‘The Rings of Power’ Releases New Teaser, First Look at Númenor Revealed
Morfydd Clark as Galadriel and Lloyd Owen as Elendil on the beach in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
We are now less than two months away from the release of The Rings of Power, Amazon Studios’ biggest gamble yet and the first TV project set in Middle-earth.
A few intense weeks are ahead of us, and while Amazon is still reserving their big trailer for their San Diego Comic-Con panel next Friday, they have just released a new teaser for the series. Check it out:
In addition to the trailer, Entertainment Weekly has published a blockbuster story on the series, including our first look at Númenor and its people. In an interview with the magazine-turned-website, co-showrunner Patrick McKay explained that, even though he and his partner in crime, JD Payne, did not have the writing experience that a normal studio head would have been comfortable with, they put together the best pitch possible to try to get the job:
“We did not have the résumé that might make a studio head think we were a natural choice for this. We went up for it, basically saying, ‘Well, let’s leave everything on the field and see what happens.'”
He went on to explain their take on The Rings of Power, and why it was important for them to go back to the Second Age:
“We were not interested in doing a show about the younger version of the same world you knew, where it’s a little bit of a prequel. We wanted to go way, way, way back and find a story that could exist on its own two feet. This was one that we felt hadn’t been told on the level and the scale and with the depth that we felt it deserved.”
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Númenoreans Kemen (Leon Wadham), Queen Míriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), Pharazộn (Trystan Gravelle), Elendil (Lloyd Owen), Eӓrien (Ema Horvath) and Isildur (Maxim Baldry).
The timeline of the events is still unclear. It’s possible that Amazon started hearing pitches for a Middle-earth series and based on what they thought was best, they negotiated a deal with the Tolkien estate. If, however, Amazon bought the rights first and then started hearing pitches, then McKay is putting things out of context. Amazon bought in 2018 the rights to a 50-hour television series that would adapt the Appendices to The Lord of the Rings book trilogy, as well as any other reference to the Second Age made in those three books. Therefore, if they were brought on board after the deal was made with the Tolkien estate, they wouldn’t have had the option to not do a Second Age story.
As previously mentioned, EW had the exclusive first look at Númenor, an island to the west of Middle-earth known as the greatest civilization of Men — it is Tolkien’s version of Atlantis, as it eventually was taken down from the inside by the vanity and ambition of mankind. Lord of the Rings fans may already be familiar with some of its most important inhabitants, Elendil and Isildur, father and son, who were able to defeat Sauron in the battle at the end of the Second Age that is featured in the prologue of Peter Jackson’s The Fellowship of the Ring.
Wayne Che Yip and Cynthia Addai Robinson on the set of The Rings of Power
EW has revealed that director Wayne Che Yip (who helmed four out of the ten episodes of the first season) played a key role in bringing the iconic land to life, along with showrunners McKay and Payne, as well as production designer Ramsey Avery. According to Yip, the crew essentially built “an entire seaside city from the ground up, stone by stone”. He said:
“Being on set was just breathtaking. We were there for weeks, but every day I’d notice a new detail I’d never seen before, like graffiti etched into weathered stone, or a small shrine. There was a whole wall made out of oyster shells. Every corner you’d turn, there was just so much storytelling.”
Payne explained that they put a lot of effort into getting it right, saying it was extremely important to them:
“It was one place that we were just laser-focused on saying, ‘We need to get this right.’ It’s never been seen before. People have some ideas of what elves look like or what dwarves look like and what those kingdoms might look like. But Númenor was, in some ways, a blank canvas.”
Cynthia Addai Robinson as queen regent Míriel in The Rings of Power
The island is ruled by queen regent Míriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), who is struggling with some of the tensions that are arising among her people. She told EW:
“When it comes to playing a character that holds such a lofty position, I can’t say that I necessarily relate to what it is to be a queen. But I think there is something relatable about how isolating that can feel, and how you’re grappling with things that no one else can really understand.”
Trystan Gravelle plays Pharazôn, Míriel’s close counsel. The actor said:
“When you see the set of Númenor, it’s like you’re walking through [Pharazôn’s] mind. When you see these epic statues and this wonderful masonry, you’re walking through the mind of a person that’s burdened by his own mortality and is very concerned about what legacy he’s going to leave behind.”
Cynthia Addai Robinson leading the Númenorean army in The Rings of Power
As seen in the picture above, Míriel is not a ruler that will shy away from the battlefield. Here, she leads the Númenorean army into battle with Isildur (played by Maxim Baldry) by his right. At the beginning of the series, Isildur is a sailor trying to follow in his father’s footsteps. Co-showrunner JD Payne said the following about the character:
“He’s one of the characters most ripe for deepening because everyone knows him. He’s most defined by his final, fatal decision to keep the Ring, when he has the chance to throw the Ring into Mount Doom and destroy Sauron forever, and he chooses incorrectly. We sort of said, ‘How do we make that a tragic turn in an otherwise very human, relatable, and heroic arc?'”
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The son of a Númenorean sea captain, Isildur (Maxim Baldry) trains to follow in his footsteps.
Baldry himself teased Isildur’s arc, saying that it might be more unexpected than some people think:
“You know where he goes, but how does he get there? That’s what is exciting about this show: You see Isildur as a young man at a crossroads.”
Lloyd Owen plays Isildur’s father, Elendil, and he too explained that the series will dive deep into some aspects of the character that not even Tolkien explored. Therefore, even though we know the destination, the series will explore the journey of how he got there. Owen said:
“There are signposts on the way. Ultimately, those of us that know the lore know Elendil ends up helping to lead the Last Alliance of elves and men. But how he gets there? Tolkien hasn’t written the man in three dimensions, and that’s the gift of this [show].”
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Pharazộn (Trystan Gravelle) offers Queen Míriel some counsel as he leaves her court. CR: Matt Grace/Prime Video
The Rings of Power will introduce a brand-new character into Númenorean culture — Eärien (Ema Horvath), who is none other than Isildur’s sister. As Horvath explained, she is “on the cusp of womanhood,” but also quite insecure and naïve about how the world works. She dreams about becoming an architect.
Creating a new character for the series was a daunting task for the writers’ room, as Tolkien has many loyal followers all around the world who might turn on them at the slightest sign of The Rings of Power contradicting what the Professor wrote. However, Payne and McKay pointed to one of Tolkien’s letters, where he specified that he welcomed “other hands and minds” to contribute to the established world. They said:
“We feel like we’re taking up the gauntlet that he himself put down. He gave us what we like to say are the stars in the sky that we have to connect and draw the constellation in.”
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) on the battlefield. CR: Ben Rothstein / Prime Video
They added that they would like The Rings of Power to welcome every viewer, including those who don’t even know what Middle-earth is. McKay said:
“It needs to feel the way you feel when you are in Middle-earth. It needs to pull you in and make you fall in love the way you fall in love with those books.”
Payne added:
“If people come out of this feeling like they’ve gone to Middle-earth, that’s such a special thing,” Payne adds. “Middle-earth fills us with hope, and it inspires us. There’s a reason why people reach to Middle-earth when they’re going through hard times.”
The Rings of Power will premiere on Prime Video on September 2nd. A full trailer is expected to debut during the San Diego Comic-Con Hall H panel next Friday, where most of the cast and crew will discuss the series. Stay tuned for more news on the series as we enter the final stretch before its release.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
