Summary
- The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 brings the rise of Sauron and explores iconic Middle-earth locations like The Black Forest and the Barrow-downs.
- Characters like Gil-galad and Galadriel face challenges while Sauron manipulates Celebrimbor to create the One Ring.
- The new season introduces new characters like Ciarán Hinds as the Dark Wizard and Rory Kinnear as Tom Bombadil, promising an epic continuation.
War is coming to Middle-earth as Sauron rises to power in the Prime Video show is set in the Second Age of J.R.R. Tolkien's iconic fantasy universe, exploring the likes of Khazad-dûm and Númenor in their full glory, while also seeing the Elves of Lindon nearing the end of their peaceful existence as their tree of life is dying. The show also sees Galadriel and various other characters grappling with the rising darkness of the world, with the former believing it to be the return of Sauron.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 finds many of its Middle-earth characters in precarious situations, with Gil-galad and Lindon debating using the titular artifacts to revive their tree of life, while Khazad-dûm begins to see its downfall from a difference of opinions between King Durin III and Prince Durin IV, the Southlands grapple with the emergence of Mordor and Pharazôn scheming to take power from Míriel in Númenor. Sauron, meanwhile, comes to Celebrimbor in both his Halbrand and Annatar forms in the hopes of manipulating him into crafting the One Ring to Rule Them All.
The Rings Of Power Recap: 10 Things To Before Season 2
The Rings of Power season 2 will continue its epic tale, with 10 things being essential to before the new season begins.
Most of the ensemble season 1 stars return to the Rings of Power season 2 cast, some of whom include Morfydd Clark, Sam Hazeldine, Charlie Vickers, Charles Edwards, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Robert Aramayo, Owain Arthur, Maxim Baldry, Daniel Weyman, Markella Kavenagh, Megan Richards, Sophia Nomvete and Benjamin Walker. The new season also introduces the likes of Ciarán Hinds as the Dark Wizard, Rory Kinnear as Tom Bombadil and sees Sam Hazeldine take over the role of Adar.
In honor of the show's return, Screen Rant interviewed co-showrunner Patrick McKay and executive producer Lindsey Weber to discuss The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2, what to expect from The Stranger's journey this season, why they cut Sauron's origin story from season 1, and the new Middle-earth locations to come.
Many Questions About The Stranger Will Be Answered In Season 2
Screen Rant: Patrick, if you'd like to start and then Lindsay, I'd love to hear about the journey of The Stranger this season, as he starts to come into his own, finding a bigger personality after being silent for most of season 1.
Patrick McKay: First of all, thank you. Screen Rant writes about the show all the time. We appreciate it. The Stranger, God, what is his journey about this season?
Lindsey Weber: The veil of his memories lifted a bit at the end of season 1, and he's much more articulate this season, which I'm sure our beautiful actor, Daniel Wayman, appreciated. [Chuckles] So, we get to see him expressing himself much more clearly with Nori, his partner in crime. But he has many questions that are still unanswered.
Patrick McKay: Yeah, at the end of the first season, he figures out that he's a wizard and that he's a wizard for good, and now this season is very much sort of an origin story of a wizard. How does he become the adolescent version of himself along the way of his journey? We love the idea of an origin story for a wizard being one of the core storylines in the show, and this is a really big step in his journey.
I don't want to spoil anything, but certainly, you know, he'll need a name at some point. Wizards typically have a hat and a staff, and wizards need to learn how to control their powers. At the start of the season, he's able to wield power, but not yet control it, and really, his journey is going to be about looking inward and figuring out what he needs to do to be able to do so.
Lindsey Weber: And I think grappling with his place in the world.
Sauron's Origin Story Was Nearly Part Of The Rings Of Power Season 1
Speaking of origin stories, I found it so interesting that we actually took a step back in time and saw Sauron trying and failing to bring together the orcs and now his journey to reclaim power. Can you talk about when you decided to explore that story, and whether that was supposed to be part of season 1, or if you at least knew in season 1 that you were going to explore that in the future?
Patrick McKay: Yeah, at one point we wanted to include some of that material in season 1, but we felt that the storyline benefited even more if we kept it for the top of season 2. So yeah, we did know this backstory, and we've always had a plan for the general, high-level trajectory of characters and storylines. But one of the first ideas, in of scene work and the kind of beat and rhythm of the piece of season 2 was that we would start with Sauron's origin story within the show, the way that first season starts with Galadriel's origin story within the show. So yeah, quite early. I would say we've been working on this for four years now. This particular season, we started writing in the middle of the pandemic when we were still making season 1. So long way.
The Map Of Middle-earth Is "Unending" & Will Be Explored A Lot In Season 2
So, you've introduced a lot of great new locations this season, and one of my favorites is The Black Forest. That is such a place full of dark secrets and monsters. I'd love to hear from you both the creative side, as well as the production side, of bringing this iconic location to life.
Patrick McKay: Where Shelob lives, the Black Forest? [Laughs] Well, Mordor has many scary places, and especially now that the sun is gone, evil is going to just creep in. Gosh, where did we even shoot that? I can't , we've been shooting in forests all over the UK for — we shot for eight months, nine months.
Lindsey Weber: 33 weeks.
Patrick McKay: So I can't even exactly where our horse rides through. [Laughs]
Lindsey Weber: But to be here with the amazing, old, ancient forests has been very inspiring. Our characters do a lot of walking around in the woods this season, at night, just as they do in the books, encountering some very scary creatures. So, we got to experience them in the woods at night with them, which was a thrill, and our actors were real troopers about it.
Patrick McKay: There's more spots we're going to. We go to the Barrow-downs a little later in the season. Obviously, they're journeying in Rhûn. God, where else do we go? We find a community of stoors over in the desert that is yet to come. The map of Middle-earth is unending, and hopefully, around every corner there's a new, strange and wonderful place.
About The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2
In Season Two 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. 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.
Check out our other The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 interviews with:
- Cast at SDCC 2024 Red Carpet
- Cast at SDCC 2024 Media Suite
- Morfydd Clark & Sam Hazeldine
- Daniel Weyman, Markella Kavenagh & Megan Richards
- Charlie Vickers & Charles Edwards
- Ismael Cruz Córdova & Benjamin Walker
The first three episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 premiere on August 29, followed by new episodes on Thursdays on Prime Video.
Source: Screen Rant Plus
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
- Release Date
- September 1, 2022
- Network
- Amazon Prime Video
- Showrunner
- John D. Payne, Patrick McKay, Louise Hooper, Charlotte Brändström, Wayne Yip
Cast
Galadriel
Halbrand
WHERE TO WATCH
Set in the Second Age of Middle-earth, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power explores the forging of the iconic rings, the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron, and the epic events leading up to the stories in J.R.R. Tolkien's classic novels. The series chronicles the creation of legendary characters and the historic alliances and rivalries that shape the fate of Middle-earth.
- Directors
- J.A. Bayona, Sanaa Hamri
- Writers
- Patrick McKay, John D. Payne, J.R.R. Tolkien, Justin Doble, Jason Cahill, Gennifer Hutchison, Stephany Folsom, Nicholas Adams
- Franchise(s)
- The Lord of the Rings
- Seasons
- 2
- Streaming Service(s)
- Amazon Prime Video
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