The returning fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 arrived on Thursday, August 29 with three episodes, and the show needs that many to catch us up on all the various plot-lines going on.
The Rings of Power serves as a prequel to the Lord of the Rings movies, showing how the Rings of Power were forged and how Sauron came to power. If you've not caught up we've got a range of recaps that you can see on the right.
In the first episode of The Rings of Power season 2, we felt the consequences of the first three rings being forged, plus an adventure began and Sauron began to work his tricks. This second episode catches us up on another plot thread, and introduces some important new characters.
The Rings of Power season 2 episode 2 jumps about between different plot threads a fair amount, so for ease of reading I've re-ordered them by plot in this recap. Obviously, spoilers ensue, so watch the episode on Prime Video if you want to see it for yourself.
So let's jump in...
The effects of the rings
Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) has a dream in which she's visited by Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards), who recounts to her the 'Ring Verse'. That's the poem about how many rings there are and what they all do, which is inscribed upon the One Ring in The Lord of the Rings. In the poem, Celebrimbor is killed by roots.
The elves are planning to attack Mordor but Galadriel tells High King Gil-galad (Benjamin Walker) that she doesn't think Sauron will be there. She thinks he wants to make more rings and will require Celebrimbor for that, despite Gil-galad insisting that Eregion is well defended. Both admit that they've been having strange visions due to the rings, which could be glimpses into the future.
Gil-galad won't let Galadriel go to Eregion, as Sauron already has access to her mind and can easily manipulate her. But he relents when she asks to go with Elrond (Robert Aramayo). The only catch is that Elrond isn't interested in going, because of his fear of the rings and Galadriel's history with Sauron / Halbrand.
This changes when Elrond speaks to Cirdan (Ben Daniels) who insists that the rings could be used for good if on the right hands. Eventually Elrond agrees to go to Eregion... except he's leading the party, not Galadriel.
The rise of Annatar
In Eregion, Celebrimbor decides not to let Halbrand (Charlie Vickers) into the city, due to Galadriel's commands. Gil-galad's messengers about Halbrand's true identity, we learn, were killed on the road by some mysterious unseen force.
That evening Celebrimbor takes pity on Halbrand and goes to speak to him. The man acts surprised that Gil-galad hasn't sent word to the elf about the success of the rings, getting under his skin about Gil-galad's lack of interest in his craft. Celebrimbor invites Halbrand in for good.
Inside, Halbrand confesses that he's not a man, or a king, or even mortal, though he's initially reluctant to admit to his real identity. He tells Celebrimbor that he wants the elf to make rings for men as well as elves, but the smith says men are too susceptible to corruption.
Eventually Halbrand lies to Celebrimbor about his true identity: he says he's a messenger from the Valar (basically the gods of Middle-earth) sent to save the world. To prove his point he gives Celebrimbor a vision and a speech, about how the elven smith could be the 'Lord of the Rings', which wins over the elf.
The figure of Halbrand is now changed, from a human to an elf. He presents himself as Annatar, the Lord of Gifts, which Celebrimbor believes.
Meet the Dark Wizard
Over in Rhûn, we meet the Dark Wizard (Ciarán Hinds) who summons one of his acolytes (who we met as one of the women hunting for the stranger in season 1). The wizard wants information on the goings-on in Middle-earth as well as the progress of the stranger, but she can't provide him that. Instead one of the masked figures, who we met in the previous episode, promises to capture one of the Harfoots to coerce the stranger into coming willingly.
If you want to know more about our new curious magic-wielder, we've got an article on who the dark wizard could be.
Back to our travellers: Nori (Markella Kavenagh) and Poppy (Megan Richards) are trying to decide on a name for the stranger (Daniel Weyman) but he doesn't want one. Poppy discovers a shortcut but the stranger wants them to take the safer and longer route.
However the masked figures appear and the trio have to hide. Realizing that their path is being watched, they decide to take the shortcut after all. It's a dry route and the stranger collapses with dehydration, but luckily the Harfoots find a well with water. Unfortunately it also has a bell that they set off, and the riders find them.
The stranger finds the staff from his dreams, and uses it to conjure a tornado which blows away the riders. He loses control and the staff disintegrates, and Poppy and Nori are blown away too.
Trouble in the mountains
We finally catch up with the dwarves in Khazad-dûm: former Prince Durin (Owain Arthur) and his wife Princess Disa (Sophia Nomvete). They're at the market, and he's maligning their change in position due to him no longer being prince (remember, he and his father fell out in season 1). Then an earthquake hits the underground city, which causes bits of it to collapse, and rocks block the passages that allow light in from the outside.
The gardens in the city quickly wither, leaving the dwarves hungry, and we learn that the earthquake was a result of Mount Doom exploding in season 1. The tunnellers are trying to find safe routes to re-open the sun shafts and even Disa's attempts to use stone singing to find the right routes don't work.
The King is upset that stone singing, which has always worked before, doesn't this time. He thinks it's a bad omen for the city but Disa chastises him for the feud with his son, demanding he make amends.
To make a living Durin now has to work as a miner, but his fellow pick-swingers tease him for having to do manual labor as a royal.
The last thing we see in the episode is Durin and Disa receiving a letter from Celebrimbor, who is inviting the dwarves to Eregion.
