The time is upon us: the epic saga of the prequel of The Lord Of The Rings has been unleashed.
The first two episodes of J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay’s fantasy series were released on Amazon Prime Video on 2 September – you can read what we thought of it here – and we're here to show you the best way to watch The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power for free.
While normally, Prime Video costs £5.99 a month, by signing up to Amazon Prime at £7.99 a month, you can get all the benefits of Prime Video streaming plus extras, like free delivery on packages.
However, a free 30-day trial of an Amazon Prime membership is available, meaning that a viewing of the series is also possible, if you’re up for a bit of binge-watching.
The series premiered on Friday with two episodes, which will be followed by another weekly episode each Friday for the total of the eight-episode series. By our calculations, if you sign up for Amazon Prime on Thursday September 15, you’ll be able to catch up on the three previous episodes, and be able to follow the rest of the show until its finale on October 14.
There is a caveat though: if you’ve taken advantage of the free trial in the past, it might be tricker to get the test service again. Amazon allows existing customers the chance to check it out again just once a year, so it’s worth checking in with your account to see if it's a goer.
The reactions so far have been overwhelmingly positive. If you ask us it's pure screensaver TV, packed full of stunning world-building that's just made to be gawped it (and it offers a much-needed respite from the grim brutality of House of Dragons, the other big ticket fantasy show currently vying for your attention.) That being said, it doesn't boast as many water cooler moments as the Game of Thrones prequel – but does that matter when most of us are drinking from our own taps most of the time? You can read our full review here.
