Rarely has the matter been as clear as with “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”: There will not only be one more season, but four! But when does “The Rings of Power” Season 2 start on Prime Video and how does it continue?
The first three Rings of Power have been forged, but that doesn’t mean “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” is over by a long shot: Although the first season is now over after eight episodes, Amazon has committed directly to five seasons and work on Season 2 has even already begun. But when and how will it continue on Amazon Prime Video?
WHEN IS “THE RINGS OF POWER” SEASON 2 COMING?
The fact is: The filming of “The Rings of Power” season 2 has been going on since 3 October 2022 and this time not (only) in New Zealand, where season 1 was filmed and where Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” films were once made, but in Great Britain. Nevertheless, at least part of the filming will also take place in New Zealand – presumably mainly landscape shots, as otherwise the break between season 1 and season 2 would be too great.
However, it is not easy to deduce the release date from the start of filming. Season 1 was shot over no less than 18 months (!), but Corona was also to blame for that. For Season 2 it shouldn’t take quite that long, but the showrunners have already talked about working on Season 2 for “several years” – hopefully they mean only two years.
So we’re guessing a release date on Amazon Prime Video in 2024. 2023 is too close because of the complex post-production with editing, effects, music, etc., but 2025 would be too long a time between two seasons. Speaking of seasons, “The Rings of Power” Season 2 will also have eight episodes again.
SAURON IN THE CENTRE
So much for the schedule, now for the content: In several interviews following the release of the Season 1 finale, series executives have stressed that Season 2 will now focus on Sauron after Halbrand (Charlie Vickers) was revealed as the future Dark Lord.
“Season 2 is completely different because our villain is hanging out and doing his thing,” producer Lindsey Weber told Deadline. “It’s going to be darker, more intense, possibly a little bit creepier. There’s obviously the same tonal range in it as before, because that’s huge for us to make it feel like Middle Earth, but once Sauron moves openly and works on his plans, it gets pretty interesting.”
And showrunner Patrick McKay adds at The Hollywood Reporter, “Sauron can just be Sauron now. Like Tony Soprano or Walter White, he’s evil, but in a complex way. […] The first season was like ‘Batman Begins,’ but the second is like ‘The Dark Knight,’ because Sauron is no longer acting in secret. […] Season 2 has a very canonical story. There are probably people who will say they would have liked to have seen that in season 1. But then in season 2 they get it.
What kind of canonical plans are these? Halbrand/Sauron actor Charlie Vickers wouldn’t reveal that either. Going to Mordor is the first part of that plan, Vickers told Variety only. But at least it won’t be long before Sauron’s plans are revealed in Season 2, he added.
A look at the books of J.R.R. Tolkien shows that Sauron’s plan can only be one thing: to seize control of Mordor, which may require defeating Adar (Joseph Mawle) and subjugating his orcs, building his fortress Barad-dûr there and eventually forging the One Ring in Mount Doom.
MORE RINGS OF POWER
The Rings of Power feels like pure middle-earth history unfolding before our eyes. So much has happened already and yet there are four more seasons in the barrel. It’s just gonna get better and better. pic.twitter.com/PuPwFvjGJY
– robert (@robertjoslipek) October 14, 2022
Before the One Ring, however, the Seven Rings of the Dwarves and the Nine Rings of Men must actually be forged and distributed. In Tolkien, these rings are forged by the Elves under the guidance of Sauron and then distributed by Sauron (the only exception: Celebrimbor presents one of the rings to Durin III).
This will no longer happen in this way in “The Rings of Power”, after all Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) and Elrond (Robert Aramayo) know Halbrand’s secret and Sauron himself has already escaped to Mordor. And there is nothing to suggest that other rings were made before the three rings of the Elves (which, incidentally, are the last to be forged in Tolkien).
It remains to be seen how the creation of the remaining rings of power will be shown in “The Rings of Power”. Do Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) and the Elves forge more rings, which then end up in Sauron’s hands? Or does Sauron simply make the rings himself and distribute them to the dwarves and men? The latter sounds more convincing somehow.
We suspect that a war will break out between the Elves and Sauron in season 2 over the three Elven rings that Sauron wants to take under his control. This is also supported by the fact that a report in the Hollywood Reporter speaks of a major battle lasting over two episodes. And the war between Elves and Sauron would fit best with this, as it is the prelude to the great conflicts in the Second Age. On the other hand, the book order has been shaken up quite a bit in the series, so who knows…
IT’S GOING EAST
But of course that’s just one plot thread of “The Rings of Power” Season 2, at the same time the series will also break away from these familiar events necessary to the larger story – and travel east with the Stranger (Daniel Weyman) and Nori (Markella Kavenagh), as already hinted at in the Season 1 finale.
And as showrunner J.D. Payne tells Deadline, it has been a goal of the series creators from the beginning to venture into “unexplored and unseen corners of Tolkien’s map, a vast and alluring continent that readers and viewers have never visited.” This can only mean the east of Middle-earth, where, among other places, Rhûn, mentioned in “The Rings of Power”, lies.
There, the stranger revealed as a wizard (but which one?) and the Harfoot girl should then learn more about his origins and his role. Patrick McKay explained: “He learns something from the mystics when they say that he is not Sauron but the Other, which implies that his fate is possibly somehow linked to Sauron’s.” So is he the direct antagonist of Sauron on the side of the good guys?
MISSING CHARACTERS FROM THE FINALE
Sauron, the Elves, the Stranger and Nori would thus be covered – remaining are three other storylines or groups of characters from the first season “The Rings of Power”: namely the Númenorians, the Southrons and the Dwarves.
In Númenor, an important turning point is likely to take place after the death of King Tar-Palantir (Ken Blackburn), namely the rise to power of Pharazôn (Trystan Gravelle). In the book, he becomes king by marrying Míriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) – possibly the foundation for this has already been laid by the queen-regent’s blindness, after all, this could be interpreted as weakness on her part.
The surviving humans from the Southlands around Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi), Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin) and Arondir (Ismael Cruz Cordova), on the other hand, are likely to move to Pelargir, already mentioned in episode 7, where they could meet the lost Isildur (Maxim Baldry) and finally the foundation of the kingdom of Gondor is prepared.
The role of the dwarves in season 2 is still difficult to assess so far. But we guess that the last word in the dispute between Durin III (Peter Mullan) and Durin IV (Owain Arthur) has not yet been spoken. And also the friendship between Durin and Elrond, in season 1 after all something like an emotional climax, is likely to be further developed.
NEW CHARACTERS
Initial thoughts:
please hire new writers that write stories that make sense
characters that don’t contradict everything they just did in the next episode
writers that use the great material they DO have the rights for and not completely change canon.Thanks! RingsofPower pic.twitter.com/sp4dMMPhez
– The Clueless Fangirl (@HelenaLahnstein) October 14, 2022
With all of these characters, the “Rings of Power” creators have already established most of the major characters in Season 1 who will be important in the next seasons. But at least one major new addition has already been announced: Círdan, the shipbuilder.
As the name suggests, Círdan lives by the sea (the Grey Havens, also known from The Lord of the Rings films) and has a heart for ships and seafaring. That’s why he makes friends with some Númenorians in Tolkien, which could well be shown in the series. And he receives one of the rings of the elves: Narya, the Ring of Fire.
Patrick McKay told Deadline that they had already found a performer for Círdan and would announce it at a later date, and stressed once again that all the characters who had been a part of this world at the time of the Second Age could appear. This also includes Galadriel’s husband Celeborn, who was thought to be dead, and who was already mentioned in episode 7.
