Prime Video's 3-Part Fantasy Series Makes Even Game Of Thrones Look Small

Although Game of Thrones was the most ambitious fantasy show of all time when the series debuted back in 2011, one more recent Prime Video show makes the series seem quaint in comparison to its massive scope. It is hard to overstate just how much Game of Thrones changed the game when HBO’s R-rated fantasy series arrived. The adaptation of author George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice & Fire saga broke all sorts of records with its huge season 1 budget, but this investment soon turned out to be a wise one for the network.

Not only was Game of Thrones itself a historically huge hit, but its spinoffs, House of the Dragon and HBO’s more playful A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, were also massive successes with viewers. Moreover, Game of Thrones paved the way for a flourishing fantasy revival on TV and streaming, with gory, mature, R-rated competitors popping up on every major cable network and streaming service. There was Netflix’s Cursed, Castlevania, and The Witcher.

On Starz, there was Outlander, while on Prime Video, the Critical Role shows The Legend of Vox Machina and The Mighty Nein both earned perfect critical scores from reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes. However, Prime Video was also the streaming service that managed to make the scope of Game of Thrones seem small thanks to their most ambitious fantasy series ever. The Lord of the Rings prequel The Rings of Power, which debuted in 2022, was one of the only shows vast and expensive enough to overshadow Game of Thrones.

The Rings of Power’s Scope Is Far Larger Than Game of Thrones

When Game of Thrones arrived, the standard for fantasy TV had been set by productions like Legend of the Seeker, Xena: Warrior Princess, and BBC’s five-season hit Merlin. These were shows that earned niche cult followings, but never had the budget necessary to realize their blockbuster ambitions in full. Game of Thrones, with its cinematic scope, gargantuan budget, and boundary-pushing attitude toward adult content, demolished this paradigm.

However, since the Lord of the Rings is one of the most successful fantasy franchises of all time and The Rings of Power is a more family-friendly show than Game of Thrones could ever have been, Prime Video could afford to invest even more in the prequel. In terms of lore and worldbuilding, The Rings of Power feels vast in a way that few shows have ever managed, conjuring up an entire immersive fictional universe as it brings Tolkien’s vision to life onscreen.

The Rings of Power’s Biggest Challenge Is Making Lord of the Rings Feel Personal

Dense with allusions to esoteric pieces of lore from Lord of the Rings, the world of The Rings of Power feels lived-in and expansive in a way that puts even Game of Thrones to shame. For much of the HBO hit’s run, one of the main selling points of Game of Thrones was the fact that the series had dozens of settings, countless major characters, and a vast story that seemed to grow bigger with every passing season.

However, this wasn’t an unambiguously good thing. The infamously messy narrative of the show’s final season struggled precisely because Game of Thrones had a hard time bringing together the disparate strands of its story. Similarly, the biggest challenge that The Rings of Power has always faced is the question of how to deliver a compelling story within a rich, complex universe that will always feel under-explored.

There simply isn’t enough screen time for The Rings of Power to flesh out every character that deserves to be a major player in its story. Where other acclaimed fantasy shows like Interview with the Vampire are character studies that focus on a few major players, Prime Video’s prequel is a massive encyclopedic series that attempts to chart the history of an entire fictional world. As such, it should come as no surprise that The Rings of Power’s Lord of the Rings prequel plot eclipses Game of Thrones, for better or worse.