Fans have been privy to but a few details surrounding Amazon's upcoming Lord of the Rings TV show. Other than how super expensive it will be to produce, that is. Now, though, we finally have the answer to one of the most crucial questions about the new series: where in Lord of the Rings' expansive timeline is it going to take place? It's now confirmed that the show will be set in The Second Age.
That would be the age before the highly familiar story of Frodo and his Lord of the Rings friends takes place, as that takes place in the Third Age. Amazon confirmed the timeline of the upcoming epic by way of this tweet on the show’s official Twitter account, thus undoubtedly putting the fevered imaginations of LOTR fans into overdrive. Check out the most recent map of the series’ setting below:
So, what does all of this mean? Well, it completely rules out a prequel centered on Aragon, a character many fans had speculated may be at the fore of the prequel series. In fact, the Second Age timeline rules out a bevy of Third Age characters, but that doesn't make it any less exciting.
The Second Age spans a long period in Lord of the Rings history. Notably, it is the age in which the prominent villain of Lord of the Rings, Sauron, takes power. So it's not outside the realm of possibility that the Amazon series will be focus on a point during Sauron’s rise.
For context, Sauron is the Dark Lord that secretly forged the “master ring that controls all others,” as noted in The Fellowship of the Ring’s prologue. That is the same ring that Frodo tries to destroy, of course. Sauron is a highly significant character whose later existence plays a substantial role in The Lord of the Rings mythos. Fans would love to see the character in another form beyond the Lidless Eye appearance, but it's hard to say if that'll happen.
Now let's talk about the brand new location seen on the map above: the island of Númenor. As J. R. R. Tolkien’s stories from the Third Age relay, Númenor does not get a happy ending. The island ultimately got destroyed along with a great deal of its population. A doomed and war-torn island would be an engaging place to center the new series' action, and there are undoubtedly a lot of storylines to delve into where it is concerned.
For those with a casual knowledge of the books and a broader knowledge of the movies, the show will give fans an impetus to research more. The more you understand the past in The Lord of the Rings, the more you should be able to anticipate its television future. Fans with an in-depth knowledge of the story’s off-screen history should also find it exciting.
Like Game of Thrones’ prequel series, Lord of the Rings is headed to a time long before its more celebrated band of characters characters took the helm. It is a bold move, but with the name Lord of the Rings behind it, it is a reasonable one.
A premiere date for The Lord of the Rings TV show has not gotten revealed yet. Many shows await for viewers anxiously anticipating the series’ debut during the midseason.
