Rings Of Power Season 2 First Look Can’t Save This Middling Lord Of The Rings Series
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 trailer just dropped, and it’s nothing short of amazing. We see elves, dwarves, orcs, and men, as well as Sauron’s new form and his casting dark magic, which has transformed the lush lands of Mordor into a desolate, volcanic wasteland.
Despite all the epic stuff the new trailer depicts, the question remains: Will all the awesomeness The Rings of Power Season 2 brings finally put the series in good grace with the audiences? For those who aren’t aware, Season 1 of the show did splendidly with the critics, but it split the audiences in two.
The trailer for The Rings of Power Season 2 picks up right where Season 1 ended, with Charlie Vickers’ Sauron—still disguised as Halbrand—looking at Mount Doom in flames.
One side loved the show for expanding the mythos surrounding the creation of the rings and the rise of Sauron, and the other side disliked the series due to the creative liberties taken by the showrunners and certain casting choices.
The trailer for The Rings of Power Season 2 picks up right where Season 1 ended, with Charlie Vickers’ Sauron—still disguised as Halbrand—looking at Mount Doom in flames. However, we also get to see Charlie Vickers’ Annatar, the Lord of the Gifts, which, according to LotR mythology, is Sauron’s Elven-looking disguise.
Considering that we can see Durin holding one of the Seven Rings forged for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, we can assume that Annatar’s plans for creating the One Ring and binding Lesser Rings to his will are well underway.
We also get to see Annatar being surrounded by soldiers moments before he cast dark magic, which turned the Gorgoroth region of Mordor into a desolate and volcanic wasteland—despite the movie depictions, not all of Mordor is dead; Nurn is still quite lush and green.
Elsewhere in the The Rings of Power Season 2 trailer, we hear Prince Durin warning Galadriel and Elrond that “an evil ancient and powerful has returned.” While it’s entirely possible that he’s referring to Sauron, it’s more likely that he’s referring to the Balrog, which later became known as Durin’s Bane.
From everything The Rings of Power Season 2 trailer shows, it seems that the upcoming season will be focused more on Sauron and his rise to power…
Moviegoers first encountered this Balrog in 2001’s LotR: The Fellowship of the Ring, when the Fellowship entered the Mines of Moria, formerly known as Khazad-dum. Those who paid special attention to The Rings of Power Season 1 Episode 7 have seen that the Balrog trapped below the depths of Moria has awakened.
That same Balrog later killed one of Durin’s descendants before driving the Dwarves of Moria from their ancient city, claiming it as its own domain, until the events of The Fellowship of the Ring.
Will all the awesomeness The Rings of Power Season 2 brings finally put the series in good grace with the audiences?
Unfortunately, we didn’t see any Harfoots in the new trailer, and there’s only a brief moment in which The Stranger appears. From everything The Rings of Power Season 2 trailer shows, it seems that the upcoming season will be focused more on Sauron and his rise to power, as well as Annatar’s introduction to Celebrimbor and, quite possibly, the forging of the One Ring.
Whether or not all of that takes place in the upcoming season remains to be seen on August 29, 2024. It feels like a rather long wait.
