Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power creators address scene that ‘fixed’ decades-old ‘plot hole’

Issue dates back to 2003’s ‘Return of the King’

Louis Chilton
Wednesday 28 September 2022 03:57 EDT
Comments
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power trailer

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

One of the creators of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has addressed a scene which seemed to “fix” a longstanding plot hole.

The season premiere, entitled “A Shadow of the Past”, featured a moment that many viewers interpreted as a callback to a moment in Peter Jackson’s original film trilogy.

The third of Jackson’s films, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, has long been nitpicked by fans for introducing an apparent plot hole into the continuity.

Towards the end of the film, Frodo and Sam are carried by giant eagles to Mount Doom, raising the question of why they didn’t just utilise their feathered friends’ help at the beginning of the saga – instead choosing to embark on a lengthy and dangerous trek across Middle Earth.

While fans have previously devised all sorts of plausible explanations for the plot oddity, the eagles remain one of the most well-known plot holes in cinema.

“A Shadow of the Past”, however, appeared to offer its own in-canon explanation for the incongruity.

An early scene in the episode features a huge battle between warring armies. During the carnage, we can clearly see a giant eagle be obliterated by a fellbeast, one of the creatures the Nazgul mount in Lord of the Rings.

Asked whether this was, as some fans had theorised, a deliberate attempt to address the old plot hole, Rings of Power executive producer JD Payne said: “I wish we were that smart.”

Patrick McKay, another of the series’ executive producers, added to Insider: “I love that, and I don't want to say anything that disagrees with it. But...” He then broke into laughter.

While it may have been unintentional, The Rings of Power may have nevertheless finally put this issue to bed.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in