The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 Review: Prime Video's Ambitious Epic Dials Up the Intensity

It's hard to think of another series with more initial hurdles to overcome than The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, a prequel series to the The Lord of the Rings set centuries before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien's novel. Not only did its first season have to try to do right by its literary source material and the accumulated decades of fandom who knew the obscure corners of lore it was bringing to life, but it had to please fans of Peter Jackson's acclaimed and popular films that adapted both The Lord of the Rings and its predecessor, The Hobbit. There's more: Much of the pre-release press around The Rings of Power concerned its considerable budget, and it was pitted against another TV fantasy series, Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon, before anyone had even seen a frame. 

To please everyone, The Rings of Power would pretty much have to quickly become the most admired and popular show ever made. That sounds impossible and, indeed, proved impossible. But those who found a way to sweep those stratospheric expectations aside found an uneven but ambitious series attempting to forge its own take on Tolkien's Middle-earth by striking a balance between the author's lore-rich creation, the kineticism and visual splendor of Jackson's films, and the needs of an ongoing character-driven  TV series. By its first season's end, The Rings of Power had gotten pretty good at that balancing act while weaving together the stories of a dozen or so major characters spread across all of Middle-earth.

With that hard work out of the way, all a second season has to do is everything the first season did, but bigger and better. No problem, right?

Happily, The Rings of Power's second season successfully builds on what's come before, but most likely not in ways that will appease those frustrated by the series' first season. Season 2 is more sprawling than its predecessor, draws even more elements of Tolkien's creation into its world, dials up the drama, and commits to delivering on the promise of its title. (Did you think last season was light on rings? You'll be drowning in rings with this one.) But the expansion also underscores some of the series' weaknesses. Some corners of the show's world are more compelling than others, and some characters more richly developed. The Rings of Power sometimes takes a page from Tolkien (literally) by using maps to indicate a shift in action from one place to another. But not all parts of the series' landscape are equally intriguing.

7.3

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

at Prime Video

Like

• The memorable characters and visually rich world

Dislike

• Some of the not-so-memorable characters and the sometimes poky storytelling

Wisely, the show, still under the guidance of creators J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, eases viewers back into its world, opening with an extended flashback that reveals more of the not-so-secret origin of Sauron (Charlie Vickers), who spent much of the previous season posing as a man named Halbrand and winning the trust of Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), an elf dedicated to destroying the very being she was unwittingly protecting. Then, picking up where it left off, we find Galadriel still haunted by her mistake as she and the other elves reckon with what should be done with the three rings of power in their possession, which may or may not be tainted by their process of creation. That debate will play out over the course of the season, sometimes in words, sometimes in actions, and occasionally pit Galadriel against her close ally Elrond (Robert Aramayo). 

Their conflict is indicative of a season that pushes the envelope in terms of how much moral ambiguity Tolkien's world can absorb. As played by Vickers in his various guises, Sauron is undeniably evil but not entirely soulless. At the very least, he understands the psyche of those he attempts to trick or seduce to his side. Even more ambiguous is his rival Adar (played by Sam Hazeldine, who assumes the role from Joseph Mawle), a leader of the orcs who's ruthless and violent but genuinely seems to care for his "children."

Sometimes, however, there's no ambiguity at all. When last we saw the character known as the Stranger (Daniel Weyman), he and his harfoot companion Nori (Markella Kavenagh) had set off for parts unknown. Joined before long by Nori's pal Poppy (Megan Richards) they find themselves in an unforgiving wasteland of Rhûn that includes some friendly inhabitants but also an unnamed Dark Wizard (played by Ciarán Hinds) who does not have their best interests in mind, to put it mildly. (As for the Stranger's much-speculated-about identity, it's finally revealed, but you'll have to wait for it.) Also in Rhûn is another familiar Tolkien character famously not included in Jackson's films: Tom Bombadil (who's delightfully played with a knowing grin by Rory Kinnear).

ALSO READ: Everything to know about The Rings of Power Season 2

The interactions between Weyman, Kavenagh, and Richards continue to be a highlight, as does the married dwarf couple of Durin IV (Owain Arthur) and Disa (Sophia Nomvete), who begin the season living like commoners after Durin's disownment but soon find themselves attempting to rescue their subterranean kingdom from an ecological disaster brought about by the destruction of Mount Doom. Their mix of sparky chemistry, comic touches, and genuine gravitas consistently captures the series at its best.

The elf drama — which includes a fine performance by Charles Edwards as the elven smith Celebrimbor, who becomes an unwitting pawn of Sauron — the dwarf situation, and the Stranger's trek with the harfoots work well enough that the show's other elements can feel like they're underachieving. The sequences dealing with the internal politics of Númenor and the Southlanders dealing with the eruption of Mount Doom work well enough — and, like the rest of the show, benefit from remarkable visuals — but they suffer from underdeveloped characters and underserved relationships.

Pacing, too, continues to be an issue. Most episodes clock in at more than an hour, and the series has yet to crack how to make each installment feel discrete while leaving viewers dying to know what happens next — how to make Tolkien's world television friendly, in other words. But when the action kicks in, those misgiving fall away. Relegated to quick, memorable bursts early in the season, battle scenes dominate the back half (including a siege sequence that unfolds over two episodes).

Sometimes frustrating but just as often rewarding, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power hasn't reinvented itself in its second season, opting instead to turn up the intensity on everything it was already doing, including the many echoes of more famous Tolkien stories and moments that can feel a bit too much like fan service, like familiar creatures who make appearances but end up not playing major roles and bits of dialogue that wink to what's to come. But when it clicks, it feels like a worthy addition to the filmed Tolkien canon made for an era in which TV got big and ambitious and felt confident enough to take on one of the biggest, most ambitious fictional universes ever created.

Premieres: Three episodes premiere on Prime Video on Thursday, Aug. 29, with subsequent episodes released weekly
Who's in it: Morfydd Clark, Charlie Vickers, Daniel Weyman
Who's behind it: J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, drawing from the work of J.R.R. Tolkien
For fans of: High fantasy
How many episodes we watched: 8 of 8