Fans are convinced they caught a glimpse of Shelob the giant spider in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2!
After being trapped in an ash-covered Mordor following the climactic battle at the end of the first season, the third episode of the new series began with Isildur trapped in an eerie set of caves.
He finds himself at the mercy of a terrifying eight-legged creature and her spawn, yet manages to escape with the help of his loyal horse Berek
But was the spider that attacked him the same one who would later go on to feature in Peter Jackson's famous film trilogy? Let’s take a look…
Who is Shelob?
Shelob is the spawn of Ungoliant and lived high in the Ephel Dúath mountains on the borders of Mordor, before later making her lair in Cirith Ungol, a set of caverns that lead to Mordor.
She was independent of Sauron, yet it’s thought he allowed her to live on his borders as she was a useful way of protecting that area of his lands from spies and invaders. JRR Tolkien described her thus in 'The Two Towers'.
“But still, she was there, who was there before Sauron, and before the first stone of Barad-dûr; and she served no one but herself, drinking the blood of Elves and Men, bloated and grown fat with endless brooding on her feasts, weaving webs in shadow; for all living things were her food and her vomit darkness.”
Fans of Peter Jackson’s film trilogy will know that Gollum deliberately led Frodo Baggins and Sam Gamgee into her lair, hoping she would kill them and allow him to take the ring. However Sam was able to escape by stabbing her in the eye. What happened to Shelob after that remains a point of conjecture for fans.
Is Shelob in The Rings of Power season 2?
The show’s writers Patrick McKay and John D. Payne have confirmed that Isildur DOES meet Shelob in the third episode of the new series.
She was much smaller than the terrifying creature we saw in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but that's because she's much younger, with several centuries of gorging - and growing - ahead of her (see above).
Nevertheless, Shelob remains a dangerous prospect in The Second Age, as the unfortunate orc who was trapped alongside Isildur discovered.
“We’re going to see the beginnings of some canon creatures that are beloved in the Third Age,” says John D. Payne, while Maxim Baldry, who plays Isildur, was thrilled to find himself in a tussle with such a famous monster from Tolkien-lore.
“I fight Shelob, which is a dream come true," he says. "When I read that, my inner child was going crazy. It’s a beautiful battle where you get to understand the creature as well. It was also about witnessing her and what she's doing as a character. Like a game of chess.”
“As soon as I read the script, I was like, ‘Uh oh, this is going to be a physical one,’” he continues. “In Season 1 Isildur was in a lot of comfort in the sunshine of Númenor or on the boat. But when you are wrapped in a spider’s web, that’s pretty tough.”
Fans won’t be surprised to hear Shelob was rendered by the VFX team, so Baldry explains how he filled his imagination with the various sketches and paintings the team had done in advance.
“It’s intense,” he explains. “All of his skills and preparation in Númenor did not prepare him for this. It’s just dirty. He’s surviving.”
