(NEXSTAR) — Just two years shy of its first premiere, Amazon MGM Studios’ “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” is back for a second season — and things in Middle-Earth are getting dark. The series, based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s works, returns August 29.
WARNING: Spoilers ahead for both last season and the first few new episodes.
Following season one‘s reveal that Halbrand, the heroic new friend of Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), is actually the Dark Lord Sauron back in physical form, season two begins with a glimpse of how Sauron became “Halbrand” and plotted his return to the newly created realm of Mordor.
Via flashback, we learn that centuries earlier, Sauron (Charles Vickers) was nearly crowned by the Orcs as their new leader. Unfortunately the Dark Lord’s appeal to the Orcs (paraphrasing: “If you don’t submit your loyalty to me, I will kill you”) isn’t popular and the would-be evil overlord is quickly killed by the army, led by Adar (Sam Hazeldine).
Or so they think.
What remains of Sauron’s dark energy — visualized as a blob of black goo — escapes through cracks in the ground, pooling into a poisonous bog and swallowing up living creatures until it’s strong enough for a proper return.
Elsewhere, we find our cast of characters dealing with fallout from their decisions last season.
Galadriel’s influence among the elves is weakened after Sauron’s big reveal and she must now combat distrust in her judgement. Though she’s ready to track down Elven-smith Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) before he can make any more Rings, the High Elven King Gil-galad (Benjamin Walker) doubts her ability to lead the search, demotes her and places half-elf Elrond (Robert Aramayo) in charge. Given Elrond and Galadriel’s friendship recently dissolved over disagreements about the Rings — and Elrond’s disappointment at Galadriel for wearing one — this new working relationship promises to be tense.
Meanwhile, dwarf prince Durin (Owain Arthur) and wife Disa (Sophia Nomvete) are figuring out their new reality. After a major rift between the prince and the king ended with the prince being disowned and disinherited, we find Durin and Disa attempt to regain their footing by exchanging their stores of the mystical metal mithril with the Elves for help restoring the dwarf kingdom of Khazad-dûm.
Unfortunately for everyone, the elves’ recent interest in making more Rings is motivated by none other than Sauron, in disguise again. When news of the Rings’s success in the elven capital of Lindon reaches the elven city of Eregion, Celebrimbor is frustrated that the elites in Lindon haven’t even reached out to him to praise his creations.
But a new arrival in Eregion cheers up the forgotten metal worker. When the venerable demigod Annatar, a heavenly being known as “the Lord of Gifts,” appears to Celebrimbor, the Elven-smith becomes convinced it’s his destiny to create more Rings. Obviously we know “Annatar” is just Sauron’s latest disguise, but Celebrimbor, eager to make a mark, is only too eager to believe the fantastic story.
These are all only the Ring-related plot lines.
There’s also the journey of The Stranger (Daniel Weyman), joined by Harfoots Nori and Poppy, to the East — where he hopes to find the answers to his mysterious existence. Meanwhile, back in the island kingdom of Númenor, there’s plenty of palace intrigue and politics, as Queen Regent Míriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), is preparing for a controversial ascension to the throne.
And that’s not even all the plot at play.
Reader, please believe “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” is not an easy show to recap. We haven’t even mentioned the appearance of a Middle-Earth sea monster!
If comments by show runners are any indication, Middle-Earth is about to go large this season. In addition to the promise of even more creatures and environments, viewers will also see one of Tolkien’s most famous battles, the Siege of Eregion, for the very first time.
“We’re always trying to raise our game,” says show-runner J.D. Payne. “Despite how ambitious season one was, season two is even more so. We’ve built so much more; we’ve shot so much more. Our hope is, it just keeps getting richer and richer.”
While season one of “The Rings of Power” was well-crafted and enjoyable, the series’ maiden voyage sometimes felt bogged down by table setting. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth is massive and so is its history, and dropping down into a specific time and place in it was never going to be simple. That said, viewers will be thrilled by how much the first few episodes of season two jumpstart the rest of what’s to come.
Now that many of the characters and relationships are familiar, viewers might find it easier to be swept up in the show’s epic narrative. While watching “The Rings of Power,” it’s difficult not to be impressed by the show’s scope and quality. Aside from HBO’s “House of the Dragon,” few other TV dramas get the budget or care required to make stories of this size work. While the first season was successful, “The Rings of Power” hasn’t yet infiltrated culture in the same way Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” films did.
Season two might just change that.
The first three episodes of “The Rings of Power” will be available to stream starting Thursday, with the remainder of the season’s eight episodes releasing weekly thereafter.
Score: A.