Amazon's Lord Of The Rings: 10 Crucial Second Age Events It Must Include

Like Game Of Thrones, whose enormous success surely forms the model for epic medieval-style fantasy shows in future, Amazon's Middle-earth series is likely to underplay the big, expensive and highly fantastical elements at first, highlighting instead the human political drama. Fortunately, the dying days of the Second Age offer plenty of that.

The likely initial leads of the show, therefore, would be Tar-Palantir's daughter Tar-Míriel and her cousin Ar-Pharazôn the Golden. If Palantir's prophesies and his death are the inciting incident for the series, then the question of his succession will be the plotline that develops from that across the first season.

In Tolkien's legendarium Míriel is the legitimate heir to Palantir (unlike real medieval European kingdoms, Númenor practices absolute primogeniture where the eldest child of the previous ruler is the heir regardless of gender) and follows her father's views of friendship with the elves and respect for the Valar.

Pharazôn, however, usurps the throne and forces Míriel to marry him to legitimise his position, eventually leading to him becoming the most powerful king in Númenórean history.

The politics of succession, rival claims to the throne, and a forced political marriage are just the kind of storylines likely to get Game Of Thrones fans into a series like this, so expect this to be the show's initial focus.