Rotten Tomatoes
Submit search Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power – Season 1, Episode 1 A Shadow of the Past

Play trailer The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power – Season 1, Episode 1 A Shadow of the Past Aired Sep 1, 2022 Fantasy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
84% Tomatometer 161 Reviews
Galadriel is disturbed by signs of an ancient evil's return; Arondir makes an unsettling discovery; Elrond is presented with an intriguing new venture; Nori breaks the Harfoot community's most deeply-held rule.
Watch on Prime Video Stream Now

Where to Watch

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power — Season 1, Episode 1

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power — Season 1, Episode 1

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Forging its claim with astounding production value, vast scope and a dense -- arguably impenetrable -- amount of lore, "A Shadow of the Past" suggests that this ambitious expansion of Tolkien's opus has a bright future.

Read Critics Reviews

More Like This

View All
The Expanse 95% 85% The Expanse Watchlist TRAILER for The Expanse Sweet Tooth 92% 78% Sweet Tooth Watchlist TRAILER for Sweet Tooth Superman & Lois 88% 84% Superman & Lois Watchlist TRAILER for Superman & Lois Emerald City 38% 78% Emerald City Watchlist His Dark Materials 83% 82% His Dark Materials Watchlist TRAILER for His Dark Materials Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Cast & Crew

View All

J.D. Payne

Creator

Patrick McKay

Creator

Morfydd Clark

Galadriel

Robert Aramayo

Elrond

Cynthia Addai-Robinson

Queen Regent Míriel

Owain Arthur

Prince Durin IV
View All

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power — Season 1, Episode 1

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power View more photos

Critics Reviews

View More
Jo Livingstone The New Yorker Jul 20, 2023
Tolkien succeeded in creating a mythic world, one that has now grown vast enough through acts of typological repetition and imitation to conquer television, too. Go to Full Review Christian Holub Entertainment Weekly Sep 19, 2022
B
To my delight, the premiere episode begins with scenes straight out of The Silmarillion. Go to Full Review Chris Barsanti Slant Magazine Sep 16, 2022
2.5/4
The series is a feat of logistics and scene-setting rather than narrative design. Go to Full Review Gissane Sophia Lady Geeks Media Mar 5, 2024
Morfydd Clark is an absolute marvel as Galadriel—an easy character to attach ourselves to right from the start. Go to Full Review Alvaro Corujo nostagefright.net Jul 20, 2023
1/5
A series with zero strength, zero interest and lots and lots of filler. The rings of power is a very, very weak series from the very first episodes, with unnecessary plots and completely empty characters. [Full Review in Spanish] Go to Full Review Pramit Chatterjee Digital Mafia Talkies Jul 20, 2023
3/5
Rings of Power doesn’t look, sound, or feel like a regular TV show. It’s equipped with eye-popping visuals, a score that can make your chair vibrate, locales where you’ll want to live, and monsters that you’ll want to run away from. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Episode Info

Synopsis Galadriel is disturbed by signs of an ancient evil's return; Arondir makes an unsettling discovery; Elrond is presented with an intriguing new venture; Nori breaks the Harfoot community's most deeply-held rule.
Director
J. A. Bayona
Creator
J.D. Payne, Patrick McKay
Executive Producer
J.D. Payne, Patrick McKay, Lindsey Weber, Callum Greene, J. A. Bayona, Belén Atienza, Justin Doble, Jason Cahill, Gennifer Hutchison, Bruce Richmond, Sharon Tal Yguado, Eugene Kelly
Network
Prime Video
Rating
TV-14
Genre
Fantasy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date
Sep 1, 2022
Join The Newsletter Join The Newsletter Cookie Settings