The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrimexplores the history of a group of characters that were barely in Peter Jackson’sThe Lord of the Ringsfilms. The upcoming animated film is a prequel to the previous cinematic adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy epic. The film delves into a conflict that erupted between Rohan and a rival group of humans long before the Fellowship made their journey across Middle-Earth.
It’s an exciting expansion of the Rohirrim, who played a vital role in the conflict againstSauron inLord of the Rings. However, the film isn’t just showing off Rohan. The antagonists of the film are a minor community in other versions of the franchise, who so far have lacked much direct characterization. That’s set to change with the film, whichis an exciting developmentfor the franchise.The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim’s storyhighlights the potential other directions the franchise should look to going forward.
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Saruman could appear in 2024’s War of the Rohirrim, and the movie can demonstrate a side of his character the original movie trilogy left out.
The War Of The Rohirrim Brings The Dunlendings Into The Spotlight
The Dunlendings Have Never Gotten This Much Focus Before
For the first time,Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrimis set to bring the Dunlendings to the forefront of the franchise. Dunlendings are a minor community of Men in Middle-earth whose history can be traced back to the Second Age (the era that serves as a key focus of Prime Video’sRings of Power). In contrast to Gondor and Rohan, the Dunlendings have typically been established as a more wild and villainous faction.The War of the Rohirrimteases the conflict between the Rohan citizenry underKing Helm Hammerhandand a large contingent of the Dunlendings.
Set almost two centuries before the events ofThe Lord of the Ringstrilogy,The War of the Rohirrimfocuses on the conflict between the Rohirrim and the Dunlendings after the unexpected death of their ruler, Freca. The war is escalated by Freca’s son vengeful Wulf, his former bond with the Rohirrim Princess Hèra adding a layer of tragedy to the whole affair. This character-driven central conflict is a great showcase for Dunlendings' corner of the world. It’s a lot of focus for the Dunlendings, who have typically only been background players in Middle-earth epics.
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The Dunlendings Are Briefly In Peter Jackson’sTwo Towers
The Dunlendings do appear in Peter Jackson’sLord of the Ringstrilogy but in a very minor way. A brief scene shows a tribe of Dunlendings being recruited by Saruman inThe Two Towers. Swearing loyalty to the corrupted wizard and Sauron, the Dunlendings carry out a series of raids against Rohan. Although there’s a little more focus on them in the extended editions,the Dunelendings only really serve as a minor foethat besieged Rohan early in the film. The Dunlendings were one-note raiders, used to push the heroes into action and move along the Rohan plot ofThe Two Towers.
The Dunelendings played a similar role in the original novelsas well, expanding the forces of the villains during conflicts like the siege of Helm’s Deep. This was one of the many changes Jackson made to that battle from the original books, which did flesh out Sarumans manipulations of the Dunlendings to trick them into fighting for his side. Like much of Middle-earth, J.R.R. Tolkien’s additional writings fleshed out the world and the various other communities, which is where the inspiration forThe War of the Rohirrimcomes from.
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The War Of The Rohirrim’s Dunlendings Highlights The Potential For More LOTR Spin-Offs
The Dunlendings Getting Focus Proves Middle-Earth Is Still Full Of Stories To Mine For Adaptation
While there is a connection to the machinations of Sauron’s forces in the backstory that inspiredThe War of the Rohirrim, the film seems to be leaning hard into a more morally complex conflict between the Rohirrim and the Dunelendings.This is a good reminder of the sheer scope of Tolkien’s world, which can justify plenty of other stories within that creative sandbox. That’s one of the most exciting aspects ofThe War of the Rohirrim, which showcases a completely different approach to the source material like the Dunlendings than what’s been attempted before.
Éowyn
Miranda Otto
The War of the Rohirrimis exciting because it’s doing something interesting with underutilized corners of the setting. Instead of repeating the established story,War of the Rohirrim’s Dunlendings proves the franchise can shift focus cinematicallyto explore new adventures. This even carries over to the format, with an animation style more familiar to fans of Kenji Kamiyama and Sola Entertainment that still feels connected to Jackson’s films.TheLord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrimproves the franchise is more than just stories connected to the One Ring.
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
Cast
Set before the events of the original Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is an animated action-adventure fantasy film that follows a King of Rohan named Helm Hammerhand. When his home comes under siege by Dunlendings, Hammerhand prepares himself and his allies to fight back against them, with the war leading to the eventual establishment of Helm’s Deep.
