August 29 will see the long-awaited television premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 on Amazon Prime Video. There are ways to catch up on "Last time in Middle-earth," such as signing in to Prime Video or watching it free on Samsung TV Plus. If you haven't watched it since 2022 or want to dive into Season 2 sight unseen, here's a quick refresher on what has gone before. Needless to say, this article will contain many spoilers.
"Three rings for the elf kings under the sky"
"Three rings for the elven kings under the sky"
Where to start with the immortals? We have Galadriel, the commander of the northern armies who was so driven to eradicate Sauron that she only stopped when her army refused to follow her further. Offered eternal rest in Valinor, she turned back to finish her work and continue the hunt. Her arc is driven by the need to find the enemy that she still believes is alive.
Meanwhile, the high king Gil-Galad has declared days of peace and turned the work of Elrond, an advisor, to aiding the greatest of elven smiths. Celebrimbor, the smith in question, is attempting a work that must be completed by spring
This timeline is slightly explained by the fading of elven influence. A sacred tree begins to rot, but its leaves are restored to health when brought into proximity to the newly-discoveed ore mithril. Suddenly, it is very important to the elves that they make peace with the dwarves and use the mithril to restore their power in Middle-earth.
The eighth episode culminates with Celebrimbor using mithril and the dagger carried by Galadriel in memory of her brother to create three rings. As Celebrimbor and Galadriel say, "One will only corrupt, two will always divide. With three, there is balance."
Khazad-Dum
One of the best things about the series is that we get to see the dwarves at their most industrious. In The Lord of the Rings, the Mines of Moria are filled with the dead and become the site of a climactic battle. In The Rings of Power, Moria is able to light its chambers with reflective mirrors and things grow within its halls. New veins of ore are being discovered. When lives are in peril, dwarves can cry out to the mountains and persuade them to have mercy. We even see Prince Durin IV and his wife Disa raising children.
Not all is well. The mithril that could save the elves is a closely-guarded secret that the king fears being discovered by the wrong people. They discover a wondrous source of the material and are able to delve deeper, but it comes at a cost. It is said that the dwarves awakened something in Moria with this greed and we see that with the return of a balrog of Morgoth.
"Where the shadows lie"
Of all the storylines, the one unfolding in the Southlands is the most convoluted. As the season opens, an elf keeps watch over a community as he has for lifetimes of Men. While the high king declares the war against Sauron is over, there are troubling signs from the east. A cow is infected, a village is burned, and channels are being dug by slaves under the whip of orcs.
A mysterious man called Adar is over the orcs and some of the Southlanders mistake him for Sauron. When he is captured, he is revealed to be one of the first Uruk, a corrupted elf. He is at the head of the army that attacks the people living in the Southlands.
We can't go further without mentioning Bronwyn. A single mother and healer, she is fiercely protective of her son Theo. The young man finds a sword hilt that whispers to him and grows in length when drawing his blood. He is not the only one in the village who has felt its call, but he is the one to come clean to the elves and attempt to hand it over before it can fall into enemy hands. It as this point, however, that he unwraps the hilt to find that it has been stolen.
And here is where the long game pays off. The elderly man who also felt drawn to the object uses it as a key to unleash great tides of water. These rush through the channels dug under the directions of Adar. They reach a vast underground cavern of magma and the mountain that has been a nice background for most of the season is suddenly transformed by a massive volcanic eruption. The people of the Southlands, who were just saved by the army of Numenor, are in the path of everything Mount Doom has to throw at them. Lives are lost, homes are obliterated, and Adar gloats as he renames the area Mordor.
Sauron the Deceiver
It's now only appropriate that we discuss the megalomaniacal oliphaunt in the room. Throughout the season, there have been clear signs that the servant of Morgoth is alive and regaining his strength and three times do we hear someone identified as Sauron. Twice, they're wrong.
Lord Halbrand first appears as a stranded seafarer who helps Galadriel return from the Sundering Seas. When they are rescued and brought to Numenor, he admits to being from the Southlands and Galadriel urges him to claim the nobility that she believes he is part of. He has more interest in crafting and smithing, but agrees to join Galadriel in riding to the aid of the Southlanders. Bronwyn recognizes the sigil he carries and desperately asks if he is the king they have been waiting for. He confirms her suspicions and is hailed by those about to be wiped out by pyroclastic flow.
It is in the final episode that he is brought to Eregion for healing by the elves. He takes an alarming interest in the work of Celebrimbor and begins making recommendations on how to work with mithril. When Celebrimbor calls it an "intriguing suggestion," Halbrand instructs, "call it a gift." This was a sign to those who know Sauron by a name translating to "Lord of Gifts" that we had finally found our dark lord. Indeed, Galadriel confronts him with the broken line of kings and experiences a series of visions in which she realizes that this Southlander is the enemy she's hunted.
"This wandering day"
No Tolkien-inspired story would be complete without the little folk. After all, his first work in the Legendarium began with, "In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit." This is the age before the hobbits, though, and instead we have the Harfoots. A benevolent, nomadic people who are shy around other races, they are straight out of the prologue to The Lord of the Rings. One night, the unfortunately adventurous Nori Brandyfoot and her best friend, Poppy Proudfellow, come across a naked giant in a flaming crater.
He is wild, incoherent, and sometimes inadvertently dangerous. It takes time for him to rein in his powers and become a small part of the community. When three servants of Sauron misidentify him as their master, he retaliates and drives them off with his powers of good. After realizing that he is an Istar, or wizard, he resolves to go east and learn more about his purpose. He is joined by Nori.
We still have no positive identification for this man, but he is a gray-clad wizard who quotes Gandalf. If he is not the gentle mentor from The Hobbit, Season 2 has some explaining to do.
Numenor
If any name is recognizable to fans of The Lord of the Rings movies, it might be Isildur. This is the son of the king, who took up his father's broken sword and cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand, then refused to destroy it and claimed it for his own. The Ring is Isildur's Bane. Aragorn is Isildur's descendant. There would be no need for a Fellowship of the Ring if not for his decisions.
For now, Isildur is a cheeky young man who has yet to hit his stride. He nearly causes disaster as a trainee in Numenor's fleet. He is allowed to join the armies of Numenor but is assigned to swab the decks by the horses. He proves his worth in battle and reconciles with the father who has frequently doubted him. This is not the man ready to defeat Sauron, but we see the seeds of his destiny in season 1.
Elsewhere on Numenor, the king is ill and the Queen Regent has visions of a great wave swallowing the city. As Numenor is the realm drowned in the future of this story, their thriving culture is heartbreaking. Chancellor Pharazon balks at the involvement of elves, which foreshadows his hubris in sailing west and bringing about the destruction of Numenor. The season ends with Queen Miriel, blinded in the eruption of Orodruin, unable to see that black sails have been raised to mark the death of the king and the transfer of power.
The Rings of Power can be streamed until August 28 on Samsung TV Plus and the new season will be available the following day on Prime Video.