Amazon’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ series finally has a name and plot

“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” will center on the 20 rings mentioned, but not deeply explored, in the original “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. The series, set thousands of years before the events of the trilogy, will see heroes and villains new and familiar deal with the aftermath of the rings’ creation and the source of evil behind them — Sauron, according to its showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay.

Payne and McKay said in a statement that the series “unites all the major stories of Middle-Earth’s second age: the forging of the rings, the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron, the epic tale of Númenor and the Last Alliance of Elves and Men,” stories familiar to Tolkienites.

Galadriel, a powerful elf played in the films by Cate Blanchett, introduces the 20 rings in a monologue in the “Fellowship of the Ring,” gifted to Elven kings, Dwarf lords, mortal men and, of course, Sauron, who himself forged the corrosively powerful One Ring, which Frodo, Gandalf and the Fellowship set out to destroy in the original film trilogy.

Tolkien’s verses on the ring are included again in the video announcing the Prime Video series’ title, which Payne and McKay said they imagined “could live on the spine of a book next to J.R.R. Tolkien’s other classics.” Fan feedback on the title was mixed.