Why You Can Trust CNET Every 'Rings of Power' Episode Has Hidden Tidbits. Here's How to Unearth Them
You're missing out on a ton of great details if you don't have X-Ray enabled in Amazon Prime Video.
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If you're currently watching The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on Amazon Prime, you already know it's a staggeringly beautiful show filled with political intrigue, action and characters with names you'll forget in a few minutes.
Tolkien's lore has been translated to the screen with spectacular effect, and most of the additions and modifications made to support storytelling in this world have been well received.
As with anything Tolkien, there are two kinds of fans: those who want to enjoy this for what it is and those who want to consume every tiny detail across multiple watches of each episode. If you find yourself in the latter category or if you're curious to learn a little more about the world revealed in this series, Prime Video has a frequently overlooked feature with a genuine treasure trove of trivia for you to enjoy.
Amazon's X-Ray feature isn't new by any stretch, but it's not often fully appreciated. Whether you're watching on a laptop, phone or smart TV, X-Ray means that when you pause anything streaming through Prime Video, you get a bit of information about the actors on the screen at that moment.
This feature is great when you can't quite put your finger on where you've seen an actor before, but X-Ray usually offers much more information than that.
If you press the X-Ray button on the screen when you pause, multiple tabs appear. You can more easily jump from plot point to plot point in the Scenes tab on X-Ray, as well as discover more under the Bonus Content and Trivia tabs.
For The Rings of Power, those last two sections are absolutely bursting with cool items for you to check out in each episode. For fans of the sheer beauty of this series, X-Rays Bonus Content tab is filled with both high quality stills from the episode and some of the artwork created in storyboarding that led to the creation of the amazing sets.
Each episode has its own unique bit of this content, and the bigger your screen the more you can enjoy here. I've found the most enjoyment in X-Ray's Trivia tab, which Amazon has filled with lore to help explain what's happening on the screen as well as the specific section in the books that scene was derived from so you can go read it for yourself. Each episode also features multiple snippets of quotes from the books, immediately followed by the chapter marker so you can look it up.
Considering all of the early consternation regarding how faithful to the source material this show would be, I think it's extremely cool of Amazon to show receipts like this. And if I'm honest, having the Trivia tab of X-Ray open on my phone while the episode is playing on my TV is a great way to keep myself from tweeting spoilers before most people have watched the episode. But overall I think it's just great to have these little bits of extra fun attached to each episode for those who want a little more.
Check it out. You'll be happy you did.