The curtain has come down on the first season of Prime Video's gargantuan new take on The Rings of Power after an epic season 1 finale.
The Prime Video show, which has cost anything from $500 million to $800 million, depending on which reports you happen to read, has brought huge audiences to Prime Video and wowed with its spectacle, power and splendor.
A second season of the show was already confirmed before production on the first season was even finished, so we know it's coming, but given filming has yet to begin, it'll be 2024 at the earliest before we get to see it.
So, to fill The Rings of Power-shaped hole in your life post-episode 8, here are five epic fantasies to pass the time. Let's dive in.
The Wheel of Time
Before it launched The Rings of Power, Prime Video executives warmed us up nicely with epic fantasy series The Wheel Of Time, an adaptation of Robert Jordan’s vast series of books.
Rosamund Pike is front and center here as Moiraine, who, in a world full of magic, is one of the few who can access it. As the show begins, she is dispatched by her order, the Aes Sedai, to find the “Dragon Reborn,” a prophesied reincarnation of a powerful individual who could either save the world… or destroy it.
Her eyes are set on five young villagers, one of whom she is sure is the one - she just doesn’t know which.
A huge world full of magic, wonder and action, this shares the Rings of Power's sense of scale and high-minded themes.
Where can I stream it?
Prime Video (Worldwide)
The Witcher
The Witcher is one of Netflix's crown jewels, a fantasy behemoth with a fanbase that can rival any show on screens at the moment.
Led by Henry Cavill and based on author Andrzej Sapkowski's hugely successful series of novels, The Witcher follows Cavill's Geralt of Rivia, a monster hunter for hire who struggles to find his place in a wicked world where humanity is just as awful as the monsters which he is tasked with hunting.
It's unrelentingly dark, full of monsters, and violent, but unashamed high fantasy and its two seasons so far are hugely watchable.
Where can I stream it?
Netflix (Worldwide)
Game Of Thrones
Is there anyone who enjoyed The Rings of Power who hasn't already devoured Game Of Thrones? We doubt it, but if you're the one or two people reading this who've yet to journey to the Seven Kingdoms, buy a ticket now.
Game Of Thrones is based on the book series by George R. R. Martin and is set in the land of Westeros, where warring families fight for control over the Iron Throne with immense battles and unlawful romances everywhere to be seen.
Funny, bloody, violent, gripping, jaw-dropping and packed with visual effects, Game Of Thrones redefined what was possible for fantasy on television. Without it, The Lord of the Rings would have remained solely with Peter Jackson. Just be prepared for disappointment come season seven.
Where can I stream it?
HBO Max (US), NOW TV (UK), Stan (AU)
The Shannara Chronicles
An underrated fantastical epic, but one stacked with the same array of magic and wonder as The Rings of Power.
An adaptation of Terry Brooks' bestselling book series The Sword of Shannara Trilogy, The Shannara Chronicles is set in a post apocalyptic world where Amberle (an Elvin princess), Wil (a human-elf hybrid) and Eretria (a human who was raised by a band of thieves), are forced together to defend Earth from demonic forces.
These demons have begun to force their way back after being banished from this world to a place known as the Forbidding, as a result of a spell performed on an ancient tree called the Ellcrys.
To stop their return, Wil, Amberle and Eretria, guided by Allanon, the last druid, must go on a quest to protect the Ellcrys from dying and releasing all the banished demons back into the world.
Austin Butler, who some of you might have seen leading the way in Baz Luhrmann’s lavish new biopic of Elvis Presley this summer, plays Wil, with British actress Poppy Drayon and Ivana Baquero, who you may remember from her performance as a child in Guillermo Del Toro’s breathtaking fantasy Pan’s Labyrinth, playing Amberle and Eretria.
If you're after pure escapism, this will definitely be your bag.
Where can I stream it?
Tubi (US, AU), Netflix (UK, AU)
The Sandman
It took a long, long time for Neil Gaiman's beloved comic series to make it to the screen, but it finally did so in the summer and won a whole new fanbase in the process.
The Sandman begins in 1916, with a secret society, led by a magician named Roderick Burgess, deciding to do the much-tried and never-succeeded task of obtaining immortality by imprisoning Death himself. Sadly, Burgess mistakenly binds Death's brother Dream instead, and fearing retribution, Burgess keeps Dream imprisoned. Eventually, Dream escapes, and, finding himself in the modern world, sets about avenging those who captured him and rebuilding the kingdom of dreams.
It's beautifully realized, elegantly acted and surprisingly faithful to the source material. We still don't know if there will be a second season of The Sandman, but there absolutely should be.
Where can I stream it?
Netflix (Worldwide)
