It cannot reference Second Age events depicted in other Tolkien writings like The Silmarillion. From what we’ve been able to parse out, the show can only reference the Second Age as it appears in The Lord of the Rings novels and its appendices. But due to some complicated rights issues, there are also plenty of limitations. What’s special about the Second Age? Well, for starters, it’s probably the least documented timeline in Middle-earth history. The Amazon show, on the other hand, takes place in the Second Age. Those movies-which followed Frodo and the Fellowship on their quest to destroy the One Ring-take place during the Third Age of Middle-earth. But the show won’t chronicle the same events depicted in Peter Jackson’s original film trilogy. Tolkien’s Middle-earth, a land in the world of Arda, is still the setting. (Thank you, Elijah Wood, for pointing that out.) We know that J.R.R.
In fact, even calling it a Lord of the Rings series isn’t really accurate. But despite that fast-approaching debut date, we still know very little about the show. Amazon’s hard at work on their Lord of the Rings series, which is set to debut in 2021.
