In two weeks, the battle for Middle-earth continues. Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is really determined to have more fighting and more scheming and more characters you recognize if you’ve spent any time with J.R.R. Tolkien’s books and/or Peter Jackson’s epic films. The previous trailer for the second season seemed more focused on giving you a chance to go, “Hey! I know that guy!” than on offering a peek at what’s to come; the latest and final trailer would like you to know that there are very big-budget battles. Perhaps said battles ate up the wig budget, because our buddy Sauron (Charlie Vickers)—in disguise as Annatar, the Lord of Gifts—has some Targaryen-esque hair going on here.
Meanwhile, Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) has clearly heard that saying about how the enemy of one’s enemy is maybe one’s new best bud, and seems to be teaming up with Adar, the orc leader previously played by Joseph Mawle and now played by Sam Hazeldine, who is also no big fan of Sauron.
With everything focused on war—on the “long-awaited” Siege of Eregion—there’s only a second to remind us that there are also Harfoots out there on an adventure with the Stranger (Daniel Weyman), and somehow, Tom Bombadil (Rory Kinnear) is going to come into play. Along with some ents and a balrog and a big-ass spider, of course! Here’s season two’s summary:
In Season Two of The Rings of Power, Sauron has returned. Cast out by Galadriel, without an army or ally, the rising Dark Lord must now rely on his own cunning to rebuild his strength and oversee the creation of the Rings of Power, which will allow him to bind all the peoples of Middle-earth to his sinister will. Building on Season One’s epic scope and ambition, the new season plunges even its most beloved and vulnerable characters into a rising tide of darkness, challenging each to find their place in a world that is increasingly on the brink of calamity. Elves and dwarves, orcs and men, wizards and Harfoots—as friendships are strained and kingdoms begin to fracture, the forces of good will struggle ever more valiantly to hold on to what matters to them most of all… each other.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power returns with a three-episode premiere August 29th on Prime Video.
