On December 19th, 2001 the studio New Line Cinema would release a series of movies that would become an instant classic, and become their biggest success making almost 3 billion dollars altogether. Which would have another trilogy made called The Hobbit. Both of which still have dedicated fans today, and with such a passionate fanbase, Amazon decided to make a spin-off series. The question is, will this new series hold up to the expectations of their ‘big brother’ trilogies and their fans? 

We get to meet familiar faces, such as Galadriel and Elrond. We also get [elf] who is an elf, Durin & Disa who are dwarves, Bronwyn & Theo who are Southlanders (human), and finally Nori & Poppy who are Harfoots. For a few minutes of the first episode we also meet Galadriel’s older brother, but he dies soon after that.

The camera shots showing us new places (like the elves’ capital) are very beautiful, and are similar to shots like showing off Gondor. The snow troll and orc that are shown in the first two episodes do look similar to the ones in the original series, making it more believable that the two are in the same universe. And maybe suggest that there was some kind of evolution before The Lord of the Rings. Also the Silvan Elves’ chest plates have a tree spirit of some sort carved into it.

The music is good. It just does not give the same feeling or personality to the areas the camera is showing. Places like Lake-town or the Shire. When you hear the music you can recognize where the characters are. 

Overall, the series is pretty good and enjoyable. It’s fun to see what had happened almost three and a half thousand years before The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings take place. Like the Harfoots, Nori is very adventurous. Similar to how both Bilbo and Frodo were described to be when younger, bringing out the possibility that she is their direct ancestor.