As long as I'm "on a Tolkien kick," I might as well mention that the Amazon series is apparently delayed due to COVID.
People were estimating a 2021 release date, but now it appears it'll be late 2021 or early 2022.
In the course of looking for that information, I learned a few things that encourage me.
One, Legolas will not be in it.
Whew. Legolas wasn't in The Silmarillion, either the main body of the took that covered the First Age of Middle Earth, or in its expansive appendices that give an overview of the Second Age and early Third Age of Middle Earth.
But he wasn't in The Hobbit, either, but that didn't prevent Peter Jackson ("the Whore," as he's known among Tolkien diehards . . . who is not involved in the series, thank goodness) from destroying the three-part movie version with Legolas and the elves.
Second, the series is definitely going to cover the Second Age. When I wrote this piece, people were thinking that was the case, but it has supposedly been confirmed by Amazon. I suspect my conjecture and analysis in that piece will also be confirmed.
Third, the show will go on for at least two seasons. It is written to go for five seasons, but I guess Amazon has committed to only two seasons so far. I don't pretend to understand mini-series, but I'm assuming Amazon wants to see how it does before contracting itself to seasons 3, 4, and 5. Given that the Second Age lasts for over 3,400 years, I would think there's enough material for five seasons (and then some).
