The good news is, it looks like Prime Video’s LOTR is here to stay—at least for the meantime.

In an interview with Variety, Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke confirmed that “there’s no debate” on whether the series will continue. She says:

“Over 55 million people at this point have engaged since Season 2 launched. And if you look at the long-term trajectory, which is how this company looks at an asset like that, this is a long-term investment in that franchise […] There’s well over 150 million viewers watching and engaging with the show. So I feel really good. I think we all do.”

As far as we know, showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay were said to have an original plan for the series to last for about 5 seasons. Starting with the formation of the rings, then eventually building up to the War of the Last Alliance—the war that begins the Lord of the Rings trilogy where Sauron is defeated by Isildur.

 While some have pointed out that the US market may not have the kind of numbers expected, the global market has been very positive about Rings of Power, and has already contributed to millions of minutes viewed. The statement continues:

“We’ll continue to make the show as long as we see global customers loving it and watching it to the point where — it is a business. Obviously, we need a large amount of people showing up. And there are a large amount of people.”

With such a high production value that’s evident with each episode, a lot of fans have been worried about Rings of Power being able to keep the quality at a certain point. If anything, the series looks amazing, but fans are starting to tire of having to wait two or more years before the following season comes out.

How has Abbott Elementary managed to release one season per year? It’s insane when you put it next to shows like House of the Dragon that need a lot of time to gestate.

For now, the complete two seasons of LOTR: The Rings of Power are now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Just in, they’ve dropped a new trailer that gives a good idea of what to expect this season, and fans were surprised to see a team-up between Galadriel and the Father of Orcs, Adar. Check this out:

Though Galadriel found herself almost killing Adar in the first season, her true enemy has always been Sauron; so it was natural for her and Adar to find a common adversary. With the orcs eventually working for Sauron by the time of Lord of the Rings, it’s likely Adar will meet a tragic end that would result in the orcs working for someone else.

Besides the two, the trailer also gives us a better look at the direct effects that the rings have on the races. We see that it’s already affecting King Durin in Khazad-dum, and it’s possible that we could see the fall of Moria around this time, what with the Balrog that was teased last season.

And while we see that the rings have also helped preserve the elves’ homes, we can also see the corruption that’s happening to the smith Celebrimbor, who was working directly with Annatar/Sauron.

While the show had its ass kicked by House of the Dragon in its first season, I am hoping that they manage to gain some more traction with Season 2. Despite the gatekeepers in the fandom, I think Rings of Power has a great set of new characters and is a great welcome back to Middle-earth.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 comes to Amazon Prime Video on Aug. 29.

 During a group interview on set (via Collider) showrunner Patrick McKay confirms that the second season of ROP will feature the Grey Havens. McKay confirms that they are shooting the Havens in Lindon and they are going to be expanding on the elvish port.

For the more casual Lord of the Rings fans, the Grey Havens are considered to be Middle-earth’s entry point into ‘heaven’ or ‘paradise’. After Frodo couldn’t manage to heal himself from the wound he received from the morgul blade, he is then allowed to go to the havens where he boards a ship to the Undying Lands—where he could possibly be healed finally.

The first season of Rings of Power did tease the Undying Lands with Galadriel being sent there initially, but she then jumps off the boat because she’s convinced that she hasn’t caught the evil that she was hunting down for a while.

We don’t know how the Grey Havens will be used in Rings of Power, but fans should expect it to be more populated by elves. After all, this was before the fall of Numenor, and we should expect a lot of the ancient towns in the LOTR trilogy to be younger and livelier.

The second season of The Rings of Power premieres on Amazon Prime Video on Aug. 29.

As revealed by Empire, a new troll character by the name of Damrod the Hill-troll is said to be inspired by Saul Goodman’s occasional private investigator. Showrunner Patrick McKay shares, “[He] was inspired in part by Mike Ehrmantraut in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul… if you look at the way he moves and his casual sense of strength.”

Not much is known about Damrod yet, but his first image has him facing the “Father of Orcs” Adar (now played by Samuel Hazeldine):

Meet #TheRingsOfPower Season 2's new Hill-troll, Damrod.

“[He] was inspired in part by Mike Ehrmantraut in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul,” showrunner Patrick McKay tells Empire.

READ MORE: https://t.co/A4PGjKggeS pic.twitter.com/TEMjyVJInD

— Empire Magazine (@empiremagazine) July 1, 2024

Damrod is also described as an ‘eater of dragon bones’ and ‘ready to deal out serious damage with its significant stature and grouchy demeanor.’ With the first season of Rings of Power giving spotlight to the orcs in Adar’s army, it’s going to be interesting to see how more creatures come to the service of Sauron. Can we even expect these earlier trolls to be smarter than the ones we meet in Lord of the Rings?

Going back to Mike though, it’s funny that he should be the inspiration for a troll character. At this point, it was kind of expected. The show would make fun of Mike occasionally (like calling him ‘Uncle Fester’), but there was one scene in Better Call Saul when Jimmy literally calls Mike a ‘troll under the bridge’. It was only a matter of time.

Catch the second season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power when it premieres on Amazon Prime Video on Aug. 29.

As it turns out, Galadriel will be on the journey to hunt for—who we assume is—Sauron. Morfydd Clark, who plays the would-be elf oracle, describes Sauron as an ‘elusive, undiscovered, very real evil’. So far fans have assumed that Anson Boon from the trailers is playing Sauron in disguise, but word going around right now is the actor who plays dark lord could be played by someone else.

Just like the films before it, The Rings of Power seems to be undertaking a massive scale. Not only are we looking at some very extensive CGI, but the war sequences look to be overflowing with bodies that can even beat the Battle of the Bastards from Game of Thrones.

Showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay definitely have their work cut out for them, but after the poor finale of The Hobbit movies, I think Middle-earth fans are ready to jump back into the realm of Tolkien, even if it’s not with familiar characters from the books.

Amazon Prime Video is set to premiere The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power this coming Sept. 2.