthrow of Sauron; but that astir surely a restlessness would look astir then, owing to the (it seems) inevitable boredom of Men with the good: determination would beryllium concealed societies practising acheronian cults, and 'orc-cults' among adolescents.)"

In different letter, Tolkien admits helium rapidly came to presumption the communicative arsenic “sinister and depressing.”“

In different letter, Tolkien admits helium rapidly came to presumption the communicative arsenic “sinister and depressing.” After speechmaking astir the eventual triumph of mankind implicit evil, who truly wants to travel it up with a communicative astir men becoming bored, stupid, and torn isolated by infighting? Tolkien noted, “I could person written a 'thriller' astir the crippled and its find and overthrow — but it would person been conscionable that. Not worthy doing."

Tolkien rapidly abandoned immoderate thought of continuing the Middle-earth saga beyond that point, preferring alternatively to absorption connected the glorious, mythic days of the First and Second Ages. If helium didn’t spot the merit successful penning a Lord of the Rings sequel, wherefore should we?

Trying to proceed this communicative and trade different conflict connected the aforesaid standard arsenic the War for the Ring is an workout successful futility. What’s more, it goes against the tone of the root material. Tolkien’s enactment is permeated by the taxable that thing bully lasts forever. Magic and wonderment are ever gradually fading from the world. There are nary much elves oregon wizards. The earthy satellite is perpetually being encroached upon by the march of technological progress. The Fourth Age began the clip of man, and that’s been some a blessing and a curse for our species.

It’s surely tempting connected Warner Bros’ portion to privation to trade a sequel to 1 of its astir palmy movie franchises. There’s ever much wealth to beryllium made successful Middle-earth. But are determination ever much stories worthy telling? Not necessarily. Certainly, not successful that era.

So possibly it’s conscionable arsenic good that the workplace seems to beryllium hedging its bets with Shadow of the Past. This caller movie whitethorn ostensibly beryllium a sequel, but we fishy it’s going to walk a batch (maybe adjacent most) of its runtime revisiting the classical Lord of the Rings setting. That raises its ain acceptable of problems, but astatine the extremity of the day, there’s astir apt much to beryllium gained by returning to this iconic mounting than trying to physique thing wherever adjacent Tolkien himself feared to tread. Tolkien didn’t privation determination to beryllium a Lord of the Rings sequel. Why should we second-guess his decision?

What bash you privation retired of The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past? Should it beryllium a full-fledged sequel oregon much of a flashback to the classical LotR era? Vote successful our canvass and fto america cognize your thoughts successful the comments below:

In different The Lord of the Rings news, Kate Winslet precocious joined the formed of The Hunt for Gollum, portion Elijah Wood admits helium inactive has yet to decorativeness the books aft each these years.

Jesse is simply a mild-mannered unit writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intelligence thicket by following @jschedeen connected BlueSky.