So said once a wise Elf named Galadriel. And she was right — because with the arrival of The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power, the biggest TV show of all time, Middle-earth is getting a radical reboot. From new lands to new dangers, its creators tell us why we should hold on tight

WORDS AL HORNER

Now, where have we heard this story before?

Two unlikely heroes. Far away from the quiet shire they call home. The fate of Middle-earth in their hands. A perilous journey ahead. “We really did feel a lot like Frodo and Sam being handed the Ring,” laughs JD Payne, recalling the day he and Patrick McKay — childhood friends from McLean, Virginia — received the news they were being entrusted with writing a new chapter in the grandest fantasy mythology the world has ever known. Like the heroic Hobbits of J.R.R Tolkien’s literary epics, and later Peter Jackson’s acclaimed movie adaptations, they were surprise selections for such a quest. “There were so many people who pitched for this show with résumés that, on paper, were more suited to an endeavour of this magnitude,” admits McKay, addressing the Mûmakil in the room: that he and Payne, with only a few credits to their name, for rewrites on movies like Star Trek Beyond and Jungle Cruise, were embarking on this mission as relative unknowns. And like Samwise and Frodo, these showrunners would be completing their quest under an Eye Of Sauron-levelintense watchful glare.

The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power stakes a good claim to being the biggest, most highly anticipated TV show of all time. Its first season alone cost Amazon, bankrolling the series as a flagship show for their Prime Video service, $250 million for the rights, and a staggering $462 million to create (minus a large tax rebate), according to reports. For the first time on screen, it imagines new characters and events within Middle-earth, instead of simply translating Tolkien’s prose. In the first 24 hours after it debuted online, the show’s teaser trailer was watched a record-breaking 257 million times. Intrigue levels are higher than the peak of Caradhras: this, after all, is the series that promises to escalate the streaming wars from a skirmish to a full-blown Battle Of Helm’s Deep, reuniting fans with the most famous realm in fantasy. No wonder Payne and McKay — who, for the record, are a good few inches taller than their Hobbit compatriots in this analogy — have been feeling like Sam and Frodo. A great weight rests on their shoulders, a precious opportunity at their feet.

Harfoots assemble! Meet the new — or rather, old — breed of Hobbits; Robert Aramayo swaps Thrones for Rings as Elf Elrond; Dwarf royalty Disa (Sophia Nomvete) and Durin IV (Owain Arthur); Showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay flank director J.A. Bayona on set.

But the similarities between the Hobbits’ journey to Mount Doom and the path to making The Rings Of Power is where the resemblance to Jackson’s movies end. “We didn’t want to do the TV version of Lord Of The Rings,” says McKay. “We wanted to do a story in Middle-earth that deserves its own space on the shelf, alongside the novels and films.” Payne agrees: “We had to ensure we were bringing something fresh to it and expanding the map. We weren’t interested in a sequel or prequel or a rehash or nostalgia. It had to stand on its own two feet as something that felt faithful — but also its own thing.”