Even though it hasn't started filming yet, Amazon Prime is already marketing their multi-season Lord of the Rings TV series, one that would explore other parts of J.R.R. Tolkien's Legendarium.
Since recently published Lord of the Rings map has quashed those hopes.
Related: LOTR: 10 Facts About Middle Earth They Left Out of the Movies
Amazon's Lord of the Rings TV show is still a long ways away from airing, but that hasn't stopped the streaming giant from promoting it. To kick things off, the series' official Twitter posted a Middle-earth map without any markings whatsoever, which was accompanied with the first line of the Ring verse. A few days later, the published the same map except with some locations marked this time, along with the second line of the poem. Unfortunately, taking everything we've seen into , the Lord of the Rings series won't be based on the Silmarillion, as it takes place in the Third Age, not the First Age.
Looking at both versions of the Lord of the Rings TV show's map of Middle-earth, it can be deduced that the map is of the early-to-mid Third Age, based on a specific point. The Mirkwood forest can be seen under the label of Rhovanion, and it has an indentation on its eastern side; that's a result of an event known as the East Bight of Mirkwood - forestry that occurred during the Third Age by the Northmen.
Furthermore, it doesn't seem possible that the Lord of the Rings series will focus on a young Aaragon either, as has been rumored for a year now, because the map also shows the region of Calenardhon - a kingdom that eventually transformed into the kingdom of Rohan in the Third Age. Since Aragorn wasn't born until a little over 400 years after the founding of Rohan, it's impossible for the show to focus on him, at least at that point in time. However, that doesn't mean the series can't feature a time jump.
At the moment, there's quite a bit that remains unknown about Amazon's Lord of the Rings TV show. So far, it's been confirmed that Star Trek 4 screenwriters J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay have boarded the project as co-writers and that the new show will become the most expensive TV production in the history of the medium. Considering the source material, that notion is understandable. It's just unfortunate that the Lord of the Rings series won't be adapting the Silmarillion.