Rings Of Power Season 2 Rumor: Important Characters Spotted On Battle Sets
Contains potential spoilers for "The Rings of Power" Season 2
Season 1 of "The Rings of Power" was a fun return to Middle-earth. One thing it severely lacked, though, was momentum. Sure, there were some minor skirmishes in the Southlands, followed by the big Mount Doom kablooey. The Stranger confronted those Eastern mystics, too, and we saw some wolves and, like, a Balrog for a split second. By and large, though, things were slow. Really slow.
Now, we don't blame J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay for the slow start. (In fact, we think skeptical readers should give the show a second chance.) The creative team behind the project faced COVID-19 restrictions, and they were still finding their sea legs throughout Season 1. All that said, Season 2 needs to pick up the pace — and a recent scoop from fan site Fellowship of Fans indicates that we may be getting just that.
The group already leaked drone photos a while back showing a set of destroyed buildings that looked an awful lot like the crucial Elven city of Eregion. Galadriel actor Morfydd Clark also recently hinted at a slew of incoming new villains, which could make things interesting in the upcoming season.
Now, the latest news via Fellowship of Fans has several important characters on battle sets. It reads as follows: "EXCL: Actors present at the battle sets at Shotresbrooke park include Robert Aramayo (Elrond) Ben Walker (Gil-Galad), Sam Hazeldine (Adar) Selina Lo (Elf) Morfydd Clark (Galadriel)." Let's break this confusing (though exciting) jumble of parentheses, actors, and Tolkienian names down, shall we?
First things, first ... we've got a fight
Let's start with the obvious: all of these characters are on a location where they're filming battles, which is exciting if only because it indicates we'll finally get some more action. Season 1's primary set-piece battle took place in Episode 6: Udûn. It starts with a reasonable fight between the Southlanders and Adar's forces before the Númenórean cavalry, led by Queen Regent Mírirel, sweep in to save the day.
It's a fun setup for future conflicts, but the battle itself wasn't much — especially considering what's coming down the pike. In J.R.R. Tolkien's writings, the Second Age story (when the show is set) includes multiple knock-down, drag-out wars. These kick off (in order) when Eregion is attacked by Sauron. After that, the Dark Lord unleashes hell all over the continent. Eventually, the Númenóreans smackdown Sauron. Then Sauron destroys the Númenóreans. Finally, everyone gathers together and attacks Sauron yet again, this time taking his Ring. (Yes, that's the scene from the beginning of "The Fellowship of the Ring" movie.) Yeah, there's a lot coming, guys, and it looks like the clouds are already gathering for Season 2.
Who on earth is in this next battle, though?
If you're wondering what this lengthy list of actors and their parenthesized and correlating characters are — and why their presence at a battle is noteworthy — we get it. The leak is a bit confusing on the surface. Let's go through each one real quick, starting with the easy explanations.
Season 1's primary antagonist, Adar, has been recast for Season 2, with Sam Hazeldine stepping into the sizeable shoes of Joseph Mawle. Adar is a made-up character for the show, so his presence at any battle is easy for the showrunners to justify.
Galadriel is equally easy to explain. Her path through Tolkien's writings is vague and convoluted — especially in the Second Age. She's kind of everywhere and nowhere all at once. So the show can work her into a battle in most places without too much trouble. The fact that Fellowship of Fans also leaked that Galadriel could end up captured by Adar at some point in the season makes her presence at a battle with him even easier to understand.
Elrond is about to get his hands dirty
Here's where things start to get interesting. Robert Aramayo's younger version of Elrond was fairly tame during Season 1. He plays the part of an up-and-coming politician, flashing some of the wisdom and peacekeeping skills that he'll be known for by the time of the "Lord of the Rings" story.
However, in the books, Elrond also fights — quite a bit. In "The Silmarillion," it simply reports that during the early part of the wars with Sauron, which are fought over the Rings of Power and which are about to start on the show, "In that time the stronghold and refuge of Imladris, that Men called Rivendell, was founded by Elrond Half-elven; and long it endured."
In the book "Unfinished Tales," it adds that when news comes that Sauron has made the One Ring and is attacking the Elves, "[Gil-galad] sent out a force under Elrond Half-elven." In the source material, this group shows up late to the battle and is forced to retreat ...where to? Why, to the spot where Elrond sets up Rivendell, of course!
Elrond continues to fight Sauron from his new stronghold, and eventually, he helps lead the War of the Last Alliance to overthrow Sauron. In "The Fellowship of the Ring" book, he even recollects the experience by saying, "I was the herald of Gil-galad and marched with his host." In "The Fellowship of the Ring" and "Hobbit" trilogy films, we see Elrond fight, too. It looks like we may be getting that version of the character in "The Rings of Power" sooner rather than later.
Gil-galad is a brave king (we promise)
Benjamin Walker's Gil-galad looks the part. The tall actor is larger than life. But his role in Season 1 was small — and it didn't count for much. He played a peripheral presence on the edge of the story. He was fully in political mode, working on backroom deals and leading his Elven people with diplomacy, grand speeches, and the occasional scheme.
In the books, Gil-galad is similarly portrayed at first, coming across as equal parts important and marginalized. He's the High King of the Elves, but he isn't seen doing much. He does have a reputation as a valiant warrior, though — so much so that Samwise Gamgee is still singing about his bravery 3,000 years later.
In his same speech about his own part in the war, Elrond also says, "I was at the Battle of Dagorlad before the Black Gate of Mordor, where we had the mastery: for the spear of Gil-galad and the Sword of Elendil, Aiglos and Narsil, none could withstand. I beheld the last combat on the slopes of Orodruin, where Gil-galad died, and Elendil fell, and Narsil broke beneath him."
So Gil-galad isn't a wimp. He just isn't depicted doing much fighting early on in the story. He sends Elrond to help fight Sauron and then orchestrates the war from the back — like most high-level military leaders. At least, he does that in the source material. According to the leak, though, he'll be present at some of the fighting, at least. In fact, another part of the same Fellowship of Fans leak also added that "In one battle scene Gil-Galad rides up and speaks to the orcs." What his motivation is in doing this is unclear, but if the rumor is true, Gil-galad will be showing off his military mettle in Season 2.
What about Selina Lo ...and Celebrimbor?
Finally, we have Selina Lo, who could play one of the new faces on "The Rings of Power" Season 2. Another recent scoop claimed that Lo, who was brought onto the project to play a recurring role in Season 2 back in December of 2022, was spending a lot of time on the Eregion set. At the time, we surmised that this could indicate that she will play a female version of Sauron in disguise. Others have guessed that she's simply an Eregion Elf or possibly one of Celebrimbor's guards or fellow craftsmen called the Gwaith-i-Mírdain.
Whatever the case may be, the new scoop claims Lo is playing an Elf. There's still room for that Elf to be Sauron in disguise (the fella takes a lot of different forms in Tolkien's writings). But if this new rumor is true, it seems that chances are Lo will end up playing a new role as a support Elf of some kind.
The final note we'll add here is someone who didn't make the cut for this list in the first place: Celebrimbor. The Elven leader of Eregion is the guy who Sauron tricks into making the Rings of Power. He's extremely important to the Second Age, and — get this — he eventually dies in battle ... with Sauron. So, with all of the other signs of Eregion's potential downfall and the presence of all of these other individuals on a battlefield, it's surprising that Celebrimbor isn't on the list. Maybe he's off in his workshop working on his latest overpowered trinket to help out. All we really know at this point is that the violent Season 2 rumors are piling up — and they're not looking good for the Elves and their allies this go around.