What We Know So Far About The Plot Of The First 'Rings of Power' Episode

The first episode of Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power series is premiering on September 2, 2022, and fans could not be more excited. Amazon has not released too much yet about casting or specifics on the plots and storylines that the series will focus on. Hopefully, that will change the closer we get to the premiere date. So far, we know some of the actors and who they are playing, and the basics of the eras that the series will focus on. But since the Second Age is so large and so much happens in that time period, it could be about anything. In Amazon’s exclusive interview with Vanity Fair magazine, fans now have the most recent information about the series: specifics about the first episode of the series. 

We know that the series will have a large cast of characters. However, we have heard that the series will reportedly focus the most on a younger Galadriel (played by Morfydd Clark) and a younger Elrond (played by Robert Aramayo). It will, of course, feature the forging of the Great Rings since that is the title of the series and a very large plot point in Middle Earth’s history. It will also follow the downfall of Númenor, the Atlantis-type city where the men of Gondor and Aragorn’s ancestors (Isildur being one) were from. It will also feature the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, which we saw briefly at the beginning of the extended version of Peter Jackson’s The Fellowship of the Ring. 

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The pilot episode, directed by J. A. Bayona, is actually a two-part episode. The first season of The Ring of Powers will consist of eight episodes. There are reportedly four more seasons after it, although the next two are the only ones that have been greenlit so far. Some reports are also saying there is a spin-off show already being discussed, but there are no details as of yet on what that might entail. According to some sources, the show will feature a period of eight to ten years, which is not that long of a time in the Second Age. Showrunners J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay have said that they have a lot of materials to work with from the ALL the Appendices so it is likely that the show could span a longer amount of time.

Amazon Prime has a preliminary interactive map on their site which does show that the series will focus on the mid-Second Age, circa SA 1500-1701. However, that does not quite add up with later Second Age characters that have been confirmed to be a part of the series such as Elendil and Isildur. The Last Alliance of Elves and Men comes later in the Second Age as well. Payne and McKay have confirmed that they are condensing time due to how the series is set up. Since we do not have very much more information, it is hard to tell for sure the timeline of the series.

The first episode of The Rings of Powers titled “Shadows of the Past” will feature Galadriel as the main character. There are hints of danger to come, but Galadriel is convinced that a larger threat is coming. Others do not believe it, however. Bayona further discussed the premiere episode in the Vanity Fair article:

“I think this is all about the repercussions of war. There is an idea that feels very faithful to Tolkien, which is intuition. Galadriel has an intuition that things are not fixed, and there is still something lurking.”

By episode two, the younger, brasher, angrier, yet clever Galadriel is set adrift literally on a raft to the Sundering Seas somehow due to her warnings of a great evil coming. With her is a new character, Halbrand, a man, who is running from something in his past. Their destinies are entwined somehow. Their journey is just one of the many storylines that the show will follow.

Whatever storylines and characters the series will follow, it is sure to be an amazing epic creation. Hopefully, in the coming months, Amazon will give fans more news to really heighten the anticipation!

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Written By Elizabeth Dresdow

Source(s): Vanity Fair, One Wiki To Rule Them All

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