Depressing Truth About ‘The Rings of Power’ Season 2 That’s Amazon’s Biggest Sign to Pull the Plug on Its Five-Season Plan
- The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 1 premiere garnered great response from the viewers.
- However, things appeared to be going downhill for the show when the statistics for Season 2 came to light.
- Fans are not too eager about having another season of the show even if Amazon chooses to do otherwise.
The Lord of the Rings is easily one of the most beloved fantasy franchises. Peter Jackson’s excellent filmography and the wonderful performances from the ensemble cast earned the movie some of the most prestigious accolades. The trilogy paved the way for other screen adaptations like Harry Potter and Game of Thrones.
Almost two decades later, The Lord of the Rings got a prequel show subtitled The Rings of Power. This show premiered in September 2022 and turned out to be the most watched series on Amazon Prime Video. The second season premiered last year and although the response is positive, the viewership has significantly dropped. The question that arises now is whether or not it is still worth doing five seasons like Amazon planned to.
The Rings of Power Season 2’s viewership has seen a sharp decline in comparison to Season 1
The Lord of the Rings is based on J. R. R. Tolkien’s novels of the same name and The Rings of Power is based on his history of Middle Earth which is sourced from the appendices of the original novels. The show is set thousands of years before the movie trilogy and chronicles the major events of the Second Age in Middle earth.
According to Variety, upon its premiere, the show was had been watched by 25 million viewers globally in the first 24 hours. Only the first two episodes of the show were available at the time and made it the streamer’s biggest premiere ever. However, recent reports suggest that there is a stark contrast in the viewership records for the premiere of the second season.
The third part analytics company Luminate claimed (via Variety) in September 2024 that Season 1 was watched for 1.2 billion minutes in four days, which would be 8.9 million estimated views when accounting for the 132-minute runtime of the first 2 episodes. On the other hand, Season 2 was watched for 553.5 million minutes which translated to an estimated 2.7 million views for the 204-minute runtime for the first 3 episodes.
According to a recent report by Deadline, Luminate has noted that this is one of those streaming shows which underperformed last year. The viewership of the second season was down 60% in total minutes watched compared to Season 1. These numbers are scary enough for any streamer to cancel a show, but Amazon does not seem to have any plans to do so.
Amazon’s plans to continue with the initial five-season plan for The Ring of Power might not be the best
In September 2024, The Hollywood Reporter wrote in a report that Amazon’s counter to the severe drop in ratings was that they were a little too high in the first season. At the time, the outlet noted:
A third season has been in the works for months, though it has not been officially greenlighted. After seeing season two’s premiere ratings, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter the company remains committed to the show’s original five-season plan.
After Luminate’s revelation that the viewership was down by 60% caught fire on social media, fans have been directly or indirectly very vocal that there is no need for 5 seasons for a show that is obviously failing to do well. Here is what some of them had to say:
Bezos doesn't care, he has money to burn
— Sarx88 (@Sarx88) January 26, 2025
The Rings of Power wil not make it to season 5 pic.twitter.com/VHRQFkIBwK
— Neil (@Entmt_clips_X_) January 26, 2025
Jeff Bezos: “So anyways, 5 more seasons!”
— Jestýr The Lesser (@jester_to_lords) January 26, 2025
Is Amazon still trying to go for 5 seasons
— joseph villarroel (@friezsnake) January 26, 2025
The first season of the show had amassed more than 25,000 ratings on Rotten Tomatoes and the rating itself is 38%. On the other hand, the second season has only been rated by more than 5,000 people and the rating is 59% (via Rotten Tomatoes). So, there is no denying that there has been a drop in the viewership numbers. Whether or not Amazon is willing to take the risk of renewing it for a third season remains to be seen.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
