If there's one guarantee fans have received about the highly anticipated second season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, it's to expect action on a massive scale.
Speaking during a press conference at San Diego Comic-Con, showrunners Patrick McKay and JD Payne offered their biggest insight yet into what's to come, warning that when the brutal violence begins, it will be ” 10 times” more dramatic than what happened. during season matches.
“In the back half of the season, there are several episodes of a siege of a medieval city that takes place over the course of months, with massive armies from at least three different contingents,” McKay revealed.
“Season two is like times 10 [of season one’s action sequences]where there are thousands of orcs attacking the city, then there are hundreds of horses attacking orcs, horses and orcs.
Fans can expect “mud night fights,” “boulder-planting catapults,” “an aerial bombardment portion” … and “a huge, very epic battle with a giant 18-foot troll,” according to McKay.
“So you have track after track after track that hopefully pull you in all these different directions – it's like a rollercoaster ride,” he explained, before adding candidly:
“That peaks, dare I say it, in episode seven, but continues into episode eight.”
Rings of Power It once again takes fans back to JRR Tolkien's Second Age, thousands of years before the events of the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings books.
Season one was a massive hit on Prime Video, but there were some complaints that the action and pacing was a bit slow at times.
Season two is clearly going in a different direction, but the team behind it insists it's staying on the path they first laid out during the show's conception.
“I recently went back and reread it [Payne and McKay’s] the original outline of the rings of power, which they wrote during a break in the first season of filming, and the document was dated October 2020,” recalled executive producer Lindsay Weber.
“It's the same story. It is amazing.”
“From the moment we started this project, we knew we were really in it for the long haul and that there would be 50 hours of storytelling,” added Payne.
“We didn't want to fall into that trap you see franchises fall into, where every season has to outdo the last season. Until the end… [they’re just] throwing galaxies into each other because they have to keep growing.”
“So, by design, I started somewhat modestly.”
Everywhere Rings of Powerpresented at this year's Comic-Con — which included the release of an all-new trailer and a chat with the entire cast — another major theme became abundantly clear: season two is about Sauron (played by Australian actor Charlie Vickers). .
In the first season, he appeared as Galadriel's mysterious (and charming) companion Halbrand, but was unmasked as Tolkien's infamous villain in the final episode, much to the Elven warrior's chagrin.
And such was the pair's sizzling on-screen chemistry in season one that after the evil Halbrand/Sauron's plea for Galadriel to be “his queen” and rule alongside him was rebuffed – many fans still haven't given up hope that they might meet later.
However, Vickers was quick to dilute the romantic notion.
“I think he saw something in her that maybe he didn't, which is quite rare for Sauron – he's quite a self-obsessed guy and he thinks he's got it covered,” he explained.
“He said [they’d rule together], but it was never going to happen like that… In practical terms, he was in charge and she would maybe give him some qualities for whatever this kingdom would be, but he could use her. It was all for his own personal gain.”
Despite the very obvious fact that Tolkien's Sauron is one of the most infamous villains of all time, Vickers refused to allow himself to view the character that way.
“I don't think it's helpful to me,” he said.
“He's the epitome of evil on this show, but it's not helpful for me to see him as a villain… I just had to find something for him to connect to and something for him to look up to, and I think in this season is unifying and healing and bringing Middle Earth together as one.”
The more significant (and non-romantic) relationship Sauron develops during season two is with Celebrimbor, the former engaging in psychological warfare as he manipulates the elven master smith to make the rings of power.
“[Celebrimbor] he's drawn to this very destructive pair,” said Charles Edwards, who plays the elf.
“He goes to a place of despair toward the end of the series … he goes to a very dark place.”
Vickers agreed: “It's darker, faster, and I think there's a lot going on all the time. It's constantly on the throttle.”
Elsewhere during the press rounds, Morfydd Clark – who plays the female lead – shed some light on how fans can expect to find Galadriel emotionally bruised when season two begins.
Burned by Halbrand/Sauron's betrayal and questioning her own intuition after she went rogue and ignored the directions of her elven leader, she is devastated that her hope that “the stars have aligned in a way they didn't they have lined up for many centuries” was shattered. .
“She got kind of drunk on that hope and she was a lone elf—she was quite far from her elfness and was approaching cynicism and [Sauron] he really got in there,” said the Welsh actress.
“That's what's so scary about Sauron, he's an evil and effective guy – he's called the great deceiver, but he exploits people's strength, not their weaknesses.”
Clark added: “She's affected everything and so she needs to be accepted back into her realm… [She has] this desire to be part of Middle-earth again and not this lone soldier.”
Rings of Power was a major success for Prime Video, maintaining its position as the most-watched premiere since its launch in 2022. Season one was watched by more than 100 million people worldwide, across 32 billion minutes of streaming.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will premiere on Prime Video on August 29.
