Today, Amazon dropped a doozy of a trailer for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 focused on Sauron's manipulation of characters such as Galadriel, Durin III, and most notably the Elven smith Celebrimbor.
The trailer opens highlighting that war has come to Middle-Earth. We see orc armies, fiery projectiles, and battle scenes. It eventually transitions to a focus on the titular rings of power, especially those in the hands of the elves and dwarves.
A voiceover remarks that the "deceiver" can "sculpt the thoughts" of those whose trust he has gained, with multiple shots of both Galadriel and the Elf smith Celebrimbor. Celebrimbor gets a longer look as we see him forging the Rings of Power under the direction of Sauron in his Elven guise. He tells Celebrimbor, "You sought peace. I gave it to you." To which Celebrimbor replies: "This is hardly a gift." In a deeply upsetting moment, we see Celebrimbor seem to realize that Sauron is not who he seems to be and demand to know what Sauron has done to him, as he gazes into a mirror and sees himself appearing aged and sickly. "Who are you, truly?" he asks. Sauron replies: "I am the one keeping the storm at bay."
Then, another twist. It seems that corrupted Elf Adar might at some point join forces with Galadriel. He seems to tell her, "Sauron is my enemy as much as yours, I can help you destroy him," seemingly calling back to his season 1 desire for the Orcs to live freely and suggesting that Sauron might be just as problematic for them as he is for the other races of Middle-Earth.
More rapid clips show off plenty to be excited about in season 2: we see Durin IV giving a speech to the dwarves, ents, Disa singing, Nori the Harfoot, Arondir fighting a troll, and lots more. The trailer wraps on a confrontation between Galadriel and Sauron fighting over what looks like his freaky crown thing from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. "You think it was only you that put yourself in my power, Galadriel?"
There's tons to unpack here, though if you ask me, not nearly enough of either the Stranger, whose identity will finally be revealed this season, or Tom Bombadil, who has been revealed to make an appearance in this season. And we learned at SDCC we might be blessed with appearances from Glorfindel or even Celeborn - anything's possible. The Rings of Power Season 2, which promises to be rife with both betrayal and all kinds of strange creatures, kicks off on August 29 on Prime Video.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
