The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 Parents Guide

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 Parents Guide

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Last Updated on December 4, 2024 by Stephinie Heitman

THOUSAND YEARS can be easily counted which in turn is a big long period. But in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, a thousand years is more commonly represented by the time it takes to boil water and make instant coffee. Following this, we jumped straight to the years Elf Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) spent plotting her revenge against Sauron and merely followed it up by doing the same from Sauron’s perspective for his long journey of reincarnation into the man we know as Halbrand (Charlie Vickers). It may be my imagination, but for some reason, I feel like The Rings of Power is trying to subversively tell us that the “protagonist” of this season is not Galadriel like the last time, but the Dark Lord himself. Two years on from its last episode on Prime Video, The Rings of Power is back with three episodes in one go.

Season 2 starts with a long preface of Halbrand meeting Galadriel alone in the sea and begins right from where season 1 ended where Elrond rides on a horse with three rings in his possession. A lot of thematic points are already discussed across these first three episodes: you can easily get lost inside Middle-earth if you do not pay attention during the first watch. So put on your mithril shirt and take along some lembas bread. It is time to embark on the second season’s adventure of The Rings of Power and if you wish to remain spoiler-free as you continue to watch the series, it is best to keep this section of the article to yourself while you enjoy the three episodes.

Episode 1: Et Tu, Adar?

The season premiers with the episode “Elven Kings Under the Sky” which is penned by Gennifer Hutchison and directed by the showbiz veteran Charlotte Brandström. Picking up where Brandström left off (she is back as showrunner for four of the eight episodes of Season 2), we see that the fascinating Sauron was, in fact, not such a great commander of the orcs just before he vanished. After the defeat of Morgoth at the beginning of the Second Age, Sauron assumes the mantle of the Dark Lord. But the orcs are not enthused with their self-designated leader: a lord who materializes in another guise, clean-shaven and majestic, unlike his grimy, coarse-witted warriors. When Sauron leaves for the Black City, Uruk leader Adar, played by Sam Hazeldine who replaced the actor who portrayed him in season one, takes the opportunity to overthrow Sauron using the crown.

The magical death of Sauron puts the landscape in the ice age and if watching Season 1, everyone will notice this as Forodwaith, where Galadriel and her company face an unfriendly environment as shown in the first episode. But as everyone knows, it’s tough to curb a Dark Lord for a long time. In the darkness of the now collapsed tower, Sauron slimes monsters before crawling out to feast on unsuspecting males. Not long after that, Sauron is ‘fed’ enough and becomes the recognizable dark-haired man, Halbrand, misleading war refugees with his seemingly harmless face – even pinching the insignia of the dead King of the Southland from an ally, while supposedly rescuing the man. Give him credit where it’s due: Sauron understands that even a mere trinket can prove useful at times. When Season 2 continues reading the series from the halt Sauron/Halbrand is in the 4D chess game of deception. This includes tricking Adar, an elf-orc that betrayed him and is now comfortably ruling the Uruks and, as far as most people are concerned, the biggest menace to Middle-earth.

Of course, there is much more to the premiere than Sauron alone. Through Elrond, JRRT keeps his inner disbelief in the rings intended to save the Elves because of Sauron. The ferrying of the Three Rings by Elrond is how the show was able to bring in Círdan, the oldest and the wisest Elf of the Second Age. Círdan is played by Ben Daniels from The Exorcist, and he adds to his role mature nobility and wisdom which is quite opposite to the strict and reserved Gil-galad (Benjamin Walker) and passionate and impulsive Galadriel. At first, Círdan feels a kinship with Elrond and even explains how it might be possible to destroy the rings in a way similar to how the One is destroyed in The Return of the King but Círdan returns to Lindon with them unharmed.

The Three Rings also find their bearers: Círdan, Gil-galad, and Galadriel, all of whom appear to be captivated by the new shiny despite understanding that Sauron was involved in the crafting of these trinkets. Galadriel appears particularly torn, and understandably so, given her remorse for betraying Halbrand/Sauron. But the tree of Lindon is restored, and it seems the achievement of the mission was completed. Otherwise, the magical creature, The Stranger, portrayed by Daniel Weyman, and a Harfoot, Nori, played by Markella Kavenagh are somewhere in the middle of their journey when they meet Poppy aka Megan Richards, who follows them in a car. After a detailed dissection of the Harfoot’s travel song which should impress any Genius user, the trio finds themselves in Rhûn, a region that occupies the eastern part of Tolkien’s map. The Stranger utters ‘I was here before, but only in my dreams.’

From the writings of J. R. R. Tolkien, Rhûn is depicted as more of a desert of wasteland which was once a paradise. It has been revealed by the producers in interviews before the premiere, so it isn’t a spoiler to mention it—but in Rhûn viewers will be introduced to some new and interesting characters. First among them is Tom Bombadil, a major character in Tolkien’s books who was excluded from the films by Peter Jackson. It will also feature another kind of Harfoots referred to as “Stoors”. In these episodes, however, the only new character introduction is a thus-far unknown Dark Wizard portrayed by Ciarán Hinds. Although there is more to be discussed about him later, it is worth noting that, in Tolkien’s stories as well, Rhûn is where tribes of men, or “Easterlings”, coalesced under Sauron. Our heroes are unaware of it, but they are being followed by some formidable-looking individuals bearing the emblem of Sauron. Someone, please remind our rag-tag group of travelers to stay alert with their necks pointed in every direction.

Episode 2: Doom in Khazad-dûm

Episode two titled ‘Where the Stars are Strange’ written by Jason Cahill and co-directed by Charlotte Brandström and Louise Hooper contained a lot of incidents and as much dialogue as could be crammed into an hour without seeming to be all talk. First, the Dwarves: When we meet with Durin IV (Owain Arthur) and his wife Disa (Sophia Nomvete) on his return, there is an implied betrayal in the royal household since the father, King Durin III (Peter Mullan), does not officially acknowledge him. When Dewy thinks that their precious mountain no longer has a pulse, all Dwarf-kind become uneasy.

Setsuna’s solution was if only there was something that could successfully revive a human being’s link with nature. It wasn’t until our return to the deserts of Rhûn that we were introduced to the ominous entities that had been pursuing the Harfoots. Ciarán Hinds, one of the most powerful actors in the Irish scene, enters the series in the role of the “Dark Wizard” (his screen credit). The Dark Wizard is both powerful and eager to act; however, he finds the “Istar,” or our Stranger in the story, threatening for some reason. But he wants him dead. The Dark Wizard recruits the scary, hooded, and masked warriors who have a symbol similar to Sauron’s sigil; only one of them was given a voice by the actor named Kilta/Arkie Reece. Kilta and his other Sauron worshipers, who look like a cross between Boba Fett from Star Wars and Kabal from Mortal Kombat, appear sufficiently dangerous. While the sound team manages to make Reece’s speaking voice under the mask incredibly menacing (Well done!), being outsmarted by the Harfoot’s camouflage and the Istar’s magic is enough to keep them at bay, something the Dark Wizard will not be nearly as pleased about as the audience is. However, The Stranger defends himself from them as if a massive windstorm also blows Nori and Poppy away similar to the movie Twisters; this once again highlights the fact that the Istar/the Stranger needs his powers to be tamed or else he ends up hurting those around him.

Over to Lindon: Elrond is discouraged by the action that the Elves took with the Three Rings and tells all of this to Galadriel. After persuading Círdan, who is now in love with his new ring, Elrond comes to terms with the rings as objects and not as Sauron’s creations. In essence: Círdan wants Elrond to consider the art as not belonging to its creator, and the argument is right on the spot. So convincing in fact that Elrond takes the leadership of the task Galadriel brings to Eregion, to inform Celebrimbor that Halbrand is Sauron and cannot be trusted. Speaking of Celebrimbor and Eregion: The proud Elven Smith invites Halbrand home despite having word from Galadriel that the man is not to be entertained. (But as for the real reason why, Celebrimbor still doesn’t know. ) Halbrand is revealed to be an evil Maia who impersonates Sauron Sauron goes to Celebrimbor’s forge under the guise of a brand new character in the series – Annatar, the Lord of Gifts and a being of immense power sent by the Valar to help Middle-earth peoples.

Finally, Sauron meets Celebrimbor, using his arrogance after being deceived by Celebrimbor, and is very happy that the Lord of Gifts has come to him to make more rings and become a “Lord of the Rings. ” Flattering Celebrimbor over his skills as an elf-maker works wonders for Sauron.

Episode 3: On the Wings of an Eagle

“The Eagle and the Sceptre,” the final episode that concludes the season’s premiere of season 2, is the directorial work of Brandström and the scriptwriter is Helen Shang. Here, I get up to the issues of (mostly) men, from Númenor to those who remained in pieces from the complete erasure of the Southlands entirely. Actress Nazanin Boniadi who portrayed the character Bronwyn, a human who helped build the emotional connections in season 1, left the show before season 2 due to personal issues. In an Instagram post dated May 31, she stated that her departure was “unrelated” to her current work in the human rights organization. To account for the character’s missing presence between seasons 1 and 2, injuries earned from toxic orc arrows are portrayed to have incapacitated the character for a prolonged period. With Bronwyn missing, or rather gone from the series, audiences are introduced to more of Elf soldier Arondir, as well as her restless son Theo.

Arondir makes an effort to remain friends with Theo but the boy is an arrogant teenager who does not want his mother’s boyfriend around and shuns him. For this reason, Arondir is just as immobile and distant as an immortal elf after losing Bronwyn. Despite not wanting to hang with Arondir, he inexplicably finds himself attracted to Isildur, played by Maxim Baldry. Although Isildur was presumed to be killed by the Númenor forces and left in Middle-earth, he only barely escapes and is saved from a giant spider similar to Shelob by his horse Berek. Isildur tries to follow the rest of the Numenorean forces, and in the meantime, who should join him but more company – another human survivor, Estrid portrayed by Nia Towle -, before he gets attacked by wild men only to be saved by Arondir in the best action scene of the season.

This time Isildur begins to mention his mother, and Theo kindly agrees to help him and bring back Berek after the latter was kidnapped. But the mission goes poorly, with Theo being grabbed by the shoulders while fighting Hill-troll Damrod in what is yet another great example of VFX work on the series, seen earlier in the episode. Over at Númenor, the people of the kingdom use anger and despair to betray now-blind Queen Regent Míriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) after the mission to Middle-earth cost them so many warriors. Some court intrigue features escalating opposition led by Trystan Gravelle as Ar-Pharazôn, who due to public appeal by Isildur’s sister Eärien portrayed by Ema Horvath, and thanks to Palantir and a timely arrival of a Great Eagle, gets a popular support for Númenor’s throne. Every Tolkien fan understands that Ar-Pharazôn is the last king in the history of Númenor before the empire sinks into the abyss—so having this kind of victory is very bitter for the empire. Meanwhile, Celebrimbor and Annatar/Sauron are working on developing the seven-thirty pieces in Eregion.

The two invite Durin IV and Disa and give them the impossible proposal which was some Rings of Power for Dwarves. In this one instance, the having of Disa’s optimism and geniality is a flaw, and the bearing of Durin IV’s sour suspicions leads to the right conclusion. Even for the Dwarves, the offer gives the bemused Durin IV the chance to reconcile with his distant father in the second film. As a demand, Disa hopes all will follow the king’s order, to which Durin IV replies to her later: “Magic rings? Does no part of this sound strange to you?”When the Moria is threatened, the Durins accept the invitation of the elves and bring mithril to get rings for themselves though the younger Durin warns his father about the ill feelings he has about the deal.

Highly Recommended TV-Series

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 Parents Guide Age Rating

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 is rated TV-14 by the Motion Picture Rating (MPA)

Violence & Gore: Fantasy violence: Characters fight often using different weapons such as swords and some of the fighting scenes reflect extreme violence. There are scenes of orcs and other creatures on the screen being killed. Sauron slimes monsters and feeds on unsuspecting victims: This may be rather worrisome to the younger generation who may be watching these movies. Arondir fights a giant spider: An action-packed scene that could be somewhat anxiety-provoking. Theo is grabbed by a hill troll: It is accompanied by rather powerful visual images and may be rather frightening.

Profanity: There is no harsh language but as with any other game set in a fantasy world it may contain a slight bit of cursing.

Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking: There is no mention of alcohol, drugs, or smoking in the plot summary of the movie.

Sexual Content: No scene reveals any sexually related scenes or images of naked people

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