Amazon Confirms It’s Upcoming ‘Lord of the Rings’ Series Will Be Set During the Second Age

In late 2017, Amazon announced that it had secured the rights for a TV show based on The Lord of the Rings. Exactly what part of Middle-Earth’s long history would be covered wasn’t specified, but fans of the epic fantasy were beside themselves with excitement following the news. In a recent Tweet, the show’s official Twitter page confirmed that the show will take place during Middle-Earth’s Second Age, and included a rather lovely looking map.

A Tweet was published which read: “One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them, In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. #LOTRonPrime”, along with a picture of a map which includes the land of Numenor. A fellow-up Tweet was then published which reads: “Welcome to the Second Age” and links to the show’s official website.

For those who are a little rusty when it comes to their Middle-Earth history, the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings occurred in the Third Age, thus this new show is set long before then. The Second Age lasted for 3441 years and ended with the first defeat of Sauron during the Last Alliance between Men and Elves.

It’s also worth noting that the map includes the land of Númenor, which was destroyed during the Second Age and was the home of the great Númenorians, whom Aragorn is a descendant of. The rise and fall of Númenor was a notable event during the Second Age and it seems likely the show will touch on this. The Second Age was also notable for Sauron’s rise to power in Middle-Earth, the creation of the Ring of Power, the coming of the Ringwraiths, and the early battles between Sauron and the Elves.

There certainly seems to be a lot of material for Amazon to work with and it looks like this will serve as a sort of prologue to everything we’ve seen in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Many of the notable characters from the Third Age won’t even have been born during this period, though some recognizable faces were around, including the Elves Galadriel and Elrond, who appear in The Lord of the Rings.

It looks like there’s plenty to be excited about and we can’t wait for Amazon to reveal more about the upcoming series.