Amazon's The Rings Of Power Has Mapped Out Way More Story Than We Assumed

Amazon Prime's upcoming epic fantasy series "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" is without a doubt one of the most ambitious book-to-screen adaptations of all time — which is certainly saying something, considering the fact that Peter Jackson's beloved live-action "Lord of the Rings"  adaptation was originally considered impossible to make and essentially unfilmable (via Paste). Like Jackson's trilogy, "The Rings of Power" is based on the writings of revered fantasy author J.R.R. Tolkein, though it takes place thousands of years before "The Lord of the Rings," during the Second Age of the fictitious Middle-earth.

Unlike Jackson's adaptation, however, "The Rings of Power" is not based on any specific book, but is inspired by the vast appendices and backstory we learn about in "The Lord of the Rings" (via Vanity Fair). As such, the series has the daunting task of portraying thousands of years of Middle-earth's history with a scarce amount of source material, covering important events such as the rise of Sauron, the fall of Númenor, and the forging of the eponymous Rings of Power.

All told, it's clear that "The Rings of Power" is set to be an immense undertaking, rivaling the epic fantasy series "Game of Thrones" in terms of scale but having no direct source material with which to work. Fortunately, it appears that the showrunners are well prepared for the task, having already planned out all five seasons of "The Rings of Power."

According to a recent report from Empire, showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay (working alongside executive producer J.A. Bayona), have already managed to map out the entire story of "The Rings of Power" from start to finish. "We even know what our final shot of the last episode is going to be," explained Payne. "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 5."

Planning an entire series through five whole seasons is no small feat, especially when you consider that so much of the plot is derived from Tolkein's appendices. While these interwoven plotlines of the Elves, Dwarves, Harfoots, and other races of Middle-earth, all playing out concurrently with the major events of the Second Age, may branch off into new storylines as the series goes on, the core outline of the story follows what the author had meticulously devised. "It was like Tolkien put some stars in the sky and let us make out the constellations," Payne said.

To have the entirety of "The Rings of Power" already developed before its first season has been released is certainly an impressive accomplishment — though perhaps more importantly, the announcement provides some well-needed reassurance for viewers who have all too often watched popular shows fall victim to lost plotlines or cancellation.