Sauron goes full dark lord in Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power second season trailer

Everything’s coming into focus in the second season trailer for Amazon Prime Video’s The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power. Who is the Lord of the Rings? Sauron! And which rings is he the Lord of? The Rings of Power, baby! Last season, the identity and location of this evil figure and his aims were unclear. In the second season—premiering August 29—we’ve finally identified the dark lord, the unmasked Halbrand (Charlie Vickers), and we know what he’s going to do, which is lord over those damn rings. It’s right there in the title!

“In Season Two of The Rings of Power, Sauron has returned. Cast out by Galadriel, 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,” reads a synopsis (via The Hollywood Reporter). “Building on Season One’s epic scope and ambition, 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 Rings Of Power is somewhat infamously the most expensive television series ever created, which is not necessarily reflected in the critical reception or cultural impact of the show. Viewership data with streaming is always murky, but Prime Video was bullish that the series was a huge ratings success and drove an increase in subscribers. Other data suggested that only 37% of the audience actually finished the whole season. The show was essentially snubbed when awards season came around.

The party line at Prime Video is that the first season just required a lot of “setting up” and that things would start to heat up with the second season. (Of course Amazon would say that: the company paid a fortune for the rights to J.R.R. Tolkien’s work, and has committed to making five seasons of the show.) In fairness, the drama does seem to be ratcheting up a notch in the new trailer. Unfortunately, Rings Of Power was upstaged last week when Warner Bros. Discovery announced it was making a new Lord Of The Rings spin-off film, The Hunt For Gollum, with original director Peter Jackson producing and Andy Serkis (Gollum himself) at the helm. Rings Of Power already struggled to escape the film series’ shadow, and now there’s even more competition coming. Hopefully the second season can really step up and make its own mark, or else the most expensive TV show ever may start looking like a bad investment.