‘The Rings of Power’ season 2: everything we know so far about the new installment of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ on Amazon

The reception has not been as unanimously positive as its direct HBO competitor, ‘The House of the Dragon’, and the controversial fan reaction to this adaptation has given rise to some bittersweet moments, but it is clear that the first season of Amazon’s take on Tolkien’s work was one of the biggest fantasy productions of 2022. With the plots wide open and many of your early questions already answered, it’s time to look at season two. This is all we know about her so far.

When does season 2 of ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ premiere?

Although Amazon has already expressed its desire that it not pass too long between seasons, at the moment there is no announcement of a specific date. Some optimistic calculations point to 2024, taking into account that the first season went through no less than two years of post-production (with a pandemic in between, yes).

Are there trailers or images of the second season?

At the moment Amazon has not shown any trailer for the second season.

Who stars in it?

Many of the characters seen in the first season will return, so we can almost guarantee Morfydd Clark (Galadriel), Robert Aramayo (Elrond), Markella Kavenagh (Nori), Ismael Cruz Cordova (Arondir), Charlie Vickers (Halbrand/Sauron ), Daniel Weyman (The Stranger, who we will possibly know in the second season if he is Gandalf or not), Lloyd Owen (Elendil), Maxim Baldry (Isildur), Owain Arthur (Durin IV), Charles Edwards (Celebrimbor), Cynthia Addai -Robinson (Miriel), Ema Horvath (Eärien), Benjamin Walker (Gil-galad), Sophia Nomvete (Disa) and Peter Mullan (Durin III).

A noticeable change will be that of Joseph Mawle (Adar), who leaves the series without giving reasons too specific for it. He replaces Sam Hazeldine (‘Peaky Blinders’). And there will be signings, of course: some of the confirmed names are Gabriel Akuwudike, Yasen ‘Zates’ Atour, Ben Daniels, Amelia Kenworthy, Nia Towle, Nicholas Woodeson, Oliver Alvin-Wilson, Stuart Bowman, Gavi Singh Chera, William Chubb, Kevin Eldon , Will Keen, Selina Lo and Calam Lynch.

What is the second season about?

Everything indicates that it will continue in a linear way from the point where the first season left off. We will know the consequences of the death of the king of Numeror and the discovery of the palantir that Eärien made. We will also see, possibly, how the dwarves face the balrog that has just awakened in Moria, and of course, everything related to the rings: the elves have forged three, but there are still those that they create for other races and, of course, the Ring Only.

Sauron will probably be the focus of much of the attention (and also, perhaps, the construction of Barad-dûr, the dark tower), especially now that he is on his way to Mount Doom and can move freely in Middle-earth. Of the says Patrick McKay that “Sauron can now just be Sauron. Like Tony Soprano or Walter White. He’s evil, but complexly evil. We felt that if we did that in the first season, it would dwarf everything else. So the first season is like ‘Batman Begins,’ and ‘The Dark Knight’ is the next movie.”

Where was season 2 of ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ filmed?

This new season has not been filmed in New Zealand, like the first, but in the United Kingdom, in a process that started even before the broadcast of the first ended. It is due to the opening of some studios near London where Amazon will record, from now on, many of its series. All episodes will be run by women.

Will the focus or style change from the first season?

At Amazon they are aware that the first season has not been received unanimously positively. and although affirm that the second season is already written and there is a very clear road plan, they also ensure that “the narrative grows and goes in different directions. It is based on what we learned in the first season on our own. There are things that seemed to really work and others that didn’t work as well as we hoped. The storytelling will be different next time, not because of the response to the show, but because of the experience of making the show for us.”