The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 premieres on Prime Video on August 29!
As is the case with most big-budget television shows nowadays, it has been two years since we left off with Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Perhaps just enough time for its fans to miss it, and for its dejectors to forget what they disliked about it. In those two years, the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes occurred, halting all major Hollywood productions. However, just like House of the Dragon Season 2, JD Payne & Patrick McKay’s Tolkien adaptation was permitted to film uninterrupted in the UK. Whereas the writer’s absence on-set had a detrimental impact on HBO’s aforementioned fantasy series, The Rings of Power Season 2 has seemed to escape that fate. Don’t get your hopes up, though. While the story this season itself feels complete and true to the showrunners’ shared creative vision, the question remains whether or not it was a story worth telling.
In the final moments of The Rings of Power Season 1, Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) was aghast to learn that her mortal companion and friend, Halbrand (Charlie Vickers), was none other than the Dark Lord Sauron. To the west in Númenor, Eldendil (Lloyd Owen) and Tar-Míriel (Cynthia Addai-Robins) returned home after being soundly defeated in Middle-Earth to find that the king had died. In the east, the Harfoot Nori Brandyfoot (Markella Kavenagh) helped save her friend, only known as “The Stranger” (Daniel Weyman), from a cult of mystics and together, they set out to Rhûn, seeking to find his destiny. Finally, in Khazad-dûm, the Dwarf Prince Durin IV (Owain Arthur) and Princess Disa (Sophia Nomvete) are unaware that their ambitious mining of Mithril has awoken their doom, a Balrog, under their mountain.
Of these storylines, perhaps the best is Eregion’s — the Elven realm under Celebrimbor’s authority. It’s where 3 of the titular “rings of power” were forged for the Elves in season one, and where the 7 rings for Dwarves and 9 for Men will be forged in this second season. Eregion’s storyline is one of great importance and tragedy, and for what material the writers were able to work with, it’s pretty good. Charlie Vickers does some incredibly slick work as Sauron, earning his character’s renown as the ultimate deceiver as he manipulates Charles Edwards’ Celebrimbor to his own ends.
There are some significant issues with the remaining storylines this season. Particularly with the Harfoots in Rhûn — just like last season — their and The Stranger’s inclusion really drags The Rings of Power down. The actors giving their absolute best cannot save this whole plot from feeling totally superfluous. It’s filler in the truest sense of the word. Not just because none of these specific events are rooted in Tolkien’s legendarium but because very little of what is happening in Rhûn impacts the rest of the series. Every time The Rings of Power Season 2 cuts to Nori and The Stranger, the audience is pulled out of the show. Not even the inclusion of Rory Kinnear’s Tom Bombadil, a fan-favorite character from LOTR lore, is enough to make it interesting.
It was reported that this latest season’s budget was reduced from the first season’s purported billion-dollar price tag. To great surprise, this budget decrease is not reflected on screen. The visuals are still gorgeous and vivid, offering fans a nice change of pace from the more subdued look of other fantasy shows such as HBO’s House of the Dragon or Netflix’s The Witcher. Practical sets and costumes are meticulously designed and allow for a more immersive fantasy experience, with the battle sequence at Eregion teased in the trailers being the perfect culmination of the show’s strengths. This, of course, includes Bear McCreary’s score, his heavy metal-inspired theme “The Last Ballad of Damrod” being particularly memorable.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: When does The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 premiere?
A: The second season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power premieres on Prime Video on August 29.
Q: Who are the main cast members of The Rings of Power Season 2?
A: The main cast includes Morfydd Clark, Lenny Henry, Sara Zwangobani, Dylan Smith, Markella Kavenagh, Robert Aramayo, Benjamin Walker, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Nazanin Boniadi, Tyroe Muhafidin, Charles Edwards, Daniel Weyman, Owain Arthur, Charlie Vickers, Sophia Nomvete, Lloyd Owen, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Trystan Gravelle, Maxim Baldry, Ema Horvath, Sam Hazeldine, Leon Wadham, Ciarán Hinds, Tanya Moodie, Amelia Kenworthy, Yasen Atour, Nia Towle, Nicholas Woodeson, Selina Lo, Will Keen, Kevin Eldon, William Chubb, Stuart Bowman, Gavi Singh Chera, Gabriel Akuwudike, Ben Daniels, Oliver Alvin-Wilson, and Calam Lynch.
Credit: discussingfilm.net
