"The Ring of Power": 10 major things to know about the second era, and the theme of the TV series is among them

Tolkien's detailed description of the Second Age in his novels is exhaustive, so before watching the Lord of the Rings of Thrones, the prequel series of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, viewers should learn something basic about The Second Age in Middle-earth.

September 2022 will be a day to look forward to for Lord of the Rings fans, with Prime Video starting to air the Lord of the Rings trilogy's prequel episode, Ring of Thrones. The series takes place primarily in the Second Age, thousands of years before the Lord of the Rings Expedition set out from The Third Age's Rivendell.

In other works, Tolkien describes the fantasy world he created in the film The Lord of the Rings, as well as events from the Second Age, such as The Sprite. There are many important events that have taken place in this era, and The Ring of Thrones may cover many of these stories. But before diving into the series in September, it may be very helpful for viewers to understand some of the basic events that took place in Tolkien's second era.

The Second Era of Middle-earth lasted 3441 years

The second era is the longest described in detail by Tolkien, compared to the first one, which witnessed the creation of all things and the rise of Morgoth, which lasted only 590 years, and the third era, which witnessed the destruction of the Rings of Frodo, which lasted 3201 years.

Ever since Vera helped the elves defeat Morgoth (Morgoth is Sauron's master), the Second Age has begun in peace. However, Sauron eventually returned to power, replacing his old master, and the Second Era ended with his failure, while Ishildu kept the Ring of the Rings, which was the opening seen in the first part of the movie Lord of the Rings. While all of this spans 3441 years, judging by the current revelations of the Lord of Thrones series, it will greatly condense the story of this period.

Dwarves from all over Middle-earth moved to Moria to join Turin

In the film, audiences following the Lord of the Rings Expedition see the remains of Moria (Casadam), but for most of the Second Age, it was a thriving city that the ethnic prided. The dwarves who lived there were ruled by Durin, who was a famous dwarven king. During that period, other dwarf cities, such as Beligst and Nogrod in the Blue Mountains, were going through difficult times, so their people migrated to Moria and joined Durin.

Also during this time, the relationship between the dwarves and the elves was very good, and even a special entrance was built (the entrance used later by the expedition in the movie) to facilitate the elves to enter the dwarven city.

Sauron returns in the Second Era

In the first era, Sauron was the first lieutenant of Morgoth, a Maia who was seduced by the fallen vera god and turned into evil. After morgoth's fall, Sauron kept a low profile and was often missing, but he eventually returned, building his own fortress in Mordor and then starting to recruit followers.

Humans in Middle-earth are easily seduced, but Sauron knows he needs the trust of the elves even more. So he transformed into the beautiful elf, Anata, integrated into the elven race, and began to win the trust of the elves. A big thing that happened after that, fans of the novel know that he and the elves created the Lord of the Rings together, and the story of "The Lord of the Rings" began.

The Supreme Ring was cast in the Second Age

As Anata, like a master, he began to teach the elves magical methods of forging powerful rings. Together, they created the Ring of Power, and viewers should be able to predict that this big event will be included in the Ring of Power TV series. However, Gilgalad, Calantrell, and Elrond did not trust Sauron, so when the three elven rings were forged, they deliberately avoided Sauron's influence.

After being driven away, Sauron returns to Mordor, where he forges the Supreme Ring using lava from the Doomsday Volcano and injects his power into the ring. The ring allowed him to control and influence the holders of other rings while exerting his own power, but this association also created his weakness, because he himself was forever bound by the ring.

The first appearance of the ring was also in the second era

Sauron granted nine rings to human lords, including three Numenoreans, one King of Easterling, and five different kingdoms from Middle-earth. Sauron gave humans these rings, so that they could control them and keep the power of the entire Middle-earth world at their own disposal.

At first, the Lord of the Rings gave these human lords enormous powers, but they slowly began to enslave their minds, exacerbating their greed and bloodlust, eventually causing them to fall into the ghost world, become invisible, and become ring spirits. Because their power is directly related to the Supreme Ring, their power will rise and fall as the Power of the Ring changes.

The Second Age witnessed the war between the Elves and Sauron

When Sauron created the Supreme Ring and began to influence other Rings of Power, the elves understood his true intentions. Sauron began to surround the elven city with his dwarves and human followers. Calantrell, Gil-Galad, and Elrond all worked to hide the three Elven Rings, hoping to ensure that they did not fall into Sauron's hands.

At first, the elves were helped by the Supreme Of Numenore, but in the end they were also conquered by Sauron's power, so the elves were left alone to stand in the way of Sauron's ambitions.

Mage Maia first arrived in Middle-earth

Maia is the angel who came to Middle-earth to help Vera shape life and landscapes, and Sauron himself is one of Maia, so he can exist in many different forms.

Gandalf, Saruman, and Radagast were also Maya, who in the Form of Old Wizards in the Third Age helped the races of Middle-earth to destroy Sauron. In the Second Age, the three still lived in Valino (the Land of the Undead). In the Second Age, two more Maia were sent to Middle-earth on the same mission, they were called blue-robed wizards, but Tolkien did not describe many of their details, nor did they know who they met and what they did, but there was speculation that they might have gone east, which was farther away from the world seen in The Lord of the Rings, and it seemed that the two blue-robed wizards had broken away from their mission.

Elrond established Rivendell as a haven for the elves

During the war between Sauron and the Elves, the Elven City was attacked, and Gil-Gallard sent Elrond with an army to help them, but by the time he arrived, the city had fallen.

Instead, he took the remaining inhabitants to a large valley at the foot of the mountain and built a fortress to protect the elves' people, which was later named Rivendell, where the Lord of the Rings Expedition from the movie The Lord of the Rings was born and set out. Elrond later became the lord of the city, where both the human Aragon and Arkhu grew up.

The city of Numenor witnessed the rise and fall of the second era

At the beginning of the Second Age, Vera created an island and port city called Numenor and gave it to Elrond's twin brother Elrose, who was also the first Supreme Human (ancestor of Aragon). Over thousands of years, Numenor flourished, and at first, they helped the elves fight Sauron and captured Sauron in the city.

As a prisoner, Sauron began to influence a king of Numenore's time, and over time he also became an advisor to Numenor against the elves who were later forbidden to enter the city. Eventually, Sauron convinces the king to attack and conquer Vera in the undead. Unfortunately, as punishment, Numenor was eventually buried in the sea.

The surviving Numenores joined the elves in battle

When Numenor was destroyed, some of the Supreme Beings, such as Erandir and Ishirdu, managed to escape, and it was during that time that Sauron's body was destroyed, but his soul escaped back to Mordor and had a dark beginning.

The remaining Numenores established Gondor, Elandir was crowned king, and they decided to join the elven army and fight Sauron. The war was known as the last alliance between elves and humans, and Elandir and Gil-Gallard were killed. Ishirdu cut the Ring of Supremacy from Sauron's hand and wanted to destroy it. However, as viewers see in the film, Ishirdu chose to keep the Supreme Ring, thus opening the curtain on the Third Age.

Are you looking forward to the upcoming Prequel series of the Lord of the Rings trilogy? And what will be the theme of this series, and what do you think? You can leave a message and discuss with everyone!