Amazon's 'Lord of the Rings' TV Series Reveals Setting and Time
Amazon's upcoming "Lord of the Rings" television series is going back — way back — in Middle-Earth history.
The show's official Twitter account has been teasing fans by slowly updating a blank, interactive map of J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy world. There was some speculation that the series would focus on a young Aragorn, the human ranger played by Viggo Mortenson in Peter Jackson's movies.
Instead, a final update to the map on Thursday revealed that the show will be set many years before the films.
"Welcome to the Second Age," reads the tweet. The movies take place in the Third Age (and briefly in the Fourth Age, after the ring is destroyed).
The update revealed the island of Númenor in the lower left hand corner of the map. In "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, Númenor has been destroyed for thousands of years.
The Second Age spans over 3,000 years and ends with the first downfall of the evil wizard Sauron (which is briefly touched upon in a prologue in Jackson’s trilogy). So, Amazon's series could follow Sauron's rise to power, humans and elves banding together in the Last Alliance, the destruction of Númenor, and the forging of the rings of power.