When The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power first premiered almost two years ago, the prequel series from showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, largely adapted from J.R.R. Tolkien‘s appendices for his Lord of the Rings novels, felt poised to expand on the epic world of Middle-earth in ways that even Peter Jackson‘s wildly successful film adaptations might have missed out on. To an extent, it succeeded, introducing viewers to younger versions of characters like Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) and Elrond (Robert Aramayo), who were still a far cry from the stately Elven Lord and Lady they would inevitably become. Kingdoms that had not yet met with particularly tragic fates, such as the island of Númenor and the Dwarven realm of Khazad-dûm, were brought to life in their heyday of prominence, even if their ultimate destinies were carefully foreshadowed. Composer Bear McCreary‘s music for the series adopted all the best themes from Howard Shore‘s original film scores — a sweeping, powerful thread that undoubtedly continues through the upcoming second season.
Yet, while many of The Rings of Power‘s best qualities remain front and center in Season 2, so too do some of its greatest weaknesses. The series’ large ensemble cast expands to cover even more physical ground in Middle-earth this season, but the same can’t necessarily be said for the overall plot, which often suffers from disjointed pacing. Some elements, like Sauron’s (Charlie Vickers) infiltration of Eregion, as well as his calculated manipulation of the Elven-smith Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards), are spooled out as effectively as they should be ahead of the inevitably devastating climax. The terrible threat that lurks beneath the mines of Khazad-dûm proves less dangerous than the rising tensions between Prince Durin (Owain Arthur) and his father (Peter Mullen), as the latter falls into madness thanks to the gift of a shiny new Ring of Power. Outside of storylines pertaining to elves or dwarves, however, Season 2 feels largely stuck in place, with many characters either given very little to do from the beginning or shuffled over to the bigger plot so they can participate in a chunk of the overall action.
What Is ‘The Rings of Power’ Season 2 About?
At the end of Season 1, we — along with Galadriel — are privy to the terrible revelation that her greatest enemy, Sauron, just so also happens to be her newest ally, Halbrand. It was a twist that may have been easy to decipher heading into the back half of the season, but that didn’t make it any less devastating. Even armed with this new information. However, Galadriel hesitates to disclose the extent of Sauron’s manipulation to her fellow Elves; simultaneously, Celebrimbor proceeds with forging the first three Rings of Power for their use, completing them in the closing moments of the finale.
When Season 2 begins, it’s clear that Elrond believes the Rings should be destroyed. By then, it’s too late; Gil-galad, High King of the Elves (Benjamin Walker), has already consented to their use, and the result is a schism between Elrond and Galadriel, each of whom is taking up a different side on how to wield the Rings. While Elrond chooses to seek counsel on the issue from Círdan (a perfectly-cast Ben Daniels), an expert shipbuilder and Master of the Gray Havens, Galadriel internally wrestles with the knowledge that she could have a closer tether to her biggest foe, courtesy of the Rings. Little does she realize that Sauron has already found a means of ingratiating himself with Celebrimbor — now under a different name and guise — with the intention of forging even more Rings where those came from.
Beneath the mountains of Khazad-dûm, Durin is grappling with his new normal now that he’s been disowned by his father, the king. Not only has he been shut out from weighing in on important matters, but his pursestrings have essentially been cut, meaning that he and his wife Disa (Sophia Nomvete) can’t spend as judiciously as they were once able to. Yet Durin’s exile from royal duties doesn’t temper his desire to help his kingdom thrive, even if he’s starting to harbor an increased skepticism about whether a new gift from the Elves could do more harm than good. Meanwhile, the intrepid pair of Harfoots, Nori Brandyfoot (Markella Kavenaugh) and Poppy Proudfellow (Megan Richards), have accompanied their friend, the Stranger (Daniel Weyman), to the mysterious lands of Rhûn with the hope of helping him to learn the true extent of his power as a wizard and maybe even uncovering his real identity in the process.
On the ill-fated island of Númenór, Pharazôn (Trystan Gravelle) continues his bid for total power, hoping to unseat Queen Míriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) as she returns from lending the kingdom’s forces to the Southlands. Their political enmity makes foes of even family members, as Elendil (Lloyd Owen) and his daughter, Eärien (Ema Horvath), find themselves on opposing sides of the rising conflict while individually grieving their shared loss. In the aftermath of Orodruin’s devastating eruption, the survivors, including Theo (Tyroe Muhafdin) and Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova), make their way to Pelargir in an attempt to establish a new home for themselves, but many dangers still loom beyond the colony’s walls.
‘The Rings of Power’ Season 2 Prioritizes Some Characters at Cost to Others
If reading through all of that leaves you with the sense that there are a lot of storylines for The Rings of Power Season 2 to juggle across eight episodes (all of which were provided for review), you’re not alone. In fact, while there would be no possible way for the scope and scale of this series — which remains visually impressive, to its credit — to be compressed into a two or even three-hour-long movie, the length of the season overall doesn’t necessarily work in the show’s favor. The biggest and most unfortunate consequence of The Rings of Power having such a large ensemble is that some characters are ultimately going to draw the short straw, and two seasons in, that symptom has become even more obvious.
Some plotlines, like the aforementioned crafting of the Rings of Power and the sack of Eregion, both of which have been heavily referenced in trailers, feel perfectly structured for a season of this length. Sauron-as-Annatar’s slow and sinister deception of Celebrimbor becomes one of the best, albeit most tragic, arcs overall, as Vickers steps into playing a full-throated villain with nothing short of relish, while Edwards inhabits an ill-fated craftsman whose vanity and ambition earn the better of him. Characters like Galadriel and Elrond also become better defined through elements of conflict, self-doubt, and way more opportunities for action, as their opposing views on what to do with the Rings of Power test their long-enduring friendship, and Clark and Aramayo, in turn, deliver their best performances in the series to date. As the Orcs begin their own march to war, led by their corrupted Elven leader Adar (Sam Hazeldine, taking over from Joseph Mawle), their humanity and dimensions remain even more fleshed-out than the Jackson films, leading to the question of whether redemption is possible for those who have lived in darkness for so long. On the Dwarven side of things, as Durin becomes torn between his loyalty to the kingdom and his abiding devotion to his father, Arthur has even more heavy emotional lifting to do rather than simply playing the series’ funnyman, but the results are riveting to watch.
Yet other characters, by comparison, seem to be moving in slow motion, remaining in place for as long as the story needs them to while those at the center of the bigger conflicts charge forward. As the Harfoots and the Stranger wander through Rhûn, the plot becomes as plodding and circuitous as the desert itself. Not even the long-awaited addition of a fan-favorite character from Tolkien’s legendarium, Tom Bombadil (Rory Kinnear), can successfully inject the right amount of whimsy — and Kinnear’s performance, overall, feels almost a little too restrained in terms of its eccentricity, although he does make an effective foil to Weyman’s stoic Stranger in more than one episode. Veteran actor Ciarán Hinds, as an unnamed Dark Wizard, is set up to have intriguing potential as a formidable foe, but the season doesn’t grant him enough opportunities to become positioned as a real threat.
Moreover, characters who were first introduced last season have now effectively become afterthoughts; Theo, who had a much bigger role to play in Season 1 after finding the sword that turned the Southlands into Mordor, is reduced to only a handful of scenes this time around, one of which sets up the show’s formal introduction of the Ents but doesn’t progress his story in any meaningful way. Arondir, by contrast, gets pulled into the greater conflict at Eregion, which gives Córdova the chance to deliver several impressive stunts but sacrifices an opportunity to develop the character’s most complicated relationship. The Númenórean element, unfortunately, suffers the most in being isolated from the rest of the season, with the story itself ironically unspooling on an island removed from everything else going on. Although the element of a forbidden romance between Elendil and Míriel infuses some welcome tension and adds a layer of complexity to Elendil’s enduring devotion to his queen, the rest of the characters aren’t quite compelling enough to stand on their own, with Pharazon’s thirst for power only teased as being driven by a stronger evil.
‘The Rings of Power’ Season 2 Shines Most Through Middle-earth’s Darkness
One of The Rings of Power Season 1’s most permeating themes revolved around the looming darkness that threatened our heroes, and Season 2 wastes little time in pronouncing that the darkness has arrived. Nowhere is that better exemplified than in its opening sequence, which acts as a prologue of sorts, introducing us to Sauron in his previous form (played by Jack Lowden) and playing through the timeline of events that culminates with his new Halbrand identity ending up on the same raft as Galadriel back in Season 1. Not only does this establish just how deeply-rooted Sauron’s evil runs, but it also hints at the true extent of his power — as well as the chilling possibility that even something as seemingly finite as death may not be enough to truly extinguish him.
Now that the truth about Sauron’s return has been revealed to viewers, as well as select characters, Season 2’s early episodes also feel most akin to a horror film, putting the audience in a position of having to helplessly watch as the franchise’s greatest evil lurks in plain sight, speaking to characters who have no knowledge of his origins or his awful intentions. As the plot crescendoes toward a major battle at Eregion, the series embraces the elements of a war movie, with the resulting action sequences — taking place across the three final episodes — on par with that of Helm’s Deep or the Pelennor Fields in terms of scale and devastation.
That isn’t to say there aren’t glimmers of hope that emerge throughout, as well as some very important character reveals — this is a story inspired by Tolkien’s works, after all, and, as we’re reminded more than once, darkness does ultimately flee in the face of light. But as The Rings of Power Season 2 confirms, sometimes things do become darkest right before the dawn. The only question is: who will survive to see it? With plans for a potential Season 3 already in development, it’s evident that the team behind the series understands the core message of the works they’re adapting and what should always conquer in the end. The formula for future success, however, may lie in following fewer characters on their adventures and scaling down in the process, rather than continually trying to go bigger and better than anything that has come before.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 premieres with its first three episodes on August 29, exclusively on Prime Video.
Watch on Prime Video
