Adar (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power)

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## Guest appearance

"**Adar**" is the third episode of the first season of the American fantasy television series *The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power*, based on the novel *The Lord of the Rings* and its appendices by J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in the Second Age of Middle-earth, thousands of years before Tolkien's *The Hobbit* and *The Lord of the Rings*, it follows a large cast as they face the re-emergence of evil. The episode was written by Jason Cahill and Justin Doble, and directed by Wayne Che Yip.

Amazon made a multi-season commitment for a new *The Lord of the Rings* series in November 2017. J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay were set to develop it in July 2018. Filming for the first season took place in New Zealand, and work on episodes beyond the first two began in January 2021. Yip was revealed to be directing four episodes of the season that March, including the third episode which introduces the island kingdom of Númenor. Production wrapped for the season in August.

"Adar" premiered on the streaming service Prime Video on September 9, 2022.

## Plot

The captured Arondir is taken to an Orc construction camp where other captives are digging trenches somewhere in the Southlands. These allow the Orcs, who are sensitive to sunlight, to move during the day. Arondir finds his fellow Elves Médhor and Revion have also been brought after captured, and they begin planning their escape. When Revion refuses to cut down a tree in their path, the Orcs kill Médhor. Arondir agrees to cut down the tree. He sees that the surrounding area has become poisoned and desolate.

Galadriel and Halbrand are picked up by a ship captained by Elendil, who takes them to Númenor, an island kingdom ruled by Men. Relations between the island and the Elves have grown strained, and Queen Regent Míriel denies Galadriel's request for a ship back to Middle-earth. Elendil is assigned to watch over Galadriel and he takes her to the kingdom's Hall of Lore, where Galadriel discovers that the mark of Sauron is actually a map of the Southlands where a new realm for evil forces is planned.

Halbrand gets into a fight with some Númenóreans and is imprisoned. Galadriel finds him and reveals that she knows he is the true king of the Southlands, descended from the man who united the tribes of the Southland and was loyal to Morgoth. She asks him to return to Middle-earth with her to redeem both of their bloodlines. Meanwhile, Elendil's son Isildur nears the end of his training as a naval cadet, but has been encouraged by his brother Anárion to postpone his graduation against Elendil's wishes.

The evening before the Harfoots' next migration, the stranger accidentally reveals himself to the rest of the Harfoots while trying to read some star maps. The shocked Harfoots consider exiling Nori Brandyfoot for helping the stranger, but she is forgiven because of her young age. The next day, the Harfoots start migrating and the Brandyfoots struggle to keep up due to Largo, Nori’s father, who has an injured ankle. The stranger follows them, and the Brandyfoots let him help them migrate.

Arondir, Revion, and some other captives attempt to escape from the Orcs when the sun is highest. The Orcs send a warg to attack them and Arondir kills it. Revion makes it out of the trench, but is killed by archers. Arondir is unable to get free, and is brought before the mysterious leader of the Orcs, Adar.

## Production

### Development

Amazon acquired the global television rights for J. R. R. Tolkien's *The Lord of the Rings* in November 2017. The company's streaming service, Prime Video, gave a multi-season commitment to a series based on the novel and its appendices, to be produced by Amazon Studios. It was later titled *The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power*. Amazon hired J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay to develop the series and serve as showrunners in July 2018. Jason Cahill and Justin Doble had joined the series as writers by July 2019, and Wayne Che Yip was revealed to be directing four episodes of the first season in March 2021. The series is set in the Second Age of Middle-earth, thousands of years before the events of Tolkien's *The Hobbit* and *The Lord of the Rings*, and the first season focuses on introducing the setting and major heroic characters to the audience. Written by Cahill and Doble, and directed by Yip, the third episode is titled "Adar". This is the Elvish word for "father", and is also the name of a character who is introduced at the end of the episode.

### Writing

Doble said the episode was referred to as a second pilot for the series by the writers because so much of the Númenórean world is established in it. He felt there was a lot of exposition required before they could focus on the characters in future episodes. The showrunners wanted each group of characters to be introduced at "a time of enormous change in their worlds" to help make the series "dramatic and surprising", and for the Númenóreans this was introducing them "at a tipping point in [their] politics and culture. And [we] introduce them at the moment that Galadriel, an Elf, returns to the island and is going to set all those conflicts simmering." Executive producer Lindsey Weber elaborated that the Númenóreans "were given the island by the Elves. And half of the population or so feels very indebted and connected to Elven ways, and half or so feel that they are their own people who do things in the Númenórean way... we come to that world at its height, but at a particularly precarious moment and a moment at which something like the appearance of an Elf might have a big impact."

### Casting

The series' large cast includes Cynthia Addai-Robinson as Míriel, Maxim Baldry as Isildur, Morfydd Clark as Galadriel, Ismael Cruz Córdova as Arondir, Trystan Gravelle as Pharazôn, Lenny Henry as Sadoc Burrows, Ema Horvath as Eärien, Markella Kavenagh as Elanor "Nori" Brandyfoot, Lloyd Owen as Elendil, Megan Richards as Poppy Proudfellow, Dylan Smith as Largo Brandyfoot, Charlie Vickers as Halbrand, Daniel Weyman as the stranger, and Sara Zwangobani as Marigold Brandyfoot. Also starring are Augustus Prew as Médhor, Simon Merrells as Revion, Anthony Crum as Ontamo, Alex Tarrant as Valandil, Beau Cassidy as Dilly Brandyfoot, Thusitha Jayasundera as Malva, Maxine Cunliffe as Vilma, Joseph Mawle as Adar, Jed Brophy as Vrath, Edward Clendon as Lurka, Luke Hawker as Magrot, and Phil Grieve as Bazur.

### Filming

Amazon confirmed in September 2019 that filming for the first season would take place in New Zealand, where the *Lord of the Rings* and *Hobbit* film trilogies were made. Filming primarily took place at Kumeu Film Studios and Auckland Film Studios in Auckland, under the working title *Untitled Amazon Project* or simply *UAP*. Production on episodes beyond the first two began in January 2021, and Yip confirmed that he had begun filming his episodes by March. Filming for the season wrapped on August 2. For the introduction to Númenór, Yip felt going straight to a wide establishing shot would be overwhelming for the audience and stop them from seeing all the details of the city, so he constructed the sequence so that it would reveal parts of the city first before expanding to wider shots once the ship reaches the harbor.

### Visual effects

Visual effects for the episode were created by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), Wētā FX, Method Studios, Rodeo FX, Cause and FX, Atomic Arts, and Cantina Creative. The establishing shots of Númenór in the episode came after a long development period with production designer Ramsey Avery, and Payne said seeing the completed visual effects was when he felt they had reached "the thing we've been trying to get to".

### Music

A soundtrack album featuring composer Bear McCreary's score for the episode was released on Amazon Music on September 9, 2022. McCreary said the album contained "virtually every second of score" from the episode. It was set to be added to other music streaming services after the full first season had been released. All music composed by Bear McCreary:

## Release

"Adar" premiered on Prime Video in the United States on September 9, 2022. It was released at the same time around the world, in more than 240 countries and territories.

## Reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 84% approval rating with an average score of 7.2/10 based on 19 reviews. The website's critics consensus reads: "*The Rings of Power* risks straining viewers' patience by expanding its scope instead of meaningfully progressing its established story threads, but "Adar" is just as impressive as its predecessors."

Ismael Cruz Córdova was named an honorable mention for *TVLine*'s "Performer of the Week" for the week of September 5, 2022, for his performance in this episode. The site highlighted Arondir's fight against the warg, specifically "the fire in Ismael Cruz Córdova's eyes and the mighty roar from his lungs as the Elf fought back... Arondir is quickly becoming one of our favorites to watch."

## Aftershow

An episode of the official aftershow *Deadline's Inside the Ring: LOTR: The Rings of Power* for "Adar" was released on September 10, 2022. Hosted by *Deadline Hollywood*'s Dominic Patten and Anthony D'Alessandro, it features exclusive "footage and insights" for the episode, plus interviews with cast members Owen, Clark, Vickers, Addai-Robinson, Gravelle, Kavenagh, Richards, Weyman, and Zwangobani, as well as Yip, Doble, and McCreary.

## References

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1. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (November 13, 2017). Amazon Sets 'The Lord of the Rings' TV Series In Mega Deal With Multi-Season Commitment.
2. ↑ Otterson, Joe (January 19, 2022). 'Lord of the Rings' Amazon Series Reveals Full Title in New Video.
3. ↑ Goldberg, Lesley (July 28, 2018). 'Lord of the Rings': Amazon Taps 'Star Trek 4' Duo to Develop TV Series.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 White, Peter (July 27, 2019). Amazon Sets Creative Team For 'Lord Of The Rings' TV Series Including 'GoT' & 'Breaking Bad' Producers – TCA.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Littleton, Cynthia (March 24, 2021). 'Lord of the Rings' Series Adds Director Wayne Che Yip as Co-Executive Producer.
6. ↑ Oller, Jacob (March 7, 2019). Amazon Confirms Lord of the Rings Show is Second Age Prequel to Films.
7. ↑ Lussier, Germain (July 23, 2022). Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Is a 'Mega Epic'.
8. ↑ Robinson, Joanna (February 14, 2022). 10 Burning Questions About Amazon's 'The Rings of Power'.
9. ↑ Phipps, Keith (September 9, 2022). Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Recap: A Fugitive From an Orc Chain Gang.
10. ↑ Edwards, Belen (September 9, 2022). Who is Adar in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power'?.
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Patten, Dominic; D'Alessandro, Anthony (September 10, 2022). *Deadline's Inside The Ring Episode 3 | The Rings of Power | Prime Video*. *Deadline Hollywood*. Retrieved September 11, 2022 – via YouTube.
12. ↑ Eddy, Cheryl (August 30, 2022). LOTR: The Rings of Power's Co-Creators on Returning to Middle-earth.
13. ↑ Bankhurst, Adam (September 2, 2022). The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Producer on the Role Galadriel Has to Play.
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 Template:Cite magazine
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Breznican, Anthony (February 10, 2022). Amazon's Lord of the Rings Series Rises: Inside The Rings of Power.
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Travis, Ben (June 2, 2022). Empire's The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power World-Exclusive Covers Revealed.
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Lovett, Jamie (February 14, 2022). The Lord of the Rings TV Series Reveals Hobbit's Name, King of the Elves and a Mysterious Stranger.
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Yeo, Debra (July 30, 2022). Canadian cast member of 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' says 'the detail was what made it epic'.
19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Cahill, Jason; Doble, Justin (September 9, 2022). "Adar". *The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power*. Season 1. Episode 3. Prime Video. End credits begin at 64:28.
20. ↑ Template:Cite press release
21. ↑ New $1.5b LOTR TV series set to film in Auckland (June 30, 2019).
22. ↑ Keall, Chris (March 15, 2020). Coronavirus: Amazon's Lord of the Rings production in West Auckland shut-down.
23. ↑ Perry, Spencer (December 25, 2020). Amazon's Lord Of The Rings Pilot Has Wrapped Filming.
24. ↑ Simich, Ricardo (December 20, 2020). Spy: Lunch of the Rings? The LOTR star spotted on Waiheke.
25. ↑ Petski, Denise (August 2, 2021). 'The Lord Of The Rings' TV Series Gets Amazon Premiere Date & First-Look Photo.
26. ↑ Tangcay, Jazz (September 1, 2022). 'Rings of Power' Used 20 VFX Studios, Nearly 10,000 VFX Shots to Revive Middle-earth (Exclusive).
27. ↑ Ellwood, Gregory (August 24, 2022). 'The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power': J.D. Payne & Patrick McKay Achieve The Impossible, But It's Not What You Think | Page 2.
28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' Season 1, Episode 3 ('Adar') Soundtrack Album Released (September 8, 2022).
29. ↑ Twitter thread by composer Bear McCreary explaining the episodic soundtrack albums for the series:

	* <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>McCreary, Bear [@bearmccreary] (September 2, 2022). "We just dropped TWO new #TheLordOfTheRings #TheRingsOfPower albums, for Episode One and Two. Listen now on [Amazon Music]! These weekly episodic [*The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power*] albums will contain almost entirely new music and suites, different from the Season One soundtrack album" (Tweet). Archived from the original on September 3, 2022. Retrieved September 3, 2022 – via Twitter.
	* <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>McCreary, Bear [@bearmccreary] (September 2, 2022). "For the main "Season One" album, I recut, and even rewrote & re-recorded, much of the music to create an emotional listening experience that captures the season's narrative arc in a symphonic format" (Tweet). Archived from the original on September 3, 2022. Retrieved September 3, 2022 – via Twitter.
	* <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>McCreary, Bear [@bearmccreary] (September 2, 2022). "For the episodic albums, you get a playlist much closer to the narrative arc of each episode. Virtually every second of score is here. Some cues have been combined into suites to create continuous musical tracks (keeping Harfoot cues together, Elven cues together, and so on)" (Tweet). Archived from the original on September 3, 2022. Retrieved September 3, 2022 – via Twitter.
	* <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>McCreary, Bear [@bearmccreary] (September 2, 2022). "Episodic albums for #TheLordOfTheRings #TheRingsOfPower will be available exclusively on [Amazon Music] as each episode streams on [Prime Video]. Once all episodes stream, these albums will be available on ALL DIGITAL PLATFORMS" (Tweet). Archived from the original on September 3, 2022. Retrieved September 3, 2022 – via Twitter.
30. ↑ 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings Of Power'; Prime Video Reveals Rollout Schedule (August 16, 2022).
31. ↑ Bradley, Bill (September 2, 2022). How The Rings of Power Showrunners Handled a Massive Global Debut.
32. ↑ Template:Cite Rotten TomatoesTemplate:Cbignore
33. ↑ The TVLine Performer of the Week: Patty Guggenheim (September 10, 2022).
34. ↑ Patten, Dominic (September 10, 2022). 'LOTR: The Rings Of Power' After Show 'Inside The Ring': Episode 3 – Welcome To Númenor; Settling The Score.

## External links

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