The trailer for the latest “Rings Of Power” is full of deception—and a surprising new character

The Rings Of Power released the third and final Season 2 trailer this morning, and once again I’m pretty much blown away by how good it is. Amazon released a trailer a few weeks ago that was also surprisingly exciting, giving the impression that this new season will be much better and more action-packed than the first.

I wonder if this is all just a hoax. This would certainly fit, from Amazon Season 2 Lord of the Rings The prequel concerns Anatar (Charlie Vickers) the Lord of Gifts, a form Sauron takes in his attempt to deceive Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) and the elves of Eregion. We also know that the best trailers often hide things from viewers – all marketing is inherently misleading – and this is a very well-made trailer. I wonder if showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay can deliver on what they promise.

Here’s the trailer:

A lot happens in this three minutes. We have Adar – Sam Hazeldine taking over the role from Joseph Mawle – apparently teaming up with Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) in an “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” moment.

We see a very troubled Celebrimbor deep in the clutches of Sauron’s Sith mind control powers. Baby Elrond (Robert Aramaio) is decked out in armor in what appears to be a genuinely epic battle for the fate of the elven city of Eregion, where the title rings are forged. (I’m still very confused about the end of Season 1, where it seemed like the Tri-Elves’ rings were already forged, out of order, and so I’m not sure how this will all work).

In the halls of Khazad-dûm, it appears that Durin the Elder is already under Sauron’s rule, his fingers heavy with jeweled rings.

And sitting sternly, holding a staff, we see a wizard with a long black and gray beard who looks so much like Saruman, although this time he is played by the always excellent Ciarán Hinds instead of the legendary Christopher Lee. If this is a young Saruman, kudos to the casting director. I couldn’t think of a better replacement.

I’m confused, though, as I often am with this show. If this is Saruman, why does he look so regal and self-assured while young Gandalf wanders around barely able to form a sentence (although Daniel Wayman is also a great casting choice for Gandalf, if had better lines!)

This is basically the expression I make while watching Rings of Power while trying to make sense of all the weird writing choices:

There are three possible outcomes for Rings of Power Season 2:

• The new season is much better than the first and much more true to Tolkien’s work and vision. This is the least likely outcome.
• The new season is much better than the first, but remains little more than accurate fan fiction, mixing Tolkien lore and the Second Age chronicle. That’s where I’m leaning, although there’s a spectrum of results in this choice: it could be much better and very average, ultimately, or much better, but only if you ignore all the deviations of the source material, but still fun, etc. etc. etc.
• The new season is just as badly written, just as confusing, just as much of a mockery of Tolkien’s work as the first. That’s also very possible given how disappointing the first season was, but I’m still hoping that the trailers aren’t a total hoax and that we get some improvements.

The introduction of Tom Bombadil and the revelations about his character didn’t help my optimism, but since I’m a “hope springs eternal” type of guy, I’ll keep an open mind.

Anyway, here’s the new trailer. The show airs in just two weeks, with the first three episodes dropping on August 29. I’ll be on the road that day, but plan to take the afternoon/evening off and spend it at my hotel watching and then reviewing all three. Exciting moments.

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