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Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on Prime Video - What to Know in 2025
Rings of Power isn’t just another fantasy show. It’s the most expensive TV series ever made, with a budget over $1 billion for its first two seasons. If you’re watching it on Prime Video, you’re part of a global audience that tuned in for epic battles, ancient magic, and the quiet rise of evil long before Sauron wore his one ring. But what makes this show different from the movies? And is it worth your time in 2025?
What is Rings of Power, really?
Rings of Power is a fantasy television series produced by Amazon Studios, set in the Second Age of Middle-earth, thousands of years before the events of The Lord of the Rings. Also known as The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, it first premiered on September 1, 2022, and its second season dropped on August 29, 2024.
Unlike Peter Jackson’s films, which followed a single quest, this show weaves together multiple storylines: the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron in disguise, the forging of the Rings of Power, the fall of Númenor, and the last days of the Elves in Middle-earth. It’s not a remake. It’s a prequel that fills in the gaps Tolkien only hinted at.
The show doesn’t use characters from the movies directly. No Frodo. No Gandalf as you know him. Instead, you meet young Elrond, a future councilor of the White Council, and Galadriel, still hunting for the Dark Lord after the fall of her brother. There’s also a mysterious stranger who might be Sauron - or something worse.
Why does it look so expensive?
Amazon didn’t just spend money. They spent it on details. Every sword was hand-forged. The costumes took over 6,000 hours to make. The set for the city of Khazad-dûm was built from scratch in New Zealand, with real stone and wood. The waterfalls in the Elven lands? Real. The forests? Ancient trees preserved from logging.
Season 2 added 14 new locations, including the ruins of Númenor - a sunken island kingdom that looked like Atlantis with Elven architecture. The visual effects team used AI-assisted rendering to simulate 10,000 digital soldiers in battle scenes, not just for realism, but to match Tolkien’s descriptions of ancient wars.
It’s not just about scale. It’s about texture. The dust on the Dwarves’ beards. The way Elven cloth moves in wind. The crackle of magic when a ring is forged. These aren’t CGI tricks. They’re the result of 200+ artists working for over two years on single episodes.
Who’s in the cast - and who’s really important?
The show has a huge ensemble, but not all characters matter equally. Here’s who actually drives the story:
- Elrond (Robert Aramayo): The Elven lord who becomes a bridge between races. He’s not just wise - he’s conflicted, torn between loyalty and duty.
- Galadriel (Morfydd Clark): The most compelling character. She’s haunted, relentless, and doesn’t trust anyone - not even the Elves. Her arc is the emotional spine of the show.
- Durin IV (Owain Arthur): The Dwarven prince who dares to dig too deep. His story is about ambition, greed, and the cost of progress.
- Poppy Proudfellow (Megan Richards): A Hobbit who doesn’t know she’s a Hobbit. She’s the heart of the show - funny, brave, and strangely central to the fate of the Rings.
- The Stranger (Daniel Weyman): A mysterious figure who may be a fallen Maia, a wizard, or Sauron himself. His identity is the show’s biggest mystery.
Characters like Arondir and Bronwyn, who were fan favorites in Season 1, faded into the background in Season 2. The show shifted focus to the bigger mythological forces - and it paid off.
How does it connect to the movies?
You don’t need to have seen The Lord of the Rings to enjoy this show. But if you have, you’ll spot the echoes everywhere.
The bridge in Khazad-dûm? It’s the same one Gandalf and the Balrog fell from. The Elven city of Lindon? That’s where Gil-galad ruled - and where he later died in battle. The sword Narsil? You’ll see it being forged in Season 2. It becomes Aragorn’s sword in the movies.
Even small details matter. The way the Elves speak in this show? It’s based on Tolkien’s original Elvish languages - Quenya and Sindarin. The show’s linguists created over 1,200 new lines of dialogue in those languages. You won’t understand them, but you’ll feel their weight.
And then there’s the One Ring. It’s not shown yet. But its shadow is everywhere. The rings the Elves make? They’re beautiful, but flawed. The Dwarves’ rings? They make them greedy. The Men’s? They turn them into servants of darkness. This isn’t just backstory. It’s prophecy.
Is it better than the movies?
It’s not trying to be. The movies were about hope in the face of despair. This show is about the slow, quiet collapse of a world before the fall.
The pacing is slower. There are long scenes of silence, of watching clouds move over mountains, of Elves singing in the dark. It’s not action-packed like The Two Towers. It’s more like The Silmarillion - poetic, dense, and often quiet.
Some fans hate that. Others say it’s the most faithful adaptation ever made. Tolkien wrote that the Second Age was a time of “great deeds, but little song.” The show honors that. It doesn’t rush. It doesn’t explain everything. It lets you sit with the mystery.
Season 2’s finale, where the sky cracks open and Númenor begins to sink, was one of the most emotionally devastating scenes ever filmed. No explosions. No music. Just the sound of waves and a woman screaming as her world disappears.
What’s next? Season 3 and beyond
Amazon renewed the show for Season 3 in April 2024. Filming starts in early 2026. The third season will cover the War of the Last Alliance - the final battle between Elves, Men, and Sauron. That’s the war that ended the Second Age.
Expect to see:
- The rise of Isildur - the man who cut the Ring from Sauron’s hand
- The fall of Gil-galad, the last High King of the Noldor
- The true identity of The Stranger - confirmed as Sauron
- The final forging of the One Ring - and the moment evil becomes unstoppable
The showrunners have said Season 3 will be darker, faster, and more violent. No more waiting. No more whispers. This time, the war begins.
Where does it stand in 2025?
By 2025, Rings of Power has become the most-watched original series on Prime Video. It’s not just popular - it’s culturally significant. It revived interest in Tolkien’s legendarium. Book sales for The Silmarillion jumped 300% after Season 1. Universities now offer courses on Middle-earth linguistics.
It’s also changed how studios make fantasy. Before this, no one thought a slow, dialogue-heavy fantasy show could succeed. Now, Netflix is greenlighting a similar project based on The First Age. HBO is developing a prequel to Game of Thrones set 5,000 years earlier.
It’s not perfect. Some plotlines drag. A few characters feel underused. But it’s the only fantasy show that dares to be quiet, to be patient, to let the world breathe. And that’s why it matters.
Should you watch it?
If you love stories that take their time - if you want to feel the weight of history, not just the thrill of battle - then yes. Watch it. Start with Season 1. Then Season 2. Don’t skip the quiet moments. They’re where the magic lives.
If you want fast fights, punchy dialogue, and a hero who saves the day by episode three - look elsewhere. This isn’t that show. This is something older. Something deeper. Something that doesn’t ask you to cheer. It asks you to remember.
Is Rings of Power a direct sequel to The Lord of the Rings movies?
No. It’s a prequel set thousands of years before the events of The Lord of the Rings. It explores the origins of the Rings of Power, the fall of Númenor, and the rise of Sauron. You don’t need to have seen the movies to understand it, but fans of the films will recognize key locations, names, and artifacts that become important later.
Do I need to read The Silmarillion to understand the show?
No. The show adapts and simplifies events from The Silmarillion and other Tolkien writings, making them accessible to newcomers. But if you’ve read The Silmarillion, you’ll catch deeper references - like the true nature of the Valar, the fate of the Maiar, and the meaning behind the Elven songs. It’s not required, but it enriches the experience.
Why is the show so slow-paced?
It’s intentional. Tolkien’s Second Age was a time of quiet decline - not epic battles, but slow corruption. The show mirrors that. Long scenes of silence, weather, and ritual reflect the weight of history. It’s not meant to entertain in short bursts. It’s meant to immerse you in a world that’s already dying.
Is The Stranger really Sauron?
Yes. Season 2 confirms it. The Stranger is a Maia - a divine spirit - who fell into darkness and took human form to hide from the Elves. He’s not just pretending to be Sauron. He is Sauron, in his earliest, most deceptive form. His journey is about learning how to manipulate, how to whisper, how to become the Dark Lord.
Will we see Gandalf in future seasons?
Not as he appears in the movies. In the Second Age, Gandalf (known as Olórin) is still a young Maia, not yet sent to Middle-earth as a wizard. He may appear in Season 3, but he’ll be quiet, hidden, and unrecognizable - more like a wandering scholar than the wise old man you know.
Is the show faithful to Tolkien’s books?
It’s faithful in spirit, not in every detail. The show takes creative liberties - combining characters, changing timelines, inventing scenes - but it never contradicts Tolkien’s core themes: the cost of power, the fading of the Elves, the danger of pride. The showrunners worked with Tolkien scholars and used unpublished notes from his archives to ground their choices.
