Thread by @TolkienGuide

VF: "They were selling the rights to the Appendices that outlined...the Second Age of Middle-earth, along with any references to that...in The Lord of the Rings" and "The Tolkien estate also wanted input into the direction of the series." 1/5

https://twitter.com/TolkienGuide/status/1492345612703989763

None of UT, S or HoMe (or other writings). But with the Estate involved, the showrunners could ask to use a detail (like the map of Númenor) and the Estate might grant or deny on a case by case basis, without ever giving carte blanche. 2/5

The scope of what license the Estate was shopping - TV rights to the Second Age as mentioned solely in the Lord of the Rings and Appendices, is extremely small (in the grand scheme of Tolkien's Legendarium). The show is tightly constrained from straying wider. 3/5

Comparing every detail in the show to UT, S and HoMe will be fun (I'll be there for that!) but doesn't imply the show is a failure on its own merits. I will be looking for internal consistency, and am still excited to see what they do. 4/5

I love a good TV show. #LOTRROP won't be "Tolkien's Second Age" on the TV. It still could be very good TV, and I am still looking forward to it (so far). 5/5

VF = quotes from the Vanity Fair article, forgot to put the link at the top!

vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022…