The first Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power Season 2 trailer just landed this morning along with a reveal of the second season’s release date.
Amazon’s epic fantasy will return just a couple weeks after HBO’s second season of House Of The Dragon wraps up this summer. The first episode(s) will drop on August 29th, though it’s unclear if we’re getting another two-part premiere or how the release schedule will work this time around.
Here’s the trailer:
“He worms his way inside your mind,” a voice narrates over the trailer, “and the rest of him slithers in.”
We see Celebrimbor shielding his eyes as a figure emerges from a great light. “I think he has been here,” a woman’s voice (Galadriel’?) says over tense music. “I think he has been here among us all along.”
We then see Halbrand/Sauron in his elven form—I assume Annatar—though it’s pretty clearly him, smirking at how easy it is to trick these foolish elves:
I have mixed feelings about this trailer. On the one hand, had I never seen the first season I might be excited by this, the same way I was excited about Season 1. Having seen the show’s freshman effort, however, I come at this far more cynically. For instance, given that Halbrand was exposed at the end of last season, how does Halbrand with pointy ears and a new hairdo trick anyone? I suppose he’s shifting his face as well, and then unshifting it for the audience in shots like this one. It’s just a bit confusing in the trailer since we see this version of him first (the shot at the top looks like a different face, right?) It’s still a little weird that they’re showing all of this out the gates in the very first trailer.
I’m also confused by the timeline of events, as I was during Season 1 when he helped them bang out those three elven rings right at the get-to, when I’m pretty sure Annatar helped make all the other rings first, then the elves made the three without his knowledge while he made the One without their knowledge. The show has put the cart before the horse, then smashed it and let the horse run free.
There are some positive bits:
- There’s not a Harfoot in sight, unless that’s one blowing in the dust and wind when Gandalf hits his staff on the ground (likely shouting “I’m good!” at the same time). The fewer Harfoots the better, which is a shame given how much I love Hobbits. How do you ruin Hobbits?
- There seems to be more of an emphasis on Sauron and maybe a little less of one on Galadriel. Hard to say from a trailer, but that would be just fine.
- Lots of action, explosions, cool magic, etc. all of which has the potential to be fun if it’s done right. The thing that ruined the action in the first season was all the implausible nonsense, fast-travel, wild conveniences and so forth. A good story makes good action much better.
- Sauron/Annatar didn’t just teach the elves about ring-making, he also taught them that it’s okay for male elves to grow their hair long.
Finally, here’s our first look at the new Adar in Season 2:
I guess they’re pulling off the recasting of Joseph Mawle (the best actor in the entire first season) to Samuel Hazeldine by making him look more orc-like. Perhaps after Morrrdorrr was created from the Rube Goldberg Volcano, he underwent a change.
Obviously, I’ll withhold judgment on this new season until I’ve watched. I hope it’s a major improvement over season 1, but I’m going to keep my expectations very much in check. What do you think, dear readers? Anything pop out at you? Let me know on Twitter and Facebook.
