Telling a whole new story in the Second Age of Middle-earth, Prime Video’s streaming series began with its storytellers – including showrunner JD Payne and Patrick McKay, along with executive producer and director JA Bayona – cooking up a full beginning-to-end story. It’s about the destination as well as the journey, and The Rings Of Power is ready to take us there and back again. “We even know what our final shot of the last episode is going to be,” Payne teases to Empire in our world-exclusive cover story. “The rights that Amazon bought were for a 50-hour show. They knew from the beginning that was the size of the canvas – this was a big story with a clear beginning, middle and end. There are things in the first season that don’t pay off until Season 5.”

Across those five seasons, The Rings Of Power will weave a story of Elves, Dwarves, Harfoots and more set against an epic backdrop of major events from the history of Middle-earth – from the forging of the rings, to the rise of Sauron. If the individual plot threads are new, the outline is straight from the source. “It was like Tolkien put some stars in the sky and let us make out the constellations,” Payne explains. “In his letters [particularly in one to his publisher], Tolkien talked about wanting to leave behind a mythology that ‘left scope for other minds and hands, wielding the tools of paint, music and drama.’ We’re doing what Tolkien wanted. As long as we felt like every invention of ours was true to his essence, we knew we were on the right track.”

Get ready for a show, then, that brings fresh ideas, perspectives, characters and more to our screens in a world we’ve long loved – but all in keeping with what its original creator set out. “The pressure would drive us insane if we didn’t feel like there was a story here that didn’t come from us. It comes from a bigger place,” says McKay. “It came from Tolkien and we’re just the stewards of it. We trust those ideas so deeply, because they’re not ours. We’re custodians, at best.” It’s always been clear in the world of The Lord Of The Rings – if you’re going to climb up a mountain that steep with a burden that heavy, you can still make it with the right Fellowship.

northman wrote:

 "We’re doing what Tolkien wanted."

Urulókë wrote:

northman wrote:

 "We’re doing what Tolkien wanted."

I read that as “Tolkien said he wanted other minds and hands”, not “Tolkien wanted our interpretation specifically.”

Urulókë wrote:

northman wrote:

 "We’re doing what Tolkien wanted."

I read that as “Tolkien said he wanted other minds and hands”, not “Tolkien wanted our interpretation specifically.”

northman wrote:

Urulókë wrote:

northman wrote:

 "We’re doing what Tolkien wanted."

I read that as “Tolkien said he wanted other minds and hands”, not “Tolkien wanted our interpretation specifically.”

I think they are going far in using Tolkien to justify what they are doing. With that trailer in mind and statements like "she's full of piss and vinegar, and she's got a sword that's broken because she's killed so many orcs." I think its just disrespectful. If they had made some thoughtful comments about what they thought Tolkien meant by 'other hands' that would have been a different matter.

Urulókë wrote:

northman wrote:

Urulókë wrote:

northman wrote:

 "We’re doing what Tolkien wanted."

I read that as “Tolkien said he wanted other minds and hands”, not “Tolkien wanted our interpretation specifically.”

I think they are going far in using Tolkien to justify what they are doing. With that trailer in mind and statements like "she's full of piss and vinegar, and she's got a sword that's broken because she's killed so many orcs." I think its just disrespectful. If they had made some thoughtful comments about what they thought Tolkien meant by 'other hands' that would have been a different matter.

If you were making a Second Age Galadriel, how would you describe her (in about the same number of words to keep this an interesting comparison)?

Stu wrote:

None of these statements are truth - they are marketing for the product. I wouldn't expect them to be saying anything different, basically. I don't think we can read much into any of it.