Summary
- The Rings of Power introduces a fresh approach to villains, introducing characters like Adar who provides a sympathetic look at the enemy army.
- The siege of Eregion in season 2 will be more immersive, with characters on both sides, thanks to the addition of Adar and other fleshed-out villains.
- Damrod, a Hill Troll, joins Adar’s army in season 2, offering a unique perspective and further depth to the story, showcasing the complexity of Sauron’s forces.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has teased a unique new character for season 2, and this makes me even more excited that the show has taken a fresh approach to its villains. Of course, the Prime Video series has faced a lot of backlash for its various changes to the way J.R.R. Tolkien (or Peter Jackson) typically did things. However, some changes, especially those including character perspectives that Lord of the Rings fans have never gotten before, can be highly valuable to the overarching story. In the case of Rings of Power season 2, this will be reflected in the opposing army.
There’s a big battle on the way in The Rings of Power season 2, confirmed to be the siege of Eregion. This is a significant canon event of the Second Age of Middle-earth, though it has primarily only been recounted through the history-book-like Silmarillion. Rings of Power has the rare opportunity to dive into this battle from the personal perspectives of the characters who witnessed it. While those like Elrond, Gil-galad, and Galadriel are a given, Rings of Power has also set itself up to provide audiences with a sympathetic look at the villains’ perspectives.
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The Rings Of Power Cast & Character Descriptions
Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has known characters and brand new ones, all with familiar faces. Here’s where you know them from.
Adar Allows Us To Get Up Close & Personal With Sauron’s Army
Rings Of Power Added Adar To Give Audiences An Inside Look At The Enemy Army
Adar is an original character in Prime Video’s The Rings of Power, which means his general existence has been divisive. I can empathize with those who are frustrated when screen adaptations add characters that the author had never seen fit to include, but in the case of Adar, I think he brings something very valuable to the Prime Video series. He is revealed to be an early Orc—one of the Elves twisted by the Dark Lord Morgoth into something new. While this makes him evil in general, Adar is also sympathetic, which adds an engaging twist to the enemy army.
Shows like Games of Thrones have proven how much more engaging war scenes are when audiences are invested in characters on both sides.
Adar will lead the siege of Eregion in The Rings of Power season 2, with his army of Orc children behind him. This means that rather than seeing a nameless army of monsters attacking the Elven city, we will get up close and personal with the villainous hosts. Ultimately, this will allow the battle to be more immersive overall. Shows like Games of Thrones have proven how much more engaging war scenes are when audiences are invested in characters on both sides. Rings of Power has adopted this, with Sauron, Adar, and other teased Rings of Power villains being fully fleshed-out characters in their own right.
Damrod “Eater Of Dragon Bones” Will Be More Than Just Canon Fodder
Rings Of Power’s New Troll Character Won’t Just Be A Mindless Monster
Rings of Power has teased another villain added to the mix in season 2, who should again provide us with a unique new perspective. Damrod, “Eater of Dragon Bones,” is a Hill Troll who joins Adar’s army. Showrunner Patrick McKay says that Damrod was inspired by “Mike Ehrmantraut in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul,” referencing his strength and how he movies. Such a description implies that the Hill Troll will be unlike the mindless monsters used in other Lord of the Rings adaptations. This time around, the creature will be more like a legitimate character.
Looking at Damrod’s teased character, I predict the continuation of an idea suggested by The Rings of Power season 1—Sauron might see creatures like Orcs and Trolls as little more than cannon fodder, but there is more to them than that. Adar aimed to give Orcs a safe home in the Prime Video series’ first installment, which means there will have to be some motivation behind his leading them into battle in Sauron’s name. Characters like Damrod will need individual motivations as well, and this should ultimately result in an even more rounded story.
How Adar & Sauron’s Perspectives Uniquely Benefit The Rings Of Power
Lord Of The Rings Was Lacking The Villains’ Perspectives
Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings books are told predominantly through the Hobbits’ perspectives, which makes Sauron a sort of invisible, looming force. Similarly, The Silmarillion is meant to be a found manuscript written from the perspective of the Elves, so there is never much personal account from the villains. This is why The Rings of Power is so unique. Tales of the Second Age are being told from multiple angles, with even the villains getting some POV moments that allow for further depth in the plot.
Rings of Power‘s version of Sauron is a fully fleshed-out, almost tangible character. The series has the opportunity to show moments and villainous thought processes that were only implied or speculated by Tolkien. Then, added characters like Adar allow Prime Video to pull back the curtain on the inner workings of Sauron’s armies, ensuring that we, as the audience, can fully understand why they are marching, to begin with. While I understand why such creative liberties would make people uncomfortable, I have a hard time seeing this as anything but a benefit to The Rings of Power.
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
- 2
- 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