The first season of Amazon’s Lord of the Rings prequel, Rings of Power, heralded the dread return of the Dark Lord Sauron. Now, he’s back: and season two will see all of Middle-earth reckon with the rise of such a terrible darkness. Oh, and some people will pick up some fancy costume jewellery that we’re certain will have absolutely no wide-ranging impact on anyone involved.
During its San Diego Comic-Con panel today, Amazon lifted the lid on a brand-new trailer for Rings of Power season two ahead of its release next month. And honestly? No one on Middle-earth is going to be having a particularly great time, it seems, unless they’re some flavor of evil creature and/or Sauron himself. Or, as he’s going to be known to some in season two in his elven disguise as Annatar, the Lord of Gifts.
It’s a huge trailer, and while previous footage from the season has largely focused on the elves’ particular conflict with Sauron, as he worms his way into Celebrimbor’s inner circle to help forge the remaining rings of power, this one really gives us a lot to chew on for all the myriad stories across Middle-earth this season. We get to see the Stranger and Nori as they journey to Rhun (and cross paths with Rory Kinnear as Tom Bombadil, everyone’s favorite merry fellow). We get to see small teases of Arondir and Isildur’s journey as Adar and the forces of the risen Mordor begin to gather. And yes, we get to see rings, as Galadriel and the elves, and Durin and the dwarves alike, begin to find themselves tempted by the power on offer… and the strange pull they have towards Sauron’s own will.
There’s also just a wild amount of action here as well—we knew season two was going to get into one of the most important clashes of the Second Age as Sauron and his forces lay siege to Elves of Eregion, but there’s more than just huge battles to come here, from mysterious encounters with Barrow-wights, the threat of a Balrog, even massive trolls and not-quite-so-massive, but still pretty sizable, spiders (is that perhaps the young Shelob we know is coming this season?). It really does seem like they heard folks who thought not enough actually went on during the first season: you wanted things happening? Here are things happening.
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power returns to Amazon Prime next month, on August 29.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.