The Rings Of Power Season 2’s Ents Take A Big Step Towards Solving An Ancient LOTR Mystery

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has brought back the Ents and is therefore taking a giant step toward solving an old Tolkien mystery. Screen Rant attended the Rings of Power panel at the San Diego Comic-Con 2024, where the SDCC trailer for season 2 was officially unveiled. Among the many clips from the coming episodes is one featuring a new Ent character interacting with Arondir and Isildur, who are somewhere around the newly established Mordor in The Rings of Power season 2—and this hints at how these beloved Middle-earth beings will be involved with the story.

During the Rings of Power panel at the SDCC, actors Ismael Cruz Córdova and Maxim Baldry, who play Arondir and Isildur, respectively, shared their excitement at having worked with Ents in season 2. Of course, they didn’t get to interact with real tree shepherds, but Córdova noted that even just imagining the Ents was a joy since they were memorable features of his childhood. While it’s great to hear that these actors appreciate the fantasy world of J.R.R. Tolkien, their words, accompanied by the Rings of Power season 2 trailer, hint at what kinds of reveals may be ahead.

The Ents Will Have A Bigger Role In The Rings Of Power Season 2

Rings Of Power Season 2’s SDCC Trailer Teases An Ent Character

Arondir and Isildur conversing with Ents during their adventures in Rings of Power season 2 indicates these beings will play a much more prominent role in this installment. The trailer sees them receiving words of advice from one Ent character while another sees the massive tree-like creature attacking someone on the ground. It’s all very reminiscent of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, which bodes well for the fantasy immersiveness of the coming episode. However, it looks as if these Ents are in a different region of Middle-earth than Treebeard and his fellows.

Treebeard lives in Fanghorn Forest, which is near the gap of Rohan. However, Arondir and Isildur were last seen in the Southlands in Rings of Power season 1, now called Mordor. Since the season 2 SDCC trailer also sees Isildur battling with Shelob, who resides in a cave near Mordor, it can be assumed that they are still in this region in the coming episodes. Therefore, it’s more likely that this Man and Elf have encountered an Ent in the Brown Lands (also near Mordor), which happens to be the last known location of the mysterious Entwives.

Tolkien Never Explained The Mystery Of The Entwives

The Fate Of The Entwives Is Another Old Tolkien Mystery

In The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Treebeard asked Merry and Pippin if they had ever seen Ents near the Shire, hoping they might know what happened to the Entwives—the females of his species. The Hobbits had no good news to give, however, and the fate of the Entwives remained a mystery. J.R.R. Tolkien himself was asked about the Entwives on several occasions, but he had no more answers to give than Treebeard did. The female Ents had traveled to the Brown Lands to establish gardens during the Second Age but disappeared.

It’s long been assumed that the Entwives were wiped out by Sauron since the Brown Lands are a bare wasteland close to Mordor in the Third Age of Middle-earth. However, there has never been any confirmation of this, and Treebeard maintained hope that some Entwives had survived and wandered North. Since Rings of Power season 2 is introducing new Ents in this region of Middle-earth, it certainly seems that Prime Video aims to provide its own answer regarding these beings’ fates. Unfortunately, whatever answer the series offers is unlikely to be popular.

Why The Rings Of Power Shouldn’t Explain The Entwives Mystery

It’s Been So Long That This Mystery Is Better Left Alone

Tolkien liked to leave mysteries open regarding his world-building, especially if he didn’t see a way that anyone would know the answer. The legendary grandfather of fantasy didn’t just write stories willy-nilly—he approached his works like a historian, digging up information on an ancient world and fitting it all together. In the case of the Ents, Men and Elves rarely got the opportunity to see them, and Mordor wasn’t exactly a hot spot for scholars. Therefore, if Sauron wiped the Entwives out, those who were writing the histories wouldn’t know a thing about it.

Of course, as a screen adaptation, Rings of Power goes about this differently. The series provides a variety of character perspectives, so there’s more opportunity to fill in the gaps. Still, many would consider an attempt to solve a deliberately unanswered Tolkien mystery an affront. Rings of Power may be better off alluding to the Entwive’s disappearance. Perhaps the Entwives had already disappeared by the events of season 2, and the Ent seen is in the Brown Lands looking for them. If this were the case, the mystery would be acknowledged but not solved—a far better solution.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power brings to screens the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth’s history for the very first time. Set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, The Rings of Power will explore a time in the franchise where kingdoms rose and fell, where The One Ring itself was forged and tells the tale of the rise of the greatest foe in the Lord of the Rings Franchise, the Dark Lord Sauron. Beginning in a time of peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of familiar and new characters as they confront the long-feared reemergence of evil in Middle-earth. From the depths of the Misty Mountains to the forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the island kingdom of Númenor, to the farthest reaches of the map, The Rings of Power promises to condense the extended works of Tolkien in a condensed but all-encompassing TV show format. The first season of The Rings of Power began airing exclusively on Prime Video on September 2, 2022

Cast

Morfydd Clark , Ismael Cruz Cordova , Charlie Vickers , Markella Kavenagh , Megan Richards , Sara Zwangobani , Daniel Weyman , Cynthia Addai-Robinson , Lenny Henry , Lloyd Owen , Nazanin Boniadi , Dylan Smith , Alex Tarrant , Tyroe Muhafidin , Robert Aramayo , Geoff Morrell , Thusitha Jayasundera , Maxine Cunliffe

Release Date

September 1, 2022

Seasons

1

Network

Amazon Prime Video

Writers

Patrick McKay , John D. Payne , J.R.R. Tolkien , Justin Doble , Jason Cahill , Gennifer Hutchison , Stephany Folsom , Nicholas Adams

Directors

J.A. Bayona , Sanaa Hamri

Showrunner

John D. Payne , Patrick McKay , Louise Hooper , Charlotte Brändström , Wayne Yip

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