The Rings of Power season 2’s final trailer seemingly teases young Saruman, shows the brutal Siege of Eregion, and confirms a three-episode premiere

Character thrills, bloody spills, and more high fantasy surprises await in season 2’s latest teaser

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Potential spoilers follow forThe Rings of Powerseason 2.

The Rings of Powerseason 2’s final trailer has cast its shadow over Middle-earth – and, I don’t know about you, but I think the show’s next outing is looking suitably epic.

Debuting just two weeks before the hitAmazonshow returns to our screens, there’s alotto unpack from its two-minute runtime. Indeed, thePrime Videoseries' latest teaser doesn’t just significantly raise the stakes ahead of its long-awaited return, but it also appears to give us our first look at a new character (someone who’s very familiar toThe Lord of the Ringsfans), some potentially intriguing alliances, and likely absorbing one-on-one showdowns. Oh, and it confirms three episodes will debut on launch day, which is Thursday, August 29.

The trailer contains numerous new glimpses of this season’s tentpole battle, aka The Siege of Eregion, which I expect to play out in the final few episodes ofThe Rings of Power’s next installment. It isn’t all about this season’s giant set-piece, though, with the trailer transitioning to multiple character-driven moments, including ones with voice overs from High King Gil-galad and Cirdan the Shipwright warning of the perils of wearing the titular, dark magic-infused rings. Cue a montage of horror-filled and other ominous looking scenarios that Middle-earth’s various factions will have to contend with.

Later, we get a much clearer idea of some of the unlikely partnerships and dynamics we’ll see throughout season 2. AsThe Rings of Power’s first trailer originally teased, the relationship between Celebrimbor and Annatar (the latter being one of major villain Sauron’s many aliases) is central to this season’s plot, with Annatar manipulating Celebrimbor into forging the Rings of Power. We also get a brief look at a potentially unexpected alliance between Galadriel and orc army leader Adar, with the footage suggesting that the latter still doesn’t see eye to eye withThe Lord of the Rings' most notable big bad. This could, however, be a clever piece of trailer-based editing, which simply gives the impression that Galadriel and Adar will temporarily team up.

Who is the new wizard in The Rings of Power season 2’s new trailer?

The biggest surprise of season 2’s final trailer, though, comes around the 1:30 mark. There have been plenty of surprise reveals leading up to the high fantasy series' return, not least inThe Rings of Power’s second trailerand the revelation thatseason 2 will feature a fan-favoriteLord of the Rings character in a live-action capacity for the first time.

However, the apparent confirmation that a younger Saruman, one of Middle-earth’s five Wizards who betrayed his own kin and join Sauron inThe Lord of the Rings, will appear in season 2 was something I didn’t expect. Ciarán Hinds (Treason,Belfast), who was rumored to be playing Saruman inThe Rings of Powerseason 2 in late July, appears to be doing just that, too, judging by his all-too-brief appearance in this teaser.

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Ciarán Hinds as a younger version of Saruman. His facial look is very similar to Christopher Lee version of Saruman. Just different age and hair color. pic.twitter.com/549j6YM9JfJuly 29, 2024

Of course, Hinds could be playing another Wizard (they’re also known as the Istari), such as one of the the two Blue Wizards who have never appeared in a live-actionLord of the Ringsproject before. But, given his white robes, staff and lengthy beard that resemble Saruman’s fromThe Lord of the RingsandThe Hobbit movies, and his general demeanor, I’d be amazed if Hinds is portraying anyone other than the Istari’s wise but flawed chieftain.

There’s plenty more in this latest batch of footage to get excited about as well, including duels between Silvan elf Arondir and Damrod the Hill-troll, Galadriel and Sauron, and Durin’s Bane and, well, the whole of Khazad-dûm. Expect lots more inter- and intra-racial melodrama, bloody and thrilling action, wonderfully realized fantasy elements, and atmospheric horror where that came from, too, when one of thebest Prime Video showsreturns. I, for one, can’t wait.

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