Pull out your copy of The Silmarillion that you promised yourself you’d finish one of these days and pour yourself a goblet of Elvish wine: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is returning later this summer. The second season of Amazon’s megapricey foray into J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth debuts August 29, nearly two years after its first season premiered to a major gap between critics who were mostly approving and misogynist, racist fans who were big mad. Plot details about the second season of the Prime Video series are scarce, but what is available after today’s upfronts presentation is Sauron focused: “The new season sets the stage for J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendary villain, Sauron, as he darkens Middle-earth’s Second Age.” To which I say: Again?
It makes sense that the most notorious villain in Tolkien’s imagination would loom over TROP, as he did in the Lord of the Rings novels and films and will probably continue to do so in the upcoming The Hunt for Gollum. The thing is, the whole first season of this show was already stage-setting for Sauron. From the premiere’s explanation that Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) has spent centuries chasing the “cruel and cunning sorcerer” who aligned himself with the evil Morgoth against the elves, to the elf leaders’ worry that Galadriel’s obsessive quest to avenge her brother’s death is actually keeping Sauron alive, to Galadriel crossing paths with a mysterious human named Halbrand (Charlie Vickers) who is very good at convincing other people to help him and mysteriously very knowledgeable about how to use magical forces to make ring-shaped objects — what TROP’s second season claims to be, its first season already did.
Yes, last season had another mysterious, potentially dangerous Sauron candidate in the form of the Stranger (Daniel Weyman). But as soon as Halbrand rode into war wearing armor emblazoned with tiny interlocking rings, it was pretty clear where this was going. The major climatic moment of season-one finale “Alloyed” was the reveal that Halbrand wasn’t just some hottie seducing Galadriel with his loyalty and his courage but her sworn enemy made powerful through her own actions. Despite how predetermined that might have been plotwise, it was also effectively dramatic and sobering thanks to Clark’s shock and despair and Vickers’s smugness and confidence. Through that unmasking, TROP moved past prologue, and the stage is officially set for Sauron! Our guy is out and about, in possession of knowledge about how to forge a ring of power, a growing horde of followers, and a new cloak that accentuates his sinister vibes. Because obviously the first thing one does upon stepping into their baddie era is go shopping.
Jokes aside, Halbrand/Sauron shopping for cloaks is actually the sort of thing I’d like to see more of in the second season. TROP has established that it can do portentous austerity through Sauron’s lengthy introduction; now is the time to contrast that with quotidian goofiness! Give us Harfoots harvesting fruit and fashioning their little leaf hats; the Stranger (very obviously Gandalf!) yammering away about his friends the stars; the citizens of Númenor hanging out with their horses; the dwarf wives of Khazad-dûm practicing their songs to the mountain and, why not, grooming their facial hair; Bronwyn and Arondir doing some more forbidden interspecies kissing. Perhaps Galadriel could make another friend who doesn’t turn out to be the guy who killed her beloved brother? I would love to spend some time among elf gardeners responsible for maintaining their thriving forest habitats! If Tolkien’s work is about the power of the light and people fighting against evil through goodness, give us more of that; keep going with the beautiful lighting and the life-affirming diversions into characters’ daily activities. There’s fun stuff to do in this world, even amid the doom and gloom of Sauron’s rise to power. He plainly took the stage in season one — season two needs to let others share it, in the sincere and light-hearted ways that Tolkien so loved.