Rings of Power

The visual splendour of this rich, gorgeous Tolkien drama will make you gawp throughout. Watch it on the largest TV you can.

The Lord of the Rings prequel is Amazon's most expensive show to date – but can it be the hit the streamer needs? On the basis of two episodes, the jury's ...

The prologue that opens Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring explains the rise of the villainous Sauron, his creation of ...

“It was an extensive jigsaw puzzle of facial hair,” hair and makeup head Jane O'Kane says of Arthur's transformation. The team included makeup and hair artist ...

The first taste of Prime Video's long-awaited, big-budget series reveals one of the most captivating fantasy worlds in TV history.

Amazon's big bet on the timeless works of J.R.R. Tolkien started with a $250 million bid at an auction in 2017. Five years later, the first episodes of what ...

[according to Entertainment Weekly](https://ew.com/tv/lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power-character-guide/). [according to USA Today](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2022/07/22/lord-of-the-rings-rings-of-power-comic-con-trailer-amazon/10128600002/). “The show begins with Nori and her closest friend Poppy Proudfellow (Megan Richards) discovering a mysterious man (Daniel Weyman), who seems to have fallen from the sky in a flaming meteor.” - Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards): We know his name, at least. In “The Rings of Power,” Isildur is “still a young man living on the island of Númenor,” (Jackson, whose “Return of the King” won a Best Picture Oscar in 2004, is not involved in “The Rings of Power” project.) The author, as explained by [Vanity Fair](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/02/amazon-the-rings-of-power-series-first-look), “squeezed thousands of years of history into about 150 pages of postscript ... [Vanity Fair’](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/02/amazon-the-rings-of-power-series-first-look)s Anthony Breznican and Joanna Robinson wrote in February. Similarly diminutive in stature, these harfoots haven’t yet settled in the Shire, preferring instead to wander as nomads and live in close-knit communities.” There will be frightening moments, but viewers shouldn’t expect to see the sex and nudity featured in HBO’s popular fantasy series “Game of Thrones.” [appendices](https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_Appendices),” which appear in six parts at the end of Tolkien’s third book of “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” premieres Sept.

Bezos thanked showrunners Patrick McKay and John D. Payne for ignoring his notes on the series.

The billionaire said he received the directive from his Tolkien-obsessed son after Amazon paid $250 million for the rights to make 'Lord of the Rings' ...

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has thanked 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' writers for ignoring his notes during the show's production.

Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) · Halbrand (Charlie Vickers) · Elrond (Robert Aramayo) · High King Gil-galad (Benjamin Walker) · Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) · Isildur ( ...

Nori is a harfoot, one of the nomadic ancestors of the hobbits. [We Just Got the Best Snapshot Yet of How Much Progress Students Lost in the Pandemic.](https://time.com/6210490/pandemic-learning-loss-naep/?utm_source=roundup&utm_campaign=20220902)The Results Are Staggering [Jackson, Mississippi Has No Safe Tap Water for the Foreseeable Future.](https://time.com/6209710/jackson-mississippi-water-crisis/?utm_source=roundup&utm_campaign=20220902)It's a Crisis Decades in the Making He will play a major role in determining the fate of Númenor. The son of Bronwyn, Theo’s character is another invention of the show. But during the Second Age the subterranean kingdom is flourishing, thanks to the riches hidden in the mountain where the dwarves reside. Readers and fans of the popular Shadow of War and Shadow of Mordor video games will recognize Celebrimbor as the elf smith who was tricked into forging the rings of power by a disguised Sauron. [The Rings of Power](https://time.com/6197384/rings-of-power-trailer-breakdown-lord-of-the-rings/), the new J.R.R. Lord of the Rings fans got a brief look at High King Gil-Galad (played by Mark Ferguson) in the first few minutes of Fellowship of the Ring. Lord of the Rings fans will recognize Elrond, the half-elf, half-man who presides over the elven land of Rivendell. Payne and Patrick McKay](https://time.com/6205593/the-rings-of-power-secrets-cast-creators/) have already plotted out five seasons that will culminate in a battle between Sauron’s evil forces and the Last Alliance of Elves and Men. To understand the story, you need to know the main players of the Second Age. The show promises to show how she evolves into the wise stateswoman we meet in Lord of the Rings.

Among the many familiar elements in the Prime Video series coming Sept. 2 is the dwarf stronghold of Khazad-dûm. If you've watched Peter Jackson's classic Lord ...

The Rings of Power takes place in the Second Age of Middle-earth, thousands of years before Frodo and friends ever thought about leaving the Shire. This is the challenge The Rings of Power faces. Instead, these elements do a lot of heavy lifting in settling the viewer into this complex story. The first two episodes alone serve up a feast of sweeping shots over snowy mountains, open plains and painfully gorgeous elven architecture. Judging from screeners of the first two episodes provided by Prime Video, The Rings of Power makes a steady return to Middle-earth, offering all the things that endeared the originals to so many of us those many years ago: the breathtaking vistas, the latex prosthetics and even the occasional bouts of ponderous dialogue delivered to some point on the horizon. If you've watched Peter Jackson's classic Lord of the Rings film trilogy, you've visited Khazad-dûm as a terrifying tomb littered with skeletons, festooned with cobwebs and policed by a particularly nasty fire demon.

A man in the background looks on while a blond woman looks toward the ground seriously. Morfydd Clark as Galadriel, with Charlie Vickers, in “The Rings of Power ...

And as for women in “The Rings of Power” — and Jackson, let’s recall, memorably put a sword in Liv Tyler’s hand in “The Fellowship of the Ring” and invented a female elf warrior, Tauriel, for his “Hobbit” movies — Galadriel is its most engaging character by far. Tolkien sold the right to adapt “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” back in 1969; in 2017, Amazon paid his estate for the rights to the appendices and any references to the Second Age in the trilogy. (I reject out of hand all arguments that employ the word “woke” or use “diversity” in a negative sense.) “The Rings of Power” does, in a few instances, too obviously adopt the language of modern American prejudice to make a point, but that is a matter of poor writing rather than a bad idea. And as in “The Lord of the Rings,” the necessary cooperation of the mutually suspicious virtuous races of Middle-earth — men, elves, dwarves and Harfoots — to battle a rising evil is a theme. (The estate is a producing partner.) It is left to the legions of fans to defend the works on the plains of social media, like Éomer and Aragorn at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. It’s true that Jeff Bezos could pay for the whole thing out of his own pocket without the slightest dent in his lifestyle, but it’s safe to assume Amazon is not in this to lose money, and in order to make back its nut— or simply not be deemed a failure — “The Rings of Power” is going to have to attract not only fans but people who have never read the books or even seen the movies. And in this respect, “The Rings of Power” is an enjoyable ride. Things have been quiet, except in the mind of Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), who will grow up to be Cate Blanchett; against the common wisdom, she’s convinced that Sauron, that shadowy personification of evil, is growing in strength, and as commander of the Northern Armies she is obsessively pursuing him to the frostbound ends of Middle-earth — even as the current Elven administration is ready to pull back its defenses, proclaiming peace in their time. Doom, it is largely based on the novel’s appendices — or even whether it is in the “spirit of Tolkien,” whatever that means to any individual reader. The series is entirely conventional, but “LOTR” is itself conventional. It looks good, has a few charismatic performances that sell the characters and is all in all watchable, if something less than compelling — predictable even in the suspenseful parts, occasionally exciting and sometimes sort of boring. To judge by the vlogosphere, “force for evil” is the predominant view.

As the series launches it feels like this streaming gamble may not pay off.

The show, a $1 billion bet that will premiere on Sept. 2, leaves its haters in the dust.

The diverse cast and various female leads elicited complaints that smacked of racism and misogyny: “It’s the disrespect to the source material that we just won’t accept,” went a representative critique. Tolkien had written as appendices to The Return of the King, there was further agitation. [Amazon Inc.](/quote/AMZN:US) acquired the [global TV rights to The Lord of the Rings franchise](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-13/amazon-to-produce-lord-of-the-rings-tv-series-with-new-plots) in 2017 for $250 million, LOTR die-hards were on edge, fretting and squabbling in Reddit chatrooms and on Twitter with concerns about plot, veracity, and execution.

Amazon's new Lord Of The Rings TV show, The Rings Of Power, debuts on Amazon Prime Video tonight. Here's five good reasons to tune in.

Amazon has adapted the appendices to The Silmarillion, and the only way to do that and make it a palatable TV show is to make a lot of changes. Some of these mysteries include a mysterious stranger encountered by some of our heroes, who may or may not be connected to The Lord Of The Rings. I’ll be recapping each episode as we go as well, so be sure to [follow me here on this blog](https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/#196d790943ab) and on It’s simply outstanding, adding layers of drama and emotion to the show that simply wouldn’t exist without it. Could he already be there right before our noses, hiding in plain sight disguised as one of the characters? The good news is that this show, at least in its first two episodes, stays faithful to Tolkien’s themes, if not the letter of his writing. The Rings Of Power is anything but cheap. Galadriel, Elrond, Durin, Bronwyn and and every other character introduced in the sprawling two-episode premiere already have my attention. Everything from the special effects to the wildly detailed costumes is extraordinary. It’s one of the best-looking TV shows I’ve ever seen. I entered a skeptic, but walked away a believer. Here are five.

The new series is part of the expansive world created by J.R.R Tolkien across several books, including The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit.

Sauron, who appeared in The Lord of the Rings as a flaming red eye, is still the big bad. However, as Amazon has only acquired the rights for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, none of the stories from either Unfinished Tales or The Silmarillion will feature in the new series. [Galadriel and Elrond](https://ew.com/tv/lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power-character-guide/), here much younger than they appeared in the films. While his estate is known to be protective (and litigious) over the original works, Tolkien stated that he wanted In light of that, he would probably have been delighted to see his creation still so beloved and still expanding. From the challenges of beginning a career and taking care of our mental health, to the excitement of starting a family, adopting a pet or just making friends as an adult. Arda starts as a flat disc and evolves into something more recognisably planet-like over the course of cataclysmic events during repeated battles between forces of good and evil. In Tolkien’s world, moral courage is just as important, if not more so, than physical prowess for the enduring heroes of Middle-earth. [This article is part of Quarter Life](https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/quarter-life-117947?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop), a series about issues affecting those of us in our twenties and thirties. For a newcomer to the wonderful world of Middle-earth, the universe created by the British author and academic J.R.R. Along the way, he finds a ring that gives him the power of invisibility. So if you want to watch the series and keep up with inevitable social media debates, here is a guide to this sprawling world to initiate newcomers to Tolkien’s Middle-earth.

Executive producer Lindsey Weber talks about where “Rings of Power” fits into J.R.R. Tolkien's mythology, and how it hopes to appeal to newbies as well as ...

Q: What is at stake in “The Rings of Power”? Were viewers like that considered when creating “The Rings of Power?” We know what the last shot of the series will be. It is the rise of the dark lord Sauron. [“The Rings of Power”] is really the length of three feature tent-pole films shot on the schedule of two for the price of one. It’s a very different time for the people of Middle-earth in the Second Age. Q: “The Rings of Power” reportedly had an enormous budget. A: The rings of power takes place in the Second Age, which is thousands of years before the events of the Third Age, which most people know — Frodo and Bilbo and all of that. It is the rise and fall of Tolkien’s Atlantis, the story of Númenor. It’s based on the appendices, which tell the story of the Second Age. New characters will be introduced, as well as younger versions of immortal characters first met in the original Lord of the Rings trilogy (which is currently streaming on HBO Max, if you’d like a refresher on this world). A: Anyone who has the Lord of the Rings books in their home already has it.

Amazon's pricey, gorgeous fantasy spectacle delivers what fans expect, but it could thrive by giving them what they don't.

“Rings of Power” is spectacular on the screen, but This could make “Rings of Power” an outlier in the TV-fantasy environment post-“Game of Thrones,” whose good-guys-get-decapitated ethos was in many ways a reaction to Tolkien. But she is interesting, and that’s what “Rings of Power” will need to be, more than faithful, to sustain itself over multiple seasons. One day, fate serves one up in the form of a meteor. And in an outpost deep in human country, the elf warrior Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova) nurses a forbidden crush on a mortal healer, Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi), whose downtrodden neighbors picked Sauron’s side in the last war. A multiseason series can’t live in the operatic intensity of a fantasy film; it needs to build a world, evolve character and develop story arcs over time. (Númenor, the Atlantis-like kingdom of humans whose rise and fall dominates the Second Age, doesn’t even figure into the opening hours.) Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy and the Peter Jackson movie adaptations, to the era when the fateful magic knickknacks of the title were forged. Payne and Patrick McKay, have a Wikipedia-like mishmash of family trees and invented alphabets that describes the series’s time period, the Second Age, this way: “Of events in Middle-earth the records are few and brief, and their dates are often uncertain.” But while I am a middling-level Middle-earth-ophile (have read “The Silmarillion”; do not speak Here she’s a young, headstrong and deadly warrior, with “Crouching Tiger” moves and a conviction that Sauron, the once and future big bad, is still alive and plotting. [current fantasy competition](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/19/arts/television/house-of-the-dragon-review.html), a sky filled with wheeling and menacing dragons.

The A.V. Club takes a detailed look at the most important realms and lands in the new version of Middle-earth.

To Lord Of The Rings fans, it’s best-known as the realm Frodo and Bilbo sail to after the destruction of the One Ring and the fall of Sauron, and therefore basically serves within that narrative as a version of Heaven. In terms of the land itself, it’s exactly what it sounds like: A wasteland of snow and ice that’s barely habitable and full of threats from both the elements and the creatures who dare to live there. Valinor is the realm of the Valar–the 14 deities who shaped the world at the behest of Tolkien’s supreme deity, Eru Ilúvatar–and as such is almost unimaginably beautiful and peaceful. Though the primary seat of Elvish rule in The Rings Of Power is Lindon, there are other wondrous places to behold in Middle-earth that were built by the Elves. How and why Celebrimbor creates these rings, and who influences their crafting along the way, is all for the series to tell you, but if you’ve read The Lord Of The Rings, you know it’s about much more than making some cool jewelry. In the trailers for The Rings Of Power, you may have noticed Galadriel spending quite a bit of time in a snowy landscape, climbing ice cliffs with her knife and searching for something evil amid the freeze. Of all the locations viewers will get to know throughout The Rings Of Power, Númenor might ultimately prove to be the most consequential. [The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power](https://www.avclub.com/tv/reviews/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power-2022) will finally take us back to the Second Age, the era before The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and bring with it a new live-action version of the Middle-earth landscape. Speaking of realms that aren’t faring well by the time we see them in The Lord Of The Rings, there’s Khazad-dûm, the Dwarven kingdom in the Misty Mountains that’s perhaps better known to fans of Tolkien’s trilogy as Moria. During the War of Wrath, Morgoth (the original Dark Lord) sought to mold Middle-earth in his own dark image, and he had more than a few converts along the way. It’s also, as gateways to paradise should be, a beautiful realm filled with structures made in harmony with the earth, and tributes to Elven achievements and losses in their struggle against the forces of Evil. While they’re still found all over the map in The Rings Of Power, a key feature of the Second Age is the centralized power of Lindon, the realm of High King of the Elves Gil-galad (Benjamin Walker).

Amazon's “The Rings of Power” will struggle to recreate the magic of Middle-earth, a world not fit for “cinematic universe” treatment.

No wonder people say that reading “The Lord of the Rings” feels more like an experience than a book — What makes Tolkien’s work unique is the moral heart of his story and the consistency with which he maintains it. It will be because the new adaptation lacks the literary and moral depth that make Middle-earth not just another cinematic universe but a world worth saving. Many of the most popular cinematic universes have been born of visually centered mediums: “Star Wars” in film, “Star Trek” in television, and Marvel in comic books. Rowling in the “Fantastic Beasts” films, for example — is no guarantee that derivative works in a different medium will have the special qualities that made the originals successful. It evokes the flavor of Anglo-Saxon epic poetry and Old Norse sagas, giving readers the sense that they are reading something very old that has been translated by Professor Tolkien, not composed by him. (He sold the film rights in 1969 only in order to help [pay a tax bill](https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/tolkien-family-in-quest-for-lord-of-the-rings-tv-rights-amazon-netflix-6shrcdbsg); the television rights were [sold](https://www.polygon.com/23311153/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-hobbit-film-game-rights-embracer-group) to Amazon by his heirs.) (As a scholar of Tolkien’s works, I get regular requests to proofread tattoos that use Tolkien’s Elvish languages.) The cultural and linguistic cohesion that lends Middle-earth its magic is not so easily mimicked. So it is hard to believe that he would have approved of a team of writers building almost entirely new stories with little direct basis in his works. Tolkien’s world in the era of the “cinematic universe.” But the investment is also part of a common strategy in Hollywood: Entertainment companies seem to have decided that owning the rights to beloved works, rather than producing original stories, is the key to maximizing profits. The writing that this dynamic is particularly good at producing — witty banter, arch references to contemporary issues, graphic and often sexualized violence, self-righteousness — is poorly suited to Middle-earth, a world with a multilayered history that eschews both tidy morality plays and blockbuster gore.

It's a tale of the tape between the new iterations of the Game of Thrones and LOTR franchises.

The self-annihilating conflict will be known as the “Dance of the Dragons” for the massive beasts that the family’s armies ride to attack each other. House of the Dragon In Game of Thrones, Daenerys was driven to reclaim the supremacy over Westeros that was once wielded by her Targaryen ancestors—aka the House of the Dragon. We’re about to witness a clash of the titans, as fantasy obsessives now have two franchise prequels to juggle: House of the Dragon, the Game of Thrones prequel that is now two episodes in on HBO Max, and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which debuts today on Amazon Prime.

From 'bold' and 'epic' to 'staggeringly bad', The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power divides critics · This video is either unavailable or not supported in this ...

By the end of episode two, she’s commandeering a raft in torrid waters, and you know the drama is just beginning – but that you're strapped in.” Everything about it is ill-judged to a spectacular extreme.” Tolkien’s Middle Earth.](https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/127760839/the-wait-is-over-lord-of-the-rings-trailer-to-air-on-monday) “It takes six or seven things everyone remembers from the famous movie trilogy, adds a water tank, makes nobody fun, teases mysteries that aren't mysteries, and sends the best character on a pointless detour.” “In response, people tell her not to worry about Sauron. That's one hour down, seven to go this season. [The wait is over, Lord of the Rings trailer to air on Monday](https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/127760839/the-wait-is-over-lord-of-the-rings-trailer-to-air-on-monday?rm=a) [See the magical first teaser for the Lord of the Rings prequel series](https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/bravo/news/127799955/see-the-magical-first-teaser-for-the-lord-of-the-rings-prequel-series?rm=a) [First trailer drops for Amazon's new Lord of the Rings prequel television series](https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/300517151/first-trailer-drops-for-amazons-new-lord-of-the-rings-prequel-television-series?rm=a) [filmed in New Zealand](https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/115883240/lord-of-the-rings-tv-series-what-we-know-so-far), but production [will shift to the UK](https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/126062311/economic-development-minister-stuart-nash-gutted-to-hear-lord-of-the-rings-production-moving-to-uk) from season two. [Rings of Power series](https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/300665727/we-love-nz-lotr-the-rings-of-power-earns-high-praise-for-kiwi-film-industry) have arrived, with the early response largely positive – apart from the critics calling it “unfinished”, “repetitive”, and “bloated”. [Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films](https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/300657408/peter-jackson-considered-hypnosis-to-forget-the-lord-of-the-rings-films), [Amazon has reportedly allocated at least US $1 billion for five seasons of the show](https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/125175373/amazon-defends-the-lord-of-the-rings-13b-price-tag), [which will explore new stories and lore from J.R.R.

“The show asks, as Tolkien did, how far you would go to protect the people and the places that you love,” says Lindsey Weber, an executive producer on the ...

“It’s not a revisiting of the Third Age story that people might have seen on film or read in the books,” Weber says, “but rather a fantastic story that stands on its own two feet.” The series is based on Tolkien’s appendices to The Lord of the Rings and follows its characters—played by a cast including Nazanin Boniadi, Benjamin Walker, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, and breakout star Morfydd Clark—across six realms as they confront the reemergence of evil in Middle-earth. “He didn’t write a story about people giving up, he wrote a story about people doing the right thing. Some aspects of the series may feel familiar to fans of the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings films, which combined pulled in nearly $4 billion worldwide. The rumored $1 billion price tag for the project includes the $250 million Amazon laid out in 2017 to secure the rights to a selection of Tolkien’s work and the eye-popping costs of production around the globe, with nearly two dozen stars over a planned five seasons. [The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power](https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/a40614268/how-to-watch-stream-lord-of-the-rings-rings-of-power/) premieres on Prime Video on September 2, the series—which tells the story of the Second Age of J.R.R. “How far into the darkness would you step if those things were being taken from you?

At the London premiere for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos thanked the showrunners for ignoring his notes on the show.

“And after Amazon got involved in this project, my son came up to me one day, he looked me in the eyes, very sincerely, and he said: ‘Dad, please don’t eff this up.’ And he was right. “I was probably 13 or 14 years old [and] I fell in love with the adventure of course, with the detailed universe, with the feelings of hope and optimism, with the idea that everybody has a role to play. And as one of the richest men in the world, he was one of the few who could afford to spend reportedly $1 billion to get the series rights to [The Lord of the Rings](https://superherohype.com/tag/the-lord-of-the-rings) and produce [The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power](https://superherohype.com/tag/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power). But mostly I need to thank you for ignoring me at exactly the right times.” Bezos admitted that he was very hands-on with the series. [The Expanse](https://superherohype.com/tag/the-expanse) on Amazon Prime Video without Bezos’ support for the show.

The highly anticipated show set in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth will air on Fridays this fall. The first two episodes drop on September 2, 2022, ...

Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at [Hey Alma](https://www.heyalma.com/), a Jewish culture site. EDT Follow her @emburack on [Twitter ](https://twitter.com/emburack)and The show is the most expensive television show ever made. Set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R.

Tolkien's high-fantasy world. Before you read our review of those two episodes, which premiere Friday, September 2, avail yourself of this spoiler-free guide to ...

There are six of them: “Annals of the Kings and Rulers,” “The Tale of Years,” “Family Trees,” “Calendars,” “Writing and Spelling,” and “Languages and Peoples of the Third Age” and “On Translation” (these last two form one appendix). Shore handled the theme music for “The Rings of Power,” while “The Rings of Power” isn’t a direct adaptation of any one book the way Jackson’s two trilogies were. Peter Jackson’s trilogy was set during the Third Age of Middle-earth, whereas “The Rings of Power” takes place in the Second Age — a difference that accounts for thousands of years. And nine, nine rings were gifted to the race of Men — who above all else, desire power.” But they were all of them deceived, you’ll surely recall, for another ring was made as well — the One Ring to Rule Them All. Five years after it was announced that Amazon would bring “The Lord of the Rings” to television, “The Rings of Power” is finally here.

The Prime Video series, reportedly the most expensive of all time, had the first leg of its premiere rollout last night.

As fan @ [@Sarenity93](https://twitter.com/Sarenity93) puts it simply: “If you love LOTR and/or fantasy, it’s a must watch.” The Rings Of Power is a go big or go home series if ever one existed, and that’s a fact that’s drawn equal amounts of respect and anxiety. [@acpovcrew](https://twitter.com/acpovcrew) urges fans to go in without qualms about the “incredible” series, and just let it speak for itself. [@cadecalrayn](https://twitter.com/cadecalrayn), the series is “visually stunning” and immediately merits a rewatch. Of course, it’s impossible to talk about the enormous scale of The Rings Of Power premiere without mentioning another small-budget, indie series that’s been getting some buzz: HBO’s Game Of Thrones prequel House Of The Dragon. [Save $150Galaxy Z Fold4](https://events.release.narrativ.com/api/v0/client_redirect/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.samsung.com%2Fus%2Fsmartphones%2Fgalaxy-z-fold4%2Fbuy%2F%3FmodelCode%3DSM-F936UZEAXAA%26nrtv_cid%3D.nrtv_plchldr.%26cid%3Dopmc-ecomm-nrtiv-mob-042720-142014-theinventory-12497918%26utm_source%3Dtheinventory%26utm_medium%3Dnarrativ%26utm_campaign%3D12497918%26utm_content%3Dmob%26nrtv_as_src%3D1%26offerCID%3Dreserve%26source%3Dnarrativ&a=1782524447985141847&uuid=487f3a13-58da-4f51-b4e1-af644198317f&uid_bam=1741179819279353350&ar=1782651785371609546)

The highly-anticipated live-action series set in the fantasy world created by J.R.R. Tolkien serves as a prequel to Peter Jackson's beloved film trilogy and ...

ET. Check out the trailer and official synopsis for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power below: Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings books, and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and one of the greatest villains that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power premieres exclusively on Prime Video with two episodes today, September 1, at 9 p.m. Set in the Second Age of Middle-Earth, The Rings of Power explores the past of some key characters of Jackson’s trilogy, including Elrond (Robert Aramayo), Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), and Isildur (Maxim Baldry). [The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power](https://collider.com/tag/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power/) is finally getting released today, September 1, with two episodes.

A highly anticipated fantasy prequel with the fate of a streaming service riding on it? No, not House of the Dragon. It's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings ...

But neither were the Lord of the Rings films, and neither is the source material this series is loosely adapted from (sorry, Tolkienites). Is The Rings of Power the best thing ever? The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has had a whole lot of time, effort and resource thrown at it, and I can’t help but think there are other fantasy series – some that are, yes, inspired by The Lord of the Rings – that are even richer in story, more relevant to a modern audience, and more deserving of a new screen adaption. Through an accident of timing and genre only, Rings of Power is pitted directly against House of the Dragon, the Game of Thrones prequel. This is not The Lord of the Rings. Just know that while a few of your faves will show up, including Galadriel and Elrond (but younger, and played by different actors), most of the characters from The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings will not be there. It’s not that the series simply looks like it had money thrown at it, but that a lot of care went into the way that money was deployed. We know when we’re with the harfoots (basically the predecessors to hobbits), we’re in for a few jokes. Although The Rings of Power has multiple storylines, the major spine is that while everybody believes the war against evil, represented by Dark Lord Sauron (a real person here, not a fiery contact lens), is over, Galadriel has good reason to think it isn’t. This is a story told several thousand years before The Lord of the Rings, during the Second Age (Bilbo finds the One Ring in the Third Age). It’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. No, not House of the Dragon.

'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' VFX sequences used 1500 visual effect artists and 20 studios, and generated over 9500 VFX shots to recapture ...

What made “Rings of Power” unique was “we found a way that all assets could be shared and they all talked to each other. The Sundering Seas sequence took weeks to put together, with a special focus on making the waves look terrifying and violently strong. Their goal wasn’t about who could do the job, it was ensuring everyone could come together and work cohesively to deliver the spectacle that was required of it. “Rings of Power,” streaming on Prime Video, is set thousands of years before the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, in the Second Age of Middle-earth. As for finding the right VFX studios, he compares it to a casting audition. It is finished to a theatrical resolution.”

A set of zooming J.R.R. Tolkien maps will help you understand where locations in LOTR: The Rings of Power are in the Second Age, and how that fits into the ...

Tolkien](https://www.polygon.com/lord-of-the-rings/22550950/sam-frodo-queer-romance-lord-of-the-rings-tolkien-quotes) didn’t just love maps — he ascribed the entire world-building success of [The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings](https://www.polygon.com/lord-of-the-rings/22550950/sam-frodo-queer-romance-lord-of-the-rings-tolkien-quotes) to his cartographical exercises. In Rings of Power, the camera swoops over sections of this map like an Indiana Jones movie might. A few key locations emerge in the opening two episodes of Rings of Power, including Forodwaith, where Galadriel is hunting down clues of an lingering evil; Rhovanion, home to the hobbit-like harfoots; and the Eregion region, where one can find the dwarven kingdom of Khazad-dûm tucked away underneath a mountain range. It’s such a thrill to see the dang map on screen that I was left wanting to see the full thing. And it’s no surprise that the new Amazon series [The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power](https://www.polygon.com/23329258/lord-rings-power-review-episode-release) honors Tolkien’s achievement in rendering Middle-earth in map form. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is an exception to a point; as the first two episodes jump around Middle-earth to introduce us to new elves, dwarves, humans, harfoots, and others, the action occasionally cuts away to the same designs Tolkien drew from as he pieced together Frodo’s story.

James Poniewozik, The New York Times's chief television critic, writes that in the early going, the series “does not reinvent the ring.” It does, however, “add ...

The critic Nick Schager admires how the show incorporates beloved characters — particularly Galadriel (“the soul of “The Rings of Power”) — while also establishing stunning new kingdoms. (“Its emotional core, though simplistic, is just as big and openhearted.”) The brute force of its size also raises some existential questions: “At what point is a television show so big and so uninterested in being TV-shaped that it essentially makes it another species?” “These pastoral scenes manage to capture the magic of the late-80s BBC version of ‘The Chronicles of Narnia.’” And despite the enormous computer-generated expenditures in evidence, Pulliam-Moore most appreciates practical effects like the hide-y holes at the Harfoot encampment, which provide “some of the series’ most truly magical moments.” Despite the promise of an “awfully big adventure,” he thinks one of the best parts of the show is something — or someone — small: the proto-hobbits known as the Harfoots. The critic Robert Lloyd thinks the series fits into a gray middle area, “neither a disaster nor a triumph,” adding that he feels that casting actors of color and foregrounding female characters, particularly Galadriel (played by Morfydd Clark), benefit the show. Variety’s chief TV critic, Caroline Framke, sees beauty in how the series balances so many disparate characters and story lines, like spinning plates: “When one threatens to come crashing down, the show can simply move on to the next until it’s ready to pick up where it left off.” The steadiest of those plates, though, remains Galadriel. karaoke.” For now, he frets about finding laughs where there aren’t supposed to be any — in the maps (“more funny than informative”), the special effects (almost “Monty Python”) and the plotting. “Look for inflammatory statements in ALL CAPs and words like ‘woke,’ ‘SJW,’ and ‘normies’ used in the pejorative sense,” she writes. If viewers are disappointed by the Amazon series, Drout predicts, it will because it lacks the “literary and moral depth” of Tolkien’s world. The show “needs more politics and personality and nonmagical conflict,” Douthat writes. More important, it manages, eventually and occasionally, to create its own swashbuckling, storytelling magic.” Some of those magic sparks come in the form of a “star-man,” who travels to Middle-earth via a meteor, and a nuanced portrayal of Galadriel: “A troubled, obsessed Carrie Mathison-like Galadriel may not be purely Tolkien,” Poniewozik writes.

Amazon Prime Video already confirmed multiple seasons of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. But how much information does the new cast have about ...

[Reviews for the new program](https://www.cinemablend.com/streaming-news/first-reactions-are-here-for-the-lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power-see-what-people-are-saying-about-the-amazon-prime-series) have been strong, with even die hard creators like The Sandman’s [Neil Gaiman giving the show his seal of approval](https://www.cinemablend.com/streaming-news/neil-gaiman-has-seen-some-of-new-lotr-series-rings-of-power-shares-seal-of-approval-with-silmarillion-oriented-comment). In the early going of this show, her mission is to continue a quest started by her brother, and to pound the warning drums that a massive evil is heading to Middle-earth. [air five complete seasons of the show](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/2485140/how-lord-of-the-rings-season-2-renewal-at-amazon-will-help-the-show-be-more-like-the-films), giving the bulk of the cast job security. Morfydd Clark’s courageous Galadriel is one of those characters who we will catch up with in the debut episode of the new series, and one who is going to be very important as the saga rolls on. The sprawling epic takes viewers through numerous lands and introduces waves of new (and familiar) characters, though we are seeing them in early stages compared to when we caught up with them in the Peter Jackson trilogy films. [Amazon Prime Video program](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/2570421/the-best-amazon-prime-original-shows-to-binge-watch-now) The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power makes its debut on the streaming service.

"The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" stars Morfydd Clark, Sophia Nomvete and Nazanin Boniadi spoke with Parade.com about playing strong female ...

"I think that like children in general should have, whether they're girls or boys, should have a big variation of characters and people who they can aspire [to] or be inspired by," she said. What's "great" about The Rings of Power, as Boniadi pointed out, "is that every world has a strong woman in it." Stepping into the role of the legendary elven commander was both exciting and interesting for Clark. And so moving forward, this is what the Legendary elf Galadriel, dwarven Princess Disa and human healer Bronwyn, played by Morfydd Clark, Sophia Nomvete and [Nazanin Boniadi](https://parade.com/638735/paulettecohn/nazanin-boniadi-on-her-upcoming-role-in-the-espionage-thriller-counterpart/), respectively, are among the women of The Lord of the Rings prequel. "Strong characters belong in this world.

'The Rings Of Power' stars Morfydd Clark and Charlie Vickers have discussed the most challenging aspect of filming the Amazon series.

They need to fit into the world, they need to have the essence of Tolkien running through them otherwise they’re superfluous. It comes with that expectation but then you also have a bit of freedom because you can use lots of influences from Tolkien’s work in building it.” For Vickers, the chance to play a role not based on author J.R.R. Halbrand is a human character who meets Galadriel in the series. “We trained to be able to do it for a couple of months in the lead up, I would always dread when the weekly session would come around because you just know you’re going to go through excruciating pain for like an hour. I got up to three and a half minutes,” Clark told NME.

Amazon's hugely anticipated take on Tolkien finally arrives – and it's so packed with scale and ambition it's only matched by Marvel's biggest budget ...

The first episode took a while to get going, but then there is a gigantic world to establish. That said, the way he spoke to the fireflies (before they all dropped dead) was very reminiscent of [Gandalf, on top of the Orthanc, speaking to the moth](https://youtu.be/kNnvcs-sQB8?t=50) in The Fellowship of the Ring. But only Elrond was allowed in to the kingdom and, after losing to Prince Durin (Owain Arthur) in a rock-smashing contest, he had some bridges to rebuild with his old friend. I enjoyed the interplay between Prince Durin and his wife, Disa (Sophia Nomvete), particularly as she undermined him when he was trying to give Elrond the cold shoulder. It was immediately obvious she didn’t want to go, and by the time we reached the end of the second episode, she had jumped ship, to be rescued by Halbrand (Charlie Vickers), a mysterious, morally ambivalent character, another created specifically for this series. In the Southlands, we met Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova) and other elven warriors who have been watching over the region for signs of evil since the end of the conflict with Morgoth. First thought is a younger version of Gandalf, although I think the hair and beard are red herrings – plus Gandalf, Saruman and the rest of the Istari weren’t sent to Middle-earth until some way into the Third Age, thousands of years after the events of this series. It was all pretty superficial in the first episode, and it wasn’t until the aftermath of the falling object from the sky that we learned more about Poppy and Nori’s characters. Let’s just say that from the first frame to the last, The Rings of Power looks quite Harfoots are a type of hobbit – along with the stoor and fallohide – not written about a great deal by JRR Tolkien. Presumably: “Pay attention to this bit about sinking, it’s going to come in handy at the end of the episode when you get cold feet about being on that boat.” It has been a big couple of weeks for fantasy TV – you may have noticed a certain other show began a few weeks ago – but we’re here to celebrate, not make constant comparisons with House of the Dragon, so I’m going to keep those to an absolute minimum – plus my colleague

Is Elrond not an elf? Is this show related to the movies? Was that Gandalf? And more.

Chiefly, we learn that he can use some kind of magic (he whispers to the fireflies to command them, the same way Gandalf whispers to the moth in Fellowship of the Ring), and it seems to be dark (the fireflies die)—or maybe it just appears that way because he’s lost and frightened. We do learn a tiny bit more about him in The Rings of Power’s second episode, which contains all the makings of a classic At this point in the timeline, Elrond has not yet established Rivendell, the elegant Elven stronghold where the Fellowship of the Ring is formed, so it may simply be that he has no lands to rule. Eventually, Tolkien goes on to explain, the three groups migrated and mixed, so the distinctions between Hobbits are no longer as clear by the time of The Fellowship of the Ring. (You might remember some of this from the prologue to the movie version of The Fellowship of the Ring, which itself is narrated by Galadriel.) The Harfoots were browner of skin, smaller, and shorter, and they were beardless and bootless; their hands and feet neat and nimble; and they preferred highlands and hillsides. You may recall that Frodo and his fellows were allowed to sail there at the end of The original Lord of the Rings trilogy takes place in a period of Middle-earth’s history known as the Third Age. During the Second Age, when this show takes place, he and the other wizards are usually thought to still be in the west, far from the events of the show, where he goes by the name Olórin. In Tolkien’s writings, Gandalf has been alive since the beginning of time, but he doesn’t arrive in the Middle-earth till later, in the Third Age. The Rings of Power takes place much earlier, in the Second Age. You can’t really blame them, then, for not splurging on the rights to Tolkien’s other books, many of which deal with the history of Middle Earth in greater depth.

Among the many familiar elements in the Prime Video series coming Sept. 2 is the dwarf stronghold of Khazad-dûm. If you've watched Peter Jackson's classic Lord ...

The Rings of Power takes place in the Second Age of Middle-earth, thousands of years before Frodo and friends ever thought about leaving the Shire. This is the challenge The Rings of Power faces. Instead, these elements do a lot of heavy lifting in settling the viewer into this complex story. The first two episodes alone serve up a feast of sweeping shots over snowy mountains, open plains and painfully gorgeous elven architecture. Judging from screeners of the first two episodes provided by Prime Video, The Rings of Power makes a steady return to Middle-earth, offering all the things that endeared the originals to so many of us those many years ago: the breathtaking vistas, the latex prosthetics and even the occasional bouts of ponderous dialogue delivered to some point on the horizon. If you've watched Peter Jackson's classic Lord of the Rings film trilogy, you've visited Khazad-dûm as a terrifying tomb littered with skeletons, festooned with cobwebs and policed by a particularly nasty fire demon.

Tolkien frequently changed his mind about the the character. The Rings of Power showrunners and actor Morfydd Clark talk about their version.

She has been interpreted and reinterpreted and will continue to bet the subject of fascination: “I’m not the first, and I’m sure I won’t be the last Galadriel.” “There’s four versions of how Galadriel met a certain person, and we don’t have the rights to any of them, but we have to be aware of them,” says McKay. “Having that level of self-knowledge is extraordinary and speaks to what journey did she go on that she knows herself that well and can make the right choice? The showrunners wanted to focus on that moment where Galdriel rejects the ring and figure out how she grew into that character. “So the idea of Galadriel as a warrior is built into Though she appeared in the Lord of the Rings, Tolkien also wrote extensively about the powerful elf in the appendices to that work, his notes, and various other texts, often contradicting himself in the process. But in various other works, Tolkien writes about Galadriel as a warrior, which clearly influenced her portray in Rings of Power. This means Galadriel will undergo millennia of growth and experience before she becomes the version of the character we’re familiar with from that seminal text. But the immortal and powerful elf Galadriel is perhaps the closest we come to a hero in the series. The sprawling Lord of the Rings prequel, The Rings of Power, doesn’t have a main character. Payne and Patrick McKay about how they created a new version of one of Tolkien’s most iconic characters. In Jackson’s trilogy, Cate Blanchett plays an older version of Galadriel who serves as more as a stateswoman.

Spoiler alert! The following contains important plot points from the first two episodes of Amazon's "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power," now ...

They run to the place where it landed, where they discover a giant man (Daniel Weyman) lying in a fiery crater. Elsewhere, Elrond travels to the dwarf kingdom of Khazad-dûm to make amends with Prince Durin IV (Owain Arthur) and partake in a glorious feast with Durin's wife, Princess Disa (Sophia Nomvete). Along the way, she meets a man named Halbrand (Charlie Vickers), who's stranded on a raft. "She has a difficult conversation with Elrond (Robert Aramayo) where she says, 'If I go to Valinor right now, it would be heaven. "She feels that's a duty of hers," Clark says. Although she and her warriors come up short, the elven high king Gil-galad (Benjamin Walker) rewards them for their efforts by sending them to Valinor, otherwise known as the Undying Lands or Grey Havens.

The first episode of Prime Video's 'LOTR' series takes us to the Second Age of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, many of years before the Fellowship.

They’re sure to find something of note in the ruins, but that will have to wait. For her reward, she is allowed to return to the Undying Lands of Valinor, away from Middle-earth and all its troubles. Arondir returns to Bronwyn, who we soon learn is a single mom raising Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin), a boy whose father’s identity remains a mystery (and who has to put up with all kinds of innuendo about his mom possibly being involved with a “pointy”). And thanks to the rest of the appendixes and The Silmarillion, the massive collection of Tolkienana that doubles as a history of Middle-earth, we know the highlights of what happens in between. When Morgoth comes to Valinor, Galadriel transforms into a warrior, taking the fight across the sea to Middle-earth for centuries of epic battles involving orcs, dragons, humans, and dwarfs that ends in victory for the side of good but leaves the continent in ruins and still vulnerable to the attacks of Morgoth’s disciple Sauron and his minions. “We Harfoots are free from the worries of the wide world,” she is told by her mother, Marigold (Sara Zwangobani). It’s here that The Rings of Power leaves Galadriel’s side for the first time. The Rings of Power smartly does a bit of standing on the shoulders of giants. (Maybe Ents?) Though Jackson is not involved in the series, its Middle-earth, Middle-earth’s inhabitants, and the series’ CGI effects all owe a debt to his films, which seems like the right choice. That’s not to say that The Rings of Power doesn’t relay the exposition with a tremendous amount of flair. Here’s how Tolkien sums up this era in one of the appendixes to The Lord of the Rings: “The Second Age ended with the first overthrow of Sauron, servant of Morgoth, and the taking of the One Ring.” So — oops, belated spoiler warning — we know how this story will eventually end. We’re over 20 years out from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, the film in which Peter Jackson & Co.

The movies are an example of how faithful adaptations of literature can keep devoted fans of an almost 70-year-old book series glued to the silver screen, and ...

For those looking to scour Tolkien’s published texts for the prequel show’s premise, here’s what Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is based on. If you want to read the story of what goes on in the new Prime Video show, you’re out of luck. Prepare yourself if you’re a Tolkien fan—you’ll be in uncharted territory. “People have heard about it in montages and flashes, but these are massive untold stories.” Both the beloved series and movies have longevity because of their top quality, even all these years later. The movies are an example of how faithful adaptations of literature can keep devoted fans of an almost 70-year-old book series glued to the silver screen, and even gain some new fans along the way.

Why does Galadriel leap off the boat at the end of the first episode of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on Amazon Prime Video?

The difficulty of that decision comes from the longing for the Undying Lands in the west that all elves feel to at least some extent, even characters like Legolas and Elrond. It’s hard to think of anything worse than being denied your destined place in heaven — except for being the only person in heaven who deeply longs to leave. “It’s a yearning and longing for a place that you can never return to, almost a place that you might not even have experienced. They were banned from returning to Valinor forever, but also cursed to grow quickly weary of the wider world and yearn for a home they could never see again. Most elves are then given new bodies for their spirits to inhabit and join all the other elves living in Valinor. And if you just want to generally refer to all of that, you can call it the Undying Lands or just the West with a capital W. The gods advised them not to, but they did it anyway, and in the process they got into a fight over boats that escalated into the first time elves had ever killed other elves. This doesn’t necessarily contradict with Tolkien either; Galadriel did have a brother, Finrod, who was captured by Sauron and died in the dark lord’s dungeons in single, unarmed combat with a werewolf, whom he also killed. If you want to talk about the nation of elves and gods there, it’s Valinor. The Noldor have all actually been to Valinor and lived centuries among its splendor — It may be that the show has more explanation up its sleeve, especially as it looks like Galadriel will be spending a bunch of time with human characters next — they’ll probably have questions about how she wound up in the middle of the ocean. [great war isn’t over with Sauron still at large](https://www.polygon.com/e/23094758) against her desire to return home to the Undying Lands across the sea.

However, that peace doesn't last long. When Morgoth engulfs Valinor in darkness, the elves fight back. After hundreds of years of war, Morgoth is deleted but ...

[‘The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power’ Character Posters: 22 Stars Of Amazon’s Epic Fantasy Series](https://deadline.com/gallery/lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power-character-posters-photo-gallery/) [‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ Season 1 Photo Gallery (Spoilers)](https://deadline.com/gallery/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power-season-1-photo-gallery-spoilers/) However, because nothing can stay good in a world leading up to the re-emergence of Sauron, a shooting star crashes outside the Harfoots’ camp, revealing The Stranger (Daniel Weyman). And in Bronwyn’s home village, there are signs of danger when her son Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin), reveals a kilt engraved with Sauron’s symbol. In the Southlands, a land of men, the elves who were watching over them (protecting them from Morgoth ad the Orcs) are finally allowed to return home, forcing Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova) to say goodbye to Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi), a human healer for whom he has feelings despite their two species not necessarily seeing eye to eye. This younger Galadriel is from the start quite different from the character played by Cate Blanchett in Peter Jackson’s movies.

Amazon's Lord of the Rings TV show premieres on Sept. 1 and provides a new look at Middle-earth, Sauron, Galadriel, and other iconic things audiences will ...

One of the best locations in The Rings of Power is also one of the worst in the Lord of the Rings movies: Moria. In both The Rings of Power and The Lord of the Rings, elves that wish to retire from the land of mortals can sail off to paradise in a very somber ceremony. [a fictional history of Middle-earth](https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Orcs#Years_of_the_Trees), a race of exclusively evil people that exist solely to give the bad guys an army. Early on in The Rings of Power, we do get a glimpse of LOTR’s big bad as he appears in those movies, but he almost certainly will take on a different and surprising form in The Rings of Power. So they brought in the harfoots, a nomadic group of little folk who stay out of sight but still get into trouble. One thing that appears to have changed very little between then and now in Middle-earth is its orc problem. This makes it all the more sad to see him as such a chill elf lad in The Rings of Power — he’s going to see some stuff that makes him a significantly less fun person. He’s one of the few links between every screen adaptation of Tolkien’s work, as Elrond was there for it all. For now, the show is taking us [mostly someplace new](https://www.polygon.com/23331136/lord-of-the-rings-middle-earth-map-rings-of-power). [sprawling cast](https://www.polygon.com/23032806/lotr-rings-power-release-date-cast-trailer). This lets fans participate on another level entirely, making every new tidbit that the show reveals a puzzle in and of itself, a pocket mystery where we already know the end, but not the “how” or “why.” [isn’t overly familiar yet](https://www.polygon.com/23329258/lord-rings-power-review-episode-release).

Amazon's Lord of the Rings prequel Rings of Power introduces a mysterious stranger in a meteor hanging out with hobbits. But while it might seem like ...

It is, however, one of the only mentions of an actual meteor in Tolkien, and Tilion is a Maiar, making McKay and Payne’s status as lore experts and comments about the Maiar as a “class” interesting, at the very least. Personally, I am into the idea of it being Glorfindel, who dies fighting a Balrog in the First Age and is brought back as an emissary of the Valar in S.A. The main reason this would be cool is because Glorfindel was done dirty in Jackson’s trilogy, and absolutely deserves to be in The Rings of Power despite currently not being listed in the cast. In the books, Gandalf speaks to his own nakedness preceding his resurrection as Gandalf the White, noting, “Darkness took me, and I strayed out of thought and time, and I wandered far on roads that I will not tell. Sauron’s orcs are gathering strength, which is indicative of the secret construction of Barad-dur (depicted in [Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy](https://www.polygon.com/lord-of-the-rings/22858403/lord-of-the-rings-movie-history-what-if) as the tower [with Sauron’s eye](https://www.polygon.com/lord-of-the-rings/22724426/lord-of-the-rings-sauron-eye-explained)) from around S.A. With all of this being said, it makes sense for the Stranger to be a new character, of which we already have a few. It’s not the cleverest theory — Galadriel is the only person in Eregion to distrust Annatar in the books, so having her be the one who is betrayed in the show would be a disservice to her character. And the mystery and the journey of it is all of the fun, I would say. And in terms of the Stranger’s appearance as an old man… But again, the best course of action here is to argue why it probably isn’t Sauron and definitely isn’t Gandalf. Meteor Man could therefore be one of many people — that’s not to mention the possibility he could also be a totally original character. [The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power](https://www.polygon.com/lord-of-the-rings) has been a subject of mass debate.

The Stranger made an impact with his crash landing in episode one and, though we still don't know his identity, his demeanor seems awfully familiar.

So, it’s entirely possible that the showrunners opted to move up Gandalf’s arrival in Middle-earth, to tie his story more closely with that of the Rings of Power themselves and give him a greater sense of awareness that Sauron’s presence and influence lingers. For it is said indeed that being embodied the Istari [wizards] had need to learn much anew by slow experience, and though they knew whence they came the memory of the Blessed Realm was to them a vision from afar off, for which (so long as they remained true to their mission) they yearned exceedingly. The Rings Of Power is set firmly in the Second Age, which would suggest that Gandalf’s arrival is off by more than a millennium. Tolkien’s own limited writings on the origins of the wizard suggest that none of them set foot on the continent until 1,000 years into the Third Age, when the rising threat of Sauron grew too great to ignore, and the Valar decided the peoples of Middle-earth needed some extra help. It’s there, on the verge of more discovery, that we leave Nori, Poppy, and The Stranger at the end of episode 2, as our mystery man drapes himself in ragged fabrics and looks for answers after his arrival in Middle-earth. Tolkien’s own writing about the history of his fictional world, The Rings Of Power nevertheless proved right away that it’s as interested in blazing its own trail as it is in paying homage to its creator, introducing us to myriad new characters and situations that will all play a role in Amazon’s epic, 50-episode grand plan.

The first two episodes of "Rings of Power" prove it is, in fact, a compelling expansion of the Middle-earth mythos.

“The Rings of Power” doesn’t feel small compared to the movies, nor does it feel unworthy of them. Bayona both directed “Shadows of the Past” and the as-yet unnamed second episode, and it’s clear that his work on “The Impossible” and “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” adequately prepared him for the heft and scope of Middle-earth. Elsewhere in Episode 2, Nori attempts to nurse Comet Man (note: not his real name) back to health while dealing with both a language barrier and the fact that he’s somewhere between disoriented and insane. That comes mostly from the hobbits, represented in “The Rings of Power” by Nori Brandyfoot (Markella Kavenagh), whose wish for something grander than what her modest village offers is answered when a comet streaks across the sky at the end of the first episode. Keep an eye on Celebrimbor in the episodes to come — though he hasn’t had much screentime yet, he’s likely to be one of the most consequential characters in the entire series. Durin reluctantly agrees, and the two take the idea to his father: King Durin III (Peter Mullan), whose skepticism would appear to cast doubt on the whole affair. It was actually a collective sigh of relief emanating from countless “Lord of the Rings” fans who just watched the first two episodes of “The Rings of Power” and realized that it is, in fact, a compelling expansion of the Middle-earth mythos. Not that those familiar with her work in “Saint Maud” or “The Personal History of David Copperfield” will be surprised, but Clark proves more than worthy as Blanchett’s successor (or predecessor, as it were). He thinks he’s stopping by her humble abode to see her one last time after being relieved of his duty — a visit that displeases her young son — but the two end up venturing to a nearby village after a farmer asks her to look at his cow, who’s secreting something like blood from its udders rather than milk. For all that portent, “The Rings of Power” isn’t all doom and gloom. She then jumps into the action herself, leading a group of fellow elves as they scout for any remaining trace of Sauron and/or his orcs — and eventually finding his sigil in a snowy cave. The episodes, titled “Shadows of the Past” and “Adrift,” both premiered tonight, while the remaining six will air weekly.

The second episode of The Rings of Power follows four different stories: Galadriel in the ocean, the Harfoots, Southlanders and Elrond.

g III (Peter Mullan) about Elrond’s intentions, and though the king doesn’t trust the elf, Durin uses his 50 years of friendship to advocate for him. Despite saying he’s good friends with Durin IV (son of the Dwarven king), Elrond is initially turned down when he tries to enter their kingdom. Unaware of Arondir’s fate, Bronwyn returns to her cottage, finding everything a mess and seeing a hole in her floor just like the one in the destroyed village. Theo grabs the hilt he had in the previous episode, but when a drop of blood touches it, an ominous dark blade forms. Nori plans to steal a book from the leader of the Harfoots, Sadoc (Lenny Henry), to find information about the constellation. In the world of the Harfoots, Nori (Markella Kavenagh) goes to investigate the crater formed by the impact of the object that fell from the sky, finding The Stranger (Daniel Weyman) lying unresponsive in the center, while Poppy (Megan Richards) reluctantly accompanies her. To do it he needs a workforce significantly more powerful than the elves. However, the second they realize she’s an elf, they blame her for what happened to them and one of them pushes her off. Celebrimbor details his plans to build a tower with a powerful furnace for smithing by spring. The two of them lock eyes for a few tense moments as the dirt around them begins floating before The Stranger passes out again. Thankfully, Theo has managed to find a hiding spot, and even though he insists she go, she also finds a hiding spot right before an Orc appears. Bronwyn goes home and begins packing despite Theo’s (Tyroe Muhafidin) protests, but when she tries to warn everyone else they don’t believe her.

The same cannot be said for the strange bearded man who came shooting out of the sky and crash-landed a few hundred metres from the harfoots' latest sticking ...

From what we learn in the Fellowship of the Ring, Saruman was somewhat of a good guy until he became a Sauron acolyte in the Third Age. Before Gandalf was wrangling hobbits, he was known as Olórin, and during that time he was a sort of spirit that lived in Valinor (the heavenly elf kingdom across the sea), watching over the Elves. Sauron's whereabouts are unknown, and we're not really all that sure what he looks like under all that armour (or as a big eye flame). So, maybe Olórin got himself into a bit of trouble in some far-flung part of the globe, and wound up getting hoofed out by some sort of mythical beast. With the aid of, presumably, some sort of momentary superhuman strength (and her pal Poppy), she sticks him in her cart, drags him to a nearby field and keeps him hidden away, trying to nurse him back to good health like a lost cat. Our initial assumptions are that the harfoots will figure quite prominently in whatever the overarching story of the series turns out to be, as the hobbits did in the original trilogy.

The Rings of Power's Stranger doesn't just have a lot in common with wizards, he might actually be The Lord of the Rings' Gandalf.

The Valar sent he Stranger to Middle-earth. And like Gandalf, Sauron is one of the Maiar. Gandalf the Grey died in The Fellowship of the Ring. “There I lay staring upward” from a mountaintop he said, “While the stars wheeled over, and each day was as long as a life-age of the earth.” Like the Stranger, Gandalf looked to the stars for guidance. This powerful being sent by the Valar—who came from the sky, is impervious to fire, and has powers of a wizard—really loves the color grey. And what was the significance of the constellation he highlighted with fireflies? So if he ever came to Middle-earth previously they might not have even known the shapeshifter’s real identity and purpose. So is the Stranger a wizard? By the start of the Third Age, the Valar had separated Aman from the physical world. The Valar eventually relented and came to Middle-earth to defeated Morgoth for good. He might also be the first incarnation of a great hero [The Lord of the Rings](https://www.theonering.com/) fans know and love. That’s where Valinor sits, the realm to which Galadriel refused to return at the end of episode one.

Get all of the latest TV news from NationalWorld. Providing fresh perspective online for news across the UK.

We are going to learn and learn and learn, and finding out what exactly is going on might not be so quick” In J.R.R. Weyman said: “They were pretty clear at the beginning that what they were bringing me was a character who had, at his core, a really deep and primal purpose. Once I began to tap into that, and feel that deep in the core, then other things flowed out of that.” One of the most popular theories about who the Stranger could be is Sauron - the main bad guy from the Lord of the Rings films. The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power: who is The Stranger?