The people of Númenor live for hundreds of years, dwarves are particularly resilient to the ravages of time, and the elves are basically immortal, but that feels like nothing compared to the long wait “The Rings of Power” fans have had to endure since season 1 debuted back in October of 2022. That, of course, is a product of the very different landscape that this latest adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s work now arrives in. Once upon a time, Peter Jackson was able to film all three of his “The Lord of the Rings” movies concurrently and debut one installment every year like clockwork over two decades ago. The creative team behind the Prime Video series have been given an even more daunting challenge, tasked with bringing a multi-season series to life while crafting dozens of hours of story set in the sprawling world of Middle-earth. As I wrote in my review for /Film, season 2 is an encouraging step forward. Still, only the most diehard obsessives could be expected to maintain an encyclopedic memory of everything that went down back in the first season.
For the rest of us mere mortals, consider this the only recap you need to prepare for season 2 of “The Rings of Power.” Set in the Second Age, thousands of years before the events of “The Lord of the Rings,” the broad strokes of this story are well worth a refresher before this upcoming next chapter. Short of embarking on a hasty binge watch of the previous eight episodes (which, honestly, play much better after knowing the twists and turns ahead of time), this is the most comprehensive spoiler-free explainer the internet has to offer. Read on for everything you need to remember about “The Rings of Power” season 1.
Galadriel and Halbrand, the duo that launched a thousand ships
If a haughty elvish warrior crosses paths with a handsome rogue who may or may not be a reluctant member of royalty — on a wrecked ship amid a raging sea, of all places — you have to expect the sparks to fly and a new romantic ship to be forged. Unfortunately for our main hero Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), the simmering dynamic she establishes with the rugged castaway (played by Charlie Vickers) we all thought to be the reluctant Southlander king Halbrand actually turns out to have been Sauron All Along. Oops! The majority of the first season of “The Rings of Power” plays a series of guessing games with viewers, introducing various red herrings and suspicious-looking miscreants who could very well have turned out to be the great foe in disguise — a trademark characteristic that the trickster, shape-shifting Dark Lord was known for during this moment in (fictional) history.
It’s worth remembering that, of all the people Galadriel could’ve run into after spurning the Undying Lands of Valinor and returning to Middle-earth, there’s a certain irony to the fact that it was Sauron himself. This was the villain responsible for killing Galadriel’s brother Finrod (played by Will Fletcher, whom we glimpsed in the prologue of the series premiere) and the impetus for Galadriel’s relentless mission of vengeance to cleanse the realm of his evil — one that would take her all the way to the frozen wastelands of the Forodwaith. The grudging respect they develop for each other and the various battles they survive together only makes Halbrand’s unmasking hurt all the more, lending thrillingly personal stakes to the season’s overall conflict between good and evil.
Before the jig is up and he makes his escape, however, Halbrand urges Galadriel and the great craftsman Celebrimbor (Charles Edward) to create what would become the three elven rings of power. Based on the trailers, expect season 2 to deal with the fallout of Galadriel’s mistake and even what looks like an eventual rematch. And as for those rings? There’s more where those came from.
Harfoots and The Stranger danger
There’s just something about a Tolkien adaptation that apparently requires Halflings and wizard-like beings to pair up on grand adventures. “The Lord of the Rings” put Gandalf and Frodo Baggins together and “The Hobbit” featured Gandalf all but dragging young Bilbo Baggins out the door and into the vast unknown. (Okay, so maybe this is just specifically a Gandalf trait.) “The Rings of Power” saw fit to introduce us to the Harfoots (a distant ancestor to Hobbits) through Nori, played by Markella Kavenagh, and Poppy, played by Megan Richards, and their unexpected journey prompted by their discovery of the “Meteor Man” known only as The Stranger (Daniel Weyman). It’s not every day that you encounter a giant who’s fallen from the sky, let alone one with seemingly no control of his powers over nature and who comes with the whiff of destiny around him. For Nori and her wandering tribe who refuse to stick their nose into the wider world, this coming-of-age subplot provided one of the most quintessentially Tolkien stories throughout all of season 1.
Now, if only it were a simple, straightforward trek from point A to point B. The Stranger posed a direct threat to the ever-cautious Harfoot clan during their migration, inadvertently causing all sorts of trouble and even attracting the attention of three evil witches who were convinced that he was actually Sauron reborn. But in a character-defining moment, The Stranger chose the path of good and sent those villainous minions back to the shadow from whence they came, finally earning the trust of his Harfoot companions and setting him up to discover his true identity. That means a long, winding, wandering walk through the deserts of Rhûn with only his dear friend Nori at his side in season 2 … and a future date with our favorite zany hermit, Tom Bombadil.
Elrond and Durin, dwarves and elves getting along, mass hysteria!
By Aulë’s beard, even the most casual of fans know that elves and dwarves simply don’t get along with one another. This ancient enmity apparently extended all the way back to the time of “The Rings of Power,” but one exception came in the form of the lifelong friendship between Elrond (Robert Aramayo) and Prince Durin (Owain Arthur). Fate brings them together again when Celebrimbor recruits Elrond to help with his plans to build a massive and powerful forge in order to craft wonders the like of which Middle-earth has never seen — a vast undertaking that requires the help of the nearby dwarven kingdom of Khazad-dûm. Although initially peeved at Elrond for neglecting him, Durin quickly sets this grudge aside and rekindles his relationship with his elvish buddy.
Their dynamic is further complicated, however, once Elrond realizes that Durin’s father, King Durin (Peter Mullan), has been hiding a secret: the dwarves have discovered a precious new ore known as mithril, which just might hold the key to the survival of the elves. To quickly backtrack, the High King Gil-galad (Benjamin Walker) informs Elrond that the light of the elves is fading, poisoned by an encroaching “blight” brought on by the arrival of evil to the shores of Middle-earth. Confronted by the mystical healing properties of mithril, Elrond is commanded to reveal the dwarves’ secret and exploit their discovery for themselves. Despite Durin’s entreaties to his father, King Durin refuses to help and strains diplomatic relations with the elves. When last we see this duo, Elrond has been banished from the dwarven city (though not before taking a small piece of mithril with him) and Durin is all but disowned by his father.
When season 2 begins, their respective actions might play a bigger role in the fates of both their races than they ever could’ve imagined.
Southland tales
The last major subplot on the continent comes in the form of the Southlanders, a group of humans struggling to make a living in the shadow of the elves tasked with overseeing the region. You see, these people (or, rather, their ancestors) once fell under the sway of the great villain Morgoth in centuries long past, forever putting a stain on their reputation and casting a long shadow that lingers to this day. But Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova) sees the potential for good in them, particularly as a result of his burgeoning romance with a healer and single mother named Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi) and his concern for her young son Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin). This region is where the first hints of evil can be seen, primarily through rumors of poisoned grass and afflicted livestock. Oh, and then there’s the fact that legions of orcs have been tunneling directly underground and are beginning to swarm the land under the orders of a mysterious fallen elf named Adar (Joseph Mawle) — one who has some unfinished business with Sauron himself, apparently.
Season 1 spends a fair amount of time setting up an inevitable clash between our Southlanders and Adar’s “children,” who call themselves uruks and are simply searching for a new home after feeling used and abused by Morgoth. Adar’s sinister agenda plunges both sides into war, though, and only the brave actions of Arondir and Bronwyn manage to (temporarily) stem the tide and prevent the total slaughter of the Southlanders. Still, Bronwyn takes a few orc arrows in the midst of the fighting and nearly dies of her wounds, while Arondir and Theo are forced to give up a precious relic (a broken sword hilt with evil properties) that ultimately leads to their undoing and precipitates the violent eruption of Mount Doom — the volcano and telltale landmark of what would eventually become Mordor, hiding in plain sight this whole time.
The island kingdom of Númenor has seen better days
While all this intrigue is going on over on the mainland of Middle-earth, the legendary and almost mythical kingdom of Númenor is home to a whole assortment of side characters, all of whom play key roles in deciding the political future of this isolated nation. Inhabited by a group of humans who helped the elves in their past war against the Great Foe Morgoth, Númenor once represented the splendor and majesty and peak of what mortal men could accomplish when working together towards a common good. All these long centuries later, however, “The Rings of Power” brings Galadriel and Halbrand ashore on an island whose descendants have fallen very far from the tree. Queen Regent Míriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) rules over a population that is awfully divided about their future course — whether to return to their old ways and honor their alliance with the elves, or forge a new path (symbolized by the ambitious political schemer Pharazôn, played by Trystan Gravelle). It’s up to Galadriel and other loyalists such as Elendil (Lloyd Owen) and his son Isildur (Maxim Baldry) to convince the Queen to take the leap of faith and assemble an army to defeat Sauron, saving their own distant kin in the process.
But when they do sail for Middle-earth, defend the Southlands from the fearsome Adar and his orcs in the epic Battle of the Southlands, and end up scattered by the birth of Mount Doom and the transformation of the region in to Mordor itself, the seeds for discontent have been planted back home. The Queen is permanently blinded, Isildur is lost in the chaos and presumed dead, and the surviving Númenoreans have little choice but to limp back in defeat. When season 2 picks up, characters such as Elendil’s daughter Eärien (an original character invented by the show, played by Ema Horvath) and Pharazôn’s son Kemen (Leon Wadham) are just about ready to make some serious changes … no matter the cost.
All this leads to where we pick up with our favorite characters in season 2, which finally debuts on Prime Video with its first three episodes on August 29, 2024.
