Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power doesn't quite have one timeline to rule them all - here are all the conflicting eras we spotted in Amazon's second teaser trailer. Amazon's The Lord of the Rings TV series was initially billed as a Second Age endeavor, set at least 3000 years before The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. As images, story details and footage have gradually dripped forth from Amazon Studios, however, a more complex picture has emerged. The Rings of Power may anchor itself around J.R.R. Tolkien's Second Age, but the narrative scope is actually far, far wider.
Ahead of an eagerly-awaited SDCC 2022 panel, Amazon has released a second Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power trailer. Although many of the scenes contained within are at least somewhat open to interpretation, describing The Rings of Power as a "Second Age story" now feels a bit like tagging Doctor Who as a "present-day England story." Yes, viewers will spend most of their time there, but plenty of other stops shall be made along the way.
Nothing demonstrates The Rings of Power's expansive timeline better than Amazon's second teaser trailer, and although a lack of context makes pinning down precisely when each scene takes place in relation to Lord of the Rings history impossible, we can already identify a broad spectrum of diverse Tolkien eras.
The Years Of The Trees - Telperion & Laurelin
One of the very earliest eras in Lord of the Rings lore, the Years of the Trees ended almost 600 prior to the Second Age, but The Rings of Power is confirmed to feature major moments from this formative period nonetheless. Our biggest clue is the appearance of Telperion and Laurelin in The Rings of Power's second teaser trailer - the golden and silver trees that existed before the sun. These trees stand in Valinor's Tirion upon Túna and were destroyed by Morgoth before Galadriel and her kin even stepped foot on Middle-earth. Three possible Years of the Trees events can be found in trailer footage - the Oath of Fëanor (elves pledging their swords in a circle), the Kinslaying at Alqualondë (lots of dead bodies floating in water), and crossing the Helcaraxë (Galadriel on ice).
War Against Morgoth? - Late First Age
Although Years of the Trees flashbacks are 100% confirmed for Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, whether or not Amazon will dig deeper into the First Age before jumping to the Second isn't as clear-cut. The Rings of Power's second teaser trailer showcases Galadriel exhausted on a fiery battlefield and covered in charred ash. Though Galadriel shouldn't technically be present, these scenes evoke the Dagor Bragollach - a ruthless Middle-earth slaughter Morgoth inflicted upon the elves. If the Dagor Bragollach does feature in The Rings of Power, the narrative will be stretching into the late First Age - around 500 years after the Years of the Trees, but still more than 1500 years prior to Sauron forging the One Ring.
Galadriel & Elrond In The Early-Mid Second Age
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will, it seems, largely take place inside the early-mid Second Age. Confirmation comes when Robert Aramayo's Elrond assures Morfydd Clark's Galadriel that war is over, despite her ominous suspicions to the contrary. This means Sauron hasn't yet declared his return openly (that happens around Year 1600 of the Second Age), and would explain why the Dark Lord hasn't featured whatsoever in The Rings of Power's season 1 marketing. The narrative must, however, sit somewhere near 1500, since this is when the Rings of Power themselves are forged. Expect the mid-Second Age to serve as The Rings of Power's "home" timeline, building up to Sauron's appearance among the elves as Annatar, and the Rings of Power origin story promised by the show's very title.
Númenor In The Late Second Age
Amazon's second Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power trailer offers the best glimpse yet of Númenor - the mystical isle of men sitting between Valinor and Middle-earth. Alas, these scenes cannot happen in conjunction with The Rings of Power's above timeline, since Isildur is present, played by Maxim Baldry. Middle-earth's savior isn't born until approximately 1500 years after the One Ring's creation. It's Isildur, of course, who brings the Second Age to a close by cutting off Sauron's finger, and while the men of Númenor live longer than your standard mortal, their longevity doesn't span that long. If The Rings of Power's main timeline chronicles the rings' creation, the Númenor material surely comes centuries later.
Other characters spotted in The Rings of Power's Númenor scenes confirm a late-Second Age timeline shift. Cynthia Addai-Robinson plays Tar-Míriel (born Second Age 3117), and Trystan Gravelle is Pharazôn - the very last king of Númenor before everything goes horribly wrong. Curiously, The Rings of Power's second trailer reveals Galadriel riding on horseback alongside Isildur's father, Elendil. Morfydd Clark's character must, therefore, span across every single era in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
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