Everything You Need to Remember For 'The Rings of Power' Season 2

Because two years is a long time in middle-earth and also on our Earth.

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The following story contains spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 1.

AT LAST, WE return to Middle-earth. After two long years, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power returns for its second season on Prime Video. While two years isn't that long in the grand scheme, in the realm of streaming television, we might as well be in a new age.

A prequel to J.R.R. Tolkien's famed literary saga and based on Tolkien's appendices, The Rings of Power takes place in the Second Age of Middle-earth, an era that dates back thousands of years before a humble Hobbit finds a strange ring of seductive power. True to its title, the series is all about how the fabled Rings of Power are forged by Elven smiths under the influence of the evil sorcerer Sauron; the latter's true identity reveal actually plays a huge role in the season's climax.

Whether you're fluent in Elvish or mistake the Rings of Power for Bill Russell's career with the Celtics, two years away means it's easy to forget the fine details of The Rings of Power Season 1 since it premiered in the fall of 2022. And that's not to mention the show's biggest liberties from Tolkien's lore, which means even veteran readers can't predict everything The Rings of Power throws at them.

But we at Men's Health see the beacons are lit, and the call for aid is answered. For both returning and new viewers who seek to sail the Sundering Seas before season 2 kicks off on August 30, let's retrace all eight epic episodes of Season 1. After all, not all who wander are lost.

THE RINGS OF POWER features a vast ensemble of diverse characters played by similarly diverse actors. While all of them play key roles in the show's narrative, arguably its "main" character has to be Galadriel, played by the ethereal Morfydd Clark. (Actress Cate Blanchett played the same role in director Peter Jackson's film series.)

The "Lady of Light," the mightiest and fairest of all the immortal Elves, takes center stage in The Rings of Power. Her self-imposed mission to stick her brother Finrod’s dagger in Sauron is the gas that fuels the series. The show's elaborate prologue in Episode 1 breaks down the deep lore of The Lord of the Rings, staging the destruction of the Two Trees of Valinor by the Dark Lord Morgoth. The series weaves that epic moment into Galadriel's own backstory, outlining how the Elves's war against Morgoth–and subsequently his successor, Sauron–leads to the death of Finrod.

Haunted by the loss of her brother, Galadriel spends thousands of years (elves are immortal, remember) searching for Sauron even when his threat fades into memory. After Galadriel and her company of Elves survive an encounter with a Snow-troll in an abandoned fortress, her toxic obsession with Sauron leads to the erosion of trust from her men. Their refusal to continue forces Galadriel to return to Lindon, the Elven capital in Middle-earth.

Soon, Galadriel is stranded in the Sundering Seas in the company of a strange but handsome hunk named Halbrand (Charlie Vickers), who seems to originate from the Southlands and whom Galadriel suspects is their lost king. A talented blacksmith, Halbrand wants to repent for his dark past shrouded in mystery. He finds himself in Galadriel's constant company when the two arrive in Númenor—the greatest kingdom of Men in Middle-earth.

Galadriel places a lot of trust in Halbrand, who later appears to trust her in return—or so that's how it seems. Back in Lindon, Halbrand cozies up to Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards), a legendary Elven smith renowned for his craftsmanship. A stray utterance of a familiar phrase, "Not of the flesh but over flesh," which Galadriel first hears from Adar (Joseph Mawle) the corrupted Elf and one of the first Orcs before hearing it from Celebrimbor, inspires her to look deeper into Halbrand's lineage.

Confronted with the truth by Galadriel, Halbrand drops his ruse to reveal himself as—drumroll, please—Sauron, in human disguise. While Halbrand/Sauron claims to seek penance for his evil past, Galadriel wisely doesn't trust the words of a Dark Lord. And don't forget, it's Sauron's deception as Halbrand that inspires the forging of three rings for Elven-kings—the first wave of powerful rings he will assume control over through his own One Ring. But The Rings of Power isn't there yet, with the series ending on the Elven rings and Halbrand/Sauron enjoying the new real estate that is Mordor.

ANOTHER MAJOR PLOT point in The Rings of Power is the arrival of a tall man who falls from the sky, like a meteor from outer space. Played by Daniel Weyman, this character, known only as "The Stranger" is taken in by the kind-hearted Nori Brandyfoot (Markella Kavenaugh).

Nori is part of the nomadic Harfoots, an elusive society of small-statured folk who value tradition, good food, and most of all, community. Harfoots are predecessors to the Hobbits, being essentially Hobbits who've not yet settled in the Shire as their permanent home. Instead, Harfoots are always on the move to follow a trail they travel along with the seasons. They are experts at camouflage, able to blend in with the foliage and keep away from men and other perils. Their signature song and chant, "Nobody walks off trail–and nobody walks alone!" is a declaration of their core identity (and a case for them being possible Liverpool supporters).

The Stranger himself is a man of little to no words but a possessor of incredible powers. Some of his powers heal, such as renewing the vegetation and bounties enjoyed by the Harfoots. Some are destructive, as evidenced by the times he inadvertently harms Nori. The problem is that The Stranger does not yet have full faculties and initially appears to have the mental capacity of a lost child; not until the final few episodes is The Stranger capable of communicative speech.

Even so, The Stranger still doesn't know his true identity. Early speculation by fans had him pinned as an amnesiac Sauron, which the show actually toys with late in season 1 when a trio of evil witches believe him to be the Dark Lord himself. However, it's quickly revealed that The Stranger isn't Sauron but an "Istar," better known as a wizard. While there are some hints that The Stranger isn't just any wizard but Gandalf–a role memorably played by Ian McKellan in the movies–the jury is still out on who exactly The Stranger may be. Is he Gandalf? Is he a Blue Wizard? Is he a new character entirely? Your guess is as good as anyone else's at this juncture.

NÚMENOR, THE KINGDOM of men gifted by the Valar as a thank-you to humans for aiding the Elves against Morgoth, is a sprawling metropolis populated by many, many people. To summarize them all in a nutshell, the most consequential inhabitants include (but not limited to):

For all its prosperity, Númenor is destined to fall, a fate which shapes the history of Middle-earth. But over yonder lies the Southlands. In The Rings of Power, the people of the Southlands exist in the aftermath of the great war, with lingering tensions between men and Elves who maintain military outposts throughout the Southlands.

But such a divide only creates an enchanting star-crossed love story reminiscent of Aragorn and Arwen. Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova), a formidable Elven soldier with pinpoint marksmanship and fine swordsmanship, and Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi), a human woman known for her healing, are deeply in love with each other despite their differences. Bronwyn is also mother to Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin), a restless youth who finds a powerful broken sword that becomes the literal key to turn the Southlands into the dark land of Mordor.

Compared to cosmopolitan Númenor, the rural Southlands is populated by simpler people and haunted by the monstrous Orcs. These horrific things are led by Adar, a corrupted Elf who was among many tortured and twisted into becoming hideous beasts. Adar leads the Orcs in corrupting the Southlands to prepare for Sauron's return and settlement–an event that happens in the show's very final moments. The Rings of Power alludes to the imminent fall of Númenor, and its depiction of the Southland's volcanic transformation into the dark, desolate lands of Mordor takes major prominence in Episode 6 ("Udûn") and Episode 7 ("The Eye").

MITHRIL, A POWERFUL rock-like substance that protects Frodo in the movies, is discovered in the mines of Moria, or Khazad-dûm—the city of Dwarves deep in the Misty Mountains. Unlike its abandoned ruins seen in The Fellowship of the Ring, Moria is at the height of its glory as a fully-active mine with many living Dwarves who call its subterranean caves home.

The king of the Dwarves is Durin III (Peter Mullan), a proud Dwarf who rigidly adheres to Dwarf tradition and is suspicious of outsiders. (As detailed by Tolkien, King Durin will become corrupted by one of the Dwarven rings which fans may see happen in season 2.) King Durin's son is Durin IV (Owain Arthur), himself a proud Dwarf, but one willing to break from tradition and progress into a more open future for the good of Dwarves. This conflict means both generations of Durins frequently butt beards.

Durin IV's generally more liberal outlook is due to his complicated relationship with Elrond (Robert Aramayo), a half-Elven politician. (Hugo Weaving plays Elrond in the movies.) Though Elrond believes himself to be a close friend of Durin IV, and indeed they were once, Elrond's elf immortality makes him blind to Durin's perspective. Some 20 years pass when Elrond tries to make contact with Durin IV; for Elrond, 20 years was but a blink of the eye, but for Durin IV, a whole darn lifetime has passed and he resents Elrond for ghosting him.

The first half of The Rings of Power sees Elrond and Durin IV repair their friendship—with plenty of help from Durin IV's lively and effervescent wife, Disa (Sophia Nomvete). As fences mend, Durin IV shows Elrond to the alluring power of mithril, a game-changing discovery that changes the fate of all of Middle-earth.

Essentially Middle-earth's answer to Wakanda's Vibranium, mithril is rare but powerful with amazing healing properties. The drawback: "It's perilous to mine," so says Durin IV. Mithril is deemed the key to saving the Elves, whose "Light of the Eldar"—a physical symbol of their overall well-being–has begun to fade.

Durin IV is all too happy to know his people's control of mithril means the Elves are at his mercy. But while both Durin IV and Elrond reforge their friendship, for political reasons, Durin IV is unable to procure all the mithril the Elves need–a fateful decision ominously foreshadowed by the roaring of Durin's Bane, the devil-like beast who dwells beneath the mines. As the Dwarves mine mithril for themselves, their selfishness and greed will become their undoing when their mining puts them in front of Durin's Bane. But that's a story for another day.

With the limited supply of mithril, the Elves change their plans from forging a weapon into something else–smaller, with a circular shape so that the light never breaks. This is how the Elves forge for themselves (and later others) powerful finger rings. Rings of Power, if you will. Makes a good title for a show, doesn't it?

Stream The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Here

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