You know how it goes: a new reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue starts, you acquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure seriously invested in the characters and stories, and then the threat of cancellation looms. Or, worse, it becomes eliminate’remove that there wasn’t a full plan in the first place and there’s no eliminate’remove end-point in sight. Fear not, despite’in spite of’albeit , fantasy fans – The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power won’t be one of those reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue s.###Telling a whole new story in the Second Age of Middle-earth, Prime Video’s streaming series began with its storytellers – including reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue runner JD Payne and Patrick McKay, along with executive manufacture r and director JA Bayona – cooking up a full beginning-to-end story. It’s with regards to’concerning’with respect to the destination as well as the journey, and The Rings Of Power is ready to take us there and back again. “We even know what our final shot of the last episode is going to be,” Payne teases to Empire in our world-exclusive cover story. “The rights that Amazon bought were in/with regard to’concerning’regarding a 50-hour reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue . They knew from the beginning that was the size of the canvas – this was a enormous’vast’massive’tremendous story with a eliminate’remove beginning, middle and end. There are things in the first season that don’t pay off until Season 5.”###Across those five seasons, The Rings Of Power will weave a story of Elves, Dwarves, Harfoots and more set against an epic backdrop of major events from the history of Middle-earth – from the in/with regard to’concerning’regarding ging of the rings, to the rise of Sauron. If the individual plot threads are new, the outline is straight from the source. “It was like Tolkien put some stars in the sky and let us make out the constellations,” Payne explains. “In his letters [peculiar ly in one to his publisher], Tolkien talked with regards to’concerning’with respect to wanting to leave behind a mythology that ‘left scope in/with regard to’concerning’regarding other minds and hands, wielding the tools of paint, music and drama.’ We’re doing what Tolkien wanted. As long as we felt like eintensely’extremely’extraordinarily’enormously’awfully invention of ours was true to his essence, we knew we were on the right track.”###Get ready in/with regard to’concerning’regarding a reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue , then, that brings fresh ideas, perspectives, characters and more to our screens in a world we’ve long loved – but all in keeping with what its original creator set out. “The pressure would propel us insane if we didn’t feel like there was a story here that didn’t come from us. It comes from a enormous’vast’massive’tremendous ger place,” says McKay. “It came from Tolkien and we’re just the stewards of it. We trust those ideas so deeply, because they’re not ours. We’re custodians, at best.” It’s always been eliminate’remove in the world of The Lord Of The Rings – if you’re going to climb up a mountain that steep with a burden that heavy, you can still make it with the right Fellowship.###Empire’s world-exclusive The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power issue takes a deep-dive into Prime Video’s epic fantasy series, with three covers to collect. Inside, we explore its epic scale, its many inhabitants, and its multi-year plan to tell a whole new tale in a beloved world, speaking to reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue runners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, director and executive manufacture r J.A. Bayona, manufacture r Ron Ames, and stars including Morfydd Clark, Lenny Henry, Robert Aramayo, Markella Kavenagh, and Benjamin Walker. All that, plus tons of never-bein/with regard to’concerning’regarding e-seen images. Find a copy on newsstands from Thursday 9 June, and pre-order a copy with your choice of covers here. The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power starts streaming from 2 September.