Tolkien’s Second Age

[This story contains spoilers for the first two episodes of Amazon Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.]

After nearly three years of build-up since the project’s announcement in 2020, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has officially begun its long-awaited quest. On Thursday evening, the first two episodes of the show premiered on Prime Video, to mostly positive reviews.

And while audiences may recognize the familiar nostalgia evoked by sweeping shots of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth, or even some characters from the original Peter Jackson film trilogy — main protagonists Galadriel, played by Morfydd Clark in the show and Cate Blanchett in the films, and Elrond, played by Robert Aramayo in the show and Hugo Weaving in the films — The Rings of Power brings deeper elements of Tolkien’s lore to the small screen, some of which may not be common knowledge to the casual fan.

Before diving headfirst into the series, here’s everything to know about its time period, the Second Age, prior to pressing play….