Lord of the Rings (Adapted) Timeline

[Megatron]

so going with all the games (avoiding games based on book lore):

1) The Two Thrones and The Return of the king are adaptations of the 2 movies of the same name, IDK if there are some original levels set between scenes of the movies.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (video game)

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is a 2002 video game based on Peter Jackson's New Line Cinema film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. The title was one of the top selling console titles of 2002 and 2003, and was widely praised for its seamless transitions from actual movie footage to...

lotr.fandom.com

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (video game)

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 video game based on Peter Jackson's New Line Cinema film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. The game was published by Electronic Arts for GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, GBA, PC, Mac, and Mobile. The game has three "paths" to...

lotr.fandom.com

2) The Third Age, is about a back up group following the fellowship, so an original story:

The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age

For the strategy game, see The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age (Game Boy Advance) The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age is a 2004 video game developed by EA Redwood Shores and published by Electronic Arts for GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. The story follows a group of six primary characters...

lotr.fandom.com

3) The Battle for Middle-Earth, same as point 1, tho IDK if the evil campaign has some levels that could be considered canon, or it's just a what if?:

The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth

The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth is a strategy game for the PC developed by Electronic Arts. It was inspired by and licensed from Peter Jackson's adaptations of the famous books by J.R.R. Tolkien and also features a number of the voice actors, including all the hobbits and...

lotr.fandom.com

4) Tactics, same as point 3, tho the wiki doesn't talk about the synopsis of the evil campaign so idk if it's a full what if? Or not.

The Lord of the Rings: Tactics

The Lord of the Rings: Tactics is a tactical role-playing game for the Sony PlayStation Portable. It features characters from The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. However, it is a direct adaptation of Peter Jackson's film adaptations, and has characters that resemble the films' depictions of...

lotr.fandom.com

5) The Battle for Middle-Earth II, original story set during the Trilogy, tho it happens in the Norther Regions as we see the actual campaign of the war of the ring (the fellowship travels in the south regions), again IDK if the evil campaign is a full What if?:

The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II

The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II (BFME II) is a real-time strategy computer game published by Electronic Arts, based upon the fantasy book The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien and its live-action film trilogy adaptation, directed by Peter Jackson and released by New Line...

lotr.fandom.com

6) The Rise of the Witch-King is an expansion pack of point 5 and tells the story of how the Witch-King of Angman raised to power:

The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-king

The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-king (abbreviated ROTWK) is a real-time strategy video game published by Electronic Arts, based upon the fantasy book The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien and the film trilogy based on the book, directed by Peter...

lotr.fandom.com

7) Online + expansions, this game is an Harry Potter situation, it uses the lore of the novels with the looks of the movies so I don't really know if it's canon:

The Lord of the Rings Online

The Lord of the Rings Online (abbreviated LOTRO) is an online multiplayer role-playing game (MMORPG) set in Middle-earth during the time of The Lord of the Rings. It is based on information from J.R.R Tolkien's novels; as such, it deviates in small ways from Peter Jackson's influential The Lord...

lotr.fandom.com

8) Conquest, is the battlefront of TLOTR and it is exactly like battlefront 2 (2005), some levels are adaptations, some others are original stories, like the battle at Moria, also the evil campaign is a full What If? So it's not-canon:

The Lord of the Rings: Conquest

The Lord of the Rings: Conquest is an action-adventure video game, published by Electronic Arts, and internally developed by Pandemic Studios based upon The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien and its live-action film series adaptation, directed by Peter Jackson and released by New Line Cinema...

lotr.fandom.com

9) Rise to War, I don't know anything, but the game is set in the latter years of the TE, so at least it has a plot:

The Lord of the Rings: Rise to War

The Lord of the Rings: Rise to War is a mobile game produced by Warner Bros. and NetEase, Inc. It was released on September 23, 2021. Set in the latter days of the Third Age, an official release for the game on June 15, 2020 revealed that it features characters and locations from The Lord of the...

lotr.fandom.com

This is everything that I found.

 

[Rojinn]

so going with all the games (avoiding games based on book lore):

1) The Two Thrones and The Return of the king are adaptations of the 2 movies of the same name, IDK if there are some original levels set between scenes of the movies.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (video game)

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is a 2002 video game based on Peter Jackson's New Line Cinema film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. The title was one of the top selling console titles of 2002 and 2003, and was widely praised for its seamless transitions from actual movie footage to...

lotr.fandom.com

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (video game)

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 video game based on Peter Jackson's New Line Cinema film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. The game was published by Electronic Arts for GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, GBA, PC, Mac, and Mobile. The game has three "paths" to...

lotr.fandom.com

2) The Third Age, is about a back up group following the fellowship, so an original story:

The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age

For the strategy game, see The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age (Game Boy Advance) The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age is a 2004 video game developed by EA Redwood Shores and published by Electronic Arts for GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. The story follows a group of six primary characters...

lotr.fandom.com

3) The Battle for Middle-Earth, same as point 1, tho IDK if the evil campaign has some levels that could be considered canon, or it's just a what if?:

The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth

The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth is a strategy game for the PC developed by Electronic Arts. It was inspired by and licensed from Peter Jackson's adaptations of the famous books by J.R.R. Tolkien and also features a number of the voice actors, including all the hobbits and...

lotr.fandom.com

4) Tactics, same as point 3, tho the wiki doesn't talk about the synopsis of the evil campaign so idk if it's a full what if? Or not.

The Lord of the Rings: Tactics

The Lord of the Rings: Tactics is a tactical role-playing game for the Sony PlayStation Portable. It features characters from The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. However, it is a direct adaptation of Peter Jackson's film adaptations, and has characters that resemble the films' depictions of...

lotr.fandom.com

5) The Battle for Middle-Earth II, original story set during the Trilogy, tho it happens in the Norther Regions as we see the actual campaign of the war of the ring (the fellowship travels in the south regions), again IDK if the evil campaign is a full What if?:

The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II

The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II (BFME II) is a real-time strategy computer game published by Electronic Arts, based upon the fantasy book The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien and its live-action film trilogy adaptation, directed by Peter Jackson and released by New Line...

lotr.fandom.com

6) The Rise of the Witch-King is an expansion pack of point 5 and tells the story of how the Witch-King of Angman raised to power:

The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-king

The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-king (abbreviated ROTWK) is a real-time strategy video game published by Electronic Arts, based upon the fantasy book The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien and the film trilogy based on the book, directed by Peter...

lotr.fandom.com

7) Online + expansions, this game is an Harry Potter situation, it uses the lore of the novels with the looks of the movies so I don't really know if it's canon:

The Lord of the Rings Online

The Lord of the Rings Online (abbreviated LOTRO) is an online multiplayer role-playing game (MMORPG) set in Middle-earth during the time of The Lord of the Rings. It is based on information from J.R.R Tolkien's novels; as such, it deviates in small ways from Peter Jackson's influential The Lord...

lotr.fandom.com

8) Conquest, is the battlefront of TLOTR and it is exactly like battlefront 2 (2005), some levels are adaptations, some others are original stories, like the battle at Moria, also the evil campaign is a full What If? So it's not-canon:

The Lord of the Rings: Conquest

The Lord of the Rings: Conquest is an action-adventure video game, published by Electronic Arts, and internally developed by Pandemic Studios based upon The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien and its live-action film series adaptation, directed by Peter Jackson and released by New Line Cinema...

lotr.fandom.com

9) Rise to War, I don't know anything, but the game is set in the latter years of the TE, so at least it has a plot:

The Lord of the Rings: Rise to War

The Lord of the Rings: Rise to War is a mobile game produced by Warner Bros. and NetEase, Inc. It was released on September 23, 2021. Set in the latter days of the Third Age, an official release for the game on June 15, 2020 revealed that it features characters and locations from The Lord of the...

lotr.fandom.com

This is everything that I found.

I read somewhere that the upcoming Tales of the Shire: A "The Lord of the Rings" Game is based on the films (though designs don't quite fit, see Gandalf).

Personally, I don't consider Online as part of the "Middle-Earth Cinematic Universe". It's much closer to the books

 

[ScottishRyzo]

1) The Two Thrones and The Return of the king are adaptations of the 2 movies of the same name, IDK if there are some original levels set between scenes of the movies.

I won't be doing these ones as much as I remember enjoying the latter as a kid because I distinctly remember it just being the same as the movie

2) The Third Age, is about a back up group following the fellowship, so an original story:

This I'll do when I go through it all again for Rohirrim

3) The Battle for Middle-Earth, same as point 1, tho IDK if the evil campaign has some levels that could be considered canon, or it's just a what if?:

I'll have a look for anything original that fits but I'll probably leave any what ifs for an honourable mention for now at least

4) Tactics, same as point 3, tho the wiki doesn't talk about the synopsis of the evil campaign so idk if it's a full what if? Or not.

Same as before

5) The Battle for Middle-Earth II, original story set during the Trilogy, tho it happens in the Norther Regions as we see the actual campaign of the war of the ring (the fellowship travels in the south regions), again IDK if the evil campaign is a full What if?:

This puts me in mind of war in the north. Both seem to have an extremely similar first act but war seems to begin to use OC stand ins for almost the exact same events as the rest of this

6) The Rise of the Witch-King is an expansion pack of point 5 and tells the story of how the Witch-King of Angman raised to power:

I had seen this and was already thinking of it as the part of the timeline it's set is pretty empty here

8) Conquest, is the battlefront of TLOTR and it is exactly like battlefront 2 (2005), some levels are adaptations, some others are original stories, like the battle at Moria, also the evil campaign is a full What If? So it's not-canon:

I'll have a look at maybe using the original aspects then

9) Rise to War, I don't know anything, but the game is set in the latter years of the TE, so at least it has a plot:

Same as before

 

[ScottishRyzo]

I read somewhere that the upcoming Tales of the Shire: A "The Lord of the Rings" Game is based on the films (though designs don't quite fit, see Gandalf).

The designs won't really be a deal breaker for me here as long as it fits and isn't just a retelling of events we've already seen unless it's a particularly good one

Personally, I don't consider Online as part of the "Middle-Earth Cinematic Universe". It's much closer to the books

Same at first glance, but I'll see what I can find for it while I'm doing it too since you seem to be near events rather than taking part in an alternate account of them

 

[ScottishRyzo]

Aha what, it's just hobbit simulator

Does no one know the English countryside still exists outside of new Zealand film sets?

 

[Megatron]

@ScottishRyzo What do you think of this simplified Order? (of what you got in the timeline so far)

The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Powers Season 1-2
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor - The Bright Lord
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth II - The Rise of the Witch-King
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (From Start of the Game to Before the Last Mission)
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor - Lord of the Hunt
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (Last Mission)
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War (From Prologue to Act I)
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War - Desolation of Mordor
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War (From Act II to Act III)
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War - The Blade of Galadriel
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War (Act IV)
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings: Conquest
The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age
The Lord of the Rings: War in the North
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth II
The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest

(Tell me if there are some changes to be done)

 

[ScottishRyzo]

@ScottishRyzo What do you think of this simplified Order? (of what you got in the timeline so far)

The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Powers Season 1-2
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor - The Bright Lord
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (From Start of the Game to Before the Last Mission)
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor - Lord of the Hunt
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (Last Mission)
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War (From Prologue to Act I)
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War - Desolation of Mordor
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War (From Act II to Act III)
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War - The Blade of Galadriel
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War (Act IV)
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings: War in the North
The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest

Yeah that's perfect, I'd been thinking of a simplified one when I'd finished the timestamps and polishing up the formatting. Doing this on my phone passively while watching TV just now.

 

[ScottishRyzo]

I'm thinking that we might end up having to choose between battle of middle earth II and war in the north

I watched a pretty thorough play through of the main quests in war in the north on YouTube and it really seems that the developers only had the rights to adapt from the fellowship appendixes because after your return to Rivendell the rest of the game is just an original version of events mentioned in return of the king but with different names. Battle however seems to more accurately depict the rest of it according to the wiki despite stuff like Bombadil being an active participant which I find more lore breachy than anything I've seen in a Tolkein adaptation yet

 

[Megatron]

Yeah that's perfect, I'd been thinking of a simplified one when I'd finished the timestamps and polishing up the formatting. Doing this on my phone passively while watching TV just now.

so the games you took as canon are:

- The Third Age
- The Battle for Middle-Earth II
- The Rise of the Witch-King
- Conquest

Unknown:

- The Battle for Middle-Earth
- Tactics
- Rise of War

Non-Canon

- The Two Towers
- The Return of the King
- Online

It's that right? Cos If you want I can do the simplified order for you, so when you finish the detailed timeline, you have just to copy it.

 

[Megatron]

I'm thinking that we might end up having to choose between battle of middle earth II and war in the north

I watched a pretty thorough play through of the main quests in war in the north on YouTube and it really seems that the developers only had the rights to adapt from the fellowship appendixes because after your return to Rivendell the rest of the game is just an original version of events mentioned in return of the king but with different names. Battle however seems to more accurately depict the rest of it according to the wiki despite stuff like Bombadil being an active participant which I find more lore breachy than anything I've seen in a Tolkein adaptation yet

is there a possibility of both being canon?

 

[Megatron]

seems that war in the north starts earlier, then BoME II starts later, tho IDK do they end at the same time? @ScottishRyzo

 

[ScottishRyzo]

so the games you took as canon are:

- The Third Age
- The Battle for Middle-Earth II
- The Rise of the Witch-King
- Conquest

Unknown:

- The Battle for Middle-Earth
- Tactics
- Rise of War

Non-Canon

- The Two Towers
- The Return of the King
- Online

It's that right? Cos If you want I can do the simplified order for you, so when you finish the detailed timeline, you have just to copy it.

Yeah the canon ones I'll do when I come back to this for Rohirrim in a week or two because god help me I'm sick of the sight of it just now aha.

I'll vet the unknowns more at the same time and at least put the what if segments in an honourable mention or something, idk, I'll figure it out. I haven't decided if I want to mark things like "Amazon canon" or Jackson verse or just have that separate from this "Aligned" timeline

Online is probably not canon but it looks like it has a lot of lore to it and I don't want to dismiss it out of hand so I'll probably check that later too

is there a possibility of both being canon?

Maybe, I'm hoping when I go through it I'll be relieved and they can at least have levels that just coincide with each other during the same battle or something. The fact that war in the north uses so many alternate names for people and places in its second half might be a blessing letting me place those segments elsewhere if the first half doesn't contradict battle and just use that ones actual lore based events

 

[Megatron]

Yeah the canon ones I'll do when I come back to this for Rohirrim in a week or two because god help me I'm sick of the sight of it just now aha.

I'll vet the unknowns more at the same time and at least put the what if segments in an honourable mention or something, idk, I'll figure it out. I haven't decided if I want to mark things like "Amazon canon" or Jackson verse or just have that separate from this "Aligned" timeline

Online is probably not canon but it looks like it has a lot of lore to it and I don't want to dismiss it out of hand so I'll probably check that later too

Maybe, I'm hoping when I go through it I'll be relieved and they can at least have levels that just coincide with each other during the same battle or something. The fact that war in the north uses so many alternate names for people and places in its second half might be a blessing letting me place those segments elsewhere if the first half doesn't contradict battle and just use that ones actual lore based events

so for the WitN vs. BoME II we're taking Battle or War as the higher tier for canonicity if there are contradictions?

 

[ScottishRyzo]

seems that war in the north starts earlier, then BoME II starts later, tho IDK do they end at the same time? @ScottishRyzo

Yeah war starts as the hobbits are heading to Bree but clearly some time is going on because Sauron has fallen by the time of the last mission. It just seems to jump ahead a lot between segments after the council of elrond. It's clearly inspired by the the siege of erebor at the end but it uses its own dwarven city and stuff like that

 

[Megatron]

@ScottishRyzo What do you think of this simplified Order? (of what you got in the timeline so far)

The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Powers Season 1-2
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor - The Bright Lord
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth II - The Rise of the Witch-King
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (From Start of the Game to Before the Last Mission)
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor - Lord of the Hunt
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (Last Mission)
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War (From Prologue to Act I)
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War - Desolation of Mordor
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War (From Act II to Act III)
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War - The Blade of Galadriel
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War (Act IV)
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings: Conquest
The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age
The Lord of the Rings: War in the North
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth II
The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest

(Tell me if there are some changes to be done)

updated with the 100% canon games. (Maybe it needs more work for the Trilogy + games section)

Also do you have some colors in mind?

 

[Megatron]

I was planning for:

The Lord of the Rings = 654321

The Hobbit = CDA434

Middle-Earth = 9C9C9C

What do you think? @ScottishRyzo

 

[ScottishRyzo]

Yeah I'm happy with that, I'll do that once I've finished moving my timestamps over here. My docs are all shorthand and 0h0m0 rather than 0:00:00 so it's a bit of a slog, too used to doing them just for me

Btw from what I saw on YouTube the Gollum game wasn't something I'd actually care to play but the story was actually pretty good

Inb4 the hunt for gollum tramples all over it tho

 

[Megatron]

@ScottishRyzo What do you think of this simplified Order? (of what you got in the timeline so far)

The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Powers Season 1-2
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor - The Bright Lord
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth II - The Rise of the Witch-King
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (From Start of the Game to Before the Last Mission)
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor - Lord of the Hunt
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (Last Mission)
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War (From Prologue to Act I)
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War - Desolation of Mordor
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War (From Act II to Act III)
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War - The Blade of Galadriel
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War (Act IV)
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings: Conquest
The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age
The Lord of the Rings: War in the North
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth II
The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest

(Tell me if there are some changes to be done)

updated with the colors. Now i'll device a way to not have all the game set during the trilogy be played after the trilogy.

 

[Megatron]

in the meantime, didn't someone in the timeline hub thread talked about the shorts? Are they canon?

 

[ScottishRyzo]

The prologue of war in the north makes it sound like it's a story gandalf is telling after the war of the ring about concurrent events so that can stay where it is at least

Act IV of shadow of war is just ending cinematics isn't it?

in the meantime, didn't someone in the timeline hub thread talked about the shorts? Are they canon?

Honestly I don't know about shorts, you mean like the fan made stuff?