Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power to drop earlier than expected

If there's one way to beat the blues that comes with the impending end of summer, it's the knowledge that good TV is just around the corner. This year we're being treated to some big releases in the form of prequels. Not only do we have the Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon landing on Sunday 21st August (early morning on 22nd for UK), but we will now have The Lord of the Rings prequel, The Rings of Power, less than two weeks' later. 

The Rings of Power will kick off with a two-episode premiere at 6pm PT / 9pm ET on Thursday 1st September in the US (2am on 2nd September in the UK). New episodes will then be launched each Thursday (Friday am in UK) for the next six weeks. Original trailers had suggested a 2nd September release but it appears that has been pushed forward a day – at least for the US. 

The two behemoth shows will see two of the best streaming services vying for audiences, with HBO Max running House of the Dragon (Sky Atlantic or Now in the UK) and Amazon Prime Video showing The Rings of Power. 

As a fan of both LOTR and GOT, I completely intend to watch both religiously and I doubt I'm alone in that intention. It's probably a good job that neither platform is taking a Netflix approach and dropping the full series in one go, otherwise I would be in for some seriously late nights. As it is, September is going to require some serious dedication to stay up to date. 

So, at least when the rain sets in and the nights get longer, I'll have the perfect excuse not to leave the house.