Amazon Has Confirmed When The ‘Lord Of The Rings’ Series Takes Place

Since early February, the Lord of the Rings on Prime Twitter account has been tweeting clues about the upcoming Amazon adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s monolithic fantasy series. The first tweet was a quote from the author himself, “I wisely started with a map,” followed by the epigraph to the LOTR saga:

— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) February 15, 2019

Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, pic.twitter.com/Btk2CRsQI2

— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) February 18, 2019

Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, pic.twitter.com/uobDLiKzKs

— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) February 25, 2019

One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne. In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. pic.twitter.com/hRmGQbOhLj

— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) March 6, 2019

Earlier today, the account added, “One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them, In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie,” a passage that should sound familiar to anyone who’s seen Peter Jackson’s trilogy. It’s the inscription on the One Ring, the magical piece of jewelry created by Sauron the Dark Lord, and subsequently destroyed by Frodo and Samwise (but c’mon, Samwise is the real hero). But the real newsworthy item isn’t what the tweet said; it’s the map attached, which confirms that Amazon’s Lord of the Rings will take place during the Second Age. How do we know Take a look at the bottom left corner of the map.

— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) March 7, 2019

(The account also literally tweeted, “Welcome to the Second Age.”)

The island of Númenor was destroyed thousands of years before the events of the Lord of the Rings books and movies (which are set during the Third Age), voiding the theories that the series would focus on Young Aragorn. Unless…

Whether Númenor ends up being a primary setting of the Amazon television series remains to be seen. J.R.R. Tolkien never completed his novel on the island called Aldarion and Erendis. Adding intrigue to the series is the fact a map released March 6 included Minas Anor, the former name of Minas Tirith (the white city featured prominently in The Return of the King) and Minas Ithil, the previous name of Minas Morgul. Both settings led some fans to believe the series would take place in the Third Age about 1,000 years before the adventures of Frodo and the fellowship. Amazon committed to a multi-season series, so it’s possible the show will take place across more than one age, but at the very least it will begin in the Second Age.

You thought Game of Thrones history was hard to keep track of Wait until Lord of the Rings premieres.