Prime Video’s Lord of the Rings prequel series is coming out swinging in its second season
Rings of Power Season 2 Trailer Breakdown: Hidden Details, Including Tom Bombadil, Durin’s Bane, a New Ent, Young Shelob, and More Rings of Power Season 2 Trailer Breakdown: Tom Bombadil, Durin’s Bane, New Ents, Young Shelob, and More Hidden Details
The highly anticipated trailer for The Rings of Power Season 2 has arrived, unveiled at San Diego Comic-Con and now available online. This nearly four-minute teaser promises an action-packed glimpse into the upcoming season, building excitement ahead of its late August premiere on Prime Video.
Following the mixed reception of its first season, Season 2 seems poised to align more closely with J.R.R. Tolkien’s vision of Middle-earth’s Second Age. While some creative liberties are expected, it appears that key moments from The Lord of the Rings mythology will be portrayed with greater authenticity.
Before the new season premieres, let’s dive into the trailer and uncover 14 details you might have missed, including potential explanations and theories about what’s to come in this exciting new chapter.
1. Sauron returns to Númenor?
Rings of Power Season 2 Trailer Breakdown: Tom Bombadil, Durin’s Bane, New Ents, Young Shelob, and More Hidden Details
The highly anticipated trailer for The Rings of Power Season 2 has arrived, unveiled at San Diego Comic-Con and now available online. This nearly four-minute teaser promises an action-packed glimpse into the upcoming season, building excitement ahead of its late August premiere on Prime Video.
Following the mixed reception of its first season, Season 2 seems poised to align more closely with J.R.R. Tolkien’s vision of Middle-earth’s Second Age. While some creative liberties are expected, it appears that key moments from The Lord of the Rings mythology will be portrayed with greater authenticity.
Before the new season premieres, let’s dive into the trailer and uncover 14 details you might have missed, including potential explanations and theories about what’s to come in this exciting new chapter.
2. A helmet-like crown fit for a menacing villain
Villains Take Center Stage in The Rings of Power Season 2 Trailer
The showrunners of The Rings of Power have hinted that Season 2 will focus heavily on its antagonists, and the new trailer confirms this with prominent appearances from key villains, including the fallen elf/orc army commander Adar and the ever-ominous Sauron.
At around the 0:10 mark, the trailer offers a glimpse of what appears to be an early version of Sauron’s iconic headpiece. An orc is seen holding a crown that resembles the multi-pronged helmet Sauron wears during the climactic battle in the Second Age, depicted in the prologue of The Fellowship of the Ring. This crown could be a precursor to the final version of Sauron’s helmet, possibly crafted by orc blacksmiths as a prototype. The design suggests a direct connection to the later, more elaborate headgear seen in The Lord of the Rings.
3. Attack of the Barrow-wights
New Trailer Reveals More of the Creepy Barrow-wights in The Rings of Power Season 2
The latest trailer for The Rings of Power Season 2 offers a closer look at the eerie Barrow-wights, which were only briefly glimpsed in the initial teaser. These ghostly entities, set to challenge Galadriel, Elrond, and their elven scouting party, are depicted with a chilling, spectral appearance.
Their terrifying, ethereal forms suggest that encountering these forest-dwelling horrors during a nighttime stroll would be a nightmarish experience. Fans will be hoping these dark spirits from Eriador won’t prove too formidable for our heroes.
4. Rings, rings, and more rings
Season 2 of The Rings of Power to Delve Deeper into the Creation of the Rings
Given that Amazon’s The Rings of Power is named after the iconic magical jewelry, it makes sense that the series would explore these powerful artifacts more thoroughly as it progresses. According to cast insights shared exclusively with TechRadar in October 2022, the creation of the One Ring and its counterparts will be a major focus in Season 2.
The official trailer for the upcoming season reveals several key details about the rings. We see enhanced views of the newly designed Elven Rings—Narya, Nenya, and Vilya—along with a closer look at King Durin III’s blue-gemmed ring. Additionally, Celebrimbor is shown holding up a new Ring of Power towards the end of the trailer, indicating he may be presenting it to one of Durin III’s fellow dwarf lords in an underground setting.
The crafting of these rings will involve Eregion’s Elven smiths, who are shown working under the direction of Annatar, Sauron’s elven guise. The trailer also hints at the creation of the nine Rings of Power destined for the Kings of Men, as Sauron instructs Celebrimbor to “give me the nine.” Clearly, the rings will play a central role in Season 2’s storyline, paralleling the significance of Sauron himself.
5. The Easterlings arrive…
Fans were disappointed when the Easterlings, the men from the Kingdom of Rhûn, were omitted from the Siege of Gondor in the live-action adaptation of The Return of the King. Their absence was a result of cuts made late in post-production to shorten the film’s runtime.
Fortunately, it looks like the Easterlings won’t face a similar fate in The Rings of Power Season 2. In the new trailer, particularly between the 1:30 and 1:36 marks, we catch glimpses of what appear to be early Easterlings, possibly including their leaders. One scene shows an Easterling on horseback against a sunset, another depicts an Easterling spying on Nori and The Stranger, who are in Rhûn to uncover more about The Stranger’s origins, and a final shot reveals five figures observing someone off-camera.
While it’s unclear how prominently the Easterlings will feature in Season 2, their inclusion could be highly significant. In the source material, one of their leaders, Khamul, is one of the nine Kings of Men who receive a ring from Sauron.
6. …and the Mystics return
Remember when we believed the Mystics had been wiped out in their clash with The Stranger at the end of The Rings of Power Season 1? It turns out we were mistaken. At the 1:42 mark in the new trailer, a group of five new Mystics appears, performing a mysterious spell involving moths. Whatever their intentions, it certainly doesn’t bode well.
7. The Stranger speaks!
It seemed certain that The Stranger, confirmed to be one of the Istari—those five wizards sent to aid Middle-earth’s inhabitants in their fight against Sauron—would remain largely silent in Season 2, given what we had seen before the new trailer’s release.
However, it turns out we’ll finally hear him speak in the upcoming season. At the 1:45 mark, The Stranger, who I suspect might eventually be revealed as Gandalf, asks Tom Bombadil (more on him shortly): “Is it my task to stop the fire? Is it my task to confront Sauron!?”
8. Welcome to The Rings of Power, ‘Old Tom’ Bombadil
The revelation that Tom Bombadil—a beloved character from J.R.R. Tolkien’s lore, making his live-action debut—will appear in The Rings of Power was a major surprise and a highlight of late May. While many fans were excited, some die-hard enthusiasts questioned his presence in Rhûn, a location he never visits in Tolkien’s writings.
Nevertheless, the new trailer offers our first glimpse of ‘Old Tom’ in action. We see him facing The Stranger after the latter poses his earlier questions. Later in the trailer, Tom Bombadil is seen asking The Stranger if he will abandon the peoples of Middle-earth “to their doom.” It looks like Tom will take on a mentoring role for The Stranger throughout the season.
9. Peering into the palantír
Ar-Pharazôn’s ascent within Númenor seems set to progress rapidly in season 2, as hinted by a chilling scene featuring him with one of Middle-earth’s eight Palantíri—powerful seeing stones that enable far-reaching communication across the world. The purpose and implications of his use of the Palantír, likely tied to his ambitions to seize the Númenórean throne, should become clearer when the show returns.
10. Durin’s Bane makes its presence felt
Since the airing of The Rings of Power Season 1, Episode 7, it has been clear that the Balrog, known as Durin’s Bane, would eventually awaken to wage war on the dwarven kingdom of Khazad-dûm. Co-showrunner Patrick McKay had previously hinted at this, assuring TechRadar with, “Season 2, sir, stay tuned,” when asked about its return.
McKay’s promise seems to hold true. My prediction that Durin’s Bane would be behind the destruction of one of Khazad-dûm’s bridges in the first Season 2 trailer has been confirmed. The latest teaser further reveals that Durin’s Bane will play a central role, showcasing it emerging from its tomb and heading straight for Khazad-dûm.
11. Water way to go, Miriel
Remember the mysterious woman and the enigmatic aquatic creature we saw in Season 2’s first trailer? It turns out that the woman is Míriel, Númenor’s Queen Regent. This is confirmed at the 2:15 mark of the latest trailer, where we see Míriel entering the lake or sea for reasons that remain unclear. Additionally, the creature she encounters in both trailers is identified as a Sea Worm. So, those identity mysteries from the first teaser have now been resolved.
12. Enter the Ents
The trailer’s biggest reveal comes at the 2:40 mark, with a voiceover stating, “forgiveness takes an age,” leading up to the surprising appearance of a female Ent. These ancient, sentient tree-like beings haven’t been seen in a live-action Lord of the Rings project since the extended cut of The Return of the King.
The shock continues as we get another look at the Ent at the 2:53 mark, where it appears to strike at a character who could be either Arondir or Isildur. While it’s difficult to definitively identify the character, it’s likely both Arondir and Isildur will encounter this Ent, given their significant roles throughout Season 2.
13. I spy Shelob
In the latest trailer for Season 2, Isildur makes a few brief appearances, but one notable moment towards the end shows him battling a spiderling in a shadowy cave.
At first glance, this might seem like just another giant spider, but it’s actually Shelob—the fearsome arachnid that Frodo and Sam confront on their perilous journey to Mordor in The Return of the King. Amazon’s press release with the new trailer confirms that Shelob will make an appearance in The Rings of Power Season 2, adding a monstrous twist to the upcoming season.
14. They have a Hill-troll
The trailer also teases one final monstrous reveal towards the end. At the 3:14 mark, we catch a brief but striking glimpse of a new troll, set to play a significant role in the Siege of Eregion—likely the centerpiece battle of Season 2.
This creature, first introduced by Empire magazine on July 1, will be named Damrod. Described as a Hill-troll, Damrod is dubbed the “eater of dragon bones,” emphasizing its immense and fearsome presence in Sauron and Adar’s vast orc army. This colossal entity is sure to be a formidable adversary in the upcoming season.