Evil takes new form in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2, and Sauron’s grip on Middle-earth strengthens in the official Season 2 trailer that teases a major event from J.R.R. Tolkien’s works never before seen onscreen.
The Rings of Power Season 2 trailer hints that the fall of Eregion could come to pass in the series’ first major battle, set to take place over multiple episodes. Ring-forger Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) goes to pieces as he’s haunted by his connection to Sauron, disguised to him as Annatar, and Galadriel’s (Moryfdd Clark) violent reunion with the Dark Lord is also revealed.
The Rings of Power Season 2 premieres Thursday, August 29 on Prime Video. Here’s a breakdown of the trailer and more details about the new season of the fantasy epic (see the previous trailer from San Diego Comic-Con here).
What happens in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2?
The Rings of Power is set in the Second Age of Middle-earth, thousands of years before the plot of The Lord of the Rings. The Season 1 finale showed the creation of the three Elven rings of power. Prepare for a lot more rings to be made in the new season. One of them, gifted to Dwarf King Durin (Peter Mullan), is seemingly on display in the trailer. Galadriel, Gil-galad (Benjamin Walker), and Cirdan (Ben Daniels) will wear the Elf rings.
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Vickers’ Halbrand was revealed to be the Dark Lord himself in the Season 1 finale, which came out nearly two years ago (October 2022). Now, he’s succeeding in his attempt to bend Middle-earth to his will in the season that’s all about the villains.
“In Season 2 of The Rings of Power, Sauron has returned. Cast out by Galadriel, without 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,” the Season 2 logline reads. “Building on Season 1’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.”
As previously reported in our Rings of Power set visit coverage, the series’ first major battle will come to pass in the new installment, and it’s a story that will take multiple episodes to tell. Details of the battle have been kept under tight lock and key, but the August 14 trailer heavily implies that it will be the Fall of Eregion, a major “historical” event in the Second Age of Middle-earth.
Called the “Sack of Eregion,” the battle takes place in the War of the Elves and Sauron in Tolkien’s writings. It’s important not only because it marked the fall of the Elves’ capital city, but also because it eventually leads to Elrond founding Rivendell.
What is the battle shown in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 trailer?
Prime Video
“Eregion must not fall. It would be a mortal blow for all Middle-earth,” Robert Aramayo’s Elrond says in the trailer above. But the city is sieged nonetheless, a development that’s likely inextricably tied to the creation of more rings of power. Sauron is disguised as Annatar, his “fair form” from Tolkien’s works made to be an Elf for the series, in Season 2, and Celebrimbor begins to question working with him in the new clips.
“What have you done to me?!” Celebrimbor cries in horror as a darker version of his face flashes in a mirror. In another chilling moment, he’s violently ensnared by tree limbs as Galadriel watches in horror. High King Gil-galad is heard saying “once the deceiver obtains a being’s trust, he gains the ability to sculpt their very thoughts.” Could this shocking scene between Celebrimbor and Galadriel be a vision sculpted by Sauron? He did gain her trust in Season 1, a mistake that will make Elrond distrust Galadriel in Season 2.
The rings are wreaking havoc across all Middle-earth in the trailer, which echoes warnings from The Lord of the Rings movies that fans will find familiar. Círdan is heard saying, “You are wise to fear these rings. In Sauron’s hands they could work an evil beyond reckoning.” Sauron is then seen walking calmly through a fiery attack, Gil-galad fights off Orcs, and Galadriel is imprisoned by them before Adar (Sam Hazeldine, previously Joseph Mawle) warns, “Sooner or later, Sauron’s eye bores a hole. The rest of him slithers in.” Adar seems to offer an alliance with Galadriel to destroy their shared enemy, and Arondir (Ismael Cruz Cordova) is seen facing a giant from the Orcs’ camp as the world around them burns. Galadriel comes face to face with Sauron in the trailer’s final moments.
“You think it was only you who’d put yourself in my power?” Sauron asks. He then picks up his crown and uses it as a weapon against Clark’s Elf as they cross swords, and Galadriel looks equal parts rageful, heartbroken, and terrified.
Who is in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 cast?
Rory Kinnear as Tom Bombadil and Daniel Weyman as The Stranger in ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ Season 2 (Prime Video)
In addition to the stars listed above, there will be a swath of new and returning characters this time around. Nazanin Boniadi previously announced she won’t be back as Bronwyn, but Tyroe Muhafidin will be back as her son, Theo. The Stranger (Daniel Weyman), Nori (Markella Kavanagh), and Poppy (Megan Richards) will try to solve the mystery of his identity in the desert land of Rûhn, and Isildur (Maxim Baldry) will team up with Arondir and new character Estrid (Nia Towle).
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Additionally, Rory Kinnear will play Tom Bombadil, a beloved book character making his onscreen debut. Also making their series debut are the Hobbit-esque creatures called Stoors. The Stoors’ leader, Gundabel, is played by Tanya Moodie. Gavi Singh Chera plays a stoor called Merimac, per Entertainment Weekly. The Stoors are River-folk, and Gollum/Smeagol is a descendent of their community. The Harfoots settled the Shire, so think of Nori and Poppy as Frodo and Sam’s ancestors (even if they’re not directly related).
Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Sophia Nomvete, Owain Arthur, Peter Mullan, Trystan Gravelle, Ema Horvath, Lloyd Owen, and Leon Wadham will also return in Season 2. Additional new cast includes Ciarán Hinds (seen in the new trailer with a long, black beard), Oliver Alvin-Wilson, Stuart Bowman, William Chubb, Kevin Eldon, Will Keen, Selina Lo, Calam Lynch, Gabriel Akuwudike, Yasen “Zates” Atour, Amelia Kenworthy, and Nicholas Woodeson. A supposed casting leak says that Lynch will play Celeborn, Galadriel’s husband whom she said was previously lost to her in Season 1. But only time will tell if that rumor is true.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Season 2 Premiere, Thursday, August 29, Prime Video
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