The Lord of the Rings series The Rings of Power breathes life into a few monsters in season 2 that Peter Jackson previously left out
After The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power recently revealed that the previously omitted Tom Bombadil will appear in season 2 of the fantasy series, it has now also been confirmed that a few monsters that Peter Jackson left out of his cinema trilogy will make an appearance in the Amazon series.
Lord of the Rings horror: Tomb monsters haunt season 2 of The Rings of Power
After appearing in the background of Amazon’s first season 2 teaser trailer and as flying creatures in the making-of video for the Lord of the Rings series, Tolkien fans had already guessed which Middle-earth monsters would soon be joining the fantasy series. Now Empire has officially confirmed it: The Rings of Power will feature Grabunholde (originally: Barrow-Wights).
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What are the Grabunholde? Also known as gravewights in some German translations, these ghostly creatures dwell in the burial mounds of Middle-earth. They cannot stay in sunlight, but at night they emerge as floating shadows with glowing eyes. In J.R.R. Tolkien’s first Lord of the Rings volume, The Fellowship of the Rings *, the hobbits Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin are attacked by grave hobgoblins in the Old Forest shortly after their escape from the Shire, immobilized and dragged off to their tomb. Only Tom Bombadil, who is called to their aid, is able to save them.
Neither Peter Jackson nor Ralph Bakshi portrayed the Tombunholde in their Lord of the Rings adaptations. Only the largely unknown Russian film adaptation from 1991 made a rather poor attempt at them. Nevertheless, the existence of ghosts is nothing fundamentally new in the film world of Middle-earth. After all, Aragorn mobilizes a whole army of ghosts to fight Sauron. However, Jason Smith, who was responsible for visual effects in The Rings of Power, explains that the monsters shown in season 2 are more likely to be ghouls:
EXCLUSIVE
Lord Of The Rings’ undead Barrow-wights – fearsome ghouls who appear in the Fellowship Of The Ring novel – will finally hit the screen in TheRingsOfPower Season 2. “We’re doing a little horror movie in Middle-earth,” Empire learns.
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Grabunholde are old, reanimated heroes who are used by evil against their will. It was super-exciting to create something I’d never seen before. We’ve seen undead before, but not like this. We’re doing a little horror flm in Middle-earth.
The Lord of the Rings series already shows in the trailer and images that Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), Elrond (Robert Aramayo) and other Elves will meet the ghostly Tombunholde in season 2. Will Tom Bombadil (Rory Kinnear) have to come to the rescue again?
When does Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series start its 2nd season?
Season 2 of The Rings of Power will start on August 29, 2024 on Amazon Prime Video * and will be released with weekly episodes thereafter. Like season 1, the new season comprises a total of eight episodes.
Everything that is known about season 2 suggests that we can expect even more surprises in addition to the Graveholds.
