‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’- Five Things We Learned From the Season 2 Teaser
The Rings of Power season 2 teaser trailer is full of hints, including Sauron’s new makeover, a big ol’ battle, the release date, and more.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power had a… mixed first season. It was a big show that often looked amazing but never quite hit the right notes or laid proper groundwork. Despite some peoples strange hopes that the show would get rebooted, it is continuing with a second season.
We just got our first real look at the upcoming season with the first Rings of Power season 2 teaser. While there are plenty of easter eggs in it there isn’t a ton of story details. Still there is plenty stuff to glean from it, if you’re looking!
5. Time For Hot Sauron!
Sauron is back (shock!) and now he’s… hotter? The trailer shows off a new look for the Dark Lord. This appears to be his guise as the Elf Annatar. Now at this point in time, Sauron is a shapeshifter and able to take on fair forms.
Disguised as an Elf named Annatar, he becomes friends with Celebrimbor and forges the Rings of Power—and eventually The One Ring. The teaser makes it clear that we are getting this storyline in season 2. The only minor issue with this is that they basically did this in season 1.
That kind of makes this seem like a big retreading of things we just saw. Even odder is that Charlie Vickers, who played Halbrand in season one, is still playing the role. While they’ve given him some long golden hair and elf ears, he just doesn’t look all that different. And yet no doubt it seems like he is going to fool the same people for the second time.
4. More Rings!
Do you like rings? You’d better, cus this is Rings of Power, baby! It sure does seem like we’re getting more rings in this season. Again this isn’t shocking—but it does seem like we’re moving along with the story at a good clip.
As mentioned, it seems we’re covering the Annatar and Celebrimbor collab (and its disastrous end) in this season. That means there is a decent chance that by the end of the season we could have all of the rings of power—including the One Ring. The teaser gives us at least one shot that looks like Durin III getting a ring.
This could, of course, just be a red herring.
READ MORE: The House of Durin: Did They Really Spring Up Out of Holes in the Ground?
3. A Stranger in a Strange Land
The teaser doesn’t show off any Harfoots (no doubt to the sorrow of many). However we do get one very quick shot of the Stranger (he maybe Gandalf, probably one of the Istari). He’s in a strange land that isn’t like anything else we’ve really seen in Lord of the Rings so far.
This is likely Rhûn or Harad, the lands to the east and south of the known world. The design on the well seems like limited things we’ve seen from those regions before. We also know from the source material that there have been Wizards active and even opposing Sauron in those regions are various times.
Still, we’ve never actually had a story take place in these locations. They remain pretty unexplored in the lore so it could be cool to see them get some fleshed-out screen time.
2. The Siege
The Rings of Power season 2 teaser also shows off several battle shots that culminate in a massive siege. This seems to be the Siege of Eregion. After Annatar/Sauron and Celebrimbor have their final falling out, Sauron sends his armies to attack Celebrimbor’s city, Eregion. The insuring battle involves a lot of the major players in the period and it’s the start of the War of the Elves and Sauron, which dominates the next eight years.
It really seems like a lot of the season is building up to this moment as a defining one of the series. According to the studio, at least two episodes are devoted to this battle/siege. The upshot here is that this particular storyline is from materials that Tolkien wrote, so it’s possible that season 2 is following the books a lot more.
Season 1 struggled because the bulk was made up out of whole cloth. Sticking closer to the source material might help the show out.
1. A Release Date
August 29th. Not a ton to unpack here, but the Rings of Power season 2 teaser does give us an official release date. That gives you true fans a whole three months to re-watch season 1. For the rest of us, in just a few short months we will get to see for ourselves if the show has improved—or if it’s going to share the fate of Númenor.
Let us know if you are excited for the new season, down in the comments!
