Summary

• Isildur actor Maxim Baldry teases the encounter between his character and Shelob in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2, calling it a "chess game."
• Baldry says that Shelob has a "strong personality" in the show.
• Shelob is younger and smaller in The Rings of Power season 2 as the monster is several thousand years old when she fights Frodo and Sam in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

The Rings of Power season 2 is now only weeks away, and trailers have already teased a darker sophomore outing and the return of Shelob, who was last seen in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

In a recent interview with GamesRadar+ while attending San Diego Comic Con, Baldry, who plays a young Isildur, teases that a scary showdown is coming between his character and Shelob in The Rings of Power season 2. The actor touches not only on how the giant spider was brought to life on the show, but also the "chess game" that ensues between the two during their scene together. Check out Baldry's comment below:

"I think there was a lot of expectation about how Shelob would look like. From when we were filming, it was a rugby ball, two guys in morph suits and some sticks, and I was like, ‘Oh god how is this going to turn out?’ I think they’ve done such an amazing job with it. It’s just so intricate. I think they give Shelob a really strong personality."

”It’s almost like a chess game, Isildur is on the floor and he has no idea where Shelob is but he knows he’s in a spider’s cave and there’s this push and pull between these two characters. Then you come face to face with Shelob and you really see this monster, this spider. Isildur just locks eyes with them and there’s this beautiful moment of just, ‘Oh my god how is this going to pan out, how is this going to play.’"

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Frodo encounters a number of formidable creatures over the course of his epic journey across the land of Middle-earth, but perhaps none so memorable as Shelob. Frodo's story takes place during the Third Age, and Shelob is already thousands of years old at this point. When Isildur encounters Shelob in The Rings of Power in the Second Age, the Spider is notably smaller, having not yet grown into the monstrous beast seen in The Return of the King.

While Sam (Sean Astin) defeats Shelob in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, the monster is never definitively killed.

Shelob's cave isn't actually in Mordor, but rather in Cirith Ungol, a perilous mountain that leads into Sauron's domain. The Rings of Power season 1 ends with the creation of Mordor, and trailers have already teased that the location will slowly be morphing into the land that audiences are familiar with from Jackson's movies. Isildur will evidently be finding himself on the outskirts of Mordor in The Rings of Power season 2.

Baldry previously teased to GamesRadar+ what awaits Isildur in The Rings of Power season 2, revealing that the character wakes up Shelob's lair and must then fight his way to safety. He describes Isildur's storyline as one in which "he grows from a boy into a man and has to learn who to trust and who not to trust." It's not clear how big of a role Shelob will play in The Rings of Power season 2 beyond this Isildur sequence, but audiences are evidently in for at least one intense episode with the beast.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 premieres on Prime Video on August 29.

Source: GamesRadar+