"We even know what our final shot of the last episode is going to be."
Thankfully, it seems like 'The Lord of the Rings' prequel series showrunners aren't playing around when it comes to the original J.R.R. Tolkien (or Peter Jackson) works, as 'The Rings of Power' is fully mapped out across five seasons.
Doing television the way it really should be done, showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay have made it clear in an Empire Magazine exclusive that there was no messing around with such an iconic franchise such as this.
"We even know what our final shot of the last episode is going to be," storyteller Payne teased to the publication ahead of its world-exclusive cover story. "The rights that Amazon bought were for a 50-hour show.
"They knew from the beginning that was the size of the canvas – this was a big story with a clear beginning, middle and end. There are things in the first season that don’t pay off until season five."
With five seasons of 10 episodes apiece, it appears we're in it for the long haul, which should be music to our little Hobbitses ears, right? Payne says that he and his vast team are "doing what Tolkien wanted" by making this prequel series.
He continued: "It was like Tolkien put some stars in the sky and let us make out the constellation. In his letters [particularly in one to his publisher], Tolkien talked about wanting to leave behind a mythology that 'left scope for other minds and hands, wielding the tools of paint, music and drama'.
"We’re doing what Tolkien wanted. As long as we felt like every invention of ours was true to his essence, we knew we were on the right track."
On the story that he and Payne have crafted together, McKay says that all they are are "stewards" or "custodians" of Tolkien's works: "It came from Tolkien and we’re just the stewards of it. We trust those ideas so deeply, because they’re not ours. We’re custodians, at best."
There's a lot riding on 'The Rings of Power', but this news of the series being planned out until its conclusion in season five should ease fans' minds that the production could live up to expectations.
Our fresh return to Middle-earth will be set thousands of years before 'The Hobbit', around the time of the forging of the magical rings by Sauron. Bursting with plenty of new and diverse characters, including Elves, Dwarves, Harfoots (our new Hobbits) and a snow-troll plus many more besides, the series debuts on Prime Video on September 2.
