Update
: It has now been announced that “The Lord of the Rings” star Orlando Bloom will also star in “Gran TWhat does Isildur see in “The Rings of Power”? The visions and voices in
In the third episode of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” you might have been able to dismiss it, but then in episode 4 it happens again: Isildur (Maxim Baldry) hears a strange voice while sailing on the sea and sees a mysterious land in the distance. What this is all about is not explained, but there are some clues in episode 4.
In the previous episode it is not even clear what exactly Isildur sees here: Is it the paradisiacal Valinor, where the Valar and numerous Elves live? Is it Númenor? Or perhaps Middle-earth?
In episode 4, however, we learn that this is the west of Númenor, the “true Númenor”, as Isildur’s friend Valandil (Alex Tarrant) puts it. But why does Isildur look so longingly towards the western part of Númenor?
WHAT LIES IN THE WEST OF NÚMENOR?
In the books of J.R.R. Tolkien, the western of the five arms of the star-shaped island bears the name Andustar, and there lies the city of Andúnië – which is something like the hometown of Isildur’s family. Their relatives bore the title “Princes of Andúnië” because they came from a collateral line of the royal family and thus also had Elros Tar-Minyatur, the founder of Númenor and brother of Elrond (Robert Aramayo), as their ancestor.
In Tolkien’s works, however, the princes of Andúnië, i.e. Isildur’s family, were at some point forced to leave their hometown and move to the east of the island. King Ar-Gimilzôr and the growing strife between the Elves and the Númenorians, who were jealous of the latter’s immortality, were responsible for this.
Andúnië, as the westernmost port of Númenor, was the place where the Elves landed from Valinor in the far west, and thus naturally a thorn in the side of the Elven-hostile kings of the island.
Presumably, then, Isildur simply longs for the hometown of his family, of his ancestors. At the same time, Andúnië also symbolises a Númenor that was still loyal to the elves and the Valar – and Isildur longs for this too, after all, like his father Elendil (Lloyd Owen), he belongs to the so-called faithful, i.e. the elven friends among the Númenorans.
And instead of continuing to serve dutifully as a sailor, he deliberately turns his back on the new, elven-hostile Númenor in episode 4. After all, the sailing master (Antonio Te Maihoa) also accuses him of deliberately letting go of the rope.
WHAT IS THAT VOICE?
There remains the question of the mysterious voice Isildur hears. There are several possibilities here: Perhaps he hears the voice of his mother, whose name is not mentioned in Tolkien, or of his ancestor Silmarien, from whom the princes of Andúnië are descended, or possibly even of one of the Valar.
Or maybe the series organisers are simply allowing themselves a little trick here and the whole thing is simply meant to remind us a little of the “Lord of the Rings” films and the seductive voice of the One Ring…
“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” episode 5 will be released on 23 September 2022 on Amazon Prime Video. Perhaps we will learn more about Isildur’s motives in it – although he has now signed up to fight Sauron’s followers in Middle-earth…
urismo” film. Which role he will take on and how big it will ultimately be is not yet known.
The fact that video game adaptations are not always the best ideas is not only often apparent from the quality of the productions, but also from the box office results, where the adaptations of any console or PC hits often fall short of expectations. With “Gran Turismo”, however, we are facing a project that certainly makes us want more. Because as the Hollywood Reporter has now announced, “Stranger Things” and Marvel star David Harbour will take on the leading role here.
Before Harbour could rise to become a real audience favourite in “Stranger Things” and “Black Widow”, where he was seen as the Red Guardian, the actor has already proven his versatility in various genre productions such as “War Of The Worlds”, “End Of Watch”, “The Equalizer”, “Rest In Peace – A Walk Among The Tombstones” or “Hellboy – Call Of Darkness”. This fits quite well, because the director of “Gran Turismo” is also a man whose love for genre cinema is undisputed: “District 9” and “Elysium” maker Neill Blomkamp.
His adaptation of the PlayStation-exclusive series is part of a major offensive by Sony, which is currently trying to transfer many of its own video game brands to other media. The big screen adventure “Uncharted” with Tom Holland made a start here a few months ago. The HBO series adaptation of the gaming masterpiece “The Last Of Us”, which will be launched next year, is also being eagerly awaited.
The NEXT “FAST & FURIOUS”?!
The “Gran Turismo” series is unquestionably one of the most famous and popular video game series ever. In the “GT” franchise, which now has seven parts, you take on the role of a player who has to take part in races against other drivers in order to increase his bank balance. You then have the opportunity to use this capital to modify your car, improve its performance, withstand the continuously increasing level of difficulty of the races and gradually become a professional.
This naturally leads to the assumption that “Gran Turismo” is also moving somewhere in the direction of “Fast & Furious” – and car lovers will certainly get their money’s worth. But thanks to Neill Blomkamp, you can definitely expect a film that offers more than just satisfying the tuning and speed fetish of the countless screwdrivers and tin feet on the roads. Blomkampf himself describes the project as the “ultimate wish fulfilment”. The script, meanwhile, was written by Jason Hall (“American Sniper”) and Zach Baylin (“King Richard”).
