It really was one TV series to rule them all this fall when Prime Video released their long-awaited The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power in early September. The series broke all previous Prime Video records for viewership. The series premiered to 25 million viewers around the globe, and by the finale was being watched by more than 100 million people, for a total of 24 billion minutes streamed. On launch, it topped Nielsen's streaming chart for its opening weekend, and remained the top Prime Original in every region that hosts the streaming service. The finale also drew lots of attention, trending on Twitter in 27 countries for a cumulative 426 hours.
In the current streaming age, viewers have become accustomed to the shorter format, with most series coming in between 6 and 10 episodes a season. For The Rings of Power, Amazon Studios Head Vernon Sanders said in a 1-on-1 interview with Collider's editor-in-chief Steve Weintraub that the studio settled on 8 episodes for the first season for a reason that was more logistical than story-driven.
That was an evolving discussion. I think, originally, we were talking about making more episodes, but once we got into the practicalities of what it takes to shoot actors who are actually, in real life, at the same height, but you're creating dwarves and you're creating Harfoots, and elves and humans. Shockingly, as much as special effects have evolved over time, you still have to do it the old-fashioned way.
And so really, the producers came back to us and said, "You know what? After we've looked at all the things we have to do to make this successful, we think we should make eight episodes instead of 10 episodes." But that was a conversation that we came to together, and we've had a lot of success with eight-episode seasons of TV, so it's a bit of kismet. But that's kind of how we got to that decision for Season 1.
That's not to say that the choice didn't have an impact on the story. Making the decision early on no doubt enabled the team to craft their story to fit the episode count, rather than trying to retrofit after the fact, leaving obvious scissor marks behind. By also giving themselves ample time to film the Dwarves, Elves, Harfoots, and humans, the creators also were able to ensure as rounded a Middle-earth story as possible.
What Can We Expect in Rings of Power Season 2?
To many fans, the wait for Rings of Power Season 2 will likely feel even longer than the wait for Season 1 did, given the shocking note that the final episode ended on. Charlie Vickers, who plays Halbrand, revealed to actually be Sauron in the finale, has teased that Season 2 will see his character in a "repentance stage." It also seems fair to speculate that Season 2 will also see the other characters, particularly those he was close to, reeling from the revelation — if Galadriel (Morfyyd Clark) even tells them, that is. With Nori (Markella Kavenaugh) off with Gandalf (Daniel Weyman), and Elendil (Lloyd Owen) and Miriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) returning to a changed Numenor, the stakes for the new season have never been higher. Thankfully, the new episodes are in production as we speak.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 1 is streaming now on Prime Video. For more on The Rings of Power, here's our interview with Markella Kavanagh and Megan Richards.