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Fans have been a little uncertain of exactly how long Amazon saw The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power running, however, some recently unearthed numbers appear to answer that question. Specifically, Prime Video's adaptation of the Second Age of Middle-Earth was apparently planned out to consist of 5 seasons, which would total 50 episodes. And as fascinating as that fact may be, what's even more interesting is the fact that, should they fail to meet that goal, they'll have to shell out a chunk of cash to the folks they got the rights from: that is, the Tolkien Estate.

The reveal comes from TV reporter Lesley Goldberg's latest edition of the Series Business newsletter, which dives deep into the inner workings of Amazon's financial relationship with Middle-Earth. There's a treasure trove of scary numbers in this piece of reporting - from the $465 million it cost to make Rings of Power season 1 to the $250 million Prime paid for the TV rights to Lord of the Rings in the first place. But the number we want to focus on is money that actually hasn't even been spent yet - that is, the $20 million dollar kill fee per season that Amazon would have to pay the Tolkien Estate if they don't follow through with their 5-season order.

Let's do some math here, Isildur stans. The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power seasons 1 and 2 are already complete and have aired on Prime Video. We also know, as per the newsletter, that season 3 is close to wrapping filming, though Prime has yet to officially confirm a premiere date. Presuming that Prime does release that season (which, these days, who knows), that still leaves $40 million that they'd have to pay the Tolkien estate if they gave the show the proverbial axe.

Now the question becomes - would Amazon ever have reason to shell out that cash?

We're not gonna give you an answer to that, especially since we're in no way affiliated withe Prime Video streaming, but we can show you the same stats the studio is likely to use to make that decision. According to the substack post (and more scary numbers, sorry), Rings of Power season 1 was only finished by 37% of US viewers - 45% overseas. Completion rates went up for season 2, but overall viewership went down (Goldberg did not say how much). Similarly, the cost of production in seasons 2 and 3 were down from season 1's $20 million per episode, but according to one unnamed Amazon exec, the prices of those episodes were still so high that other creatives working on Prime shows were "left wondering if you’ll be able to get what you need in order to produce your show."

As of this writing, there's no reporting saying that Prime Video is straying from its initial plan for Rings of Power, though the fact that we're only just now learning what that initial plan was can reasonably color how you take that fact. However, there's certainly reason to be nervous about the show's future, and if you're the Tolkien Estate, hopeful for that kill fee. Remember - it won't be long now until Rings of Power will have a brand new set of Lord of the Rings movies to be compared to, and if given the option, we have to wonder how many content-starved Tolkien fans might decide to ditch one for the other.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power seasons 1 and 2 are streaming on Prime Video now. 

Whether you're Shirefolk, Elven, Dwarven, or something else, there's a good reason to love Lord of the Rings. We do! With that in mind, we have a dragon's horde of goodies for you:

• Lord of the Rings reading guide 
• Lord of the Rings watch guide
• The Lord of the Rings reunion panel you can watch 
• The OG Hobbit actors stay in touch every day on a groupchat 
• The true message of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, according to Gimli himself - John Rhys-Davies.