Amazon’s Lord of the Rings TV series has been a hot topic for months as stories about the show’s whopping budget and long filming process make headlines. For a long time, it was shrouded in secrecy, but with a new trailer and an impending release date, we can finally look forward to seeing what this show has to offer.
Here’s everything we know about Amazon’s Lord of the Rings TV show so far, including when in the Middle-earth timeline it’s set.
The Rings of Power: Release date
The first season of Amazon’s Lord of the Rings TV show has officially been given a release date of Friday, September 2, 2022.
The first two episodes will debut simultaneously on September 2 at 11:00 am AEST, which is the same time everyone else around the world will see it. The following six episodes will be released weekly at 2:00 pm AEST on Fridays, with the finale airing on October 14.
It’ll be followed by a second season (already greenlit) at a later date.
All episodes will release on Prime Video in Australia.
What is the prequel series’ name?
When Prime Video announced the official title for its new LotR TV show, it was a bit of a mouthful.
The show is titled The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, so expect to just call it The Rings of Power (TRoP??) for short.
Showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay said in a statement that the title is quite significant for fans:
“This is a title that we imagine could live on the spine of a book next to J.R.R. Tolkien’s other classics. The Rings of Power unites all the major stories of Middle-earth’s Second Age: the forging of the rings, the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron, the epic tale of Númenor, and the Last Alliance of Elves and Men. Until now, audiences have only seen on-screen the story of the One Ring – but before there was one, there were many… and we’re excited to share the epic story of them all.”
You can see the official unveiling of the title and the first teaser for the show below. (FYI this isn’t CGI.)
The Rings of Power: Trailer
The first official teaser trailer for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power was shown off at the 2022 Super Bowl.
The 60-second spot shows off the series’ massive budget and gives us a proper look at all those new characters. It has pretty much everything you’d expect from a Lord of the Rings show: sweeping landscape shots, CGI monsters and armies in the midst of battle.
Then, at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, an exclusive trailer was previewed which gives us a much longer look at The Rings of Power.
The latest update in this space is that Prime Video has released an official trailer for The Rings of Power, giving fans an even better idea of what to expect.
This show looks very epic and very expensive.
The show has a mammoth budget
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon Studios, said the first season of Amazon’s Lord of the Rings would cost around $600 million, a whopping amount for a TV series.
“This is a full season of a huge world-building show,” Salke told The Hollywood Reporter. “The number is a sexy headline or a crazy headline that’s fun to click on, but that is really building the infrastructure of what will sustain the whole series.”
Expect the show to make the most of that budget with huge sets and plenty of high fantasy world-building.
Amazon’s Lord of the Rings: Cast and characters
Amazon’s Lord of the Rings cast list is stacked with exciting newcomers, but none more intriguing than Morfydd Clark (His Dark Materials), who’ll play a young version of Galadriel (a role made famous by Australia’s Cate Blanchett).
Galadriel is one of the only returning characters to be part of Amazon’s adaptation so far, although the mystery cast list means we could see more. Elrond is another likely character to make a return, as is Galadriel’s husband Celeborn, but we have no current confirmation of either appearance.
Joining Clark as a named character is Markella Kavenagh (Picnic at Hanging Rock) as Tyra and Robert Aramayo (Game of Thrones) as Beldor. Neither appear to be found in Tolkein lore, but regardless they’ll have an important role to play in the story.
They’ll also be joined by a whopping cast of actors including: Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Owain Arthur, Maxim Baldry, Nazanin Boniadi, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Charles Edwards, Trystan Gravelle, Sir Lenny Henry, Ema Horvath, Joseph Mawle, Tyroe Muhafidin, Sophia Nomvete, Lloyd Owen, Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, Charlie Vickers, Leon Wadham, Benjamin Walker, Daniel Weyman, and Sara Zwangobani.
Amazon kicked off its marketing campaign with a series of mysterious posters showing many of those aforementioned rings of power on the fingers of some unknown hands. Sauron, is that you???
— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) February 3, 2022
— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) February 3, 2022
Check out all the different character posters over on Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings TV Show Twitter account.
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power – What is the plot?
Amazon’s Lord of the Rings show is firmly set in the Second Age of Arda (Earth), a time of great change which saw the Dark Lord Sauron rise to power and forge the One Ring. This age followed the conclusion of the First Age, marked by the defeat of Morgoth (the first Dark Lord). During this period, evil forces battled for power, and the War of the Elves and Sauron took place.
The events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place in the Third Age, which began after Sauron was defeated for the first time. Given these events took place thousands of years after the Second Age, don’t expect many familiar characters to appear in Amazon’s adaptation outside of the Elves or the Istari (the Wizards of Middle-earth).
Amazon has kept particularly tight-lipped about the show and what major events it’ll cover, but its official description from Amazon is still very juicy:
“Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth’s history. This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness.
“Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.”
Why are those background trees important in Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power?
The first image of Amazon’s Lord of the Rings TV show stunned fans for more than one reason. While it depicts a gorgeous, sunlit world, it also featured an important and telling landmark for fans: the Two Trees of Valinor, Laurelin and Telperion. You can spot them in the far distance, contrasting each other in shadow and light.
These were the trees that brought light to Arda, but they were destroyed by Morgoth and Ungoliant the spider (mother of Shelob) in the First Age. Their last flowers were late turned into the sun and the moon according to lore.
Given the appearance of these trees in the first image for Amazon’s Lord of the Rings, we can assume the scene depicted is a flashback to the First Age or that the timeline of the show will be much broader than first announced.
So, what is Valinor?
Valinor was a realm in the continent of Aman home to the Valar, a race of powerful beings that guided Middle-earth in its development of history, culture and magic. They split from a group called the Ainur, who were holy beings who watched over all lands.
While the Valar initially took refuge in a place called Almaren, they were driven out by an Ainur called Melkor, who became the Dark Lord Morgoth. Instead, Valinor became their home and place of refuge until the First Age passed and the Two Trees of Valinor were destroyed.
Following this destruction, Valinor was hidden away by the Elves and became separate from Middle-earth. In later ages it was known as part of the Undying Lands, a place where immortals or other significant beings (such as hobbits Frodo and Sam, and dwarf Gimli) could go to prepare for their final rest.
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This article has been updated since its original publish date.
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