Seasons

Prime Video gave the series a multi-season commitment, believed to be for five seasons, as part of the
initial deal with the Tolkien Estate, [23][22] though the streaming service still had to give a
formal greenlight to future seasons before work could begin on them. [25] In July 2019, Shippey stated that
he believed the first season of the series was supposed to consist of 20 episodes. [26] In November,
Amazon officially ordered a second season of the series, and scheduled a longer-than-usual four or five
month production break after completion of filming on the first two episodes. This was to allow all the
footage for the first episodes to be reviewed, and so the series' writers room could be reconvened to
begin work on the second season before filming on the first season continued. This gave the series the
option to film the first two seasons back-to-back, as the Lord of the Rings films had been.[25] Amazon
announced that the first season would consist of eight episodes in January 2020, [49] and revealed the
series' full title, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, in January 2022. Payne and McKay felt the
title could "live on the spine of a book next to J.R.R. Tolkien's other classics". [1]

Writing
A writers room for the series had begun work in Santa Monica by mid-February 2019. Salke described
extensive security measures that were being taken to keep details of this writing secret, including
windows being taped closed and a security guard requiring fingerprint clearance from those entering the
room.[50] In addition to Payne and McKay, writers on the series include Gennifer Hutchison, Helen
Shang, Jason Cahill, Justin Doble, Bryan Cogman, and Stephany Folsom, with Glenise Mullins acting as a
consulting writer.[40][41] The writers room was set to be disbanded once production on the series began,
but would be reconvened during the four or five month break in filming that was scheduled following
production on the first two episodes. The writers were expected to map out the second season and
write the majority of its scripts during this production break. [25]

The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are set during the Third Age, while the First and Second Ages are
explored in other Tolkien writings such as The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, and The History of Middle-
earth. Because Amazon only bought the television rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, the
writers had to identify all of the references to the Second Age in those books and create a story that
bridged those passages. These are primarily in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, but also in
certain chapters and songs. [3] Tolkien's estate was prepared to veto any changes from his established
narrative,[26] including anything that contradicted what Tolkien wrote in other works. [3] The writers were
free to add characters or details, [26] and worked with the estate and Tolkien lore experts to ensure these
were still "Tolkienian".[3] They referenced letters that Tolkien wrote about his works and mythology for
additional context on the setting and characters. [3][51] Simon Tolkien, a novelist and the grandson of J.R.R.
Tolkien, consulted on the series and helped develop its story and character arcs. He is credited as a
"series consultant".[52] The showrunners disagreed with suggestions that the series was only "vaguely
connected" to Tolkien's writings. McKay said they felt it was "deeply, deeply connected" and a "story
we're stewarding that was here before us and was waiting in those books" to be told. [53] A disclaimer is
featured in the series' end credits stating that some elements are "inspired by, though not contained in,
the original source material".[54]

Payne and McKay knew the series was expected to run for five seasons and were able to plan elements
of the final season, including the series' final shot, while working on the first. [55] Because they were
mostly not able to adapt direct dialogue from Tolkien's Second Age stories, the writers attempted to
repurpose Tolkien's dialogue that they did have access to while also taking inspiration from religious
texts and poetry. They tailored the dialogue to different characters using dialects and poetic meters.
[3]
 Leith McPherson returned from the Hobbit films as dialect coach and noted that Tolkien's fictional
languages evolve over time so are different for the Second Age compared to the Third. The series' Elves
mostly speak Quenya, a language described as "Elvish Latin" that is often just used for spellcasting in the
Third Age. Dwarvish and Orcish are also heard, along with English and Irish dialects. [56] The biggest
deviation made from Tolkien's works, which was approved by the estate and lore experts, was to
condense the Second Age from thousands of years to a short period of time. This avoided human
characters frequently dying due to their relatively short lifespans, and allowed major characters from
later in the timeline to be introduced earlier in the series. [2] The showrunners considered using non-
linear storytelling instead, but felt this would prevent the audience from emotionally investing in the
series. They said many real-life historical dramas also condense events like this, and felt they were still
respecting the "spirit and feeling" of Tolkien's writings. [57]

After the series was revealed to have hired Jennifer Ward-Lealand as an intimacy coordinator, Tolkien
fans expressed concern that it would include Game of Thrones-style graphic sex and violence.[58] Payne
and McKay said this would not be the case and the series would be family-friendly. They hoped to evoke
the tone of Tolkien's books, which can be "intense, sometimes quite political, sometimes quite
sophisticated—but it's also heartwarming and life-affirming and optimistic." [2] They also said they did not
want to be influenced by modern politics, instead aspiring to tell a timeless story that matched Tolkien's
own intention to create a mythology that would always be applicable. [57]

The first season features several locations not previously seen in the film adaptations, including the Elf-
capital Lindon and the island kingdom of Númenor, [59] but it also revisits familiar locations from the films
such as Khazad-dûm, which is in ruins during the Lord of the Rings films but is shown in its "full glory"
during the series.[2] One of the groups that the series includes are the Harfoots, depicted as precursors to
the popular Hobbit race from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.[2][60] Payne and McKay explained that
they felt the series would not truly feel like Middle-earth to the audience without Hobbits. Tolkien's
writings state that the Hobbits were not known during the Second Age, so they chose to explore the
Harfoots instead since they were "satisfyingly Hobbit-adjacent". The Harfoots are depicted as having a
secretive society and their story takes place in the "margins of the bigger quests" which was compared
to the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.[2] McKay said the first season was about
"reintroducing this world and the return of evil", [32] focusing on introducing the Second Age of Middle-
earth and the heroic major characters rather than telling a "villain-centric" story. [3] Despite being
mentioned in a synopsis for the series and being a major character in the Second Age, [1] the Dark
Lord Sauron was reported to not be appearing in the first season at all. [44] McKay said the season was
influenced by dialogue from the second chapter of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, "The Shadow of the
Past", which he paraphrased as "After a defeat and a respite, a shadow grows again in a new
form."[32] Bayona said the season would hint at the presence of Sauron, and the overall story was about
"the repercussions of war and the shadow of the past". He was influenced by his own childhood growing
up in Spain following the Francoist dictatorship.[2]

Casting
Salke stated in June 2018 that though the series would not be a remake of the films, it would bring back
some characters from them.[61] By July 2019, casting for the series was taking place around the world,
with casting directors working in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. [62] Casting for
extras also began in New Zealand at that time. [63] Due to the secrecy surrounding the series, many actors
did not know what roles they were going to play when they were cast. [2] Markella Kavenagh was in talks
to portray a character referred to as "Tyra" at the end of July, [64] a series regular role. [62] Will Poulter was
cast as one of the series' leads, reportedly called "Beldor", in September. [65][66] The role was described as
being "one of the more coveted jobs" for young actors in Hollywood before Poulter's casting. [66] Maxim
Baldry was informally attached to the series in a "significant role" in mid-October, [67][68] while Joseph
Mawle was cast later that month. Mawle was reportedly playing the series' lead villain, referred to as
"Oren".[69] In December, Ema Horvath was cast in another series regular role; [70] Poulter was forced to
leave the series due to scheduling conflicts, with his role set to be recast; [71][72] and Morfydd Clark was cast
as a young version of the character Galadriel, who was portrayed in the films by Cate Blanchett.[73]