The Rings of Power is a series that will stream in September 2022 on Amazon Prime Video. It is based on J.R.R. Tolkein’s The Lord of the Rings and is set in the Second Age of Middle Earth. The storyline revolves around the formation and dispersion of fictional, magical rings called the Rings of Power.

The timeline is thousands of years before that of Tolkein’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

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The Rings of Power are the master work of Gwaith-i-Mirdain of Eregion. There are 20 magical rings created in the Second Age. Sauron, the maker of One Ring, had intended the rings to seduce the rulers of Middle Earth to evil. Sauron, disguised as a handsome envoy of the Valar named Annatar (the Lord of Gifts), teaches the elf-smiths of Eregion how to forge these rings. They are led in the process by Celebrimbor.

Nineteen rings are made – three for the elves, seven for the dwarves, and nine for men. Apart from these, an additional ring, the One Ring, is created by Sauron himself in the fires of Mount Doom. The One Ring is a master ring that can control the other 19 rings and if the One is destroyed, the powers of the others will also fade. 

The Rings of Power were created to endow the one wearing them with the power of wealth and dominion over others. According to Gandalf, the Rings of Power are self-serving and self-sufficient. The One Ring, especially, can return to Sauron whenever it encounters treachery and at the right time.

If a Hobbit takes possession of a ring, the power of the ring gets manifested in a way that they become invisible or start seeing invisible things, as a consequence of being transported to a spirit world. The rings, however, also transform them into permanently invisible wraiths. Others are affected differently by the rings. 

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The series is developed by showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay.