What to Expect in LOTR: The Rings of Power

In just a few short weeks, we’ll all be able to watch the latest on-screen interpretation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendarium. Prime Video’s massively expensive and highly anticipated television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power debuts on September 2.

So far, we’ve had teaser trailers and one full trailer. But just what exactly do we expect to see in this new show? If you haven’t read the books, and you only know Tolkien from Peter Jackson’s movies, will you be able to follow the plot? Will the settings and characters be familiar?

My short answer to you is: yes. But you came here to read more than that — so let’s explore what the actual content of the show might be…

---

Put Some Rings On It

There’s been much discussion and speculation on this subject. The first, most obvious thing is that presumably at some point we’re going to see some Rings of Power. They’re in the title, after all! You know what those are — remember the prologue of Peter Jackson’s The Fellowship of the Ring movie? Galadriel’s voiceover tells us about the nine rings gifted to Men (whose hearts are easily corrupted); seven to the Dwarf lords; and three were Elvish rings. And then there was that pesky One Ring, made by the dark lord in secret, to rule them all…

When were those rings all made, you ask? It was back in the Second Age: which is the era during which the entirety of Amazon’s show (however many seasons it finally ends up being!) is set.

---

What and When Is the Second Age?

Tolkien divided his history of the universe he created into Four Ages (with a “pre-history” before the First Age, from the time of creation up until “Years of the Sun”). The events which are familiar to fans from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place during the latter part of the Third Age. Remember that scene when Frodo joins a ship leaving the Grey Havens, at the end of The Return of the King movie? (The one I sob my way through each time I watch the film? Yeah, that one.) That’s the very end of the Third Age.

When the three Elven rings of power (worn by Gandalf, Galadriel, and Elrond) left Middle-earth, it signified the end of one age and the start of another. So we see a tiny glimpse of the Fourth Age, as Sam returns home and says, “Well, I’m back…” (Which is roughly the seventh or eighth of the many endings to PJ’s RotK, right?!)

Other Time Periods in the LOTR Trilogy

In fact, with that glimpse of a new age, it can be said that PJ’s movies actually touched on three of Middle-earth’s ages. During the prologue, not only do we see the rings of power being claimed by their various owners, but we also see the Last Alliance. At the end of the Second Age, Men and Elves gather on the plains of Dagorlad to vanquish Sauron once and for all. (Spoiler: They don’t succeed. The spirit of Sauron endures…) So, PJ gives us a Third Age tale, a Second Age prologue, and a teeny tiny bit of Fourth Age right at the end.

Prime Video’s The Rings of Power will take us back to the Second Age. The showrunners tell us it covers many of the key events of that period in the history of Arda. “Arda” is the name for the entirety of Tolkien’s world, and Middle-earth is one part of it.

Second Age Issues

Covering the events of the Second Age, however, presents some difficulties. The first is that it’s a LOOOONG time — 3,441 years, to be precise. For a television series, scriptwriters know that audiences want characters they can connect with and follow throughout the show.

Fortunately, Tolkien created immortal Elves — so they can stick around for 5+ seasons! But it would become very confusing to follow a tale where so much time passes between events, and so many characters come and go. Some condensing will have to be done. This creative licensing situation leads to our second issue.

---

To what does Amazon have rights?

The second issue is that showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay have the rights to use things from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit but not from The Silmarillion nor any other Tolkien works. This could make things tricky. The Silmarillion is the work which relates most of the tales from this period of the legendarium. However, the Appendices of The Lord of the Rings (to be found at the back to The Return of the King) mention many of these stories and characters. Indeed, there you can find an overview of all the key events of the Second Age. Conveniently, this makes those events accessible to the copyright deal Amazon has.

Another significant fact is the Tolkien Estate is on board for this production. That’s a big deal; Christopher Tolkien, the Professor’s son, was notoriously against Peter Jackson’s films. In a 2012 interview with Le Monde, he said they lacked “beauty and seriousness.” On the other hand, Christopher’s son Simon supported the films. This was the cause of a falling out between father and son.

The Tolkien Estate Approves The Rings of Power

Christopher Tolkien passed away in 2020. Simon Tolkien is now the head of the Tolkien Estate. The Estate’s approval of Amazon’s production could be that it is (in their opinion) “truer” to Tolkien or because a different family member is now at the helm. Perhaps they decided being involved would put them in a position to help shape the end product. Either way, they have given their blessing to this production — and they are actively involved. They can veto anything they don’t like; which presumably means if the team at Prime Video stray into Silmarillion territory, they’ll get their wrists slapped!

But it MAY also mean that the showrunners can ask to use, say, a name which only appears in The Silmarillion — and they may be granted permission. In short, Amazon only has the rights to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. However, Tolkien Estate’s approval allows for the possibility to ask about using names or small details from The Silmarillion and similar works like Unfinished Tales.

Phew! OK — tales of the Second Age, as found in the Appendices to The Return of the King, with maybe a few small details from other Tolkien works thrown in, if the Estate gives a thumbs up. So far so good.

---

But what story exactly will they be telling?

We know the timeline of the Second Age will need to be compressed. Hey, even PJ’s movies did that. For example, in the books, Gandalf leaves after Bilbo’s “Long-expected Party” and only returns to the Shire seventeen years later. During that time, not much happens – but that would make for dull viewing, so in PJ’s The Fellowship of the Ring film, the wizard returns more or less after Frodo has enjoyed an evening in the pub with Samwise (and it’s an even shorter evening in the theatrical edition!)

So, timeline compression is nothing new. Leaving out chunks of time where nothing much happens is straight forward enough. The thing fans may take issue with is the possibility of characters existing in the same moment who, in Tolkien’s version, lived hundreds of years apart.

Reconciling Characters and Timelines

The showrunners have been very open about this. In an interview with Vanity Fair, they said they’d like to “come up with the novel Tolkien never wrote.” Because in fact, Tolkien’s tales from the Second Age are fragmented and changeable. After the Professor’s death, as Christopher pieced together notes and sketches, there were in some cases variations in retellings. (Galadriel, for example, has a different history depending on which of Tolkien’s sources one references.)

Tolkien loved to tinker; he came back to his legendarium again and again, expanding, redrafting, playing. He never settled on one complete, fleshed out and final version of the happenings of the Second Age. As a result, these holes allow a certain degree of freedom for anyone seeking to create such a tale. Indeed, Tolkien himself wrote (in a letter to his friend Milton Waldman), that he would “draw some of the great tales in fullness, and leave many only placed in the scheme, and sketched.”

A Division Within the Middle-earth Fandom

Hence the current divide in the Middle-earth fandom, which you might have noticed! Some fans feel that anything which strays at all from Tolkien’s writings should not be allowed. Others feel that it will be exciting to see a cohesive story pulled together from the various strands.

Going back to Tolkien’s letter to Waldman, he went on to say that he would like his creation to “leave scope for other minds and hands, wielding paint and music and drama.” There is thus an argument that the Professor himself would have approved this new drawing together of tales from his Second Age — provided that it is executed in the tone of “beauty and seriousness” which he, and his son, desired.

---

The question remains as to how successful Amazon’s team will be at doing that. In the next part of this rough guide, we’ll take a look at some of those story strands, and see which familiar characters from The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit you can expect to see in The Rings of Power.

For now, we do know that the showrunners are eager to do justice to the writings of the Professor, and that the Tolkien Estate is happy with how it’s going so far. And that, as Gandalf might say, is an encouraging thought…

Are you excited for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power? What do you hope to see? Keep the conversation going over at side.show/geekgroup, and don’t forget to Let Your Geek Sideshow!