Creating the darkest chapter of adventure

A still from The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them; one ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them." The famous words of Gandalf set the ball rolling on showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay's series, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Inspired primarily by the appendix of JRR Tolkien's novel series, The Lord of the Rings, the Amazon Prime Video offering begins thousands of years before the novel and depicts the major events of Middle Earth's Second Age, which is before the Dark Lord Sauron brought his terror and orcs to take over. While the first season explored how Gladriel, an elven warrior, believed that evil is returning to Middle Earth, the second edition showcases the rise of Sauron, and the crafting of the nine rings for mortal men, seven rings for the dwarves and three rings for the elven-kings.

So, what does it take to create the screen adaptation of Tolkien's hugely popular books and give audiences an awe-inspiring fantasy world? Minute attention to detail and respect for the source material, say Payne and McKay as they break down the series' making.

Charlie Vickers as Annatar and Sauron

The story and its tellers

"At this point, [our partnership] is akin to a left-brain, right-brain relationship," says Payne, who reveals that they began writing the second season in 2020. At times, they even found themselves on different continents while writing the material. But after a 27-year successful collaboration that began with directing a short play for college, the duo knows exactly how to use each other's strengths to deliver a powerful script. McKay notes, "[It could be] that he is writing one scene, and I, another. Or I'm working on one script, while he is working on another. Our collaboration now feels like a marriage."

This "marriage" has reached a new milestone with the show's second season. Reflecting on how the books resulted into 50-hour screen content, McKay shares, "When we got hired, we promised a story with a beginning, a middle and an end. We felt strongly that season one [should be about] reintroducing Middle Earth and its mythology to audiences while keeping the antagonist, Sauron [played by Charlie Vickers], in the shadows. Now he's out! So, it's a different adventure this time, and darker."

Ismael Cruz Córdova as Arondir; Maxim Baldry as Isildur; Nia Towle as Estrid

Every detail matters

When building such an intricate fantasy story, it is imperative to be meticulous and create a story without loopholes and contradictions. Which aspects did they have to be careful about? "Everything," says Payne. "Every single word, shot, even the colour of the costumes. You could pick out any frame from the show, and we could point out 15 things that we had meetings about. We saw 10 different versions of [every story], and listened to pros and cons from different collaborators."

The season also introduces new characters, including Tom Bombadil - played by Rory Kinnear - a figure beloved by Tolkien fans, but never seen on screen before. "He sings, has pets, and keeps bees. He rhymes. He's magical. He is filled with gravitas and ancient wisdom. He has got a really unique and fun character," McKay says with enthusiasm. Integrating such a quirky character was a challenge they relished. According to the books, Frodo and the other hobbits often hung out with him. "He is the oldest being in Middle Earth. It felt like an opportunity too delightful to pass up. We're always looking for untapped veins of Tolkien gold that we could pull into the show, and this was one of them."

JD Payne and Patrick McKay

Navigating the known and unknown

Everyone is privy to the proceedings of The Lord of the Rings book and films. How do you then keep the audience engrossed in the series? Payne says this was a question they often raised. The answer was simple - an oft-heard story can be told in a novel way. "Tragedy is one of the greatest forms of drama. When you watch Titanic, [you know] it's going to sink. But it's all about how it is going to sink, what is going on in the lives of the people, and who sacrificed his life to make sure that [the heroine] didn't die," he says. To keep the audience hooked and surprised, the duo was unafraid to take tough calls - whether it meant reducing a scene to maintain the momentum or spreading it to let a powerful performance shine. "We're constantly trying to catch the audience off guard and create a well-paced story. It moves quickly, but slows down when it's time to slow down as well. It's a balancing act," explains McKay.

Why did they choose to depict the Second Age, instead of starting with the war of Morgoth? McKay explains that they intended to "find a sweet spot" between what the audience already knew and the new information to make the connection easy. "Amazon got the rights to the books and appendix. There are other books that tell the story of the First Age in lavish detail. But it wouldn't be possible if you only had the appendix to tell the story of the First Age and still do it justice," explains McKay. Interestingly, Tolkien never wrote the novel of the Second Age. He scattered little stories here and there, alluding to this fabled era. "He never fixed in his mind exactly how these stories played out. It's a story that even though [the audience] think they might know where it ends, they haven't heard it before. Hopefully, that allows us to have surprises, twists and turns along the way," adds Payne.

Humanising the villains

While The Lord of the Ring depicts the orcs as vile and conscience-lacking creatures, Payne and McKay showcased their human side in The Power of Rings. The germ of the idea came from Tolkien's treatment, says Payne. "Tolkien had a fraught relationship with the orcs. On one hand, he needed them to be minions of Sauron, whom our heroes could later fight with and not feel too bad about when they got killed. On the other hand, the book has scenes where orc couples say to each other that they hope to find peace, a house and life one day. So, Tolkien shows the integrity of the characters. We built on that and took it to the next step and undemonised them."

By making their villains relatable, they increased the tension and drama, creating characters that are not just feared, but also understood. McKay explains, "[Alfred] Hitchcock has this great quote about how the best villains are sympathetic. I think he was referring to Claude Rains' character in Notorious [1946]. Claude Rains' character does horrible things and is a villain, but you understand what he is motivated by."

Respect for Tolkien's legacy

There would be no The Lord of the Rings without Tolkien. This was a fact the showrunners kept in mind at all times. As they crafted the prequel using the novel's appendix, Payne and McKay had detailed conversations with the Tolkien estate. "We have the enormous privilege of working closely with the Tolkien estate. That includes Harper Collins, the book publisher, Elaine Cinema, who made the original films with Peter Jackson, and members of Tolkien's family," says Payne. "We approach them with a lot of humility, reverence and also joy. It's a hell of a phone-a-friend to have," adds McKay.