How to watch Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power in Australia

If you’re a fantasy fan left cold by Amazon’s The Wheel of Time or still mad about how HBO’s Game of Thrones ended, the wait for television’s next high-budget fantasy series may be at an end. 

While it isn’t available to watch anywhere just yet, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is set to make its streaming debut in the second half of 2022. 

Those in Australia will be able to tune in and feast their eyes on the first episode of The Rings of Power when it premiers internationally on the 2nd of September, 2022.

However, if you want to return to Tolkien’s realm of Hobbits, Helm’s Deep and haunted heirlooms, you’ll need an active account with  the one streaming service to rule them all: Amazon Prime Video.

After it debuts in September 2022, Aussies will be able to watch the entire first season of Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on Amazon Prime Video. 

The first season of the series is expected to run for eight episodes, with new episodes dropping weekly via Amazon’s streaming service. That means that if you wait until late-October, you should be able to binge the whole series at once. 

If you don’t think you can wait that long and don’t already have your own Amazon Prime Video account, you can sign up for a 30-day free trial and get through most of the series during that time.

In addition to being the home of one of the year's most anticipated streaming premiers, Amazon Prime Video also features plenty of great original video series that you can binge in the meantime, from Fleabag to The Expanse and The Boys.

Set several hundred years prior to the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings films, The Rings of Power promises to follow an ensemble cast of heroes that unite to confront a rising evil that threatens all of Middle Earth.

While the air of mystery around Amazon’s ambitious and expensive adaptation of JRR Tolkien's iconic fantasy world is a big part of the appeal, Amazon has released a short and official synopsis that gives those waiting for the series an idea of what to expect.

“From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests 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"

If you’re an Aussie looking to refamiliarize yourself with the who, the what, the when and the where’s of Middle Earth before The Rings of Power makes its big debut, you can find Peter Jackson’s Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and Return of the King on any of the following streaming services:

Unfortunately, at the time of writing, neither The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug or The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies are available on any of the major video streaming options available to Australians. 

However, those with an Amazon Prime Video account can subscribe to the MGM channel for an extra $4.99/month. This channel pack includes a bunch of extra movie and TV content, including all three of The Hobbit movies.

For everyone else, the easiest way to watch any of the three Hobbit films is going to be buying or renting a digital copy via the usual online storefronts.