The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2

The second season of the American fantasy television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is based on J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, primarily material from the appendices of the novel The Lord of the Rings. Set thousands of years before the novel in the Second Age of Middle-earth, the season depicts the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron and the creation of more Rings of Power. It is produced by Amazon MGM Studios in association with New Line Cinema and with J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay as showrunners.

Amazon acquired the television rights to The Lord of the Rings in November 2017 and made a multi-season commitment for a new series. A second season was ordered in November 2019, and writing began during an extended first-season production break that started due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Amazon announced in August 2021 that filming for the series would move from New Zealand to the United Kingdom starting with the second season. Filming began in October 2022, with Charlotte Brändström, Sanaa Hamri, and Louise Hooper directing. Much of the series' large international cast returned from the first season, as did composer Bear McCreary who started work when production began. Location filming took place around Surrey and Berkshire as well as in the Canary Islands, and filming was completed in early June 2023 amid the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike.

The season is scheduled to premiere on the streaming service Amazon Prime Video on August 29, 2024, with its first three episodes. The other five episodes are set to be released weekly until October 3.

Episodes
Sanaa Hamri and Louise Hooper directed two episodes each.

Cast and characters
The following actors have been cast in undisclosed roles: Gabriel Akuwudike, Yasen "Zates" Atour, Amelia Kenworthy, Nicholas Woodeson, Oliver Alvin-Wilson, Stuart Bowman, Gavi Singh Chera, William Chubb, Kevin Eldon, Will Keen, Selina Lo, Calam Lynch, and Tanya Moodie.

Development
Amazon acquired the global television rights for J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings in November 2017. The company's streaming service, Amazon Prime Video, gave a multi-season commitment to a series based on the novel and its appendices that was believed to be for five seasons, to be produced by Amazon MGM Studios in association with New Line Cinema and in consultation with the Tolkien Estate. The budget was expected to be in the range of US$100–150 million per season, and the streaming service had to give a formal greenlight to future seasons before work could begin on them. J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay were hired to develop the series in July 2018, and were named showrunners a year later. Prime Video ordered an eight-episode second season in November 2019, and announced the series' title, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, in January 2022.

In August 2022, Amazon explained that the deal with Tolkien's estate required the company to keep the series distinct from Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film adaptations. Despite this, the showrunners intended for it to be visually consistent with the films. In December, the second season's all-female directing team was revealed: Charlotte Brändström returned from the first season to direct four episodes, with Sanaa Hamri and Louise Hooper set to direct two episodes each. Brändström was also made a co-executive producer for the season, which was executive produced by Payne, McKay, Lindsey Weber, Callum Greene, Justin Doble, Jason Cahill, and Gennifer Hutchison. Several key members of the creative team did not return from the first season, including producer Ron Ames, costume designer Kate Hawley, and production designer Ramsey Avery.

Writing
The series' writers' room was disbanded once production on the first season began in February 2020, but a longer-than-usual four- or five-month production break was planned following the filming of the first two episodes to allow the writers to reconvene, review the early footage, map out the second season, and write the majority of its scripts. This production break ultimately began earlier than expected due to the COVID-19 pandemic, taking place from mid-March to the end of September. Writing for the second season was expected to be completed concurrently with post-production on the first season between August 2021 and June 2022.

After introducing the Second Age of Middle-earth and its heroic characters in the first season, the showrunners said the second season would focus on the villains and go deeper into the "lore and the stories people have been waiting to hear". Following the reveal at the end of the first season that the Dark Lord Sauron was posing as the human Halbrand, he disguises himself as an Elf named Annatar in the second. The season explores how he deceives the people of Middle-earth into creating Rings of Power that he can use to control them, leading to a "massive" two-episode battle between the fallen Elf Adar's Orc army and the armies of the Elves led by Galadriel, Elrond, and Gil-galad. The showrunners said the Elf-smith Celebrimbor was the "principal protagonist" of the season and his relationship with Sauron's Annatar form is central to its story. McKay felt the season's focus on Sauron would be more impactful because of the time he spent with other characters in the first season when he was posing as Halbrand, compared to if they started the series with Sauron as a prominent antagonist. The showrunners added that Sauron would be exploiting "serious cracks" within each of the societies that the first season introduced, including the greed of the Dwarves, and an emerging Númenórean civil war.

The showrunners wanted to explore locations and characters from Tolkien's novels that had not been seen onscreen before, including the land of Rhûn in the east of Middle-earth which is visited by the Stranger and the Harfoots Nori and Poppy. Another new location is Pelargir, a Númenórean colony in Middle-earth. The season also features the whimsical character Tom Bombadil and the wraith-like Barrow-wight creatures from The Lord of the Rings. Both were omitted from Jackson's films but were previously adapted in the Soviet television miniseries Khraniteli (1991). Because Tolkien kept Tom's origins and intentions mysterious, the showrunners interpreted his descriptions to create a reason for the character's inclusion. They focused on Tom's care for the natural world and times when he helps others, leading to his role within the Rhûn storyline where he guides the Stranger. The showrunners saw Tom as a rare light for the season, and they felt it was important to embrace the hope and earnestness in Tolkien's works rather than let the season's darker story become nihilistic and cynical.

Location
Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke said in June 2018 that the series could be produced in New Zealand, where Jackson's films were made, but Amazon was open to shooting in other countries; Scotland was also considered. Amazon confirmed in September 2019 that filming would take place in New Zealand. Production for the first season ended on August 2, 2021, at which point the New Zealand crew were unsure when filming for the second season would begin. Amazon considered filming the two seasons back-to-back, as was done for the films, but there was now expected to be a hiatus of at least a year. This was to allow post-production on the first season and writing for the second to be completed. Amazon retained its lease on the series' Auckland film studios for the duration of the hiatus so the sets could remain where they had been built.

The week after filming wrapped for the first season, Amazon announced that it was moving production to the United Kingdom starting with the second season. The company was in the process of booking studio space in the UK, and Scotland was reported to be the frontrunner for new shooting locations. The company planned to ship the first season's sets from New Zealand to the UK and hire a new UK-based crew since the majority of the first season's crew was New Zealand-based. Factors that played a role in the change included Amazon already heavily investing in UK studio space for other productions; a belief that the UK would be a more economical choice following the high cost of producing the first season in New Zealand; the opportunity to film in other European countries near the UK as was done for the series Game of Thrones; Tolkien's estate wanting the series to be filmed in the UK since Tolkien was inspired by locations there for his books; and the fact that New Zealand's restrictive pandemic-era border policies prevented Amazon executives from visiting and monitoring the production, while many international cast members—more than half of whom are British—were unable to leave the country for nearly two years during filming of the first season. Amazon had offered in August 2020 to pay for the use of hotels and rental properties as private quarantine facilities to give the production more flexibility with travel, but this idea was rejected by the New Zealand government due to the supposed need for additional services related to quarantining. In the UK, 80 percent of expenditure was eligible for a 25 percent tax rebate through the government's high-end television tax relief program.

The cast and crew expressed regret that they were not returning to New Zealand for the second season. Weber said it was difficult to leave and they would not have been able to make the first season without the New Zealand crew, many of whom previously worked on the films. In contrast, McKay felt they would be "bring[ing] the property home" to the UK. He added that the new lands being visited within Tolkien's world would justify new filming locations, and Amazon's television head Vernon Sanders confirmed that the second season would take advantage of the new locations available in the UK and across Europe. Pre-production was expected to begin in the second quarter of 2022. Production was set to be primarily based at Bray Film Studios and Bovingdon Airfield outside of London, and the showrunners were scouting for additional locations in June 2022.

Casting
While promoting the first season at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2022, the showrunners said they would give a role in the second season to television host and avid Tolkien fan Stephen Colbert, who was moderating the series' panel at the convention. A month later, they said the Tolkien character Círdan would be introduced in the second season. The character briefly appeared in the Lord of the Rings films portrayed by Michael Elsworth.

Cast members who returned from the first season include Cynthia Addai-Robinson as Míriel, Robert Aramayo as Elrond, Owain Arthur as Durin IV, Maxim Baldry as Isildur, Morfydd Clark as Galadriel, Ismael Cruz Córdova as Arondir, Charles Edwards as Celebrimbor, Trystan Gravelle as Pharazôn, Ema Horvath as Eärien, Markella Kavenagh as Elanor "Nori" Brandyfoot, Geoff Morrell as Waldreg, Tyroe Muhafidin as Theo, Peter Mullan as Durin III, Sophia Nomvete as Disa, Lloyd Owen as Elendil, Megan Richards as Poppy Proudfellow, Alex Tarrant as Valandil, Charlie Vickers as Sauron, Leon Wadham as Kemen, Benjamin Walker as Gil-galad, and Daniel Weyman as the Stranger. Walker also voices the Hill-troll Damrod. Nazanin Boniadi chose not to return and her character Bronwyn was not recast for the second season.

On December 1, 2022, Sam Hazeldine was revealed to have replaced Joseph Mawle in the role of Adar for the second season. The decision had been made several months earlier and Mawle did not participate in promotion for the first season. Amazon also announced the casting of Gabriel Akuwudike, Yasen "Zates" Atour, Ben Daniels, newcomer Amelia Kenworthy, Nia Towle, and Nicholas Woodeson in recurring roles. On December 7, Amazon further announced the casting of Oliver Alvin-Wilson, Stuart Bowman, Gavi Singh Chera, William Chubb, Kevin Eldon, Will Keen, Selina Lo, and Calam Lynch in recurring roles. Sanders noted the diversity of the season's new cast members: "The series continues to be cast from all around the world. We think that represents the show that we created in season one, and we're doing the same thing for season two, we are trying to find the best actor for the role." Amazon announced in March 2023 that Ciarán Hinds, Rory Kinnear, and Tanya Moodie would also have recurring roles in the season. Kinnear was revealed to be portraying Tom Bombadil in May 2024, while Daniels was revealed to be playing Círdan in July.

Design
Kristian Milsted and Luca Mosca took over as production designer and costume designer, respectively, for the second season. Mosca had joined as an additional costume designer late in the first season. 70 shipping containers were used to move physical elements that were built for the first season from New Zealand to the UK. 120 physical sets were used for the second season, with two thirds of those being completely new builds. The other third of sets were re-used from the first season and were updated and expanded by the design team. Brändström felt Milsted brought Scandinavian influences to the series' sets and locations. Barrie and Sarah Gower led the season's prosthetics department, and created around 1,500 sets of prosthetics for the Orcs. The Orcs' armor was designed to look like it was pieced together with items stolen from other cultures.

The land of Rhûn was imagined for the series as once being a Garden of Eden-style paradise that has become a "dead wasteland" by the events of the season. The showrunners were excited to depict the first on-screen Middle-earth desert. They said Tom Bombadil's house in Rhûn was the character's "summer cottage" since his actual home in The Lord of the Rings is not in Rhûn. Milsted wanted it to be in an oasis within the Rhûn desert, surrounded by trees, animals, and bees. He incorporated a star map into the house's ceiling to show the character's connection to the Stranger's journey and the wider universe. Mosca's costume for Tom was based on Tolkien's description of the character: a blue jacket, yellow boots, and a feather in his distinctive hat. Pelargir was designed to look like a Númenórean settlement that had been adapted to the style that was established for the Southlanders in the first season. The Elven realm of Lindon was expanded to include the Grey Havens, while new areas of the Dwarven realm Khazad-dûm and the city of Númenor are also explored in the season.

Filming
The cast was preparing to travel to the UK in August 2022. Filming began on October 3, under the working title LBP, and was set to continue for around eight months. Brändström, Hamri, and Hooper were directing their episodes simultaneously based on the availability of locations and sets. Alex Disenhof returned from the first season to work with Brändström as cinematographer, with Laurie Rose and Jean-Philippe Gossart as the other cinematographers. Vic Armstrong returned as the stunt coordinator and second unit director.

Milsted noted that many productions in the UK film from April to October to avoid poor weather, but he felt the opposite schedule worked well for the season because the "snow and the sleet and the rain and the wind" were appropriate for its darker tone. A key location was Buttersteep Rise in Windsor Great Park, where 12 sets were built including a castle and trebuchets. Buttersteep was chosen for its combination of woods and open fields. By late October, filming was taking place on Hankley Common in Surrey. A set for a ruined village was built on the reserve's "barren black landscape" which resulted from two wildfires earlier in 2022. This led to speculation that the common was being used to portray the dark land Mordor. Location filming in Tenerife, Canary Islands, began in early March, specifically in the Teide National Park. The oasis where Tom Bombadil's "summer cottage" is found was filmed on location in Tenerife. By March 17, filming was taking place at the Tenerife town of San Juan de la Rambla, including at the Charco de la Laja coastal pool. McKay said they spent five weeks filming in a "far-flung overseas location".

On March 21, a horse died of cardiac arrest during rehearsals on the season's UK set. It was one of around 30 horses provided for the scene by film industry horse outfitter the Devil's Horsemen. This was the first on-set death in the company's 50-year history, and the horse had been standing among 20 other horses when it died. Animal rights organization PETA called for the production to use visual effects and other techniques rather than risk the lives of real horses. Filming at Bray Studios was interrupted for about an hour on April 3 when a fire broke out in a warehouse. Filming for the season's large battle between Orcs and Elves took place in Windsor Great Park throughout April. Clark said on April 15 that she was in the middle of four weeks of night shoots. The next week, Nicole McBride at Bracknell News reported on the concerns of local residents regarding damage done to the environment by the production. In response, the Crown Estate said they would work with the production to "fully restore the area of woodland... includ[ing] the creation of new habitats". Supervising location manager Finlay Bradbury said Windsor Great Park would be improved once this work was complete, which he said would take a year or two.

After the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike started in May, the showrunners and other writer-producers were no longer able to be on set. The season reportedly had 19 filming days left as of May 4, when the production was revealed to be continuing under the supervision of the directors and non-writing executive producers. This approach was planned ahead of the strike confirmation. The production officially wrapped in early June.

Music
Composer Bear McCreary received scripts for the season the day after he completed work on the first season's music. He began composing music for the second season by November 2022, including some that was needed during filming. McCreary composed eight hours of music for the season.

Marketing
Amazon announced the season's premiere date and released the first teaser trailer and poster at its upfront presentation on May 14, 2024. The teaser and poster both prominently feature Vickers's Sauron. Valerie Wu and Adam B. Vary of Variety described the teaser as "action-packed", which Martin Miller at The Playlist felt was in response to criticisms of the first season's lack of action. Writing for Deadline Hollywood, Dominic Patten said it was "grittier and darker" than the first season. James Dyer at Empire said the teaser was a reminder of the series' large scope, showing many of its characters and various creatures, though James Whitbrook of Gizmodo and Susana Polo of Polygon both noted that it mostly focuses on Sauron and the Rings of Power, showing only brief glimpses of other storylines. Polo added that it was "light on specific plot details".

Details and promotional images were revealed for some of the season's new cast members and creatures in mid-2024, including Kinnear as Tom Bombadil on May 29; Hazeldine as Adar on June 3; Towle as Estrid on June 7; the Barrow-wights on June 27; Walker as the voice of Damrod the Hill-troll on July 1; and Daniels as Círdan on July 11. Later in July, the series will be promoted at San Diego Comic-Con with a "press and influencer reception", a panel featuring the showrunners and cast, and a fan meet-and-greet with the cast held in conjunction with the Tolkien fan website TheOneRing.net. The latter will feature costumes and props from the season.

Release
The season is scheduled to premiere on Prime Video on August 29, 2024, with its first three episodes. The other five episodes are set to be released weekly until October 3.