For the biggest Tolkien fans, a proper adaptation of the Barrow-wights has been long awaited. Based on a mix of mythology and old English folktales, these ghostly spirits played an important role at the beginning of “The Fellowship of the Ring,” when Frodo and his loyal Hobbit friends end up encountering some of the world’s deadliest and oldest enemies. world. all of Middle Earth. Jackson decided not to adapt this subplot into the film (and rightfully so, as there was already so much going on), but “The Rings of Power” showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay apparently decided that the events of the Second Age , set thousands of years before the Fellowship began trudging towards Mordor, would have been the perfect opportunity to unleash Tolkien’s twist on the undead.
In fact, Smith went on to reveal how the creative team took cues from the beloved fantasy author, directly incorporating his description of the Barrow-wights’ physical appearance into the show. “The eyes are a big thing that we took from the writing,” he explained, pointing to their eerie blue eyes as seen in the image above. While it might be tempting to compare them to the famous Ringwights, fans can expect the wights to present a completely different kind of threat than anything we’ve seen before. As Smith went on to say:
“The sensation that the passages give you is that of an approaching ruin, not by speed but by tirelessness. It is a threat that will invade you one centimeter at a time until you have nowhere else to go and you die.”
I, for one, welcome our new undead overlords. Season 2 of “The Rings of Power” is coming to Prime Video on August 29, 2024.
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