In a synopsis on TheOneRing.net, the upcoming Prime series is confirmed to take place thousands of years before the events of The Lord of the Rings. According to the website, the fantasy series will introduce new characters, while also bringing back familiar ones. Read the synopsis below:
Amazon Studios’ forthcoming series brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth’s history. This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness. Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.
Amazon’s early plans were to explore the story of young Aragorn. However, with the addition of the writer’s team, plans shifted. Also shown on the website is a map of Middle Earth in its second age where the events of the series will take place.