Amazon’s The Rings of Power is a unique series in that the show is not so much based on any book written by J.R.R. Tolkien, but is actually based on the footnotes. The show takes place centuries before the events of The Lord of the Rings, but some fans felt the show was making a statement about a long debated question from the famous trilogy that many see as a plot hole. Why didn’t the Fellowship simply use eagles and fly the ring into Mordor?
An early scene in the first episode of The Rings of Power shows a massive battle between armies, and as part of that we see a fellbeast, one of the creatures ridden by the Nazgul in Lord of the Rings, completely destroy a giant eagle. Some fans have suggested this was dropped in as the producers’ opinion on the question, explaining why simply riding the eagles would not have worked, but JD Payne recently told Insider that there was no subtext meant in that moment, saying simply…
I wish we were that smart.
The Rings of Power has been more focused on creating questions than answering them. Whatever your opinion on this particular Middle-Earth topic, there was nothing trying to be said by the people behind Rings of Power. More than likely it was just a case of these two creatures being things that Lord of the Rings fans would recognize, and watching them fight would look cool on the screen. I think most would agree that it was pretty cool.
Lord of the Rings fans have suggested for a long time that there were much easier ways to get the One Ring to Mount Doom, including jumping on the back of an eagle and flying all the way there. There are some clear and obvious reasons that this idea wasn’t adopted, such as the fact that the whole point of the Fellowship was to not draw attention to the trip, but it hasn’t stopped fans from asking the question.
And honestly, as tiresome as debating whatever movie moments people happen to decide are plot holes can be, it’s preferable to some of the other arguments that fans can get into. Most of the controversy surrounding The Rings of Power has been around casting decisions that have nothing to do with anything.
While the scene may not have been intentional, the moment certainly works as far as it goes. The shot does tell us that a fellbeast is capable of killing a giant eagle, and the Nazgul are specifically trying to track down the One Ring throughout The Lord of the Rings. Certainly, if Sauron noticed a giant eagle flying in his direction, he would send another flying creature to intercept it, and what evidence we now have indicates things would not go well for the eagle.
