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Tina Popielarczyk

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Aug 2, 2024, 7:53:15 AM8/2/24

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The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 is heading to our screens very soon. The sophomore season of the prequel series is arriving on Prime Video in August 2024, and we've got some seriously juicy details to tide us over until then. Among them is a first-look trailer, which unveils a chilling new disguise for Sauron as he takes on his Annatar form. Then we've got new quotes from the cast, as well as an exclusive tease from the showrunners about what to expect next.

So, if you're in need of a catch-up primer before we head back to Middle-earth, then you're in the right place. After all, there's a whole load of J.R.R Tolkien's epic story still waiting to be told in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2. Read on for our guide to the second installment, featuring release dates, episode counts, trailer breakdowns, exclusive images, and a whole lot more. Adventure awaits!

"We're going to get that out into the world as soon as we can," Salke told Variety. "We want the shortest time possible between seasons, but we want to keep the bar just as high. So it'll take what it takes. But there's been some urgency around moving quickly, which is why these guys have been writing all through their hiatus. We're moving fast."

The second trailer for Rings of Power season 2 is here, and it's packed with upcoming plot details and adventures in Middle-earth. The teaser kicks off by reminding us all of Sauron's plans to control all the rings of power in his quest for total domination.

We also finally see Annatar (aka Sauron's Fair-Form) in the trailer! Annatar is a figure in Tolkien's original work who helped Celebrimbor create the rings of power so that he may control them all with the One Ring. Many fans expected Annatar in season one of the Rings of Power, so seeing him in season 2 is a welcomed surprise.

But canon-speaking, we are still a bit all over the place for all you Tolkien purists. The timeline still doesn't match the one Tolkien set out exactly. This can be seen in clips of the trailer, such as the moments with the Stranger as he seems more likely than ever to be Gandalf (originally only meant to be in Middle-earth during the Third Age).

Celeborn is still also nowhere to be seen, nor is his and Galadriel's daughter (and Elrond's future wife) Celebran. So keep that in mind before you start contemplating the meaning of Annatar's appearance.

The first trailer for Rings of Power season 2 also had plenty of foreboding warnings about Sauron, who returned to the land during the events of the season 1 finale. You can dive into the first trailer's biggest secrets with our Rings of Power season 2 trailer Easter eggs guide.

Addressing his exit, Mawle wrote on Twitter: "I loved my time exploring Middle-earth and diving into Tolkien's mythology. I'm so honored that the character was liked. He cared deeply about telling you his story. Though as an actor it remains my wish, my job description, to explore new characters and worlds. Wishing all the best to cast and crew for S2, I'll be cheering you on from the sidelines."

The trail of the Harfoots may go cold, however. Nori (Markella Kavenagh) has set off with The Stranger/Gandalf (Daniel Weyman) and has left her family and friends behind. They may reconnect one day, but the attention will surely be focused on the next step in the pair's quest. The trailer didn't feature the Hartfoots either, which suggests they won't all return for season 2.

Over in Numenor, there's suddenly room at the top. Miriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) will be mourning the death of her father and coming to terms with her own loss. Elendil (Lloyd Owen) could remain by her side and may have to stave off attention from Pharazon (Trystan Gravelle).

As of writing, there are multiple new characters joining the show. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cirdan "one of the wisest and oldest of the elves" will be cast in the new season. In fact, an unnamed actor has been cast, we just don't know who it is yet.

On top of that, we've got news that three actors will appear in "recurring" roles. Ciaran Hinds (Game of Thrones), Rory Kinnear (James Bond), and Tanya Moodie (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker) have been confirmed to join the swelling cast. Kinnear will be playing Tom Bombadil, the jaunty mystical wanderer who counts among one of Tolkien's oddest creations. Let's hope he's wearing yellow boots.

"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."

Giving Total Film some exclusive insight, the showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay also teased a little more of what's on the horizon. "We like to say that Season 1 was primarily about our heroes," they told us. "But Season 2 is all about the villains."

And don't forget about those titular rings. Those three Rings of Power may be out of his grasp, though they are certainly items of interest for Sauron should he find himself in conflict with Galadriel again.

One thing that's for sure, though, is that season 2 is going to have an even bigger scope than season 1. "We've never done anything like this. So the whole production model, how to produce a show like this, the scale work, all that were things that we needed to learn for the first time in the process of making the show," Vernon Sanders, Head of Global TV for Amazon Studios, told Deadline.

"We are going to be faster. We are going to be able to put more money on screen, just in terms of the scale and scope of what we're doing now that we know how to do it. And I also think the pace of our story is going to increase in part because the story is demanding that now that everyone's been established, the stakes are established, that we're going to watch some characters in some lands go to war."

Disa star Sophia Nomvete also gave a tease about season 2 at the Deadline Contenders TV panel. Speaking about the big Sauron reveal, she explained they'll be tackling "how does every single world navigate his time, his reign and his force? And it is absolutely mind-blowing."

Whatever comes to pass, don't expect the story (which is set in the Second Age of Middle-earth) to bump into the events in The Lord of the Rings, nor Peter Jackson's movie trilogy. We're still some way off that. The Rings of Power is, and always will be, a prequel set well before the likes of Aragorn and Frodo enter Middle-earth.

However, saying that, the series does need to correct some of its choices from season 1 in season 2 if it wants to keep its prequel status. For instance, without the introduction of Celeborn (Galadriel's husband throughout the First and Second Age; and Arwen's grandfather in The Lord of the Rings movies), we are truly breaking canon and discarding Tolkien's plot. So, hopefully, he will appear in the story this season and isn't dead as season one claimed he may be.