Amazon acquired the television rights to The Lord of the Rings in November 2017. Payne and McKay were set to develop the series in July 2018. They intended for it to be visually consistent with Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings (2001–2003) and The Hobbit (2012–2014) film trilogies, despite being separate from them. A large international cast was hired and each Middle-earth culture was defined through designs, dialects, and music. Filming began in February 2020 in New Zealand, where the films were produced, but was put on hold in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Production resumed in September and wrapped in August 2021, taking place in Auckland and on location around the country. J. A. Bayona, Wayne Che Yip, and Charlotte Brändström directed episodes. Special effects company Wētā Workshop and visual effects vendor Wētā FX returned from the films.
The season premiered on the streaming service Amazon Prime Video on September 1, 2022, with its first two episodes. This followed a marketing campaign that attempted to win over dissatisfied Tolkien fans. The other six episodes were released weekly until October 14. Amazon said the season was the most-watched of any Prime Video original series and third-party analytics companies also estimated viewership to be high. Initial reviews were generally positive, particularly for the visuals, but there were mixed feelings on the season's Tolkien connections and criticisms for its overall structure. Commentary about the season focused on vocal responses from Tolkien fans, online backlash to the diverse cast, and comparisons with the concurrent fantasy series House of the Dragon. The season received various accolades including six Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Award nominations.
After the Dark Lord Morgoth is defeated, the ElfFinrod dies searching for Morgoth's servant Sauron. Finrod's sister Galadriel vows to continue the search and finds an abandoned fortress in the northern wastelands of Forodwaith which bears Sauron's mark. Her companions insist on returning to the Elven capital Lindon where High King Gil-galad proclaims the war against Morgoth's forces to be over. He grants Galadriel and her company the honor of sailing to Valinor where they can live an eternal life at peace. In the Southlands of Middle-earth, Elves watch over Men descended from allies of Morgoth. To the disapproval of the other Elves and Men, the Elf Arondir has grown close with the human healer Bronwyn. Together they discover that the village of Hordern has been destroyed, while Bronwyn's son Theo finds a broken sword bearing Sauron's mark in the barn of tavern owner Waldreg. Near Valinor, Galadriel chooses to turn back and continue the search for Sauron, jumping from the ship into the Sundering Seas. At the same time, the Harfoot Nori Brandyfoot discovers a strange man inside a meteor crater.
Swimming back to Middle-earth, Galadriel comes across a raft with human survivors of a shipwreck. They are attacked by a sea monster and only one survives—Halbrand of the Southlands, who is fleeing from Orcs. He and Galadriel work together to survive a storm. Nori and her friend Poppy Proudfellow hide the Stranger from the other Harfoots and give him food and shelter. He does not speak their language but uses fireflies and apparent magic to indicate that he is searching for a constellation of stars that Nori does not recognize. Arondir investigates tunnels beneath Hordern and is captured. Bronwyn returns to her own village, Tirharad, where an Orc attacks her and Theo. They kill it and convince the rest of the town to leave for the tower of Ostirith. Gil-galad sends the half-ElfElrond to Eregion to assist the great Elven-smith Celebrimbor who plans to build a powerful new forge. Elrond suggests they seek help from the Dwarves and goes to his friend Prince Durin IV in Khazad-dûm. Durin IV is angry that Elrond has not visited in 20 years, but his wife Disa convinces him to hear Elrond's proposal.
Galadriel and Halbrand are picked up by a ship captained by Elendil. He takes them to Númenor, an island kingdom ruled by Men descended from Elrond's brother Elros. Relations between the island and the Elves have grown strained, and Queen Regent Míriel denies Galadriel's request for a ship back to Middle-earth. Galadriel visits a library of lore with Elendil and discovers that the mark of Sauron is actually a map of the Southlands where a new realm for evil forces is planned. She also learns that Halbrand, who is imprisoned after fighting some Númenóreans, is heir to the throne of the Southlands. In the Southlands, Arondir has been captured by Orcs and taken to a construction camp digging underground passages. His Elven compatriots have also been captured and are killed during an attempted prison revolt. Arondir is taken to the leader of the Orcs who they call Adar, which means "father". As the Harfoots prepare for their seasonal migration, the Stranger is revealed to them all while trying to read some star maps. They let him join them and he pushes Nori's wagon since her father is injured.
Míriel refuses to help defend the Southlands and has Galadriel imprisoned. Adar releases Arondir with a message for the Southlanders: forsake their claim to the area and swear fealty to Adar, or be destroyed. Theo returns to Tirharad for supplies and is attacked by Orcs who are searching for the broken sword. Arondir saves him. Waldreg tells Theo that the sword is a gift for Men from Sauron. In Eregion, the Elves and Dwarves begin building the forge. Elrond learns that Durin IV has been mining a powerful new ore, mithril, and promises to keep this secret. Galadriel escapes prison and goes to the tower of King Tar-Palantir, who is in ill health. Míriel explains that there was a rebellion because the king wanted to renew relations with the Elves, and Míriel was placed on the throne. This gave her access to a palantír (crystal ball) that showed her a vision of Númenor being destroyed in a great tsunami. She believes Galadriel will bring this about, but when the petals of Númenor's White Tree begin to fall Míriel sees this as a sign from the Valar and instead decides to accompany Galadriel to the Southlands.
The Harfoots are saved from a wolf attack by the Stranger, who injures himself using magic to scare the wolves off. He later uses more magic to heal himself and nearly hurts Nori in the process, frightening her. In the tower of Ostirith, Waldreg convinces half of the Southlander refugees that they will be better off joining the Orcs. Theo shows the broken sword to Arondir who believes that it is some sort of key designed to enslave the Southlanders. In Lindon, Gil-galad reveals to Elrond that he knows of the existence of mithril and believes it can counteract the fading power of the Elves in Middle-earth. Elrond tells Durin IV and the pair return to Khazad-dûm to try convince his father, King Durin III, to help the Elves. As the Númenóreans prepare to depart for Middle-earth, Tar-Palantir warns Míriel not to go. Galadriel tells her that Halbrand will be accompanying them to claim the throne of the Southlands, but he does not want to and accuses Galadriel of using him. Galadriel later apologizes and opens up to him, and Halbrand eventually agrees to go. Númenor's ships depart for the Southlands.
Nicholas Adams & Justin Doble and J. D. Payne & Patrick McKay
September30,2022(2022-09-30)
Adar and his Orcs find Ostirith abandoned, but this is a trap and Arondir collapses the tower on them. He and the refugees return to Tirharad to prepare for the next assault while Galadriel, Halbrand, and the Númenóreans make their way towards the Southlands. Arondir is unable to destroy the broken sword and hides it instead. That night, a group of Orcs enter Tirharad and are killed by the townspeople, who are horrified to learn that some of the enemies they just killed were the people who followed Waldreg. Orc archers fire on the town and wound Bronwyn. Adar arrives and Theo reveals the location of the broken sword to save Bronwyn's life. Adar attempts to flee as the Númenóreans arrive on horseback and kill or capture the remaining Orcs. Galadriel and Halbrand capture Adar and interrogate him. Halbrand is hailed as the King of the Southlands. Theo realizes that the broken sword is missing: Waldreg has it and uses it to unlock a dam beside Ostirith, sending water through the Orcs' tunnels and into a lava chamber beneath the mountain Orodruin. The resulting eruption covers the Southlands.
Galadriel wakes up, covered in ash and surrounded by fire, and finds Theo. Míriel loses her eyesight, and Elendil's son Isildur is presumed dead. The Harfoots arrive at their destination, an orchard that has been destroyed by the nearby volcano. The Stranger attempts to fix it but endangers Nori and her sister. Scared, the Harfoots send him away, only to find the orchard regrown the next day. A trio of mysterious women arrive in search of the Stranger and destroy the Harfoots' caravans when Nori attempts to misdirect them. Galadriel and Theo are reunited with Bronwyn, Arondir, and a gravely injured Halbrand. Galadriel takes him to receive Elvish medicine while the Númenóreans depart on their ships. Míriel vows to return for revenge. Meanwhile, Elrond and Durin IV fail to convince Durin III to help the Elves. They are caught mining mithril in secret and Elrond is banished, taking a small piece of mithril with him. Durin IV is stripped of his royal status and Durin III seals the mine. Unbeknownst to them all, a Balrog lives deep below the mine. The Southlands, now a land of Orcs, is renamed Mordor.
Gennifer Hutchison and J. D. Payne & Patrick McKay
October14,2022(2022-10-14)
The three women find the Stranger and tell him that he is Sauron. Galadriel and Halbrand arrive in Eregion and the latter receives medical attention. As he recovers, he grows interested in Celebrimbor's work and suggests a way to create a small object with Elrond's mithril. Míriel and Elendil return to Númenor to learn that Tar-Palantir has died. The Harfoots find the Stranger and attempt to rescue him from the women. The Stranger, receiving encouragement from Nori, uses magic to banish the women to the unseen world. Regaining some of his memories, he explains to Nori that he is a Wizard and needs to travel east to the land of Rhûn. Nori decides to go with him. Galadriel reviews records on the Kings of the Southlands and realizes that Halbrand is not who he says he is. She confronts him and he reveals himself to be Sauron. She refuses to join him and he flees to Mordor. Choosing not to reveal this, Galadriel encourages Celebrimbor to move forward with the plan but make three objects instead. Elrond finds the records and deduces what happened, but too late: three Rings of Power are forged.
J. A. Bayona directed the first two episodes of the season and served as an executive producer.
Peter Jackson, director of the Lord of the Rings (2001–2003) and The Hobbit (2012–2014) film adaptations, was discussing his involvement with Amazon by April 2018.[19] He was not expected to be involved by early June,[20] but later that month Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke said discussions with Jackson were ongoing. The studio was meeting with potential writers and hoped the series could debut in 2021.[21]J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay were hired to develop it in July.[22] The pair were an unlikely choice, having only done unproduced or uncredited writing at that point.[1] In December, Jackson said he and his producing partners would read scripts for the series and offer notes, but he later stated that this did not happen. Amazon explained that the deal with Tolkien's estate required the company to keep the series distinct from Jackson's films. Amazon executive Sharon Tal Yguado advocated for his involvement, but the estate was against this after not being consulted on Jackson's films. Despite this, the showrunners attempted to privately discuss the series with Jackson,[23] and they intended for it to be visually consistent with the films.[24]
Game of Thrones (2011–2019) writer Bryan Cogman joined as a consultant in May 2019, after signing an overall deal with Amazon, to help develop the series.[25] In July, J. A. Bayona was hired to direct the first two episodes and executive produce alongside his producing partner Belén Atienza.[26] Later that month, Amazon was interested in having Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss consult on the series as part of a potential overall deal,[27] before the pair signed with Netflix instead.[28] At the end of July, Amazon confirmed that Payne and McKay were showrunners and executive producers for the series, and revealed the full creative team: executive producers Bayona, Atienza, Bruce Richmond, Gene Kelly, Lindsey Weber, and Yguado; producer Ron Ames; costume designer Kate Hawley; production designer Rick Heinrichs; visual effects supervisor Jason Smith; Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey; and illustrator/concept artist John Howe.[29] Hawley and Howe returned from the films,[24] along with special effects company Wētā Workshop and visual effects vendor Wētā FX.[30] Shippey soon gave an interview on the series and said the first season had 20 episodes.[31] He revealed details without permission and subsequently left the project.[1] Cogman, Kelly, Yguado, and Heinrichs also left during development.[1][32]
Ramsey Avery was hired as the new production designer around the end of August 2019.[33] He said ten episodes were planned, but this was reduced to eight not long before he joined.[34] Filming was scheduled to begin in January 2020 and was structured into blocks, with the first block covering the first two episodes. Due to concerns that writing and design work would not be ready in time for the second block of episodes, a two-and-a-half month break was planned following the filming of the first block.[33] By November, this production break was expected to last four or five months so the writers could begin work on a newly ordered second season.[35] Callum Greene, a producer on Jackson's The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013), joined as an executive producer by the start of December.[32][36]
Ames oversaw the season's technical departments. He asked Amazon for unlimited cloud-based storage using Amazon Web Services, allowing all technical data and footage to be accessible to anyone working on the series around the world. New tools were built to achieve this, working with cloud-based dailies platform Moxion, digital camera manufacturer Blackmagic Design, post-production facility Company 3,[37][38] and video assist provider QTake.[39] The series was the first production to be completely cloud-based,[40] which became crucial when the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020. The production worked with the Third Floor to create a virtual environment where work could be planned and previsualized using Epic Games' 3D game software Unreal Engine.[37] In March 2021, Wayne Che Yip was revealed to be the director of four episodes and a co-executive producer for the season.[41]Charlotte Brändström was announced as director for the other two episodes in May.[42] Prime Video announced the series' title, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, in January 2022.[43]
Writing
A writers' room for the season opened in Santa Monica, California, by mid-February 2019.[44] It included Payne, McKay, Gennifer Hutchison, Justin Doble, Cogman, Jason Cahill, Stephany Folsom, Helen Shang, and Nicholas Adams.[45] They started each day discussing a quote from Tolkien that inspired them.[46][47] The scripts were being rewritten by the end of August 2019 when the episode count was reduced from ten to eight.[34]
The series is set in the Second Age of Middle-earth, thousands of years before the Third Age events of Tolkien's The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings.[48] The First and Second Ages are primarily explored in Tolkien works that Amazon did not acquire the rights to, so the writers had to identify all of the references to the Second Age in The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and its appendices, and create a story that bridged those passages.[24] They worked with Tolkien's estate and lore experts to ensure this story was "Tolkienian".[24] The writers approached the series as a prequel to the Third Age, making new backstories for its characters and locations.[47] For example, they created a new "origin story" for the dark land of Mordor, introducing it as the Southlands which are devastated by a volcanic eruption. That was one of the earliest ideas for the series,[49] along with a being falling from the sky and meeting a halfling.[47] The showrunners believed the series would not feel like Middle-earth without Hobbits and Wizards,[1][50] and wanted to have a "Tolkienian relationship" between a Wizard and a halfling similar to the characters Gandalf and Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings.[51] Hobbits are associated with the Third Age, so they decided to explore precursors to the Hobbits called Harfoots who live in a secretive society.[1][52] One version of Tolkien's history has the two Blue Wizards arrive in Middle-earth during the Second Age,[53] so the showrunners used that as the basis to include "The Stranger" who is revealed to be a Wizard in the season finale.[50]
Though the Rings of Power for Elves were made after those for Men and Dwarves in Tolkien's history, the writers chose to follow the order used in the "Ring Verse" poem—which starts with those for the Elves—and focus on the Elven rings in the first season.[54][55]:2:21–38:35 Tolkien wrote that the power of the Elves in Middle-earth is fading during the Second Age and it is the Elven rings that slow this.[49] The writers wanted to explain this and determined from Tolkien's writings that: the light of the Two Trees of Valinor should counteract the Elves' fading power; the light of the Trees was captured in the Silmarils, powerful jewels from the First Age; and one of the Elven rings contains the rare ore mithril, which has special properties. They subsequently suggested a "grand unification theory" in which mithril is created from one of the Silmarils, giving it the power to save the Elves, and then the ore is used to make all three Elven rings.[50] The writers wanted the season's central storylines to justify the "Faustian deal" that the Elves accept when they make the rings. The Elves Galadriel and Elrond go on separate journeys in the season: Elrond attempts to reverse the Elves' fading power while Galadriel gathers an army to fight the forces of evil. When they both fail, they turn to the creation of the Rings of Power out of desperation.[56]:1:48–3:37
One of the Tolkien quotes that the writers' room discussed was a line from The Lord of the Rings where Galadriel says "I know [the Dark Lord Sauron's] mind, and he gropes ever to know mine". They inferred that the two characters could have met before and wanted to explore that idea. Believing this could only happen if Sauron was in disguise, something that he is known to do in Tolkien's writings, the showrunners saw an opportunity to have Sauron deceive the audience in the same way that he deceives the other characters. They decided not to use his "Annatar" disguise from the books so Tolkien fans could be surprised as well,[47][50][57] and instead created a new disguise: the human "Halbrand". His dialogue includes repurposed lines that Tolkien wrote for Galadriel. The writers gave his other lines double meaning, so the audience could still learn about Sauron's true character during the season.[51][47] McKay said hiding Sauron until the season finale meant they were not rushing into focusing on his evilness,[50] and could begin the series by introducing the Second Age and its heroic characters.[24]
The writers condensed Tolkien's Second Age timeline from thousands of years to a short period of time. This allowed major human characters from later in the timeline to be introduced in the season,[1] including Isildur and others from Númenor. The showrunners said visiting Númenor, a kingdom of Men that is destroyed near the end of the Second Age, was one of the key reasons for making a series set in this part of Tolkien's history.[58][59]:24:34–29:04 The season uses a vision of the future to reveal that Númenor will eventually be destroyed. This was done so all viewers would be aware of the tragic ending that is coming, similar to the film Titanic (1997).[60]:33:15–38:43
In June 2018, Salke said the series could be produced in New Zealand, where Jackson's films were made, but Amazon was also willing to film in other countries.[61] Pre-production reportedly began around that time in Auckland,[62] while location scouting also took place in Scotland around the Isle of Skye, Portpatrick, Scourie, Perthshire, and Loch Lomond.[63] Amazon held talks with Creative Scotland about using studios that were under construction in Leith, Edinburgh.[64] In December, Amazon had a "crisis meeting" with the New Zealand government and threatened to take the production to another country due to the lack of available studio space in Auckland.[65] No special deal was offered to prevent this.[66] Amazon eventually decided to film the series in New Zealand. The company was reportedly influenced by the government's reassurances that the country was safe following the Christchurch mosque shootings in March 2019, as well as concern regarding the potential effects of Brexit in Scotland.[67] Auckland was chosen as the primary filming location in New Zealand because the Wellington studios that the films were produced in were being used by the Avatar franchise. Leases for the series at Kumeu Film Studios and Auckland Film Studios took effect in July 2019.[62] That September, Amazon officially confirmed that the series would be filmed in New Zealand.[68][69]
Through New Zealand's Major Screen Production Grant, all film and television productions received a 20 percent tax rebate. Projects that offered "significant economic benefits" could negotiate for an additional 5 percent.[70] Amazon signed two Memoranda of Understanding in December 2020 to gain access to the additional amount.[71] One memorandum outlined Amazon's overall obligations in exchange for the extra refund, and the other was specific to the first season. The agreements allowed Tourism New Zealand to use material from the series and committed Amazon to helping grow New Zealand's screen sector and economy.[70][71] Amazon invested NZ$3.5 million (US$2.5 million) in developing permanent connectivity between the series' production studios and Auckland service providers such as Rebel Fleet and Department of Post. The company also hired more than 20 New Zealanders with little-to-no experience in the industry and trained them in visual effects and post-production work.[39]
The New Zealand government revealed in April 2021 that Amazon was spending NZ$650 million (US$465 million) on the season, making it eligible for NZ$160 million (US$114 million) in tax rebates. James Hibberd at The Hollywood Reporter said the US$465 million amount "almost certainly" included additional costs to the season's production budget, including the startup costs of building sets, costumes, and props that would be used in future seasons as well.[72] Salke confirmed this, describing the cost as a "crazy headline that's fun to click on, but that is really building the infrastructure of what will sustain the whole series".[73] Despite media focus on the series' large budget, Avery said it was not significantly more than that of the two-and-a-half hour feature films he had worked on previously, and it had to be spread across eight hours for the season.[34]
In his first month in New Zealand, Avery went location scouting around the country.[34] Kevin Spring was the supervising location manager for the season.[39] Because of budget restrictions and logistical issues, filming needed to primarily take place near the Auckland studios. This meant less filming around the country than Avery initially expected. The production also struggled with New Zealand's weather and lack of European-style forests.[33] 38 filming locations were chosen, 15 of which were in Auckland.[74] The others included the Hauraki Gulf, the Coromandel Peninsula, the Denize Bluffs in the King Country, Mount Kidd in Fiordland, Piha, Rangitikei,[30]Kahurangi National Park, Central Otago, and Queenstown.[74] More than 1,250 New Zealanders were contracted for the season, including 80 percent of its department heads, and around 700 more were indirectly engaged by it.[30][39]
In August 2021, Amazon announced that it was moving production of future seasons to the United Kingdom and would not preserve the terms of the memoranda it signed with the New Zealand government.[75] This meant the season was no longer eligible for the additional 5 percent tax rebate (around NZ$33 million or US$23 million).[76] Multiple factors led to the change, including Tolkien's estate wanting the series to be filmed in the UK.[77]
Casting
Charlie Vickers portrays Halbrand, who is revealed in the season finale to be the Dark Lord Sauron. This came after theories and speculation about who was playing Sauron in the series.
Casting was underway around the world by July 2019, including in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia.[78] Casting for extras also began in New Zealand at that time.[79] The showrunners were not interested in hiring famous actors for the series and wanted to find the best person for each role, which McKay said was like finding a needle in a haystack each time.[80]:7 By the end of July, Markella Kavenagh was in talks to portray a lead character who was referred to as "Tyra".[81]Will Poulter was cast in another lead role, referred to as "Beldor", in September.[82][83] His character was said to be one of the most sought after roles for young actors in Hollywood at the time.[83]Maxim Baldry was informally attached to the series in a significant role in mid-October,[84][85] and Joseph Mawle was cast later that month. Mawle was reportedly playing the series' lead villain, referred to as "Oren".[86] In December, Ema Horvath was cast in another lead role;[87] Poulter was forced to leave the series due to scheduling conflicts;[88][89] and Morfydd Clark was cast as Galadriel, who was portrayed in Jackson's films by Cate Blanchett.[90]
In March 2021, Budge said he had left the series after filming several episodes. He explained that Amazon reviewed the first episodes and decided to recast his role,[95] which was reported to be the Tolkien character Celebrimbor.[96] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, further casting was restricted to actors in New Zealand at the time. Charles Edwards, who was starring in the New Zealand-based series Under the Vines (2021–present), auditioned for Celebrimbor and Weber said it was a moment of luck for the producers.[97][98] His casting was announced in July along with that of Will Fletcher, Amelie Child-Villiers, and Beau Cassidy.[99] Logistical issues following the recasting of Celebrimbor reportedly led to a subplot between him and the Dwarves being removed from the season.[96][100]:20:00–23:00
Seven of the series' main actors were New Zealanders and a third of the season's 124 speaking roles went to New Zealand actors.[30] The rest of the cast came from Australia, Sri Lanka, the UK, and the US.[94] The cast did not know which characters they were portraying until they arrived in New Zealand,[101] and alternate scripts were written in an attempt to hide the season's big character reveals.[57] This secrecy led to theories and speculation about who could be portraying Sauron. Some fans identified a character in a trailer that they thought could be Sauron's Annatar disguise. Anson Boon was reported to be playing the character, but Weber said this was actually Bridie Sisson and she was playing a different character from Rhûn.[102] The finale reveals that Vickers's Halbrand is Sauron in disguise. He learned this during the production break after filming the first two episodes, but had suspected his character's villainous nature during auditions when he was asked to recite a monologue given by Satan in John Milton's poem Paradise Lost (1667).[8][103]:4:46–5:24 There was also speculation about the identity of the Stranger; the finale reveals that he is a Wizard and references dialogue spoken by Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings, but the season does not confirm which Wizard he is.[7] Other Tolkien characters that were adapted for the season include the Dwarven kings Durin IV (Arthur) and Durin III (Mullan); the Númenórean rulers Tar-Míriel (Addai-Robinson), Ar-Pharazôn (Gravelle), and Tar-Palantir (Ken Blackburn); and Galadriel's brother Finrod (Fletcher).[16]
Design
Heinrichs was attached to the series before Bayona joined.[104] Avery said he was hired because most of what had been done initially "wasn't working",[34] and the design team was struggling with the budget and schedule.[105] He stated that he had to "start from scratch" and work quickly to be ready for filming.[106]:11:58–19:33 Heinrichs is credited as production designer for the first two episodes alongside Avery.[105] Avery was given five "guideposts" by the showrunners when he joined the series: they wanted it to feel like a real world that the characters lived in rather than a fantasy world; as many of the sets needed to be built for real as possible, using visual effects only when necessary; the audience should be able to easily identify the different cultures of Middle-earth; the design team had to work within the established budget and schedule; and the series had to be true to Tolkien.[105]
Avery studied the evolution of Middle-earth illustrations as part of his research for the series.[34] The designers wanted Middle-earth to be recognizable for fans of the films, but they also had to reflect that the series is set thousands of years earlier and shows the "golden age" of many Middle-earth cultures. This contrasts with the Third Age's "period of decay".[33] Hawley created mood boards that established a design language for each Middle-earth culture. The showrunners responded positively to these, and Avery was thankful that he could use them as the starting point for his own work.[34][106]:20:33–33:08 A "war room" was assembled where the design language for each culture was defined.[107] Dialect coach Leith McPherson, who also worked on the Hobbit films, established different dialects for each culture, including standard English for Elves, Scottish for Dwarves, Northern English for the Southlanders, and Irish for Harfoots.[80]:46[108] Daniel Reeve, who was responsible for calligraphy and maps on the films, returned to do the same for the series and also to invent new writing systems for some of the cultures.[109]
Bayona initially oversaw design work at home in Barcelona from September to October 2019.[104] Avery said "the Sun never set on the Rings of Power art department", which had 30 illustrators working across five continents and nine time zones for 18 months. They created around 38,000 pieces of concept art across different mediums,[34][110] and Howe filled 40 sketchbooks with drawings.[111] The production had seven stages and multiple backlot spaces across Auckland Film Studios, Kumeu Film Studios, and Kelly Park Film Studios; Kelly Park is a former equestrian center where they could dig into the dirt floor.[34][74] Wētā Workshop created props, weapons, prosthetics, and more,[112] which were shipped from Wellington to Auckland by truck.[80]:29 For the season, 87 sets were built,[39] 2,000 costumes were made,[113] and more than 1,000 weapons and 2,500 arrows were created.[105]
Cultures of Middle-earth
Different design languages were defined for each culture of Middle-earth. Though the series is not connected to the Lord of the Rings films and is set thousands of years earlier than them, elements from the films were included in the new designs: the city of Númenor was intended to look like the inspiration for the films' depiction of Minas Tirith (top), while the large wheels of the Harfoots' wagons evoke the round doors of the Hobbit holes (bottom) seen in the films.
Tolkien said the Elves were born under the stars "on shores of pearl" and first lived in nature. Stars became a key symbol for them along with pearls and other jewels,[34][114] and Avery examined close-up photography of plants to include in Elvish architecture. He studied Celtic art and La Tène culture for ways to make Elvish culture feel ancient.[34] Vertical lines were used to show the Elves "reaching for the stars",[115] including open towers.[116] Light for Elvish locations was designed to be soft and ethereal.[106]:4:06–11:08 Reeve used Tolkien's established Elvish writing systems, and created watercolor paintings to depict architectural drawings.[109] Hawley differentiated costumes for the Silvan Elves (Wood Elves) like Arondir, who she saw as reflecting grass, hills, and trees, from those for the Noldor (High Elves) who reflect light, gold, and water;[117] wood was integrated into Arondir's armor and weapons.[33][114] Prosthetics for the Elves' pointed ears were designed to match the lines of the different actors' faces.[118] Each ear took several days to make and could only be used once.[80]:29
The Dwarves were created by Aulë, the smith of the Valar, from fire and stone. This inspired a fire-based color palette and use of open flames for light.[106]:4:06–11:08[119] Avery researched ancient mines and stone carvings,[34] and Bayona took inspiration from the films of Russian directors Sergei Eisenstein and Andrei Tarkovsky.[104] In The Lord of the Rings, the Dwarf Gimli speaks of his people's respect for stone. Avery reflected this in architecture that works around natural rock formations, contrasting with the geometric architecture seen in the films which Avery attributed to Dwarvish greed and corruption in the Third Age.[120] Words from "The Song of Durin", which Gimli sings in the book, were carved into walls using Tolkien's Cirth runes.[105][109] The angular runes also inspired the use of triangles and diamonds in Dwarvish designs.[80]:22 Costumes had hooks to support the characters' large beards,[121] and featured precious stones and gold dust from their mines.[114][119] Female Dwarves also have facial hair, but it is more subtle because the producers wanted them to look feminine.[118]
Avery designed the city of Númenor in three layers: initial Elvish-inspired architecture; more "Mannish" designs as the Númenóreans developed their own culture; and "anti-Elvish" changes since the Númenóreans cut ties with Elves.[115] Reeve developed a similar history for Númenórean language and writing, tracking how they went from writing in the Elvish tengwar script to using a new script for their language Adûnaic.[109] A key theme for the Númenóreans is their fear of death and resentment of the immortal Elves.[106]:11:58–19:33 Tolkien said Men were the most creative race due to their short lifespans, which is shown in Númenórean designs with bold shapes and ornamentation.[116] Another recurring motif is the Sun, because Men appear in Tolkien's history when the Sun first rises.[106]:20:33–33:08 Tolkien compared Númenor to Venice, so Avery studied that city and mirrored its connection to water.[122] He also used Venetian glass for light sources.[106]:4:06–11:08 Because the realm of Gondor in the films is founded by Númenóreans, Avery wanted Númenor to look like the inspiration for the Gondor city Minas Tirith.[115] The main set for Númenor was almost 300,000 square feet (28,000m2) and described as "an entire seaside city" with a ship docked at the harbor inside a large water tank.[9][123]
The Southlanders' buildings have thatched roofs, and Avery said they were "melting into the landscapes".[56]:10:38–12:13 Their light primarily comes from primitive torches and lanterns covered with layers of antler horn.[106]:4:06–11:08 The make-up team created the appearance of skin disorders, scabs, and psoriasis on the actors to show their lack of vitamins.[80]:32 The Southlanders use runes for writing, like the Dwarves, but Reeve evolved this so it could be written cursively in Bronwyn's apothecary notes.[109] The Tirharad village was built on a farm near Auckland,[105] and was exposed to the weather for several months due to the extended production break. Avery said this gave the set natural aging,[33] including real moss.[105]
Bayona took inspiration from traveler communities for the nomadic Harfoots.[104] Hobbits are known to be good at blending in with nature during the Third Age, which inspired the idea that their ancestors' clothing and wagons could camouflage with their surroundings as they migrate.[113][119][124] Elements were hand-made with techniques that the Harfoots would use themselves, such as coloring fabric with vegetable dyes, berry stains, and soot,[119] or weaving the canopies of their wagons from branches. New Zealand willow weaver Mike Lilian was hired to work on the latter.[125] Avery wanted the large wheels of the wagons to remind viewers of the round Hobbit doors seen in the films.[126] The prosthetics for the Harfoots' large, hairy feet have the same design as those used for the Hobbits in the films, but modern technology allowed the new versions to be sturdier and have moveable toes.[127] Reeve initially wrote Harfoot texts in English with a "Harfoot-looking" script, but Avery felt the Harfoots should be more primitive so Reeve instead developed a new picture-based script inspired by early pictographs.[109]
It was important to the showrunners that practical effects be used for the Orcs where possible, and that their culture be expanded on in the series.[128] The design team defined five different types of Orcs, including leaders and "Reavers". Prosthetics head Jamie Wilson described the latter as "crazy serial killer orcs".[127] The series' Orcs have less battle scars, lighter skin, and some skin conditions to show that they are emerging from hiding and being exposed to the Sun for the first time.[128] The Orc prosthetics took between two and seven hours to apply. This included multiple interlocking prosthetic pieces as well as wigs, dentures, and contact lenses.[80]:29
The design team wanted the depiction of magic and creatures to be rooted in nature.[110] Mithril was made from a translucent material with a shape that mixed organic and faceted surfaces. This was gilded with gun bluing and augmented by the visual effects team.[129] Taking inspiration from Sauron's whispers in the films, which can be heard in scenes related to the One Ring and the unseen world, sound designer Damian Del Borrello created a similar sound for magic in the series by recording himself whispering Elvish incantations. These represent the whispers of Eru Ilúvatar, the creator of Middle-earth, since the One Ring does not yet exist.[130]
Filming
Initial work
The season was produced under the working titleUntitled Amazon Project or simply UAP.[131] Filming for the first two episodes was scheduled to take place from January to May 2020, followed by the planned production break and then filming on the other two episode blocks from October 2020 to June 2021.[33][35][132]Óscar Faura returned from Bayona's films as the cinematographer for the first two episodes,[133] and chose Arri Alexa Mini LF cameras and a 2.39:1 widescreen aspect ratio for the season. Arri Alexa LF and Phantom Flex4K cameras were used for higher frame rate sequences.[129]Vic Armstrong was the stunt coordinator and second unit director.[134] Filming was reported to have begun in early February,[135] but Avery said they "didn't really get started" until March.[33] Filming was placed on indefinite hold after 25 days due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[131][136]
Wētā FX provided the majority of on-set visual effects support for the season.[137] Real-time camera software was used to make previsualizations of set extensions and other digital elements available during filming.[38][138] A key technical challenge was to make the Dwarves and Harfoots look the correct size, as they are supposed to be much smaller than the other characters.[139] After determining that this could not be done solely through visual effects,[140] a list of "Ten Commandments" was created for approaching these scenes.[141] Different techniques included doubles who were the correct size, oversized props and prosthetics, actors looking over the heads of their scene partners, and forced perspective shots.[140][142] Two versions of some sets were created at different scales, but these were limited by budgetary restrictions,[105] and the preference was to have actors looking at each other to prioritize their performances.[143] A new system for motion control photography was created so shots could be filmed multiple times at different scales while replicating the movement of hand-held cameras.[144]
COVID-19 pandemic
Bayona was halfway through filming his episodes when filming was shut down.[104] Around 800 cast and crew members were initially told to stay home,[131] and many non-New Zealander cast and crew eventually left the country. Several actors and some artists remained.[33] Filming was allowed to resume in early May under new safety guidelines from the New Zealand government, but rather than complete work on the first two episodes the production decided to segue into the planned filming break early.[145] The crew took advantage of the extended break to refine the designs and scripts, including adjustments to align with the new second-season storylines.[146]
The series was one of seven film and television productions that were granted exemptions to allow cast and crew members to re-enter New Zealand while its borders were closed to non-New Zealanders during the pandemic. The exemptions were granted before June 18 and applied to 93 members of the production as well as 20 family members. Around 10 percent of the series' crew were believed to be non-New Zealanders.[147] Pre-production work restarted within eight or nine weeks of the pandemic beginning.[33] Filming resumed on September 28,[148] and Bayona completed filming his episodes by December 23.[149] Production on further episodes was set to begin in January 2021 following a two-week Christmas break.[149][150] Because of the filming delays, the planned episode blocks were no longer followed and two first units began filming simultaneously.[100]:23:07–27:20 These were called "Ent" and "Warg", named for two of Tolkien's creatures.[129] Sometimes there were multiple second units filming as well, meaning there were four units working at the same time on some days.[100]:23:07–27:20 Once production was underway again, the design team was not able to bring in extra help from outside New Zealand. This forced them to cut back on some plans for later episodes, including re-using sets instead of building new ones.[33]
Yip confirmed that he had begun filming by March,[41] and Brändström was in New Zealand for production in May.[42] Aaron Morton and Alex Disenhof were the respective cinematographers for their episodes.[34] That June, Walker said the production's timeline was "nebulous" and Amazon would "let us go when they're done with us".[151] Many of the international cast members were effectively trapped in New Zealand for nearly two years.[75][152] Filming wrapped for the season on August 2, 2021,[153] after 385 shoot days covering 214 first unit days, 126 second unit days, and 45 splinter unit days. 786 hours of footage was recorded for the season.[38]
Production controversies
In July 2021, several stunt performers alleged that a senior stunt supervisor had created an "uneasy environment" that contributed to an unsafe workplace. At least three stunt performers were seriously injured on the set, including stuntwoman Dayna Grant who suffered a head injury in March 2021.[154] Stuntwoman Elissa Cadwell was injured when she struck her head falling into a water tank while rehearsing a stunt in February 2020.[155] Responding to the allegations, the production's head of safety Willy Heatley said the injury rate was 0.065 percent across 16,200 days of stunt work and this was mostly "common stunt-related sprains" and strains.[154]
In November 2022, The Guardian reported on "serious concerns" that crew had regarding the production's environmental impact. A sustainability team was appointed in January 2021, and said the production generated around 14,387 tonnes of carbon dioxide and more than 11,433 cubic metres (403,800cuft) of landfill waste by that July. The team promoted several sustainable practices including recycling, installing an electric vehicle charging station at each studio, distributing reusable water bottles, and promoting vegetarian meals, but they felt their role was largely diagnostic and would mostly contribute to a better sustainability approach for the second season. In response to The Guardian's story, an Amazon Studios spokesperson said their sustainability practices "either met or exceeded industry standards" and complied with New Zealand's environmental laws and regulations.[156]
Visual effects
Part of the large Númenor set (top) that was constructed for the season, depicting the city's wharf and harbor, and the final shot (below) showing visual effects work to extend the set.
When filming ended in August 2021, post-production was expected to continue in New Zealand until June 2022.[75] In addition to Wētā FX, visual effects were created by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), Rodeo FX, Method Studios, DNEG, Rising Sun Pictures, Cause and FX, Cantina Creative, Atomic Arts, and Outpost VFX. 1,500 visual effects artists worked on the season,[143] which has more than 9,500 visual effects shots.[157] The different vendors were overseen by visual effects supervisor Jason Smith,[140] who pointed out that big feature films usually have around 2,000 visual effects shots.[110] Ames said the effects were completed to a theatrical resolution so they could be shown on screens ranging from televisions to IMAX.[143]
Wētā handled various sequences, including environments such as Khazad-dûm and different creatures.[137] Digital environments were all based on real locations, though some different locations were combined as in the case of Númenor.[34][141] ILM was responsible for the ocean, which is a recurring effect throughout the season.[138][158] Both companies and Rising Sun all worked on the eruption of Mount Doom,[159] while DNEG was responsible for the battle sequences earlier in the sixth episode.[160] Rodeo handled much of the Harfoot storyline, including environment augmentation, scale work, and fire and magic effects.[161] Cause and FX were hired to do temporary effects work on more than 700 shots during the editing process. When final visual effects work began, the company contributed to set extensions, scale shots, augmenting props and prosthetics, and were responsible for the season's final scene in which Sauron enters Mordor.[162] Atomic Arts worked on 317 shots, primarily doing cosmetic adjustments.[163] Outpost was responsible for the forging of the rings in the final episode.[164]
Cantina Creative, who Smith previously worked with for on-screen titles and digital displays, were hired to create the transitions between locations. These use a map of Tolkien's world,[140] which was drawn by Reeve. Cantina translated his art into a digital model that was designed to look like aged leather. The company went to Wayne Christensen's leathercraft shop in San Fernando Valley to take macro photography of real leather for reference. Cantina artists used hand-controlled tools to add displacement, weathering, bumps, and scratches to the map to make it feel handmade. The camera moves for each transition were filmed for real on a life-size representation of the map using a motion control system that translated the camera movements onto the digital map.[165]
Musicians Janet Roddick, David Donaldson, and Steve Roche, who form the group Plan 9, and their collaborator David Long returned from the films to provide music during filming.[167] They wrote the melody for the song "This Wandering Day", with lyrics by showrunner J. D. Payne, which is sung by actress Megan Richards during the episode "Partings".[167]
Composer Bear McCreary was contractually prohibited from quoting any themes that Howard Shore wrote for the films.[168] Despite this, he wanted to preserve Shore's approach to the music for each culture,[169] creating a "continuity of concept" with Shore's music.[170] McCreary typically composes three or four themes or leitmotifs for a project, but needed more than 15 for the season.[171] He began work in July 2021,[170] starting with "an absolutely brutal six weeks" just composing the themes.[172] He wrote an "anthem" for each culture and then created individual character themes that relate to their culture's music in different ways, based on characterization.[173] McCreary dedicated most of his time for the next eight months to composing the season's full nine-hour score.[170] He was still composing when recording began in November 2021. Each episode used a 90-piece orchestra at either Abbey Road Studios or AIR Studios in London, a 40-person choir and children's choir at Synchron Stage in Vienna, and soloists on various specialty instruments around the world.[166][170]
Two singles from McCreary's score, "Galadriel" and "Sauron", were released on Amazon Music on July 21, 2022.[174] They were followed by a soundtrack album featuring Shore's main title theme for the series and selections from McCreary's score. The album was released on all major streaming services on August 19 and was physically released by Mondo on CD (October 14) and vinyl (January 13, 2023). The Amazon Music version includes two exclusive tracks.[175] The song "Where the Shadows Lie", which McCreary wrote as a theme for the score, is heard during the end credits of the season finale featuring singer Fiona Apple. It was added to the season's soundtrack album after the episode's release.[176] Additional albums featuring the full score for each episode were also released.[177]
All music is composed by Bear McCreary, except where noted:
Track listing
No.
Title
Length
1.
"The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Main Title" (composed by Howard Shore)
1:34
2.
"Where the Shadows Lie" (featuring Fiona Apple)
3:49
3.
"Galadriel"
3:44
4.
"Khazad-dûm"
3:21
5.
"Nori Brandyfoot"
2:50
6.
"The Stranger"
5:04
7.
"Númenor"
4:32
8.
"Sauron"
2:46
9.
"Valinor"
2:40
10.
"In the Beginning"
7:50
11.
"Elrond Half-elven"
3:24
12.
"Durin IV"
3:05
13.
"Harfoot Life"
2:22
14.
"Bronwyn and Arondir"
2:48
15.
"Halbrand"
2:56
16.
"The Boat"
4:09
17.
"Sundering Seas"
2:42
18.
"Nobody Goes Off Trail"
4:26
19.
"Elendil and Isildur"
4:17
20.
"White Leaves"
4:43
21.
"The Secrets of the Mountain"
3:50
22.
"Nolwa Mahtar"
2:03
23.
"Nampat"
2:35
24.
"A Plea to the Rocks" (featuring Sophia Nomvete)
3:48
25.
"This Wandering Day" (featuring Megan Richards)
2:11
26.
"Scherzo for Violin and Swords"
1:53
27.
"Sailing into the Dawn"
4:19
28.
"Find the Light" (Amazon Music exclusive)
3:27
29.
"For the Southlands"
4:33
30.
"Cavalry"
4:07
31.
"The Promised King" (Amazon Music exclusive)
4:06
32.
"Water and Flame"
3:30
33.
"In the Mines"
8:15
34.
"The Veil of Smoke"
5:00
35.
"The Mystics"
7:55
36.
"Perilous Whisperings"
2:42
37.
"The Broken Line"
5:56
38.
"Wise One"
8:45
39.
"True Creation Requires Sacrifice"
5:52
40.
"Where the Shadows Lie – Instrumental"
3:05
Total length:
2:40:54
Marketing
Marketing began in January 2022 with a unique title announcement video.[178] 23 character posters were released on February 3 which focus on the hands and torsos of characters and do not include faces or names. Amazon said this was to "fuel fan speculation and discussion".[179][180] A first look at some of the main characters was revealed on February 10, along with early story details.[1] The first teaser trailer was released on February 13 during Super Bowl LVI. Tolkien fan website TheOneRing.net hosted an official watch party for it,[181] and some high-profile fans promoted it at Bellver Castle in the Balearic Islands, Spain.[182] Commentators said it did not reveal many details about the series, but highlighted its "epic" scope and spectacle.[183][184][185] Amelia Emberwing at IGN said the most successful aspect was that the teaser "feels like The Lord of the Rings".[186] In contrast, Jack Butler of National Review felt the first look images were "Tolkienesque" but was less sure about the teaser, which made him think the series would be overly reliant on visual effects.[187] Kevin E G Perry of The Independent was even more critical of this, comparing the visuals to a "cut scene from an old Final Fantasy computer game".[188] RelishMix reported that the teaser had 80.34 million views in 24 hours across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram, the third highest among trailers aired during the Super Bowl.[189] Amazon reported 257 million views within 24 hours, which they said was a record for any trailer released during a Super Bowl broadcast.[182]
The early marketing led to a "cacophony" of online fan discourse, including concerns about accuracy to Tolkien. The Escapist's Darren Mooney said "extreme reactions" online were to be expected and likely did not represent general opinions.[190] In response to the fan concerns, Amazon invited several Tolkien critics, fan websites, and influencers to a screening in May 2022. They were flown to Merton College, Oxford—where Tolkien worked as a professor—and shown 20 minutes of completed footage.[191][192] They also talked to the showrunners and Howe.[111] Justin Sewell of TheOneRing.net said the footage "looks like it should, sounds like it should, and feels like a return" to Middle-earth.[192] Kaitlyn Facista, writing for the Tea with Tolkien blog, said the footage immersed her in Middle-earth better than the teaser trailer,[191] and she was impressed by the showrunners' knowledge of the source material. Others reported that the event made them "cautiously optimistic" about the series. Corey Olsen, an academic and podcaster known as the "Tolkien Professor", felt the series was in "very good hands" after meeting the showrunners.[193]
A second teaser was released on July 14.[194] Blake Hawkins at Comic Book Resources felt its inclusion of more Tolkien lore would help assuage the concerns of fans,[195] but TechRadar's Matt Evans said it was unlikely to win them over due to changes from the source material and the fact that Amazon was using Tolkien to make money.[196] Other commentators again noted the visuals and feeling of returning to Middle-earth in the teaser,[197][198][199] including Adam B. Vary and Wilson Chapman at Variety. However, they felt it did not explain the story for audience members unfamiliar with Tolkien.[200] Scott Mendelson, writing for Forbes, said the teaser was not connected enough to the Lord of the Rings films to entice general audiences.[201]
Later in July, the series was promoted at San Diego Comic-Con with a "meticulously choreographed" presence that included a meet-and-greet between cast members and Tolkien fans; a private dinner with cast, crew, Amazon executives, and media; branding on San Diego trains and the convention's entrances;[202][203][204] and a two-hour panel moderated by television host and avid Tolkien fan Stephen Colbert, who was flown in for the day as a surprise for attendees. The panel began with McCreary conducting a 25-piece orchestra and 16-person choir, performing a suite of his original score. A full trailer and five clips from the series were shown, and Colbert interviewed the cast and crew.[202][205] Marketing executive Susan Kroll said the convention was their "first real opportunity to show fans our dedication" to the source material.[206] Several outlets included the series on lists of "winners" at the convention,[206][207][208][209] and Adam Bankhurst at IGN said the panel "changed the conversation" and created positive buzz in a way that the teaser trailers did not.[208] The trailer from the panel was also released online,[210] and Vary noted that it explained the series' premise, unlike the teasers. He and several other commentators highlighted the appearance of a Balrog.[203][211][212][213] James Whitbrook at Gizmodo said there was a lot going on in the trailer and the series was "looking quite fantastic".[211]
Release
The first two episodes were screened at premiere events in August 2022, in Los Angeles,[214] Mexico City,[215] Mumbai,[216] New York City,[217] and London.[218] They were also shown in free fan screenings on August 31 in around 200 countries, including the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Argentina, Colombia, Australia, and New Zealand.[219] The episodes premiered on Prime Video in the US on September 1. The other six episodes were released weekly from September 9 to October 14. Episodes were released on the streaming service around the world at the same time as the US release,[220] in more than 240 countries and territories.[221] For two weeks leading up to the premiere of the second season on August 29, 2024, all episodes of the first season were made available for free on the streaming service Samsung TV Plus in the US, Canada, Brazil, the UK, and Germany.[222]
Reception
Episode-specific reception information can be found at each episode's article.
Viewership
Amazon announced that The Rings of Power had been watched by 25 million viewers globally in the first 24 hours that the first two episodes were available on Prime Video, the service's biggest premiere ever. This was the first time Amazon publicly stated viewership data for Prime Video.[223] At the end of September 2022, Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke said the season had been watched by nearly 100 million customers.[224] In December, Amazon's co-head of television Vernon Sanders said the season was Prime Video's most-watched series ever. He said there was a surge of new viewers after all of its episodes were released and there had also been spikes in the sales of J. R. R. Tolkien's books. He called the season "a tremendous success... as significant as our investment has been, it has more than paid off".[225] It remained in Prime Video's top 10 most-watched content until late January 2023.[226] In April, The Hollywood Reporter's Kim Masters reported that the season was only finished by 37 percent of its initial US viewers and 45 percent of its international viewers. Industry insiders said a 50 percent completion rate would have been a "solid but not spectacular result". Salke rejected claims that the series was "anything less than a success" and said Amazon's internal conversations did not reflect this.[227]
Whip Media, which tracks viewership data for the 21 million worldwide users of its TV Time app, said The Rings of Power had the fifth-highest first three days in TV Time's history.[228] The series was in the top five of Whip's streaming chart each week of its release.[229]JustWatch, a guide to streaming content with access to data from more than 20 million users, included The Rings of Power on its list of top 10 US streaming series for the weeks ending September 11, September 18, and October 16.[230] JustWatch also said the series was the second-most watched of September and the fifth-most watched of 2022.[231][232] Parrot Analytics determines audience "demand expressions" based on various data sources, including social media activity and comments on rating platforms. The Rings of Power was in the company's top ten until the week ending October 28, peaking at second-most in demand with the release of the season finale. Parrot said the series was 43.4 times more in demand than the average series for its finale week.[233]Nielsen Media Research, which records streaming viewership on US television screens, estimated that The Rings of Power was watched for 1.25 billion minutes during its first four days.[234] This is around 12.6 million viewers, the most for any streaming series or film that week. The Rings of Power was the first Prime Video original series to top the list.[235] It remained in the top four until the release of its finale in the week ending October 16, when the series was in second place with 1.1 billion minutes viewed.[236] Nielsen estimated that the series was the 15th-most watched of 2022 with 9.4 billion minutes viewed. It was the second Prime Video series on the end-of-year list after The Boys (10.6 billion minutes over its three seasons).[237]
In September 2024, Salke said "tens of millions" of viewers had watched the season from early August ahead of the second season's premiere at the end of that month.[238] At that time, the first season was still the most-watched season on Prime Video globally despite being surpassed in US viewership by the first season of Fallout earlier in 2024.[239] The season had been watched by more than 150 million viewers globally by then.[240]
The first two episodes received generally positive reviews from critics, with particular praise going to the visuals and production value. Some reviewers were skeptical whether the storytelling and slow pacing justified the series' large budget.[241][242][243] The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes calculated that 83% of 491 critics reviews were positive and the average rating for the season was 8 out of 10. The website's critics consensus reads, "It may not yet be the One Show to Rule Them All, but The Rings of Power enchants with its opulent presentation and deeply-felt rendering of Middle-earth."[244]Metacritic assigned a weighted average score of 71 out of 100 based on 40 reviews, indicating a "generally favorable" response.[245]
Reviewers continued to praise the visuals and production design when discussing the full season,[246][247][248] but the overall structure and pacing received more criticism. The Escapist's Darren Mooney felt the focus on character mysteries led to early episodes being drawn out and the finale being rushed.[249] Others agreed that the finale was rushed,[250][251] and that the season had over-relied on mystery box-style storytelling at the expense of character development.[246][247][248][252] The season's Númenor storyline was highlighted by reviewers who discussed the pacing issues, with Alan Sepinwall at Rolling Stone calling it a "tedious detour" and Samantha Nelson of IGN saying it made the fourth and fifth episodes "sluggish".[246][252][253] In contrast, the friendship developed between the half-ElfElrond and the Dwarf Durin IV received praise from multiple reviewers,[252][254][255][256] as did Morfydd Clark's performance as the ElfGaladriel.[246][250][251][257]
Ed Power from the Irish Times and the Daily Telegraph was critical of the Harfoots' affected "stage-Irish accents" and deemed them to be offensive stereotypes of Irish people.[258][259][260] Other Irish critics and publications agreed,[261][262] but some were less critical of this.[263][264] The nomadic Harfoots being covered in dirt was also seen as an offensive stereotype of traveler communities.[265] Some critics questioned the cruel nature of the Harfoot society created for the season, in which some Harfoots can be left behind by the others for seemingly minor issues.[265][266]
Several reviewers saw the season as a starting point for the series to improve on in future seasons,[250][267][268] but James Whitbrook at Gizmodo was less forgiving of this viewpoint, feeling the series should have told its most interesting stories from the beginning.[248] There were also mixed thoughts on the season's relationship to Tolkien's writings and Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings films (2001–2003). Sepinwall felt the series had struggled to balance the needs of Tolkien fans and more casual viewers, with the latter having a long wait until the key action sequences in the sixth episode.[252] Ben Sledge at The Gamer was critical of the number of references made to Jackson's films and felt they undermined the series' own identity.[250] Several critics felt the season was true to the themes and tone of Tolkien's works,[246][267][268] but changes from his established lore were criticized by reviewers who were also Tolkien fans.[250][267][269] The showrunners disagreed with suggestions that their story was only "vaguely connected" to Tolkien, feeling it was "deeply, deeply connected".[270] They also rejected claims that the series was just being made to capitalize on the Lord of the Rings brand, stating: "We would never have given four years of our lives, 24/7, to this if we didn't feel that there's a really good story here".[271]
Audience response
A day after the series premiered, Amazon began holding reviews on Prime Video for 72 hours to ensure they were not coming from Internet trolls. James Hibberd of The Hollywood Reporter found this unusual, but an Amazon source said the policy was introduced for all the company's series earlier in the year. The Rings of Power's audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes was considerably lower than the critics rating. Hibberd said this was partially due to review bombing by users posting "numerous negative reviews for [the series] due to its perceived cultural or political issues rather than its actual quality", but he found the majority of negative reviews focused on reasons such as story, acting, and pacing. Hibberd felt the audience rating would increase if the series could "win people over" with its quality.[272] The majority of reviews on IMDb and Google were the highest or lowest possible score.[273]
Analysis company Brandwatch found 60 percent of online discussions in the few days following the premiere to be negative. These mostly focused on the pacing, writing, acting, visual effects, and differences from Tolkien's writings. The other 40 percent praised the series for its plotlines, characters, cinematography, and respect for Tolkien. Discussing this for TechRadar, Tom Power said many of the negative responses were from Tolkien fans who likely did not want the series to be made at all. He attributed the positive responses to "TV aficionados" and other fans. He also felt the negative group could be won over by future episodes.[274] Cindy White at The A.V. Club described some of the fan discourse as "a fight between loyal [Tolkien] fans who simply want to preserve the integrity of the thing they love and a multinational corporation looking to cash in on that devotion".[275] Anthony Palomba, professor of business administration at the University of Virginia, also partially attributed the responses to "super diehard people" who did not necessarily reflect the views of general audiences.[276] Shaun Gunner, the chair of the Tolkien Society, agreed that responses away from social media were more nuanced. He said some members of the society loved the series, others were unsure, but "very few people are just writing it off".[277]
After the season finale was released, cast members said they had noticed a shift in conversations about the series towards giving more positive feedback.[278] Jon Ben-Asher of TheOneRing.net felt Amazon had built trust with the Tolkien fan base throughout the season and said his "little corner" of the community was loving the series;[279] the website released a roundup of their staff members' opinions on the series which were mostly positive, despite concerns with changes from Tolkien's works.[280] Bradley Prom at Screen Rant highlighted various online posts and memes from fans of the series to counter claims that it had not generated any positive online responses.[281] Sanders said Amazon did a study with thousands of audience members, including fans of Tolkien's writings and Jackson's films, to get insight into their thoughts on each episode. He acknowledged that there were Tolkien fans who had major issues with the series, but he felt that was to be expected with such a beloved property and was confident in Amazon's approach due to the company having the endorsement of Tolkien's estate.[282]
Casting backlash
Lenny Henry revealed in October 2021 that he and other people of color had been cast as Harfoots.[283] Non-white actors were also cast as Elves and Dwarves for the first time in the franchise. Amazon received backlash from social media users for these casting decisions,[1] including arguments that they were disrespectful to Tolkien because he never described Elves, Dwarves, and Hobbits as non-white.[284] However, Tolkien described the Harfoots as being "browner of skin",[52][283] and generally gave minimal physical descriptions which did not preclude non-white characters existing in his fictional world.[284][285] The producers said they expected to receive some responses like this, but they wanted to ensure the series reflected "what the world actually looks like" and felt this was true to the spirit of the books. Executive producer Lindsey Weber stated, "Tolkien is for everyone. His stories are about his fictional races doing their best work when they leave the isolation of their own cultures and come together."[1] Because of the backlash, Amazon hired an on-set therapist to help the cast and crew.[286]
Several commentators said responses like this had become common for media projects starring women and people of color, including complaints of being "woke",[190][285][287] and TheGamer's Ben Sledge compared the backlash to homophobic complaints about Ian McKellen's casting as Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings films.[288] Various social media users expressed their dislike for the series with the following quote, which they incorrectly attributed to Tolkien: "Evil is not able to create anything new, it can only distort and destroy what has been invented or made by the forces of good." Andrew Blair at Den of Geek felt this was "colossally lacking in self-awareness".[289] Some Tolkien fans were reluctant to critique the series in case they became associated with the backlash.[287]Dimitra Fimi, a lecturer in fantasy and children's literature and specialist on Tolkien at the University of Glasgow,[277] wrote a piece with Mariana Rios Maldonado for The Conversation that debunked various arguments made against the diverse casting.[284]James Poniewozik at The New York Times similarly dismissed claims that Tolkien's themes were being replaced by modern social justice ideas, especially because the series does not explore "contemporary or historical racial issues".[285]
Commentators continued to discuss the backlash after the series premiered, with many calling it racist.[290] In September 2022, Puerto Rican star Ismael Cruz Córdova said he had been receiving hateful messages nearly every day for two years due to his casting in the series.[291] Soon after he revealed this, The Lord of the Rings film actors Elijah Wood, Billy Boyd, and Dominic Monaghan released a photo of themselves wearing shirts that feature Human, Hobbit, and Elf ears in different skin tones along with the phrase "You are all welcome here" in Elvish. Their fellow cast member Sean Astin released his own photo wearing a hat with the same design. Clothing featuring the design was made available for purchase, with half of all proceeds going to a charity that supports people of color. The Rings of Power cast also released a joint statement using the hashtag #YouAreAllWelcomeHere which denounced the racism that several of their members had faced.[292][293]Orlando Bloom, who portrayed the Elf Legolas in the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit (2012–2014) film trilogies, posted a photo of himself with Córdova which he captioned "mellon", which means "friend" in Elvish.[294]
Comparisons with House of the Dragon
Before their release, The Rings of Power and concurrent fantasy series House of the Dragon were widely compared and pitted against each other in what was described as "the biggest battle in fantasy TV history".[295] Comparisons of the two series' online followings in August 2022 found that House of the Dragon had significantly more interest.[296][297] When a final trailer for The Rings of Power was released at the end of that month, multiple commentators noted that it came after House of the Dragon's premiere and some suggested that this was intentionally done to remind audiences that The Rings of Power would also be premiering soon.[298]
Like The Rings of Power, House of the Dragon received negative criticisms from fans of its source material regarding the casting of people of color.[46][285][299] In terms of audience viewership, Jennifer Maas at Variety said a fair comparison between the two series was not possible based on self-reported data.[223] Comparisons using third-party estimations were complicated by House of the Dragon being broadcast on HBO at the same time as it was streaming on HBO Max, with Whip Media excluding it from its streaming lists because of this,[300] and Nielsen only including HBO Max viewership for the series on its list.[234] Steven Tweedie and Travis Clark of Business Insider felt The Rings of Power had been overshadowed by House of the Dragon, which was supported by social media data. They suggested that The Rings of Power's older audience did not "drive online engagement" in the same way as House of the Dragon's younger viewers.[301] According to TorrentFreak, House of the Dragon was the most pirated series of 2022 and The Rings of Power was the second-most.[302]
The executive producers of The Rings of Power said they did not feel any competition with House of the Dragon and Weber said this had been "manufactured by the media for headlines".[303] Showrunners J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay said they were making the series for years before HBO scheduled House of the Dragon to debut just weeks earlier than The Rings of Power, which then began to dominate "the narrative about how it's received. But it was not at all part of the narrative in how our show was conceived." Amazon reportedly used House of the Dragon for comparisons and were concerned by its high viewership.[46] Comparing the two series' performances for Vanity Fair, Natalie Jarvey felt there were "no losers here. Neither project flopped on arrival and both have weathered early criticism... Hollywood should be cheering on both shows".[279]
The season was one of 94 television series from the top 200 scripted series on industry database IMDbPro that received the ReFrame Stamp for the 2022 to 2023 television season. The stamp is awarded by the gender equity coalition ReFrame for film and television projects that are proven to have gender-balanced hiring, with stamps being awarded to projects that hire female-identifying people, especially women of color, in more than half of the following key roles: showrunner, writers, directors, producers, lead actor, co-lead actors, and department heads. Additional points are awarded to productions with overall gender parity in their crews.[319]
Damian Del Borrello, Robby Stambler, Paula Fairfield, James Miller, Chris Terhune, Gareth Van Niekerk, Ryan A. Sullivan, Goeun Everett, Richard Wills, Jonathan Bruce, and Amy Barber (for "Udûn")
Robert Stambler, Damian Del Borrello, Ailene Roberts, Stefanie Ng, Paula Fairfield, Chris Terhune, James Miller, Michael Baber, Jason Smith, Amy Barber, and Jonathan Bruce (for "Udûn")
An official aftershow hosted by Deadline Hollywood's Dominic Patten and Anthony D'Alessandro was revealed on September 3, 2022. Titled Deadline's Inside the Ring: LOTR: The Rings of Power, a new episode of the aftershow was released soon after each episode of The Rings of Power debuted on Prime Video. The aftershow features interviews with cast and crew as well as exclusive "footage and insights" for each episode.[347] On October 7, The Official The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Podcast was announced. Actress Felicia Day, who described herself as a "super fan of all things Tolkien", was set to host the podcast,[348] and spent two months recording with the cast and crew while they were promoting the season around the world.[349] The eight-episode podcast was released on Amazon Music on October 14.[348] Day also interviewed cast members for a panel at New York Comic Con, which was recorded and released as a bonus episode of the podcast on November 9.[350] On November 21, a series of bonus segments called "The Making of The Rings of Power" were added to Prime Video's X-Ray feature, allowing viewers to learn additional information about the series while watching it. X-Ray executive Craig Muller said the segments were created from thousands of hours of behind-the-scenes footage.[351]
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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. It 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 (1954–55). 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 MGM Studios in association with New Line Cinema.
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↑ Day, Felicia (October 14, 2022). "Ep. 3: "Adar"". The Official The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Podcast (Podcast). Amazon Music. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
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