Lord of the Rings star Morfydd Clark is stoking the amazement over Season 2 of Amazon’s fantasy series The Rings of Power by subverting our expectations with just one sentence.
Season 2 of Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series is in post-production and is set to launch on Amazon Prime* later this year. Recently, more and more information about the fantasy return of The Rings of Power has been leaking out. On the one hand, we can expect a season that will be significantly “dirtier and tougher” than the first. On the other hand, a star of the cast is now turning our series expectations upside down with three little words:
Galadriel star Morfydd Clark surprises with statement on Amazon’s Lord of the Rings season 2
Season 1 of The Lord of the Rings series worked primarily towards revealing to us the big villain of the series. Alongside Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), we finally discovered the identity of Sauron in the season finale. With that, the direction of the rest of the series was clear: The Rings of Power would show us the Middle-earth villain subjugating the world through the titular trinkets. But instead of just this one opponent, the 2nd season of Amazon’s fantasy series apparently has significantly more antagonists than expected, according to Clark:
Morfydd Clark tells us what to expect from ‘THE RINGS POWER’ season 2 at the EEBAFTAs: “Lots of villains.” pic.twitter.com/COQ4oVJzq7
– Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) February 18, 2024
What can I reveal about season 2 [of The Rings of Power]? I would say: there are a lot of new villains. That’s exciting. I love a [good] villain. That’s probably all I can say right now.
It’s not much that Morfydd Clark reveals. But three words stand out from her statement: “lots of new baddies”. This tells us that it’s not just one big enemy (Sauron) that’s coming into action, but several dark forces threatening Middle-earth. Incidentally, these “new” villains are apparently not the ones we already know from season 1, but fresh antagonists … or renegades?
The Lord of the Rings: Who are the new villains in Amazon’s season 2?
We’ve rounded up a few possibilities of where Amazon could be going with the hinted-at villains in Season 2 – where the “new” could refer to new Lord of the Rings characters as well as familiar characters now turning evil. Having recently been promised “surprising twists and turns” for the next season, we can no longer rule out anything in our speculation about what’s to come:
(Lord of the Rings series: Galadriel sees enemies everywhere she looks)
Multiple Saurons could appear in season 2 of the Lord of the Rings series, as a second actor has recently been cast as Sauron.
Since someone has to lead the returning Oliphants, one of the new villains could be a Southerner, as the Haradrim have also fought on the side of evil in Peter Jackson’s films.
In the end, is the powerful new wizard who is supposed to train the Stranger (Daniel Weyman) as Sauron’s opponent a being with less good intentions?
Season 1 already showed a division on the island of Númenor, which is likely to deepen in season 2 between Elven friends and hostile Elven haters around Pharazôn (Trystan Gravelle).
On the other hand, Elven King Gil-galad (Benjamin Walker) did not show his best side in season 1. Could season 2 push him completely into the villain role?
Dwarf Durin IV (Owain Arthur) was a big fan favorite in season 1, partly because of his intimate relationship with Princess Disa (Sophia Nomvete). However, his wife also showed some manipulative traits at the end when she urged Durin to seize power. Is there more to it?
After season 1 of The Rings of Power showed us the dark side of an unseen world with the Mystics, there could be much more horror to come from there.
The introduction of shapeshifters also breaks down the concept of friend and foe in an eerie way: Because it means a villain can hide in the body of any ally. Whether they are newly introduced like Galadriel’s husband Celeborn or have long been part of the cast
Add the work of our previous Sauron and the complicated motivations of the elvish orc leader Adar (recast with Sam Hazeldine in season 2), and the possibilities for new villains in the Lord of the Rings return are almost endless. Hopefully we’ll get some clarity in the anticipated season 2 launch of Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series in fall 2024.
