The Rings of Power producer somehow doesn’t think the show is a prequel

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power wrapped up its first season the other month, and it’ll be a while before we return to Middle-earth again. Set thousands of years before The Lord of the Rings story we know, The Rings of Power depicts the rise Sauron as a new dark lord and the forging of the titular rings of power, which are crucial to his dominion. It’s one of two big-name fantasy prequel shows currently making the rounds, the other being HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon.

Except The Rings of Power producer Lindsey Weber doesn’t think of the show as a prequel, according to an interview she gave on the Hero Nation podcast back when the show premiered in September. “The first thing I would say is that we don’t really think of it as a prequel, though it is before,” she said. “Something about the word prequel seems to suggest you need to know what comes later to appreciate it. It’s sort of like an appendage to a pre-existing thing and we don’t feel that way about this.”

"This is a story that you can appreciate. If you’ve not read the books, if you’ve not seen the movies, there is an on-ramp for you. This could be your first introduction to Middle-earth and we would be honored if it does become that for people and it winds up turning people on to read the books. It would be a thrill for us."

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is part of a new wave of fantasy prequels

I get that Weber and the other producers don’t want to scare potential viewers away by acting like The Rings of Power has a high barrier of entry, but also…I mean, obviously it’s a prequel. A prequel is just a story depicting events that happen prior to the events depicted in another work. Everything that happens in The Rings of Power happens before The Lord of the Rings, so…

It’s an especially weird tack to take because Weber doesn’t want to label the show as a “prequel” because she thinks that ties it too closely to The Lord of the Rings, without acknowledging that its association with The Lord of the Rings is a huge part of the reason why anyone is interested in it in the first place. I mean, if you don’t want people to think of it as “an appendage” to The Lord of the Rings then why did you put “The Lord of the Rings” right in the title?

The Rings of Power is also stuffed to bursting with cutesy references to The Lord of the Rings proper, so Weber’s position seems sillier and sillier the more you think about it. And in any case, a show being a prequel need not doom it to obscurity. Game of Thrones fans have embraced House of the Dragon and some think that Better Call Saul outdid Breaking Bad. The Rings of Power is a prequel, but that doesn’t mean it has to live in the shadow of the work that inspired it.

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels

h/t StarteFacts