Game of Thrones and its Amazonian fantasy-based prequel competitor

Game of Thrones’ prequel pilot episode has wrapped, but how will it fare in a battle with Amazon’s Lord of the Rings prequel? How much darker will J.R.R. Tolkien’s Second Age compare to George R.R. Martin’s story?

Game of Thrones concluded its run just this year and a pilot episode of a prequel spin-off just recently wrapped according to Latino Review. The HBO series is labeled currently as Bloodmoon, but there’s another “little” fantasy-based prequel series on deck that I would pronounce to be quite epic.

HBO has been a mainstay for many decades and has had a loyal following to its Game of Thrones series. Competitor of Amazon Studios’ has the Lord of the Rings series coming up, and both are said to be taking place thousands of years prior to the current movies/TV shows we’ve already watched.

Pushback to Game of Thrones consultation

The Benioff and Weiss announcement has been met with opposition via The One Ring ‘s Twitter feed. Apparently, they feel that Amazon should “keep Benioff and Weiss far away from @LOTRonPrime. No ‘consulting’ or other shenanigans”. From what I gathered, this is pretty much a major go-to fansite for all things Tolkien.

Very recently @LOTRonPRime revealed a video montage of staffers involved with the Middle-earth series, I was anticipating the GoT duo popping up at the end, but none such made an appearance.

Meet our Fellowship. pic.twitter.com/Npouu6ZlRt
— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) July 27, 2019

But why be opposed to the two masters in the fantasy genre? I would say Middle-earth and Westeros have their similar formats when it comes to world-building and what better way to bring on board at least the “consult” of these two gents. I’ll tell you why.

A darker LOTR Second Age

Back in April, EW gave a break down of the Amazon series, dissecting the @LOTRonPrime map pictures of the Second Age. With it was the focus on Númenor, an island that doesn’t visibly exist on the known Lord of the Rings Middle-earth map. According to the EW article, this island was prosperous, but the powers that be later yearned for more…power.

Of course, Sauron in full form had an uncanny ability to corrupt and thus influenced the Númenóreans to sail west to satiate their yearning. According to the EW article, the consequences of their actions were disastrous:

"“The gods punished them by sinking Númenor, forever changing the shape of Middle-earth. It’s a tale of hubris, manipulation, and greed — one that makes Game of Thrones’machinations look like checkers”."

I like the checkers analogy and prompted me to quote Gandalf’s “The board is set, the pieces are moving” dialogue from Return of the King. I can’t help but wonder if he’s referring to the game of chess. I shall further continue quoting the magic-user by citing “All good stories deserve embellishment” when telling Bilbo about how the game of golf was invented.

This is why I think the talented duo of Benioff and Weiss, whose prowess and immersion into one of the darkest franchises, is more than qualified to provide consultation and “embellishment” to the Amazon Studios series should they take a path to the streaming service.

Which lore is most challenging, GoT or LOTR?

Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings have their lore, but which would you say is most challenging to bring to the small screen? I have learned recently via a Google translated site over at Tolkien Gesellschaft that Tolkien expert and biographer Tom Shippey explained further the piecing together of the lore.

He also explained how Amazon Studios’ crew will be partaking in the honor of answering the questions of certain characters/events that existed in the Second Age. They do have to be mindful of how the show is put together as it shouldn’t contradict what was historically put to paper by Tolkien. It should also remain canon and within the confines of what is considered to be “tolkienesk”.

"“Theoretically, Amazon can answer these questions by inventing and completing the answers, since Tolkien has not described it”."

Tolkien has bits and pieces of items here and there and this can be quite the Humpty Dumpty project. At the same time, I’m sure having these pieces in existence already will be kind of an aid to the creative heads behind the Lord of the Rings project.

Game of Thrones has an author that’s still alive, so that helps. George R.R. Martin’s content will likely be fresh without really having any gaps to fill. Of course, there could be an alteration from the books to the small screen just like with any adaptation and who knows if the HBO spin-off will add characters of its own. The Hobbit had its non-book character Tauriel, played by Evangeline Lilly. Shippey also mentioned that Amazon has the ability to add characters as well. So you never know if Tauriel will have some company.

"“Amazon has a relatively free hand when it comes to adding something, because, as I said, very few details are known at that time”."

Geography and how much it may impact storytelling

Game of Thrones has a massive map and it may or may not be comparable to that of Middle-earth. I don’t know how they scale in comparison, but either way, I find them to be quite sizable. I had taken Cultural Geography in college, so maybe there’s that to consider if occupied lands, geography, landmarks, and shapes could come into play.

The subject of Culture Geography is far too descriptive and I’m not even sure how relevant it is to these shows’ storytelling, but I did a little research on other sites regarding comparisons between LOTR and GoT maps. A Huffington Post article suggested that the Game of Thrones’ map characteristics was mainly for dramatic effect while LOTR’s Middle-earth sprawl made it sound immersive and had more legitimacy and practicality to it. It echoes the journey-focused nature of Tolkien’s world, which is later talked about following this sub-topic.

I have to say that I could easily compare the real-life course I took in college which could easily pose as a fictional overlay of a Tolkien version of Culture Geography. Reddit user ZulDjin impressed me with his take that focused majorly on how geography impacted Middle-earth and vice-versa. So you could say this is an “in a nutshell” cultural geography version of the Tolkien-verse that connected me immediately to my course at the university.

LOTR gets points for a journey-focused story

Game of Thrones doesn’t really seem journey-focused like the Tolkien-verse. I mean, “The Unexpected Journey” was a prominent sub-title in The Hobbit flick. Now there are “journeys” of sorts in Game of Thrones, but I think they are mostly character-focused. Certain arcs are followed and I feel the only real note-able journey is that of Dany Targaryen. You could say it was a trials and tribulations experience not much far from what Frodo had experienced on his trip to Mount Doom.

Of course, The Hound and Arya Stark had their stint, but I wouldn’t say it’s too note-able. However, it appears she’ll be embarking on adventure post-Season 8 as she sails west of Westeros. That said, George R.R. Martin could be creating a noteworthy journey when it comes to her narrative.

Hobbit or not, Westeros is rarely a merry place

I do have to say although Tolkien’s works typically have their happy endings and feel-good moments. The addition of Hobbits only increases the positive feels as life examples we can all relate to. Game of Thrones, however, is a world where no good deed goes unpunished and it gives a rather dark spin on situations that the audience can relate to as well.

Take for instance Jon Snow at the end of GoT, I feel the protagonist got short-changed when he was sent back to The Wall. I think that having a Night’s Watch is now pointless since the defeat of the White Walkers as well as having allied with the Wildlings. He didn’t wind up by Bran’s side at King’s Landing, but this was all done in part to pacify the Dothraki.

A raw deal if you will, but that’s not unlike folks in real life that get passed over for a raise or promotion. I believe that Game of Thrones nails it with this one, considering it hits the reality bone far more harder than Lord of the Rings.

Next. SDCC 2019: Everything to know about the Game of Thrones panel. dark

That being said, how do you think the massive world of Westeros and Middle-earth compare? Would you say they even compare at all? Would you say that both the Martin-verse and Tolkien-verse are just simply two different sides of the same coin?

Lord of the Rings and the Game of Thrones prequel are still in development by Amazon and HBO respectively.

Home/Game of Thrones