‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ Season 2 Is a More Confident Epic That Keeps the Scale Magnificent

Alci Rengifo

Amazon’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” returns for a second season that looks too big for any small screen. This show should be watched on the largest HDTV money can buy, or in someone’s private theater. Its first season already made history solely on scale, costing $1 billion and looking like it. A curious backlash followed from strange corners. J.R.R. Tolkien fans were disappointed with the prequel narrative and even some racist sectors took issue with the inclusion of characters of color. Still, this series was enough of a hit to justify another massive check for a second mammoth serving. Season two has more confidence, despite the size of the production still overshadowing the story.

We are back in Middle-earth, where Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) is processing all the happened last season with Halbrand (Charlie Vickers), the companion who turned out to be the dark lord Sauron. Now she has to face the other Elves and high king Gil-galad (Benjamin Walker) to warn them of Sauron’s return. Galadriel has also inspired deep suspicions in Elrond (Robert Aramayo), who wonders how much of an influence Sauron has left in the Elf warrior. What’s truly pressing is that 2 of the 20 great rings of power have been found. As for the dark one, Sauron (still Vickers) goes on his own odyssey when he’s betrayed and literally stabbed in the back by his initial band of Orcs. After escaping and taking on a new form, Sauron arrives in Eregion. His target is a castle ruled over by Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards), who Sauron will need to help him make the Rings of Power. Disguised as an Elf, he gains Celebrimbor’s confidence. 

“The Rings of Power” is surely the densest show on streaming. Nonfans will be left lost all around Middle-earth with all of the name dropping, references and archaic codes thrown around. You have to admire Amazon still swinging big with a show only the diehards will reverently follow. One suspects the trick is now how any newcomer would still be taken aback by the sheer look of the undertaking. Showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay are basically aping the look of Peter Jackson’s classic film trilogy based on the original Tolkien novels. You want to pause continuously just to drink in every detail of the series’ massive, flaming volcanoes, lush fantasy woods, vast castles or underground worlds. A character dips a hand into a river and everything from the pebbles to colorful fish is as intricately imagined as a master painting. Sauron gets on a ship, has a nice conversation with an elderly passenger telling him about the need to live without fear, when a massive sea monster barges in to demolish the vessel. The moment looks like something worthy of an IMAX summer movie. This can easily become an exhaustive show to watch, since you’re getting this scale for an hour with each episode. No one should be surprised that shooting took eight months in Windsor, England, with a crew that sounds like the equivalent of an army on the march.

So desperate is the series to show us grandiosity that the story on its own ebbs and flows. Sometimes it drags before becoming very engaging. What it has all around is a clearer, slightly leaner feel than the overstuffed first season. Sauron is more of the key focus as he continues on his quest, spending much of the season manipulating Celebrimbor after making a fiery apparition, proclaiming himself the “lord of the rings.” This storyline grows with eerie psychological depth as the friendship starts to grow more and more toxic. Galadriel is also given new layers. Having been left marked by her own experience with the dark lord, she has to work harder to prove to the Elves they can still trust her. Her scenes with Elrond are welcome come downs from the big chases and battles. Elrond clearly wants to trust Galadriel and journey with her to find their nemesis, but his suspicions are compounded by also having come in contact with the rings. Anyone who comes near those things feels the temptation to take the power. 

There is still too much going on in every corner of this story. The narrative shifts from Sauron to other places where a character like the Stranger (Daniel Weyman) is still stuck wandering a vast, desert wasteland with Harfoot companions Nori (Markella Kavenagh) and Poppy (Megan Richards). They soon come across an ominous, wizard-like figure (Ciarán Hinds) who threatens to entrap the trio with his minions. Over in the dwarven kingdom of Khazad-dûm, volcanic tremors are forcing Durin IV (Owain Arthur) and Disa (Sophia Nomvete) to face King Durin III (Peter Mullan) and make him aware of looming threats he prefers to ignore. “Rings” fans know it’s all slowly going to connect back to Sauron, the real source of all the dark premonitions that Middle-earth is changing. Durin IV and Disa give the series its romantic charm. They are a steadfast couple though Disa has to push for Durin IV to get bold and speak directly to his brother. Last season they were star-crossed lovers, the writing refreshingly shows them growing into a real partnership and unit. 

When “The Rings of Power” premiered in 2022, its size grabbed all the attention but it suffered when being compared to the fantasy shows it was following. The “Game of Thrones” spinoff, “House of the Dragon,” had just premiered on HBO. Now the currents have shifted. Fantasy shows are on the wane, the final hours of the second season of “House of the Dragon” are generally considered a bland disappointment. “The Rings of Power” suddenly looks better with its gorgeous photography and swashbuckling style. It can still afford to tone down the various storylines just a bit more. Overwriting is evident when we walk away from the series remembering the sights more than the actual narrative. The team involved is clearly in love with this genre and history may record “The Rings of Power” as the biggest fan fiction project of all time. Should we complain about such a grand enterprise? When so much streamer product feels rehashed and visionless, “The Rings of Power” at least dares to make wondrous sights with all that Amazon money.

“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” season two begins streaming Aug. 29 with new episodes premiering Thursdays on Prime Video.