‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ Team on Building Their Massive Middle-earth

Before there was one ring to rule them all — or any magical rings for that matter — there was the Second Age of Middle-earth. That’s where viewers will be transported back to in The Lord of the Rings’ massive prequel series, set long before Bilbo and Frodo Baggins’ journeys.

Massive is the only word for the fantasy drama, already set for five seasons, which will be the most expensive show ever made. The eight-episode first season — two episodes drop at the same time globally (9/8c, September 1), with the rest on Fridays — is reportedly costing Prime Video nearly $465 million. (HBO’s Game of Thrones was about $100 million a season.)

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You’ll see that money right away in the drama’s gorgeous visuals and epic landscapes, a long lineup of 22 stars playing the elves, dwarves, and other beings — and in the detailed kingdoms of Middle-earth. The production designers actually built the Venice-like island city of Númenor to shoot on in New Zealand — with working ships! And that’s just one of many impressive sets in the fantasy meant to lure fans who loved series like GoT.

“The show is not just one world; it’s five or six worlds,” says executive producer Lindsey Weber. “Another group might have done the Númenor show, or the elven show, but [showrunners] J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay and Amazon realized it wouldn’t be Middle-earth without all of those ingredients in the soup.”

The saga is based on the nearly 150 pages of appendices in J.R.R. Tolkien’s book series, which give some details as to what went down in the Second Age, when the dark lord Sauron rose to power before his defeat in the War of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men. “It’s one of the first times people will be in Middle-earth and not know what happens at every beat,” Weber notes.

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'LOTR: The Rings of Power' Final Trailer Highlights Middle-earth's Kingdoms

Like when the royal elf warrior Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), played by Cate Blanchett in Peter Jackson’s iconic films, is fighting for her life on a shipwreck in the Sundering Seas (above) with human Southlander Halbrand (Charlie Vickers). The enraged future elven queen suspects something sinister spreading (could this be the start of Sauron’s evil?). “Galadriel is desperately trying to make the people around her believe there is darkness rising,” Clark says. “She’s basically screaming into the void.”

Until Galadriel is trusted, there are still plenty of legends to tell, from Númenor’s political unspooling to how Sauron gets elf Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) to forge the rings in the first place. But where is Sauron? Or the famous wizard Gandalf? “Those are really important characters, and fans may find that we have had them in mind as we go along,” Weber hints.
For now, enjoy the ride.

More Middle-Earth Players

Elrond: The half-elven pal of Galadriel played by Robert Aramayo (whom we first met when Hugo Weaving played the much older elf in the films) is “young in elf years and ambitious,” Aramayo notes.

Prince Durin IV: It’s the golden age of Khazad-dûm, and jolly Prince Durin (Owain Arthur) and his wife Princess Disa (Sophia Nomvete) are “passionately in love with each other,” says Arthur.

Bronwyn: The human healer and single mom (Nazanin Boniadi) is in a hot forbidden romance with one of her village’s elf occupiers, Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova). “There’s a power dynamic,” she teases.

Nori Brandyfoot: Nori (Markella Kavenagh) and her kind are harfoots—ancestors of the hobbits. And young Nori is “a really curious, inquisitive harfoot who loves adventure,” says Kavenagh.

Queen Míriel: The Queen Regent of the island of Númenor (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) is “trying to maintain the peace and stability,” says Addai-Robinson but, well, fans know that won’t last…

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Premieres Thursday, September 1, 9/8c, Prime Video