What do YOU think of these rumors? Some of these are just....yikes. Do you think any are true? Which do you like/dislike? Let me know if you think I should cover any in greater depth too!

Conspiracy; the show is leaking a bunch of fake terrible things so that when the show comes out we collectively say “well… at least Tom Bombadil wasn’t Morgoth…” 🤣

The worst part about this rumours list is how we can believe Amazon would actually do them

Then Morgoth laughed, and he said: "Death-death-a-dillo, you may yet crave, hey dol the derry dol, from me as a boon."

Goldberry being Ungoliant is the craziest thing I've heard this year so far.

Morgoth: *Commits countless of evil atrocities, including having the two trees destroyed, enslavement, torturing and cursing a mans entire family, destroying several kingdoms, waging wars against the people of Beleriand, jewelry-theft and other evil dark lord-stuff* Eru and the Valar after finally catching him: "His punishment? Oh, just give him a cozy cottage in the woods were he can live forever jolly with his wife, singing the days away, that'll teach him."

That bit with Tom Bombadil being Melkor made me laugh so hard! 🤣 It sounds like a SNL skit!

The whole "Melkor as Bombadil" thing makes me think whoever "leaked" this is taking the piss, at least a bit.

Bombadil and Goldberry being Morgoth and Ungoliant is such a bonkers change. I actually want them to do it. Go hog wild. Make the biggest mess out of it possible so we can all point to it and say "none of that counts, ignore it"

The wildest rumor would be that it was going to be good.

Tom Bombadil is Morgoth is the wildest fanfic, so wild I've never heard of it in any discussion

Tom Bombadil and Goldberry actually being Morgoth and Ungoliant would be one of the wildest things ever done in an adaptation of anything lol

When Gandalf said "Its Morbin time" I knew S2 was going to be epic.

Seeing your internal meltdown slowly getting worse after each point is hilarious and painful at the same time. Lucky for us we have our episode of true lore every week. Keep up the good work!

Somehow Palp... Melkor returned...

What are they doing to my man Tolkien dawg 💀

Morgoth as Tom Bombadil? Let's gooo! And how about making Gollum disguised as Eru in the "Music of the Ainur"? And a separate episode of the childhood of Aragorn too while we are at it, where he gets to ride Shadow Fax, which is actually Ancalagon?

Wait a minute: Mithrandir is Gandalf's Elvish name, but its not his Maiar name. His Maia name is Olorin: and before anyone says they don't have the rights, its in the Appendices. He literally told Frodo that was his name in Valinor.

The big problem I felt watching the Series is that it didn't feel like a "love letter" of Tolkien's mythology. I did not feel the "spirit" and essence of the work, regardless of whether it is the appendix or the "main" work. I think they needed to adapt the "concept", even if they didn't respect the chronology of the timeline. Personally, I think that Peter Jackson's adaptation lacks in many aspects of Lore, but he knew how to adapt the emotion, adventure, friendship of the characters, courage, sacrifice, etc.

These rumors surrounding Sauron seem like a classic move of production that focus on one of the few characters that receive the most audience favor rather than building on the LORE itself.

I really like this guy! He gives a detailed, mature, thoughtful reaction no matter how outrageous the show runner's ideas may be. He promotes kindness at the end of the video, encouraging everyone to be nicer to each other in the comment section He knows the lore and he knows how to deliver high quality content. Just a good guy all around! And once again, great video!

This is absolutely insane. It's like Amazon is doubling down on pissing the fandom off. I can't wrap my head around this even from a business standpoint.

I do wish gandalf (in season 1) had been one of the blue wizards. It would have been their first appearence, given the writers a bunch of freedom with them and been a nice nod to the lore that the blues were first searching for saurons/Melkors influence in the world. Also bombadil better not be morgoth, that would be awful.

Ahhh Halbrand ending up as the witch king could have been SUCH a good arc 😭

I hate to think they are continuing to go down the “Galadriel and Sauron flirt” by having him impersonate Celeborn. She’s such a great character and they just keep making her less wise and less powerful. I don’t get it.

I really respect that you can clearly show your displeasure and how bad these ideas are, without resorting to the slurs and venom that certain others are. We won't have to hate the actors or call them names.

Whilst I would love to see (parts of) the Silmarillion made, I want it to be done WELL, and I don't think Amazon is the studio to do that. GO AWAY UNNECESSARY GANDALF AND SYMPATHETIC SAURON!

Over the holidays I gave a deep think to what story I would have told if Amazon hunted me down and was like "Hobbit and LotR, write us a show and it can't be about Frodo dunking the ring." It would have been so much cooler if Amazon made a Third Age story on the life of Eärnur, from birth to death. Covers the Wainrider invasions, the Witch-king's second campaign against the North (including the "no man can kill me" prophecy, founding of the Dunadain rangers, early years of the Shire, the Balrog balrogging all over Moria, the founding of Erebor, the capture of Minas Morgul, and the death of the last King of Gondor and the beginning of the line of Stewards. Also Galadriel takes control of Lorien, founding of Rohan's ancestors, and formation of the White Council (and first assault on Dol Guldur with a little timeline smudging). They get Balrogs and Hobbits and Galadriel/Eldrond actually using the Elven Rings, Gandalf, Radagast, maybe Saruman. That seems like a slam-dunk for a 3-5 season show, and it paves the way for a follow-up show on the second age, where the audience has more questions about the elven rings and that far-off Numenor place, the life story of Galadriel and why she's so respected, Sauron + the Witch-king at the height of their power, etc. Also illustrates to the Tolkien Estate that you have the chops to use their IP respectfully and gives you leverage to negotiate rights to the Silmarillion and other deep lore texts.

When you got to #20, I straight up laughed out loud, looked up from my knitting, and said "WHAT" to my computer screen LOL

The phrase 'it could be ok' should never be used in speculation about season 2. It's like forking through a turd looking for the 'better' parts.

I'm sorry, but why do they keep using J. R. R. Tolkien's name if they are basically rewriting the whole thing??

Tom and Goldberry being Melkor and Ungoliant would make the entire setting more akin to eldritch lovecraftian horror because the nature of good and evil would be thrown in a pit of werewolves

"That's a really old horse." 😂

Season 1 annoyed me more than I can say (things like how Mithril was made, or messing with Galadriel's journey to and then back from Aman and how she perceived Sauron for who he was etc etc ). If they mess with it too much, I'm done. I will never forgive them.

At this point I think their strategy is to intentionally generate outrage. They've lost the fanbase so are just going all in. As bad as the story was in Season 1, I can't believe they would think Melkor as Bombadil would be a good idea otherwise (if true)

I mentioned the Tom Bombadil is Morgoth to my mom, who looooves Tom Bombadil, and she looked at me like she’d just smelled a really bad fart.

Thanks for your content. I have read The Silmarillion since watching your channel. I always avoided fiction, but Tolkien writes as though his mythology is actual history. It is truly captivating.

Many of these plot points sound _very_ unlikely. I remember that e.g. it was rumoured for a long time that Adar is one of Galadriel's brothers and of course that was not the case. So, yeah, I am really sceptical about this list.

I didn't finish season 1 and the thought of giving Amazon views on a show they're butching the IP of just seems disrespectful to Tolkien.

I went to NZ and Hobbiton it was amazing. I stayed with a lady who housed some of the dwarves during filming of The Hobbit. She had some fun stories to tell. 😊 Enjoy your trip.

Thanks for keeping up with us even though you’re at what might be one of the best trips of your life my dude! Much love and respect! 🤙🏻

I can confirm that Bombadil is Sauron and Melkor's adopted hobbit child.

I really hope they’re not going to change it that Sauron was the true power behind Melkor all along. It sounds like they’re going to attribute Melkor’s following and victories to the words and actions of Sauron. While Sauron would have been a big help of course, Melkor was a self-made Dark Lord. They better not undercut Melkor’s importance in the marring of Arda by giving most of the credit to Sauron instead.

One way of interpreting Mairon's line in 16 is " true greatness is only earned by struggling against something. Melkor seeks to challenge everything, forcing those who wish to resist him to become stronger and better than they were previously." That is an interesting take--very meta. And it echoes the ideas in Feanor's speech to the elves of Valanor and the Doom of Mandos. This is the kind of stuff that can make season 2 really interesting. But given what we got in season 1, I highly doubt they have the intelligence to pull it off.

Did they literally say Tolkien’s timeless and near perfect tale was unbelievable? Are you f’ing kidding me!?! That’s the reason why it’s literally one of the greatest stories of all time!!! Edit: I was just talking to my wife about this and she said, “Oh yeah, some Hollywood ass-hat knows how to make Middle Earth more believable “then the guy who invented it!” True words

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results

Much like yourself, I cannot even imagine why they would try to change Bombadil like that. I SINCERELY hope that one is false more than any other :)

What if all along Morgoth just goes along doing evil but speaking in rhyme and song like Tom? He's out here corrupting elves into orcs and creating dragons all in yellow boots singing merry songs and rhyming about the beauty of the river woman's daughter, Ungoliant.

Frodo: "Who is Tom Bombadil?" Goldberry: "B L A C K H E A R T"

I feel like someone made this as a ruse. I'm grateful for more middle earth content bc there isn't much. We just need better writing on this show and it can work!

Are they trying to resurrect Tolkien? 'Cause he must be rolling in his grave right now.... Unbelievable.

I WANT this to be a successful series, because I NEED more LOTR content!! I NEED a LOTR universe like Star wars. I'm definitely ok with 'new content ' that is non-tolkien, as long as it doesn't conflict with canon, but expands or 'artistic liberties'

"I hope many of these things aren't true." (Screaming on the inside, "I have to go watch all three movies now to get my pilgrimage back on track!")

A retelling of history from Sauron's perspective? Edgy! and something few Tolkien Nerds would sign up for.

The music of the ainur should have been the intro to season 1 instead of baby galadriel playing with paper boats

Number 20 is basically Sauron going Inigo Montoya and now the mental images don't stop XD

"Simon Tolkien will supervise the lore" Me: ok, that's nice "Sauron has a son and Bombadil is Melkor" Me: WHAT THE ACTUAL F-

Wont be able to watch this till later but for now, watching the adventures has been so awesome! So glad you get to do this! :D

I've heard a wild rumor it's gonna be good. Never believed that fake, obviously.

Ive been watching your vids for years and this is my favorite - great work!

WOW!!! I'm blown away by some of those. I agree with you Matt that the music of the Einor would be cool if done well but man as that list goes on it gets worse and worse and worse.. I really hope none of those rumors come to fruition because that would turn so many fans off I don't think they could recover. I felt the same way as you though Matt, had to just laugh out loud at some of those.

I feel like this is some PR stunt that aims to put such wildly fantastic scenarios out there to assuage our minds so that when we find out that Tom Bombadil is actually the Tooth Fairy, and Sauron is just a sad, misunderstood character who we should all feel sorry for, we will in fact be relieved, and not *as* disappointed.

It's pretty hard to imagine them topping season one, yet here we are, talking about Tom Bombadil as Morgoth.

Valar to Aru: Why the heck did you give Melkor a cozy little cottage as a punishment??? Aru: Don’t worry. I also gave him a wife. And he’ll always live in fear that she will attempt to eat him again

The more I read and re-read it, the more those "leaks" are feeling like Chat-GPT output.

If Simon Tolkien is overseeing this, what the hell is he thinking?!

I *cannot* believe Bombdil is actually Morgoth. I can imagine there is some miscommunication there; perhps the same actors are used with prosthetics-- but no, no incredible lore perversion like that.

I am reading the LOTR for the very first time (finished the Hobbit already), and even to me the idea of Tom Bombadil = Morgoth sounds crazy

Dude you’re waaaaayyyyyy too nice reacting to this LOL. If this was me (and i’m sure a lot of other fans of tolkien’s work) i would’ve start throwing and punching stuff.

Hahaha, so before returning to the undying lands at the end of ROTK... Gandalf was chilling with MORGOTH? I cannot stop laughing

This is a great video haha I was laughing with you the whole 35 minutes. Keep it going I'm a fan of your channel.

Tom Bomberdil as Morgoth sounds like something Screenrant would come out with absolutely ridiculous

"I'm guessing it means including the breaking of the First Silence because it will be a pretty quiet episode" 🤣

I do not mind the first 14 ish points. After that it gets a little iffy, if not downright crazy. Like you said, having an entire season be Sauron's story would be questionable. At the very most they should do Saurons story to begin the episodes but then get back to the Second Age for the rest of each one. Melkor being the first created and watching Eru use the Flame Imperishable to create life would explain his desire for such a power. The Maiar having a discussion could be pretty cool if done correctly. I guess up until this point I just figured they were floating spirits in the Void until they came into Arda. I interpreted the Gandalf agreeing with Sauron part as Sauron has not yet been corrupted by Melkor, so maybe the discussion is more neutral than Sauron trying to convince them to follow Melkor. The Sauron as Celeborn and Sauron having a son things are terrible. There's just no need for the horse stuff. None at all. The Melkor/Bombadil/Ungoliant/Goldberry thing is just bizarre. Needless to say that should never happen. It seems like the first half of these "rumors" are somewhat realistic/fathomable, and the second half are just preposterous. I'm hoping someone had some fun and threw the last 12 or so in there just to have a laugh.

So much of that list genuinely scares me, I'm planning on keeping an open mind going into season 2 because there is not much else I can do lol. Aside from the very questionable potential plot points I'm very interested on how they'll do the destruction of Eregion and Elrond's defeat/retreat. I feel like there is a lot of ways they could do that really well. In addition to that some first age cameos of characters like Finwe and Feanor/his sons could be really cool if done right. I'm really hoping that S2 will be an upgrade from S1

They had me in the first half not gonna lie

I don't think Gandalf nearly being convinced by Sauron would have anything to do with moral shades of grey or anything of the like, I think it's actually because he is so close in mind with Eru. Eru created Melkor knowing exactly what he would do, and he basically says as much during his rebuke of Melkor following the discord. Melkor, and thus evil, exist _on purpose_ in Arda, and they exist because spiritual salvation requires the existence of evil in order to truly attain. And that is what Eru wants for his children, and it's why he gave them free will: To earn salvation through the rejection of evil and through courage and self-sacrifice in the service of others. Tolkien was a devoutly religious man, and this is probably the most important theme in the whole of his writing. Virtually every character's arc is centered around them earning this spiritual salvation, so Gandalf seeing some validity to the idea doesn't seem that crazy to me.

If I had a dollar for every one of these rumored plot points that turns out to be true... I might be able to buy a McChicken sandwich. No fries or drink.

Had to check the date to make sure it wasn’t April 1st

Totally agree with you. Some strange ideas in there that don't really make me look forward to season 2, I hope they're only rumors... seems like they're trying even further to insert unnecessary surprises into existing stories. I was pretty much on board for most of the stuff they did in season 1, but if all of this here is true, it could be too much. Especially the whole thing about making Sauron kind of the main protagonist... like, "Hey, look, he's not such a bad guy after all! Maybe Gandalf was way out of line with his whole destroying the One Ring business..." I guess I'll have to watch it and only then can I really say if I like it or not. But some of these things are really a turn off for me. Maybe these 28 points are intended as a prank...?

I appreciate all the Lord of the rings content!! ❤❤❤

I'm quite positive about Rings of Power but if Melkor is Bombadil, I would genuinely feel that is utter treason. You cannot have something that's supposed to be pure, be the utter evil of all creation. That goes so far against.... I can't. Also, if they bring back Celeborn just for him to be sodding Halbrand 2.0, that would be a massive disappointment.

Thankyou for making these! Even if it's not great I love Lord of the rings for itself so I could talk on and on about all of it. This has just added more to go on about. So idm if they keep it coming. 🎉🎉

The correct description for the type of note that Season 1 ends up is neither happy nor sad. It is "merciful". As in, "Mercifully it is finally over!"

Sauron had a son? Tom Bombadil is Morgoth? Goldberry is a giant demon spider? This crosses the line from 'So bad it's awful,' to 'This is so stupid it's awesome'.

I used to be a frequent commenter, until Elves took my job. That being said, I would be very surprised if season two is actually released. Cutting bait is very trendy in the streaming world right now.

Enjoy your tour around NZ mate, glad to have you here.

No one: Amazon: How can we explain why the Ring has no effect on Tom Bombadil? Oh! I know! We'll make him secretly Morgoth! Simon Tolkien (as he drools all over himself): GENIUS!

For the Elves, Anatar will have to be a flashback to the design of the forge tower...

I hope you did the after hours dinner at the Green Dragon. That Hobbit Feast was incredible :)

Actually a shame we didn’t get Morgan Freeman as Eru

When you described Mairon having a meeting with other Maiar I just imagined it being as cringe as the “Elf-lover” guy speech from S1, except he’ll be calling the Valar “Children-lovers”😂

Sauron's son is the ex boyfriend of Galadriel's daughter! This guys are genious...wow

Amazon in theory, has an open canvas to make a 30 season show with all the amazing Tolkien stories, but they are a headless dragon consuming all the gold and sleeping on it cause they lack vision.

We need a Bombadil v. Morgoth video. Just comparing and contrasting their character traits, which seems to be mostly contrasting, although a very small number of things (maybe only 1) match up…that both are eternal. Still, a scholarly compare and contrast seems like the best response to this!

So at the end of the lord of the rings, Gandalf want to go to Morgoth for a long chill talk? 😂

3:48 Maybe it will be like the second season of Good Omens with a majority of an episode taking place in the past. Accurate to the Lore or not, I think I might enjoy this. BTW In Deep Geek did a video on the Lord of the Rings from his perspective just to let you guys know.

I agree with you about the scene showing the two trees of light, it was gorgeous. With all the drawbacks we see in season 1, the makers of Rings of Power have done a fantastic job at times. Let's hope season 2 is done well by people who love Tolkien's tales.

LOL! Thank your for the rumor list. It's all in good fun but seriously, just enjoy your trip! I doubt that any of us here have any power as true fans of both lore and cinematography to sway anyone in the studio or story board to focus more on X or Y when it comes to this...right?

29. The eagles are just balrogs who had a change of heart! 30. Gandalf trains Dumbledore