How to watch The Rings of Power: Stream Amazon’s Lord of the Rings epic from the UK, US and around the world
With a budget as big as a Balrog and a series of awe-inspiring trailers, expectations are sky-high for Prime Video’s take on Tolkien
Excitement for new Lord of the Rings content has been growing steadily since 2017, when it was announced that tech giant Amazon had acquired the television rights for the franchise. After being drip-fed intriguing cast announcements, alluring nuggets of plot info, and a series of stirring trailers, fans can hardly wait any longer for The Rings of Power – and the good news is that they won’t have to.
The first two episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will release worldwide on Amazon’s streaming platform, Prime Video, debuting on 1 September at 9pm ET in the United States, which translates to 2 September at 2am for UK fans. The remainder of the eight episode first season will be released weekly in the same timeslot, finishing up in mid-October.
With a set-up so simple, there isn’t much that could get in the way of your viewing experience, barring some possible hiccups that may occur if you happen to be abroad during this period. Prime Video allows you to stream select Amazon Originals from abroad, but there currently is no clear information on whether The Rings of Power will be included in this group. If you find yourself unable to access the show because of said geo-blocking restrictions, you may need to employ the services of a high quality VPN, such as ExpressVPN or NordVPN.
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What is The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power about?
While pre-release material has been slightly opaque in terms of a firm plot trajectory, we do know some concrete details about The Rings of Power. The terms of the deal with the Tolkien estate mean that Amazon’s show cannot feature events from the mainline Lord of the Rings books or The Hobbit; instead, the series will seek to flesh out the appendices to The Lord of the Rings, which detail the history of Middle-earth’s Second Age, thousands of years before the events of the original trilogy.
Events and arcs featured will include Sauron’s rise to prominence, the forging of The Rings of Power (duh), the fall of Númenor, as well as The Last Alliance of Elves and Men. Though the direct events of the main books are off the table, The Rings of Power can feature younger versions of familiar characters, and will also aim to evoke Peter Jackson’s trilogy in terms of production design, with the first series being mainly shot on location in New Zealand. The show’s creators have also confirmed that the huge tract of history the show seeks to cover will be condensed for television, with the immortality of elven characters allowing for threads of continuity between time periods.
The show will follow an ensemble cast, which includes Cynthia Addai-Robinson (Spartacus, Arrow) as Miriel, Robert Aramayo (Game of Thrones, The King’s Man) as Elrond, Owain Arthur (Rownd a Rownd) as dwarven prince Durin IV, Maxim Baldry (Hollyoaks, Last Christmas) as Isildur, and Morfydd Clark (Saint Maud, His Dark Materials) as Galadriel, among others. The opening episodes are directed by Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom director, J. A. Bayona.
How to watch The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power in the UK: Prime Video UK
To watch The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power in the UK, you simply need a Prime Video UK subscription. Following a 30-day free trial, the service costs £8.99/mth, with an annual subscription set at £95/yr, saving you roughly £13 a year compared to paying month to month. While it would be worth signing up just to watch a blockbuster new Lord of the Rings show, Prime Video comes with a host of other benefits: Free one-day delivery on selected items, ad-free streaming on Amazon music, early head-ups for lightning deals, select sports coverage, as well as access to thousands of shows and movies on the service itself, including originals and exclusives such as The Boys, Reacher, Moonfall, All or Nothing, Good Omens, The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel and much, much more.
How to watch The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power in the US: Prime Video US
Similarly, American fans of all things Middle-earthen can access The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on Prime Video US. Following a free trial, US subscribers can expect to pay $14.99/mth for the service, though signing up for a year can save you some cash, with an annual subscription costing just $139/yr, which equates to almost three free months when compared to paying on a monthly basis for the same period. Beyond The Rings of Power, there are also thousands of top quality shows and movies available on the service, including A League of their Own, Paper Girls, Licorice Pizza, No Time to Die, Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy and much more besides.
How to watch The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power from anywhere in the world: Use a good quality VPN
As mentioned above, logging into your Prime Video account from abroad means your access will be restricted to a select pool of Amazon Originals. If you find yourself away for a holiday or business trip and are unable to access The Rings of Power, or any other favourite shows or services, then a VPN might be the perfect solution. A VPN is a privacy tool which, along with helping you to surf the web without monitoring or logging of your activity, allows you to obfuscate your location and access region-locked content. For a more in-depth explanation, or a wider range of options, check out our What is a VPN? guide, as well as our best VPN round-up. For a short and simple introduction to our two favourite VPNs, read on below.
ExpressVPN is a speedy and reliable tool, earning kudos from security obsessives thanks to its independently audited no-logs policy, which allows users to verify that their data isn’t being stored in any form. ExpressVPN has performed consistently well in testing, reliably helping us to access servers around the world to spoof our location, as well as providing top-drawer speeds for streaming and downloads – with the service handling multiple 4K video from US servers without a wobble. Other benefits to signing up include 24/7 customer assistance, a money back guarantee, as well as three free months for Expert Reviews users who use the link below. For a more detailed breakdown on why we like this VPN so much, check out our full-length ExpressVPN review.
NordVPN received five stars and our Best Buy award in our in-depth NordVPN review, and when you look at its credentials, it’s easy to see why. The company also operates an audited no-logs policy, and is based in Panama, meaning you can be certain your data isn’t being logged, and that the company itself is outside the remit of snooping from UK, US and EU governmental agencies. NordVPN doesn’t just shine in terms of security, the service also gives you access to over 5,000 servers in 60 countries, providing secure and speedy spoofing and streaming on up to six devices. Beyond the high points of the tool itself, NordVPN also offers 24/7 support, a 30-day money back guarantee, and competitive price plans.