Middle-earth is a land undergoing transformation. Season one of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power brought literal change to the landscape with the formation of Mordor. Then there is a more nebulous change afoot—the kind of change that comes with the return of Sauron, a powerful dark lord. Darkness is coming back to the land and will affect all its people. While visiting the set of The Rings of Power season two with a group of other reporters, Nerdist heard in multiple interviews how season two leans into that darkness.
We’ll see Sauron’s influence across the locations we visited in the first season. In Khazad-dûm, for example, production designer Kristian Milsted told us, “Certain things happen because of what happens in Mordor that brings conflict and darkness to this universe.” He continued, “We could look at what they did for Khazad-dûm in season one, and we could say, ‘Okay, now we’re going to give it a twist, and we’re going to make it more sinister, make it more dark.’ It’s about greed. It’s something that the dwarves are good at.”
The above exclusive image of King Durin III and Prince Durin IV does not show any obvious darkness, but one can certainly imagine the tone of the conversation between father and son. Nothing about it looks cheerful.
Flip through the gallery below to see more from The Rings of Power season two.
The Rings of Power season two will premiere on Prime Video on August 29.