Middle-Earth Gets a Glow-Up in the First Trailer for ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’

Front and center in the initial trailer for The Rings of Power? Morfydd Clark, who earned a BAFTA Rising Star nomination for her performance in 2019’s Saint Maud, and will appear as Galadriel, played by Cate Blanchett in the Noughties blockbusters. Her mission in the clip: to convince Elrond (Robert Aramayo) that Sauron’s evil remains a threat, particularly through the forging of the 20 rings that will corrupt the hearts of elves, men and dwarves. “You have not seen what I have seen.” Presumably safe from Sauron’s temptations? The hardy Harfoots, the ancestors of hobbits, seen in the video, who share Frodo and co’s big-heartedness (and big, hairy feet).

While the initial teaser for the series—which aired during this year’s Super Bowl—appeared to lean quite heavily on CGI, the full teaser gives a sense of how Amazon Prime has used its estimated billion-dollar budget for the series, including by recreating some of Tolkien’s most famous civilizations. Diehard J. R. R. fans will have noticed glimpses of the aforementioned Númenor, the island home to Aragorn’s forebears; the Rivendell-esque cities of Lindon and Eregion; and Khazad-dûm, the underground dwarf kingdom, in its heyday.