Amazon’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ Gets Synopsis, Touts Númenor, Misty Mountains, Sauron, and More
Zack Sharf
An official synopsis for Amazon’s highly anticipated “Lord of the Rings” television series has arrived touting a world-spanning epic set in the Second Age of Middle Earth. While fans already knew the Amazon series would be tackling the Second Age, which is millennia before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” books, the synopsis confirms specific locations such as Númenor, the Misty Mountains, and the elf-capital of Lindon will be explored in the new series. The synopsis was first reported by TheOneRing.Net (via Entertainment Weekly).
Amazon’s official “Lord of the Rings” series synopsis reads: “Amazon Studios’ forthcoming series 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,” the synopsis continues. “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.”
Given the show is set during the Second Age, it’s more than obvious “the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen” as touted by the synopsis is Sauron. The Second Age is when Sauron rose to power and forged the One Ring, thus leading to the fall of the Nine Kings. This section of “Lord of the Rings” mythology was covered in the opening of Peter Jackson’s “The Lords of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” but it appears it will be expanded on for the series.
The “Lord of the Rings” series is being developed by J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay. “Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom” filmmaker J.A. Bayona is directing the first two episodes and also serving as executive producer. “Saint Maud” breakout actress Morfydd Clark is playing a young Galadriel in the series, so it makes sense the show would be visiting the elf capital of Lindon. The cast also includes Robert Aramayo, Owain Arthur, Nazanin Boniadi, and Tom Budge. Amazon has not yet announced a release date for the series, but it’s not expected to debut until late 2021 or sometime in 2022.
