Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series confirms Second Age setting with new map

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

About a month or so ago fans of LORD OF THE RINGS and those paying attention to the new series from Amazon were left scratching their heads when the social media account tweeted a photo of a blank map of Middle-earth. We expected the map would eventually be filled in, but which areas would be included, and thus what time period the show existed in, was the mystery. Now we have a finished map with a confirmed setting, and now we can prepare to be whisked off to the time of the Second Age of Middle-earth.

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Over the course of February, the map had been filled in bit by bit, with a new segment of the famous line from the books accompanying each tweet. The final piece was posted this morning with the caption “Welcome to the Second Age” which means audiences will be taken to a time long before the events of the original movies with Frodo and the One Ring, which took place during the Third Age.

Here’s the progression of tweets:

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Fans have been quick to notice that the land of Númenor, a legendary island kingdom of which Aragorn, played by Viggo Mortensen in the original trilogy, is descended from. What this also means is that reports that the story may center on a young Aragorn are out the window, as this story will take place years and years and years before he was even born and Númenor was long gone before he came around.

While I’m hardly the LOTR expert, the Second Age comprises well over 3,000 years (plenty of seasons, then) starting after the defeat of the dark lord Morgoth, which gave rise to the dark lord we all know, Sauron. In this time, he began building his army in Mordor and forged the One Ring of Power. On the happy side, this age saw the building of Rivendell by Elrond (Hugo Weaving in the movies), and the eventual alliance of Men and Elves that fought and defeated the physical form of Sauron. There's probably a bit more to this period, but those are some of the bigger bits. 

We know little else about the show that's, with everything being kept under CIA-level lock and key, but we do know JD Payne and Patrick McKay are acting as showrunner and we, at least, have a map.