There's been a lot of buzz surrounding the release of the trailer for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Many are genuinely excited for more adventures set in Middle-Earth, while some J.R.R. Tolkien faithfuls are less than thrilled that Amazon would allow for as many changes to the lore as there seem to be. Whatever camp you fall into (and either is understandable), there's a lot to look forward to in The Rings of Power that connects directly to The Lord of the Rings.

So far, we know that Amazon has rights to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, as well as the appendices to The Return of the King which give a brief overview of the Second Age of Middle-Earth. While the show might not be able to directly use Tolkien's other works, such as The Silmarillion and The Unfinished Tales, they are still required to remain within the framework of his pre-existing writings. This means that they cannot "egregiously contradict" what he's already written, according to a recent Vanity Fair article. This is a real comfort to many Tolkien fans, and hopefully calls for more excitement about this The Lord of the Rings prequel as it unfolds.

RELATED: 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' Teaser Trailer Reveals the Epic Saga of Amazon's Middle-earth Series

The Life and Times of Galadriel

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Image via Amazon Studios

In Tolkien's original works, Galadriel was said to have been a warrior in her youth. He even went so far as to describe her in a letter (known as Letter 348) as “...of Amazon disposition and bound up her hair as a crown when taking part in athletic feats.” It seems that we might get to see the Elven maiden kick some serious butt on The Rings of Power, as she grows and develops into the more royal elf we know and love from the Peter Jackson films, not to mention Tolkien's classic trilogy.

Admittedly, we're still used to Cate Blanchett's portrayal of the Lady of Lórien, who can wipe away orcs with a wave of her hand and banish Sauron away as she does in The Battle of Five Armies. This Galadriel is elegant, royal, and epic. She's a seemingly all-powerful being, and definitely one of the strongest forces throughout Middle-Earth. But this all begs the question of how she got there in the first place. It seems like Tolkien had an idea, and hopefully, those at the helm of The Rings of Power are able to execute his vision faithfully.

From what we know of Galadriel's history in Tolkien lore, she spent much of the Second Age with her husband Celeborn and daughter Celebrían, traveled through Khazad-dum, and suspected that Annatar, who taught the elves to make the Rings of Power, was up to no good. How this will all play out in the Amazon series we cannot say, but we're excited to see what Morfydd Clark brings to the role!

The Fall of Númenor

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Image via New Line Cinema

Inspired by the legend of Atlantis and seen by many Tolkien commentators as reminiscent of the biblical fall of Sodom and Gomorrah, Númenor was a kingdom of Men referenced throughout Middle-Earth history. In fact, it was often said to be the greatest civilization of Men ever. Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings, and a descendant of Isildur (more on him later), is a member of the Dúnedain, a race of Men who were descendants of the Númenóreans who escaped the destruction of their homeland.

According to The Silmarillion and some of Appendix A from The Return of the King, the people of Númenor decided to make war with the Valar (the "angelic powers" of Tolkien's world), hoping to achieve immortality in a very Tower of Babel-like moment, completely rejecting Eru Ilúvatar, the One God of Tolkien's world. Because of their rebellion, Eru sunk Númenor into the sea, destroying Sauron's body (he was the instigator of this whole thing) and changing the world from flat to a globe. Yes, that's right, the world of The Lord of the Rings was once flat.

Of course, some Númenóreans, such as Isildur, escaped the cataclysm, but much of their culture was destroyed permanently. The Rings of Power promises a look at Númenor at its peak, long(?) before its destruction (though hopefully, we'll get to see that too), and we couldn't be more excited! Be it the Númenórean culture, their religious worship of Ilúvatar, or their relationship to other peoples and kingdoms, such as Gil-galad's Elves, there's a lot to be excited about when it comes to Númenor.

Sauron's Attempts to Rule

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We've all seen Sauron's final attempts to gain hold over Middle-Earth and its inhabitants in The Lord of the Rings, and The Hobbit trilogy even chronicles some beginnings of that, but outside his defeat at Isildur's hand, we hardly get to witness any of Sauron's previous attempts to rule with the One Ring. From what we've heard of The Rings of Power so far, it seems to imply that Sauron is on the move, and working behind the scenes to manipulate world kingdoms.

It's worth noting that in Tolkien's work, during this time, Sauron and his Dark Lord (that's right, he has a boss) known as Morgoth (or Melkor) have been defeated before. While Morgoth never returns after this defeat, having been thrust into an abyss by the Valar until final judgment, Sauron keeps making his way back into the story. It's Sauron, under the shape-shifted guise of Annatar, who teaches the Elves to make the Rings of Power in the first place, and it's he that encourages the Númenóreans to go to war, resulting in their downfall (and the destruction of his own form).

With this in mind, there's a lot that The Rings of Power could do to show Sauron's slow corruption of Men and his creation of the One Ring in Mordor, as well as his attempts to rule with force. Either way, there's quite a bit for Dark Lord to do here, especially given that he still has a body at this point. This will no doubt be a different version of Sauron than the sentient eye we're used to, one who will be able to better engage with the rest of the cast, and when you think about the implications, that's pretty exciting!

The Forging of the Rings of Power

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Image via Amazon Studios

With a title like The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, it's pretty clear that the actual Rings of Power are going to be involved in the plot somehow. As stated before, according to Tolkien, Sauron-as-Annatar eventually helps the Elven-smiths, including Celebrimbor, forge the Rings of Power. These Rings were meant to help keep the world from falling further into darkness, though Sauron obviously had other plans.

After Celebrimbor and Sauron forged 9 Rings for Men and 7 for Dwarves, Sauron left to go construct his own "master Ring" in Mordor. Naturally, the Elves continued to construct more Rings of Power, making three more for themselves, Rings free from Sauron's influence and therefore incorruptible. While Sauron used the Rings of Men to enslave them, turning them into the Nazgûl (including the Witch-King), the Dwarves would prove resistant to his evils, though it would make them a bit more greedy and wrathful.

While the three Elven Rings would eventually end up with Galadriel, Elrond, and Gandalf, the journey to how they get there is something The Rings of Power will likely explore. Witnessing the making of the Rings, and their use by Men, Dwarves, and Elves, is certainly something to look forward to this September, especially since we haven't seen many of them in action before.

Elrond's Rise to Prominence

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Elrond is set to be pretty young in The Rings of Power, and by pretty young we mean about 50. But, just for context on how long Elves live, Galadriel has been around for at least 2,000 years by the time the series is set to begin (she's over 8,000 by the time The Lord of the Rings ends), so Elrond is just a baby by comparison. But youth isn't necessarily a bad thing. While we're used to Hugo Weaving's stoic portrayal of the Elf in the Peter Jackson films, Robert Aramayo's young Elrond will certainly have more youthful energy, with ambitions that will play deep into the series' plot.

A Half-Elf, Elrond was born to two parents who were half-Man and half-Elf by lineage. It's during the Second Age, when The Rings of Power is set, that Elrond establishes Rivendell, and at the end of it tries to persuade Isildur to throw the One Ring into the fires of Mordor. Another interesting tidbit about Elrond is that, in Tolkien's work, he actually marries Galadriel's daughter. The coming Amazon series seems to be setting them up to be friends, with no mention thus far of Galadriel's husband or daughter from the books, making us wonder if they'll decide to go this route at all.

It's unclear how much of this we'll actually end up seeing in the series, but since the creators have mentioned Elrond's "political ambitions," it seems like it might be a little while before we see the warrior side of the Elf. Though, that could certainly change if he gets his hand on a Ring of Power...

Moria at Its Finest

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Image via New Line Cinema

The Mines of Moria, also known as Khazad-dum, are explored by the Fellowship in the back half of The Fellowship of the Ring where they find it in ruin, no longer the magnificent kingdom that Gimli remembers from his youth. The Hobbit is similar in that Erebor has been overtaken by Smaug and the Dwarves that used to live under the Lonely Mountain have long since perished. Unlike these grim tales, The Rings of Power promises Dwarves, and Khazad-dum itself, at their peak, long before they abandoned Moria to the Balrog and the Orcs took over.

Our main Dwarf in The Rings of Power is set to be Durin IV (Owain Arthur), the ruler of Khazad-dum and wielder of one of the Dwarven Rings of Power. This is an interesting twist because according to Tolkien, Durin III is the Dwarf who traditionally appears during this era of Middle-Earth history. Regardless, we've only ever heard Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) and members of Thorin's (Richard Armitage) company speak of the "golden age" of the Dwarves and their kingdom. With The Rings of Power on the way, it seems that we can expect to finally see the majesty that is the city of Moria, in all its Dwarfish glory.

Isildur's Slow Corruption

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Image via New Line Cinema

The Rings of Power showrunners have described Isildur as a sailor long before he becomes the warrior king who would defeat Sauron. Though, when most of us think of the Gondorian king, we probably picture the Lord of the Rings flashback where Elrond begs Isildur to throw the One Ring into Mordor, to which he simply replies, "no." In spite of that, it seems that the Amazon show is setting up Isildur to be a much more tragic character, one we may actually root for throughout the series' run.

Yet, regardless of his eventual fate, and the poor choices that led him there, Isildur is often seen as an honorable warrior and king, one who no doubt will be one of the most interesting characters in The Rings of Power (played by Maxim Baldry). Whether Sauron sets his sights on corrupting the eventual king early on, or they become bitter rivals from the beginning, we cannot say, but we do know that no matter what direction they go, it all will eventually culminate in an epic battle for Middle-Earth that will bring the Second Age to a close and set the stage for The Lord of the Rings itself.