Last week , Amazon startedquietly teasingjust where its monumental Lord of the Rings TV show would take place in the Middle - globe timeline . Now , the speculation has been confirmed : We ’re heading back into the Age of Númenor .
The launch of Amazon ’s societal channel for theupcoming serieslast calendar month give us a map — because all good in-between - earth story startwith a nice map , honestly . It was somewhat undetailed , but that did n’t blockade it from give us some vague soupcon of speculation as to just when the show could be set up .
But today , the company launcheda raw variation of the interactive mapthat added a pretty significant land mass , before indeed confirm what many LotR lover had theorized : The show will be set in the Second Age , and the isle of Númenor will play an significant role .
receive to the Second Age : https://t.co / Tamd0oRgTw
— The Lord of the Rings on Prime ( @TheRingsofPower)March 7 , 2019
For those fans unfamiliar with the vast complexity of Middle - ground history , there are basically four main “ Ages ” in the timeline : The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are set in the Third Age ( with the former heralding the Fourth Age with the defeat of Sauron ) , for example , after the fight of the Last Alliance in Mordor and Sauron ’s momentary defeat marked the close of the Second Age . So we ’re essentially seeing a build - up to that process from the Lord of the Rings movie saga ’s opening — which gave us the Last Alliance ’s climactic assault and the death of Elendil , the King of Gondor , with the One Ring passing to his son , Isildur — in this new show .
Or at least , we might . The Second Age hold out a very foresighted time ( nearly 3,500 geezerhood ) , so while the formation of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men and Sauron ’s rise occurs at the tail end of the Age , the improver of Númenor to Amazon ’s map at least paint a picture the show could potentially not follow that — which would ’ve been a way totie the serial more right away intothe lineage and iconography of the Peter Jackson saga — but rather chronicle the downfall of the fabled civilization of Man thatAragorn ’s bloodlinewas deign from .
He likely wo n’t be boast if this is the Second Age however , as he was born in the Third , by the manner . But the more important affair here is that Númenor was sunk below the sea roughly a hundred years before the formation of the Last Alliance . That happened when the Valar — who are basically the god of in-between - terra firma — destroyed the island after its then - current Martin Luther King , Ar - Pharazôn , was corrupted by Sauron and lead on into assaulting the Undying Lands in the West , breaking the accord between Númenor and the Valar that had been made at the beginning of the Second Age . So if it ’s still on the map , the show is likely set well before the War of the Last Alliance against Sauron .
All this from just a single-valued function ?
It’s … a mint , likeall mediate - earth loreis . But it means there isplenty of groundfor Amazon ’s serial to cover , include fundamental events that have far - flung connections to The Lord of the Rings stories we ’re familiar with in both the original script and the films . Who knows , perhaps it could have it both mode — the series could start with Númenor ’s fall and show us Sauron ’s ascension and the organization of the Last Alliance . Or it could be more focused on Númenor ’s decline and highlight characters like Elendil and Isildur , before we knew them as the founders of Arnor and Gondor . It could go back even further into the Second Age , and show us the Rings of Power being excogitate by Sauron andCelebrimbor . Those are thing that are not quite as picture - geological era - prequel - y as the Last Alliance , but still , events that have crucial ties to the stories most fans are intimate with .
But for now , the Second Age background is all we really know about the show — and we ’ve got quite a while to keep job about it , give that the series is externalise to hit Amazon Prime by the last of 2021 .
For more , ensure you ’re following us on our young Instagram @io9dotcom .
FantasyLord of the RingsmapsMiddle - earthStreamingThe Hobbit
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