How to watch The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power online – stream episode 1 and 2 now

One of the most hotly anticipated, and also most expensive TV shows of all time is finally hitting screens, with Amazon's big budget retelling of J.R.R. Tolkien's beloved fantasy novels, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power finally arriving on Prime Video. Here's our guide on how to watch The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power online from anywhere.

The Rings of Power serves as a prequel to The Lord of the Rings and is based on Tolkien's book of origin tales called The Silmarillion, which was edited and published in 1977 posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien.

You can watch The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power exclusively on Amazon Prime Video from Thursday, September 1 with episode 1 and 2 available to stream now as we'll explain below.

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Sharing the same sense of scale as Peter Jackson's hugely successful The Lord of the Rings films from the noughties, many critics have praised the show's visual splendour, with many claiming the show would probably be best experienced on a cinema screen.

The Rings of Power takes place centuries before the original Lord of the Rings, with the series set around the Second Age of Middle-earth and centred on the Harfoots - a tribe who are ancestors of the hobbits.

The show stars Morfydd Clark (His Dark Materials) as royal elf Galadriel alongside an impressive ensemble cast that also includes Nazanin Boniadi (Counterpart, Homeland), Peter Mullan (The Underground Railroad, Westworld), Benjamin Walker (Jessica Jones), Lenny Henry (The Sandman), and Robert Aramayo (Game of Thrones, The King’s Man).

Below we explain how to watch The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power with a subscription to Amazon Prime Video. Not only will membership provide you with streaming access to this much anticipated fantasy epic, but it will also give you on-demand access to thousands of TV shows and movies, including acclaimed originals like Bosch, The Underground Railroad, and The Boys.

How to watch The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power worldwide

Amazon Prime Video| From <a href="https://target.georiot.com/Proxy.ashx?tsid=8426&GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Famazon.com%2FAmazon-Video%3Ftag%3Dhawk-future-20%26ascsubtag%3Dhawk-custom-tracking-20" data-link-merchant="Amazon US"" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">$12.99/£7.99 a month
You can now watch the first two episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power with an <a href="https://target.georiot.com/Proxy.ashx?tsid=8426&GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Famazon.com%2Famazonprime%2F%3Ftag%3Dhawk-future-20%26ascsubtag%3Dhawk-custom-tracking-20" data-link-merchant="Amazon US"" data-link-merchant="Amazon US"" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Amazon Prime Video subscription. The show will be available to stream in a whopping 195 different countries overall.

There are eight episodes in total, with subsequent episodes released weekly at 12am ET / 9pm PT / 5am BST on Fridays until October 14.

Subscribe to an <a href="https://target.georiot.com/Proxy.ashx?tsid=8426&GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Famazon.com%2Famazonprime%3Ftag%3Dhawk-future-20%26ascsubtag%3Dhawk-custom-tracking-20" data-link-merchant="Amazon US"" data-link-merchant="Amazon US"" data-link-merchant="Amazon US"" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Amazon Prime membership, which includes Amazon Music, Prime Reading, free delivery and more, in addition to the Prime Video library. 

You can choose between a monthly payment plan of $12.99/£7.99/CA$7.99/€7.99/AU$6.99 a month, or a money-saving annual plan costing $119/£79/CA$79/€69/AU$59 a year.

Whichever way you choose to access Prime Video, new and eligible returning customers get to enjoy a <a href="https://target.georiot.com/Proxy.ashx?tsid=8426&GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Famazon.com%2Fgp%2Fvideo%2Foffers%2Fref%3Datv_pv_new_offer%3Ftag%3Dhawk-future-20%26ascsubtag%3Dhawk-custom-tracking-20" data-link-merchant="Amazon US"" data-link-merchant="Amazon US"" data-link-merchant="Amazon US"" data-link-merchant="Amazon US"" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">30-day free trial.

For students and EBT card holders, it’s even cheaper, with heavy discounts available for both.

How to watch Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power online anywhere

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If you're away from home when series 6 of Peaky Blinders airs, a VPN is your best option for tuning in. A VPN gets around geo-restrictions allowing you to access BBC iPlayer from anywhere as if you were in the UK. Try it for 30 days and get your money back if you're not happy.

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How to use a VPN

There are three simple steps to follow:

1: Get a VPN installed. There are plenty of options, but we'd point you in the direction of ExpressVPN. There's even an offer on right now where you can get an additional three months FREE on a 12-month package and save 49%. Happily, ExpressVPN is also compatible with pretty much every device you can think of too.

2: Connect to an appropriate server. Select a server located back in your home country and you'll be in and away. And if there's any sniff of an issue, Express's handy 24/7 live chat customer support can come to your rescue.

3: Head over to the service you want. Here you can shop as normal and once you set your location, visit the service you're interested in and sign up as normal or log in, and start watching. And if you don't get along with it, you can always cancel without issue within 30 days and get a full refund. Easy!

Want more?

Hungry for the best possible TV setup at home? Be sure to take a look at our list of the best gaming TVs (available here for UK readers).

For more streaming options, on the other hand, be sure to take a look at our guides to the latest HBO Max prices and deals, our new Peacock TV costs roundup, and the best Disney Plus bundles.

For other ways to keep yourself busy, don't forget about the best board games, the best card games, and the top board games for adults.