Comic-Con 2024: 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' Panel

Preview:

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power held a big panel in Hall H at the San Diego Comic-Con.
Stars Morfydd Clark and Charlie Vickers were among the panelists.
A new trailer was shown.

We don’t have too long to wait now for the return of Prime Video’s ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ series –– the streaming service’s giant, expensive and ambitious series drawn from the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and set thousands of years before the events of ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’.

The show is back on our screens late next month, and to keep that idea in our collective brains, the show brought a big group of its cast, plus showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, to talk up the series and offer some fresh footage.

Part of the presentation included the new trailer, which you can find above.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

“Evil has had many names.”

TV-142 SeasonsSeptember 1st, 2022

What’s the story of ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ Season 2?

‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ season 2. Credit: Courtesy of Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon MGM Studios.

Here’s the official synopsis for Season 2:

“Sauron (Charlie Vickers) has returned. Cast out by Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), without army or ally, the rising Dark Lord must now rely on his own cunning to rebuild his strength and oversee the creation of the Rings of Power, which will allow him to bind all the peoples of Middle-earth to his sinister will. The new season plunges even its most beloved and vulnerable characters into a rising tide of darkness, challenging each to find their place in a world that is increasingly on the brink of calamity. Elves and dwarves, orcs and men, wizards and Harfoots… as friendships are strained and kingdoms begin to fracture, the forces of good will struggle ever more valiantly to hold on to what matters to them most of all… each other.”

The trailer certainly hammers that point home, showing the divisions between certain characters and the unity that will need to be shown if they’re to defeat the threat from Sauron (Vickers), now in elf form, and pushing Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) to create the rings that will entice, control and ultimately endanger the various races.

What did we learn from the ‘Rings of Power’ panel?

‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ season 2. Credit: Courtesy of Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon MGM Studios.

The panel didn’t offer much in the way of giant revelations, though it did include a couple of behind the scenes featurettes looking at the practical effects work behind the forging of the rings (and concept artwork from legendary artist John Howe), and some of the new ‘Rings’ creatures we can expect to see in the show, including wraiths.

Also on the beast front, Shelob the spider will make an experience (or possibly a relative), and there was a glimpse of a balrog.

As the trailer makes clear, the show also shows the first proper look at the Entwives, the female companions of the tree-life Ent creatures.

Here’s what co-showrunner Payne said to expect in Season 2:

“Sauron is afoot. There’s trouble. There’s danger. There’s death and battle.”

Oh, and in case you were wondering, Ismael Cruz Córdova, who plays Silvan Elf Arondir, named his sword “Rihanna”. Just because.

Did we learn any future details about the show?

‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ season 2. Credit: Courtesy of Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon MGM Studios.

While the panel’s main section was limited to talking about Season 2, the fan question time did allow for some more forward-looking speculation, including that we can expect to meet pivotal elf Glorfindel later in the series’ run and that the question of Theo’s (Tyroe Muhafidin) biological parentage will be answered… eventually.