The original Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies were a force to be reckoned with when they came out in the aughts. Now Lord of the Rings fans are finally going to revisit Middle Earth with The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Here’s the release date, trailer, where to watch the series when it comes out, and more!
The original two trilogies, based on J. R. R. Tolkien’s novels, told the story of the One Ring, which was created by the evil being Sauron to help him take over the world. The ring had the power to corrupt anyone who touched it, leading to a string of ill-fated owners over the course of thousands of years after Sauron’s initial defeat at the hands of the elves. Although the plot of The Lord of the Rings seemed fairly simple on paper—it revolved around the efforts of a small band of adventurers trying to destroy the ring for good by throwing it into the volcano Mount Doom—the series was just as epic and sweeping as the original books.
Now, the prequel promises to be even more ambitious in scope, since it focuses on 19 rings instead of just one, all controlled by a Sauron who’s alive and well, and wielding the One Ring.
What is The Rings of Power about?
Remember Galadriel’s preamble at the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring? Where she explains that Sauron forged 19 rings, distributed them to the various peoples of Middle Earth, and then forged one that would allow him to control the rest of them? And then a bunch of really, really bad stuff happened?
The Rings of Power is an ensemble series telling the story of a young Galadriel and other characters fighting to stop Sauron’s evil from spreading across Middle Earth. Here’s the official synopsis:
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth’s history. This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness. Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.
The teaser trailer
The main teaser, which was released in early July, is just as epic as the synopsis promises. We see Galadriel as a young warrior, frustrated that none of the other elves seem to understand the ominous future she’s seen. We also see a young Elrond trying to reassure her. There are sweeping shots of cities, palaces, forbidding mountains, and other breathtaking landscapes, along with the monsters who inhabit some of them. We also see the various races of Middle Earth: elves, dwarves, humans, and the Harfoots, who are ancient ancestors of the Hobbits.
One exciting aspect of The Rings of Power is that it’s more diverse than the original movies, which were overwhelmingly white and male. We see multiple characters of color in the new trailer, and the traveling band of Harfoots seems to be mostly women.
The Comic-Con trailer
The second trailer, which was released at San Diego Comic-Con, reveals more of the threat looming over Middle Earth. We learn that the series takes place after a war, although we don’t know yet whether it’s the war against Sauron or an earlier conflict. Galadriel touches one of the palantír, the black orbs that allow you to see across distances (remember that Saruman has one in The Fellowship of the Ring, with Sauron on the other end of it). We also hear Sauron’s name mentioned for the first time and meet some new characters, including dwarves and a mysterious white elf. The trailer focuses on a broken sword that gets reforged. We don’t know which blade it might be, but we know it’s going to be significant.
There’s also an interesting development for Galadriel: we see her learning over someone’s body, clearly in mourning.
The final trailer
In this trailer, we learn that the man Galadriel is mourning is her brother. She vows to fight in his place, and rallies others to her cause. She also meets a man who’s running from his past.
There are so many sumptuous settings and landscapes in this trailer! From an elven dinner party to an ice-covered mountain, this series is going to be just as visually stunning as the original movies. It’s good to see that the creative team has put just as much care and love into the world of Middle Earth as Peter Jackson’s original crew.
Who’s in the cast?
The cast is made up of some relative newcomers, playing younger versions of characters from the original movies along with some new characters created for the series. Here are the highlights:
Morfydd Clark as Galadriel
Nazanin Boniadi as Bronwyn
Peter Mullan as King Durin III
Robert Aramayo as Elrond
Benjamin Walker as High King Gil-Galad
Lenny Henry as Sadoc Burrows
Cynthia Addai-Robinson as Queen Regent Míriel
Maxim Baldry as the ill-fated warrior Isildur
Ismail Cruz-Cordova as Arondir
Markella Kavenaugh as the Harfoot Elanor ‘Nori’ Brandyfoot
Sophia Nomvete as the dwarf princess Disa
When does it come out? How many episodes does it have?
The release date depends on your time zone. Although all the trailers list September 2 as the release date, if you’re in the U.S., your release date is actually the evening of Thursday, September 1. The first episode will go live at 6PM PT on Thursday, which is 9PM Eastern and 2PM on Friday the 2nd in the U.K.
The first season will consist of 8 episodes, which will be released weekly.
Where can I watch it?
You can catch The Rings of Power exclusively on Amazon Prime Video!
(featured image: Amazon)
