Prime Video has confirmed its long-awaited Lord of the Rings prequel series, The Rings of Power, will release on September 2 2022. While the series is clearly overflowing with visual splendour – it’s reported to be the most expensive TV show of all time – 11 years after Game of Thrones first rocked us with its gritty approach to fantasy world-building, this can’t help but feel somewhat toothless. Here is everything you need to know about The Rings of Power.
The Rings of Power Release Date
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will premiere exclusively on Amazon Prime Video on September 2. Since The Rings of Power was first announced in 2021, not much has been revealed about the new series, aside from the fact that it will be Amazon Prime’s biggest and most expensive production to date. The initial synopsis confirmed that the series will be set thousands of years before the events of The Lord of the Rings and will showcase some of the franchise’s best-loved characters in an entirely new light.
The Rings of Power Plot
Set thousands of years before the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, the show will follow a plethora of characters including Galadriel – previously portrayed by Cate Blanchett, who is here replaced by Morfydd Clark – as they “confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth,” according to the show’s synopsis. We’re assuming that can only mean Sauron’s rearing his ugly head, or fiery eyeball, or whatever form he’s choosing to take this time around – it doesn’t really matter as he’s a nondescript force of evil without a shred of nuance or character to make him even remotely interesting at this point.
The trailer certainly shows off a lot of beautiful imagery, but doesn’t really give much of a sense as to what the narrative thrust of this whole venture will be. There seems to be a lot of talking in Lord of the Rings-isms that don’t really seem to mean much without context (and to be honest, they sound like they might not even mean much with context). Absolute nonsense like “Choose not the path of fear, but that of faith,” and “Each of us, every one, must decide who we shall be” are delivered with such absolute seriousness that they wind up sounding like a parody of fantasy epic dialogue, making it hard not to respond with an eye-roll.
Perhaps we’re being a little harsh. As we said, the show is undeniably stunning in terms of its imagery and we’ll definitely be giving it a fair shake when it launches on September 2. With House of the Dragon off to a strong start, we’re hoping our fears around The Rings of Power are unfounded and we’re instead entering a golden age of fantasy TV.
The Rings of Power Trailer
Unveiled as part of a panel discussion at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC), the new teaser revealed more about the burgeoning evil that threatens to destroy quarrelling nations in the world’s geekiest enchanted forest. Get ready for more dwarves, bigger battles and a fiercely bloodthirsty new approach to Tolkien’s classic works.
Premiering in front of 6,500 eager fans, the new clip was prefaced by an engaging discussion with series showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, alongside executive producer Lindsey Weber and 21 members of the ensemble cast. Moderated by The Late Show host and Tolkien superfan, Stephen Colbert, the panel allowed Lord of the Rings fans to delve a little deeper into the long-awaited new iteration, probing for answers amid a sea of mystery.
In the three-minute SDCC trailer, fans learned a little more about the unique relationship between Elrond and Durin, which forms when the former visits a dwarven mine to engage in a test of endurance. Tasked with hammering rocks until their body can take no more, the trail is brutal, but the stakes are high. Should Elron lose, he will be banished from dwarven lands forever, however, if he wins, he will be granted a single boom from the dwarves.
Aside from the test of wills, the new Lord of the Rings trailer also puts warfare back on the menu. A bruising scene that shows Ismael Cruz Córdova’s Arondir attempting to free a group encaptured by what appear to be goblins was a major hit with attendees, highlighting the series’ impressive focus on martial arts choreography. But perhaps the most interesting reveal of the new SDCC trailer arrived in trademark fleeting fashion.
