The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is an American fantasy television series developed by J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay for the streaming service Amazon Prime Video. Based on J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, primarily material from the appendices of the novel The Lord of the Rings , the series is set thousands of years before the novel and depicts the major events of Middle-earth's Second Age. It is produced by Amazon Studios in association with New Line Cinema. The series features a large ensemble cast portraying characters from Tolkien's writings as well as original creations for the series.
Amazon acquired the global television rights for J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings in November 2017. The company's streaming service, Prime Video, gave a multi-season commitment to a series based on the novel and its appendices, to be produced by Amazon Studios in association with New Line Cinema and in consultation with the Tolkien Estate. [1] J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay were set as showrunners of the series, titled The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power , [2] which is set in the Second Age of Middle-earth, thousands of years before Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. [3] It follows a large cast of characters and covers all the major events of the Second Age from Tolkien's writings: the forging of the Rings of Power, the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron, the fall of the island kingdom of Númenor, and the last alliance between Elves and Men. [4]
The series was originally expected to be a continuation of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies, but Amazon later clarified that their deal with the Tolkien Estate required them to keep the series distinct from Jackson's films. [5] Despite this, the showrunners intended for it to be visually consistent with the films and wanted any returning characters to look like they could feasibly grow up to be their film counterparts. [6] Amazon confirmed in September 2019 that filming for the first season would take place in New Zealand, where Jackson's films were made. [7] Seven of the season's main actors were New Zealanders, [8] with the rest of the cast coming from Australia, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, and the United States. [9] In August 2021, Amazon announced that it was moving production of future seasons to the UK, closer to home for more than half of the cast. [10]
The main Elves in the series are the Noldor (High Elves) who traveled from the Undying Lands of Valinor to fight the Dark Lord Morgoth in Middle-earth. Since Morgoth's defeat, their power—the "Light of the Eldar"—has begun to fade. Also included in the series are Silvan Elves (Wood Elves) who never lived in Valinor. [11] [12] Half-Elves, descendants of unions between Elves and Men, can choose between living a mortal or immortal life. [13]
The series depicts the Dwarf realm of Khazad-dûm in its "full glory", compared to the ruins that are seen in the Lord of the Rings films. [14] A key part of this is the discovery of the rare ore mithril in the mines of Khazad-dûm. [30]
The people of the Southlands in Middle-earth are categorized as "Low Men". [38] These include the villagers of Tirharad, who are descended from followers of the Dark Lord Morgoth. [39]
The people of the island kingdom of Númenor are categorized as "High Men". [38] They are descended from Elrond's brother Elros, [45] and were originally in close contact with the Elves. Over time, many Númenóreans have turned away from the Elves and grown envious of their immortality. The people with this ideology become known as the "King's Men" while those who remain friendly with the Elves are known as "The Faithful". [46]
The showrunners believed the series would not feel like Middle-earth without the diminutive Hobbits, [14] who do not appear in Tolkien's history until the Third Age. They decided to explore precursors to the Hobbits called Harfoots who live in a nomadic, secretive society. [14] [57] In the second season, a tribe of Hobbit-like Stoors are introduced. Precursors to River-folk like Smeagol from The Lord of the Rings, the Stoors live in an arid canyon in Rhûn. [58]
The armies of the Dark Lords include Orcs and Trolls. [67] [68] The series presents the origins of the Orcs as initially being corrupted Elves, as suggested by Tolkien in The Silmarillion , and explores what this means for them as sentient beings rather than "monsters". [67] This includes depicting female Orcs, [69] and expanding on Orc culture. It was important to the showrunners that practical prosthetics be used for the Orcs where possible. [70]
Maiar are angelic beings that can take on different forms. They serve the Valar, who are the equivalent of gods in Tolkien's mythology. The Maiar include the Istari (Wizards) who appear as human men. [77] [78]
The Rings of Power are magical artefacts in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, most prominently in his high fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. The One Ring first appeared as a plot device, a magic ring in Tolkien's children's fantasy novel, The Hobbit; Tolkien later gave it a backstory and much greater power. He added nineteen other Great Rings, also conferring powers such as invisibility, that it could control, including the Three Rings of the Elves, Seven Rings for the Dwarves, and Nine for Men. He stated that there were in addition many lesser rings with minor powers. A key story element in The Lord of the Rings is the addictive power of the One Ring, made secretly by the Dark Lord Sauron; the Nine Rings enslave their bearers as the Nazgûl (Ringwraiths), Sauron's most deadly servants.
Gil-galad is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, the last high king of the Noldor, one of the main divisions of Elves. He is mentioned in The Lord of the Rings, where the hobbit Sam Gamgee recites a fragment of a poem about him, and The Silmarillion. In the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, Gil-galad and Elendil laid siege to the Dark Lord Sauron's fortress of Barad-dûr, and fought him hand-to-hand for the One Ring. Both Gil-galad and Elendil were killed, while Elendil's son Isildur defeated Sauron but took the Ring for himself. Gil-galad briefly appears at the opening of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, and in several video games based on Middle-earth and as a secondary character in the TV series The Rings of Power.
Elendil is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He is mentioned in The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales. He was the father of Isildur and Anárion, last lord of Andúnië on the island of Númenor, and having escaped its downfall by sailing to Middle-earth, became the first High King of Arnor and Gondor. In the Last Alliance of Men and Elves, Elendil and Gil-galad laid siege to the Dark Lord Sauron's fortress of Barad-dûr, and fought him hand-to-hand for the One Ring. Both Elendil and Gil-galad were killed, and Elendil's son Isildur took the Ring for himself.
Aragorn is a fictional character and a protagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Aragorn is a Ranger of the North, first introduced with the name Strider and later revealed to be the heir of Isildur, an ancient King of Arnor and Gondor. Aragorn is a confidant of the wizard Gandalf and plays a part in the quest to destroy the One Ring and defeat the Dark Lord Sauron. As a young man, Aragorn falls in love with the immortal elf Arwen, as told in "The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen". Arwen's father, Elrond Half-elven, forbids them to marry unless Aragorn becomes King of both Arnor and Gondor.
Elrond Half-elven is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. Both of his parents, Eärendil and Elwing, were half-elven, having both Men and Elves as ancestors. He is the bearer of the elven-ring Vilya, the Ring of Air, and master of Rivendell, where he has lived for thousands of years through the Second and Third Ages of Middle-earth. He was the Elf-king Gil-galad's herald at the end of the Second Age, saw Gil-galad and king Elendil fight the dark lord Sauron for the One Ring, and Elendil's son Isildur take it rather than destroy it.
Isildur is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, the elder son of Elendil, descended from Elros, the founder of the island Kingdom of Númenor. He fled with his father when the island was drowned, becoming in his turn King of Arnor and Gondor. He cut the Ring from Sauron's hand, but instead of destroying it, was corrupted by its power and claimed it for his own. He was killed by orcs, and the Ring was lost in the River Anduin. This set the stage for the Ring to pass to Gollum and then to Bilbo, as told in The Hobbit; that in turn provided the central theme, the quest to destroy the Ring, for The Lord of the Rings.
Sauron is the title character and the primary antagonist, through the forging of the One Ring, of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, where he rules the land of Mordor and has the ambition of ruling the whole of Middle-earth. In the same work, he is identified as the "Necromancer" of Tolkien's earlier novel The Hobbit. The Silmarillion describes him as the chief lieutenant of the first Dark Lord, Morgoth. Tolkien noted that the Ainur, the "angelic" powers of his constructed myth, "were capable of many degrees of error and failing", but by far the worst was "the absolute Satanic rebellion and evil of Morgoth and his satellite Sauron". Sauron appears most often as "the Eye", as if disembodied.
The Lord of the Rings: War in the North is a 2011 action role-playing hack and slash video game developed by Snowblind Studios and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows. An OS X port was developed and published by Feral Interactive in 2013. It is the first video game based on both J. R. R. Tolkien's 1954 high fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings and Peter Jackson's film trilogy adaptation released in 2001, 2002 and 2003. This is because, until 2009, Vivendi Universal Games, in partnership with Tolkien Enterprises, held the rights to make games based on Tolkien's literary works, whilst Electronic Arts held the rights to make games based on the New Line Cinema films. In 2009, WB Games acquired the rights for both intellectual properties.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is an American fantasy television series developed by J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay for the streaming service Amazon Prime Video. Based on J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, primarily material from the appendices of the novel The Lord of the Rings, the series is set thousands of years before the novel and depicts the major events of Middle-earth's Second Age. It is produced by Amazon Studios in association with New Line Cinema.
The first season of the American fantasy television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is based on J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, primarily material from the appendices of the novel The Lord of the Rings. Set thousands of years before the novel in the Second Age of Middle-earth, the season depicts the emergence of the Dark Lord Sauron and the forging of the first Rings of Power. It was produced by Amazon Studios in association with New Line Cinema and with J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay as showrunners.
The second season of the American fantasy television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is based on J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, primarily material from the appendices of the novel The Lord of the Rings. Set thousands of years before the novel in the Second Age of Middle-earth, the season depicts the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron and the creation of more Rings of Power. It is produced by Amazon MGM Studios in association with New Line Cinema and with J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay as showrunners.
"A Shadow of the Past" is the first episode of the first season and series premiere of the American fantasy television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Based on J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, primarily material from the appendices of the novel The Lord of the Rings, it is set thousands of years before the novel in the Second Age of Middle-earth and depicts a time of relative peace. The episode was written by showrunners J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay, and directed by J. A. Bayona.
The music of the American fantasy television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is composed by Bear McCreary, with additional music by Howard Shore and other artists. The Amazon Prime Video series is based on J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, primarily material from the appendices of the novel The Lord of the Rings, and is set thousands of years before the novel in the Second Age of Middle-earth. It covers all the major events of the Second Age from Tolkien's writings.
"Adrift" is the second episode of the first season of the American fantasy television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Based on J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, primarily material from the appendices of the novel The Lord of the Rings, it is set thousands of years before the novel in the Second Age of Middle-earth during a time of relative peace and introduces the Dwarven kingdom of Khazad-dûm. The episode was written by Gennifer Hutchison and directed by J. A. Bayona.
"Adar" is the third episode of the first season of the American fantasy television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Based on J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, primarily material from the appendices of the novel The Lord of the Rings, it is set thousands of years before the novel in the Second Age of Middle-earth during a time of relative peace and introduces the island kingdom of Númenor. The episode was written by Jason Cahill and Justin Doble, and directed by Wayne Che Yip.
"The Great Wave" is the fourth episode of the first season of the American fantasy television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Based on J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, primarily material from the appendices of the novel The Lord of the Rings, it is set thousands of years before the novel in the Second Age of Middle-earth. The episode was written by Stephany Folsom and showrunners J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay, and directed by Wayne Che Yip.
"Partings" is the fifth episode of the first season of the American fantasy television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Based on J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, primarily material from the appendices of the novel The Lord of the Rings, it is set thousands of years before the novel in the Second Age of Middle-earth and shows several groups preparing for conflict with emerging evil forces. The episode was written by Justin Doble and directed by Wayne Che Yip.
"Udûn" is the sixth episode of the first season of the American fantasy television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Based on J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, primarily material from the appendices of the novel The Lord of the Rings, it is set thousands of years before the novel in the Second Age of Middle-earth and depicts a battle in the Southlands. The episode was written by Nicholas Adams, Justin Doble, and showrunners J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay, and directed by Charlotte Brändström.
"The Eye" is the seventh episode of the first season of the American fantasy television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Based on J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, primarily material from the appendices of the novel The Lord of the Rings, it is set thousands of years before the novel in the Second Age of Middle-earth and explores the aftermath of the battle and volcanic eruption from the previous episode. "The Eye" was written by Jason Cahill and directed by Charlotte Brändström.
"Alloyed" is the eighth and final episode of the first season of the American fantasy television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Based on J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, primarily material from the appendices of the novel The Lord of the Rings, it is set thousands of years before the novel in the Second Age of Middle-earth and introduces the first Rings of Power. The episode was written by Gennifer Hutchison and showrunners J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay, and directed by Wayne Che Yip.