“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” Season 1 ended in October 2022. One year later, there were simmering rumors of a 2024 release date for Season 2, but Amazon Studios has remained mum on the subject. While there’s been no official news on the next season, there’s still no doubt that it’s coming at some point — and in mid-February, an unexpected update from one of the chief on-set creatives finally shed an ever-so-slender ray of light on what fans can expect when it finally does.
Now that ‘The Rings of Power’ has revealed its full slate of directors for Season 2, we know that Charlotte Brändström will be directing four episodes of the series. During an interview with MovieZine in the lead-up to the release of “Shogun,” Brändström, who also directed an episode of the highly anticipated Japanese miniseries, detoured for a full minute to touch on the subject of her Middle-earth project. Her words on the fantasy series were cryptic at best, but they hint at a grittier experience than Season 1.
“It’s going to be darker, and it’s going to be edgier and more character-driven,” Brändström explained. “I still think that we have some very interesting episodes coming up.” The director added that her thoughts aren’t based simply on her understanding of the script or the scenes she helped create. She’s seen the raw footage too. “I watched all of them over Christmas,” she revealed, “just the cuts. I think it’s going to be a very good season. We tried to make it more gritty, a little bit more dirty, I guess. Not in the image, but to make it as authentic as possible. We have some very surprising twists and turns in it.”
What could make Rings of Power Season 2 edgier than Season 1?
“The Rings of Power” is awash with J.R.R. Tolkien’s signature lighthearted high fantasy feel. Its charm and magical warmth set the series apart from more down-to-earth epics, like “Game of Thrones” or even “The Wheel of Time.” Even so, Season 1 already features edgier elements that set the tone for a darker story than the Peter Jackson films we all know and love.
Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova) stabs out an Orc’s eye right on-screen. The Elf Médhor (Augustus Prew) has his throat slit while drinking water. The Orc attack on Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi) and Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin) in the kitchen — and the subsequent beheading of the nameless villain — borders on horror.
Brändström’s mention of twists and turns isn’t new either. Season 1 features multiple reveals. Most of these are fairly predictable, like the reveal of Halbrand (Charlie Vickers) as Sauron or the Stranger (Daniel Weyman) as a Wizard. Others are a surprise, like changing the Tolkien-ordained timeline of how the Rings of Power are forged. Either way, the show’s creative team has already been busy trying to weave both the disturbing and the unexpected into their Second Age show. So, how can they up the ante in Season 2? Let us count the ways …
For one thing, the show has already set up a conflict between the revealed Sauron and Joseph Mawle’s Orc leader Adar, who has been recast for Season 2 with Sam Hazeldine. The latter claims to have already “split open” the Dark Lord once before. Doubtless, the two will have some things to sort out when they come face-to-face again. Specific show narratives aside, there are plenty of other gritty and grizzly Tolkienian factors that could arrive with Season 2.
The source material for Tolkien’s Second Age is pretty dark
“The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” are relatively lighthearted and hopeful stories. It isn’t until you dig into J.R.R. Tolkien’s material on earlier Middle-earth history that things get bleaker. Books like “The Silmarillion” and “Unfinished Tales” are loaded with dismal defeats and acts of horror.For example, we’ve already met the Elvish leader, Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards). His ending in the source material is about as graphic and disturbing as they come. There have been rumors that a young Shelob will cameo in Season 2 as well. We will likely witness the abominable origin of the Nazgûl and the sheer violence of Sauron’s first attempt to conquer the entire Middle-earth continent. The Stranger and Nori (Markella Kavenagh) could also run into the occult in the East of Middle-earth.
And then there’s Númenor, the island of Men that fills the role of Tolkien’s Atlantis. While its people start off with good intentions, by the time we meet them in Season 1, they are clearly already drifting from their ethical grounding. Expect that to accelerate in Season 2 and for it to open up the doors for some disturbingly dark elements too. For instance, in the source material, Númenor is the only place where Tolkien gives us a clear depiction of temple worship and human sacrifice. The Númenóreans also play the part of colonizers, raiding the Middle-earth coastlands of their resources and enslaving or abusing their inhabitants — something that Season 1 already sets up through Pharazôn’s (Trystan Gravelle) ambitions.The show has plenty of grim source material to work with. Only time will tell which of these darker parts of the story actually make it into Season 2.
