'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' Season 2 Trailer Breakdown
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I think he has been here. I think he's been here among us all along. Hello! Welcome to House of R. Home is behind. The content road is ahead. We are back, baby, to talk to you about the Rings of Power trailer. I am joined today by my favorite, favorite member of my personal fellowship. It's Mallory Rubin. I'm Joanna Robinson. I didn't say that. Hello, Mallory. How's it going?

Oh, have you heard of the season two teaser trailer? Joanna, hello. Our impeccable accent work is back and we're here to talk to you about The Rings of Power. We're so excited. If you're like, hey, I'm listening to this. This is not exactly the trailer I expect you to break down today. Fun fact, we knew this trailer was coming.

Warner Brothers, HBO, in their infinite wisdom and their infinite competitive nature, decided to drop a competing trailer today. We'll be back later this week to talk to you about the latest House of the Dragon Season 2 trailer. We'll be back on Thursday with a little...

Thrones five-year anniversary finale retrospective and then a complete breakdown of the House of the Dragon trailer, House of Our Style. We will also be covering the X-Men finale. It's just feast. It's a bounty. We are feasting on content this week. So it is Rings of Power, House of the Dragon, X-Men finale, incredible stuff. Yeah.

Then we're taking next week off. So just prepare yourselves for that. We are going dark next week because we are going to need to power up for the content wars to come. So we're taking one week off and then we'll be back. And it's just off to the races with everything that's coming at the lighthouse, the dragon, et cetera, et cetera. Over on the ring of verse, our pals over there are doing June look aheads.

heads uh the mint edition um the midnight boys will be covering the x-men finale and then what are they doing next week i can't wait to find out uh so listen if you want to what should they do now follow us on social keep track of that yeah follow the pod on spotify or wherever you get your podcasts also yeah follow us on social check out the ringerverse twitter instagram tiktok

And of course, send your emails. I mean, Joanna, the inbox name is once again, as relevant as it could possibly be, hobbitsanddragons at gmail.com.

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What a bounty. Bounty of content, bounty of trailers this week, bounty of live shows. If you go to the Talk of Thrones live shows, you get to see live and in person the face that Chris Ryan makes when he doesn't and he can't tell dragons apart. And that is just something to treasure. So mark this calendar. It is a power. Tickets. You're like, all right, you're telling me about the events. You're telling me what they are, where they are, when they are.

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Woo! Spoiler talk today. Listen, it's hard to say with Rings of Power because there's some Lord of the Rings stuff always sort of on our mind, increasingly on our mind. But we don't know what's happening in season two of Rings of Power. All the information we have is really from this trailer. So I don't imagine spoilers are going to be a major problem today.

I do want to take a pause really quickly. Mallory was not here for our vampire episode last week, so she is innocent in this. But I would like to apologize to all of our listeners, to the Republic of Ireland, and to Aiden Turner himself for saying Adrian Turner once and not Aiden Turner. And I am deeply ashamed and I apologize. Thank you for all your emails. Here we are to talk about, speaking of, I mean, Aiden Turner, the classic hot dwarf himself. We are here to talk about The Rings of Power Season 2, which starts...

August 29th, 2024. Yeah, we have a date. August 29th. We get a couple of weeks between House of the Dragons Season 2 and Rings of Power Season 2. I do. I do. Lord of the Gifts, indeed. We will be arrested and recharged. A brief window.

So let's get into what we're calling our mini trailer celebration slash breakdown. Just to confirm, Jo, we are talking about the hunt for Gollum today, right? That's what we're breaking down? Obviously, of course. And then the War of the Rahirim after that. And then Rings of Fire. What a time! What a time. Don't want to journey into Middle-earth.

We've got competing visions, but we've got lots of visions and lots of content coming. Also, we're going to need to, you're going to do a playthrough of the Gollum game on Twitch, right? Your most anticipated game of 2023? No? Okay. Listen, as we've said before, and we'll surely say again, House of R hype meters are not...

Legally binding contracts. Predictions or legally binding verbal contracts. They are merely of the moment insights into what we think, dare, dream. Might be good. And sometimes we are wrong about what might be good. And sometimes we are wrong about what coming soon might mean. It's all part of the experience. But we're not wrong now. Coming soon. August 29th. That's soon enough. At the tail end of summer. Yeah.

We're going to be back in Middle-Earth for Rings of Power Season 2. So what we're going to do is we're just going to do a good old-fashioned shot-by-shot breakdown of this teaser trailer. And we're going to start... The first shot we get is from the tail end of Season 1 where we see...

Sauron, have you heard of him, lads? His cloak and full billow as he heads into the newly created Mordor. You have a billowing cloak, Jo. So this is a great opening note for you. I do. It's not quite snapping in the wind the way that Paul Atreides' cloak does, but it is billowing and is wonderful. Bold to invoke Paul Atreides on this podcast after the max streaming date has been announced, but the Paul of Fame has not been scheduled.

Don't worry about it. It's coming. It's coming. Oh, man. So we start with Sauron from the end of season one, and then we get our guy, Prince Doran. Yeah.

We get like right before then over the Prime video logo, just this kind of billow of black smoke. And given that we will shortly talk about something that you have labeled in our outline, goopy, wormy goop. Yeah. Really on the lookout in general for yearning tendrils of black goop or smoke. We've got some slithering vines coming. There's a lot of creepiness.

Creeping, encroaching darkness in this trailer, and it has subsumed the word mark right from the go. Yeah, we are grasping him. And what's interesting, we'll just say this from the jump, I went through our breakdown here and I sort of highlighted the character names by like...

color because I am an obsessive compulsive person. And do you remember the first Rings of Power trailer for season one was like so nori and so hardfoot forward. And so do you ever wonder and you wander and like what's outside your door and all this sort of stuff like that. That is not the tone, not the vibe. We are in Sauron country. That is where we are in this episode. Very hardfoot light trailer. And do you think it's

for that tonal reason that like that would feel, I mean, we get a couple glimpses that we'll, we'll hit on, but like very few, this was such a dark and in a fun and scintillating way, right? Grimy. Yeah.

grim trailer? Like, do you think it just, it's harder to include the Harfoots and feel like a tonal sense of congruity over two tight minutes and the Harfoots will be coming in future trailers? Or do you get a sense from this that we will have a Harfoot light experience? Well,

I don't know if it's a hard foot light experience, but the only shot of Nora we have is like her in tremendous peril. Yeah. Peril. So I think that, I think the vibe of this season is like, things are getting spooky and scary. Like we started, we started Middle Earth and like, even soured himself. Hal Brown was like, maybe I can't be a good guy. And then he's like, no, I'm evil. Yeah.

Same to me. Healing? Binding in the darkness? Oh, oops. I'm evil. Okay. I have some thoughts on alloys. Just here to help if anyone's interested.

All right, so we hear Prince Dorian say, what's the second word of this trailer? An evil, ancient and powerful has returned. We do get to see Dorian. You know, it's an ominous note, Jo. Yeah, it's not a bright and chipper note. We do get to see Dorian in all his red-headed, bearded glory. That's not true of every speaker in this trailer, but we do get to see Dorian. But before we see him, we see...

Sauron himself, who, as you recall, is also Halbrand. But now he's pretty Sauron-y and he's looking up at the camera and he's like dirty and grimy and he's like a little teary, but also a little pissed, a little sad and pissed at the same time. A particular, what, brew? Brew. A brew. Of Sauron. It's tough to know when you are...

who is hell brand when you are the dark Lord. Yeah. When you've given it a go and here you are walking cloak billowing into the fiery abyss of Mordor, whether a pink wet eye is a sign of emotion or just the smoke smoke. Yeah. It was just, there's a lot of irritants in the air. It's true. Remember I was wondering,

one of the real joys I had because it's been a minute since we've covered Rings of Power. Every day is Spare the Air Day in Mordor, don't you think? Okay. Every day. And I just, I had to watch this trailer, getting excited, getting hyped.

And thinking back to our season one coverage and what an absolute joy it was. One of the things I was just like literally sitting in pajamas with Halo in my arms on the couch, watching the trailer, thinking about you and the 9,000 times we uttered before door. Our season one coverage and it was memory and it ported me back. I forgot about before door. That's incredible. Before door, no more door. No more door. What a time that was. What a time that was.

As you mentioned, we get some black goopy, wormy goop making its way downtown. I'm concerned, Joanna. I just want to throw out there that I am concerned. Yeah. It's got real...

the upside down, you know, on the other side of the veil vibes is venom in season two. Wow. Yeah. I have to get a glimpse to see how pointy any, any teeth might be before I could comment on whether this is a crossover event with venom. But, uh, you know, this is concerning. It's concerning. Let me get some elves. Galadriel and Elrond, you know,

But they're with a couple new elves and they're sort of circling up. They're doing their like Avengers circle pose. I know, the Avengers battle New York circle pose. Galadriel has her bow. Elrond has a blade. And this is a big deal. We hear prepare yourselves from Galadriel.

And Elrond. Is Galadriel here? Galadriel's here. She's saying, prepare yourselves. And Elrond, our feather-shirted diplomat from season one, is armed and ready. Elrond fighting is new.

Not new to all of Lord of the Rings, because if you've read the books or seen the Peter Jackson films, you've seen Hugo Weaving covered in grime with a sword. Like, we know that Elrond can fight. We just haven't seen him in this mode yet. And so, and what could bring this feathery-shirted diplomat to fight? Oh, I don't know. Some spooky figures with glowing eyes floating out of the forest behind them. It's a real critter forward. We've already got Wormy Goop, and now we've got Glowy-Eyed Hog.

things in the forest. What do you want to say, Mallory? It's a lot. First of all, I obviously want to say before we focus more on the evil portents. Signs? Signs and portents. Oh!

they're creeping just like the goo in a great way in a comforting way the creeping goo gives me again like blight on the golden leaves in Linden before the Mithril returned light and healed vibes so that's concerning Elrond's hair yeah

It feels like we know it's not actually in terms of the canon and the lore and the mythology, the counterweight to all, but it feels like it could be. It feels that magical and that powerful. It is just, I think, wonderful. You're like, forget a rings of power. We need Elrond's hair of power. Locks of power. Locks of power. Okay. This is just sensational. And, you know, not to jump ahead, but we will see.

Elrond later decked out in full armor, including a helm. And so I will cherish these moments. We love the helm as well, but I will cherish this free-flowing, windswept, out in the fields of battle. Shit has clearly gone completely awry, but if the upside is that the hair looks great,

Not all is lost. And it's one of the lessons of Tolkien's tale that not all is lost. Maybe eventually he can grow his hair. I mean, I like the rumpled hair, but maybe eventually for battle purposes, he can grow it out and Galadriel can teach him how to do a little braid crown because that's what she's rocking in this scene. Wonderful idea. He does what I have written in our notes. Yeah.

Yeah. What I'm calling a little Ned Starkey now tens pommel spin. The way you spelled this in the back just absolutely like killed me. I couldn't possibly love this more because I heard it so clearly. No, no tens. No tens. Um, yeah.

Yeah. So fighting Elrond. Great stuff. I love it. We understand what this is. What we see next is a bit more mysterious to us, but we have some thoughts and guesses. We see hands with like either painted nails or black tipped with evil, possibly. Cut palms bleeding, braces on the arms, flowy dress, moving through a crowd of moths. So two things pop out to me here. One. Yeah.

Gandalf's old friends. Have you ever heard me do my impression of Gandalf whispering to the moths? Have I done that for you? Do it. It's like this. That's what it sounds like. Okay. Beautiful. Thank you. But also, the combination of the armor plus potentially spooky blood magic plus flowy dress is giving the spooky accolades from season one vibes to me. What do you think, Mallory? Definitely...

gives season one mystics energy. So the dweller of the nomad that they were seemingly cast out, eliminated, dispersed to their very essence. Yeah. Could those exact figures be returning or is this like more of their mystic ilk entering the story, particularly because of the,

You know, the season one concluding Stranger and Nori mission to the lands of Rune and the fact that they were the ones invoking that place, perhaps more of their kind are waiting. In like what seems to be an Egyptian tomb, perhaps. Or maybe it's something else because like, no, no, that's my best guess. Okay. Okay.

The hand watch, you know, we talk a lot about wig watch, but it's been a real hand wash stretch for House of R. You know, we had some hand watch stuff going with the Doctor Who specials. We had some hand wash going with Laris in the dragon trailers. We've had a lot of hand watch action in the acolytes, a different acolyte in the acolyte trailer. It's just real like tracking fingertips time for us. The other thing before we move on from the sequence, like there's the shot of the hands, right? And then the next

shot where the moths, butterflies, I think the same moth like figures. It could be other little flying flecks of light or embers of some sort. But there's like a shape taking form perhaps seemingly. And like there's a kind of like there's the glow. Right. And then this sort of black form that seems to be taking shape and

So anytime we see a form taking shape, obviously one of the themes of this trailer is like hidden forms, cloaked forms, mysterious forms in many faces. But like also when we're, this is such a Sauron heavy trailer. And so then you have to kind of think of elsewhere in the timeline, other moments entirely. You know, it makes you think a little bit of like the necromancer or just other kind of like things.

shimmering, shadowy figures that portend some waiting doom. So, didn't make me feel peaceful and calm when I saw this, that's for sure. So to recap on Critterwatch so far, we've got a black wormy goop, we've got glowy eye phantom shapes in the forest, and now we've got blood moths that are potentially turning into something even scarier. Great. Um...

Now we move to spooky, sneaky roots on the forest floor. Again, I'm sure it's fine. We hear a voice. We don't know who this is. My best guess is, to me, it sounds like Kieran Hines, who has joined the cast for season two. We don't know who he's playing, but that's whose voice it sounds like to me. And he says, it worms its way inside your mind. And I think it says, and the rest of him slithers in? Is that what the...

Closed captioning says on the trailer. And the rest of him slithers in. Yes. Sorry, we initially watched this on a cut that didn't have closed captioning. So it worms his way inside your mind and the rest of him slithers in. I don't know what the it is. The it is like what? Your lust for power? So it says in the closed captioning, he worms his way inside your mind. Oh, he worms his way. Okay, that makes more sense to me.

He warms his way inside your mind and the rest of him slithers in. And the rest of him slithers in as the vines move toward this mysterious lower half. Dark, mysterious waiting figure. Is this Ciaran Hines? Is that also Sauron who is also Halbrand? Who knows? But we do know Ciaran Hines is in the cast and it did sound like his voice to me. So what do you think? Yes.

I like the Kieran Hines guess on the voice for sure. The figure, who knows? In terms of the backdrop of where these vines, because the vines are slithering over the leaves toward the lower half of this figure.

But we see a lot of these lanterns in the background of these shots. And these seem to match the lanterns that we have seen across the elven lands in Eregion, in Linden. So this would seem to be one of the homes of the elves. So that's...

Worrying for them. They do love a forest floor. It must be said. They love a forest floor. Love a forest floor. We get a shot of orcs or orcs, if you prefer, generally milling about. We'll return to the orcs a little later, but this is just a general orc shot. And then we get good old

And Celebrimbor. My guy. My guy. Sees someone awfully bright and shiny in his forge. We get an answer to who's that, like, immediately after. But Celebrimbor, who you might remember, is the elven smith who forges the first three rings that we saw at the end of season one. And he's just a guy, just a dude, just a regular guy and a dude who feels the shadow of his...

illustrious ancestors and a bit of a pressure to live up to their legacy. He's going through it in this trailer as he was in many spots, particularly the finale of season one. I love not only like the thematic qualities evoked in this very brief visual, but the

The comps, and we talked about there's so many things in season one where even if it's not actually directly connected to the Eye of Sauron, they're playing with that imagery. And this silhouette of a waiting form wreathed in flame, like, of course, makes us think of this iconic. Slit of a pupil. Yes, pupil slit in Rings lore. And I like to, this...

to go back to that idea of lurking shapes, hooded, cloaked figures, this larger question, which is very present in just the lines of dialogue we actually hear in the trailer too, but in many of these images, who walks among you? Like, who is just standing right in front of you? Can you even tell? Yeah. This is...

They should add that kind of, I mean, the score is beautiful, but what if we added some needle drops in? Have they considered it? They thought about it, then they decided to go with, which is what we get a few times in this trailer. A real grimy, gritty score drops. Really great. As always. So we have some theories as to who that figure might be. We hear this voice, a female voice. I could not tell you who says this.

Not for all the mithril and more. Yeah, could I tell you? It says this, but she says, I think he's been here. I think he's been here among us all along. So probably the he that we're hearing, he worms his way inside your mind and the rest of him slithers in. And I think he's been here. I think he's been here among us all along. He's all set to prime us for the

The greatest moment in Wigwatch history, and I do not exaggerate, is the appearance of Charlie Vickers, a.k.a. Halbred, a.k.a. Sauron, in his new season two form as Annatar. Mallory, can I tell you and our listeners who Annatar is? I need to hear from you on this. I know you know who Annatar is, but I will tell them. Annatar! Annatar!

Yeah. Oh, we're going into the lore, not just wig watch. I want both from you. I'm excited to talk about Anatar, but I need all of your thoughts on the wig. All of them. Questions about it. But, um,

So Annatar is who Sauron disguised himself as. So basically, here's what happened. Sauron's like, I mean, I'm blending actual Tolkien lore with what we saw happen in season one of Rings of Power. But let's say you're Sauron, aka Halbrin. And you kind of tried it with Galadriel. And it didn't work. It didn't really work. You're like, I'll make you a queen. And she's like, I'd rather drown in this creek than join you. There you go. So that didn't work.

So what do you do? You sculpt back to Mordor, sure. But are you done trying to manipulate elves? No, you got to find an easier mark than Galadriel and good old Celebrimbor is just waiting there with all these churning desires to live up to the legacy of his forefathers. So you try again, and this time with a wig and some pointy ears. And so you come back in disguise.

As Annatar. And this is what the text says in Unfinished Tales. When Sauron felt himself to be secure, he sent emissaries to Eriador, which is where Celebrimbor is. And finally, in about a year, the year 1200, the Second Age, came himself wearing the fairest form he could contrive. Sauron had better fortune with the Noldor of Eregion, especially with Celebrimbor, who desired in his heart to rival the skill and fame of Feanor.

Fairest form that he could contrive. So Sauron, who was Halbrand, sat there and said, you know what I need to pretend that I am the Lord of Gifts, an emissary of the Valar, here to give divine inspiration to Celebrimbor. I need a flat iron, some blonde highlights, and here we go. I...

Some people, it's not the wig. The wig itself is not the problem. And it's not a problem. Like, I have no problem with this. I gasped. I have no problem with it. Yeah. Let it just be said, some people are meant to be

Kind of rougher and grimier. And I would say that is Charlie Vickers in his fairest form is Halbrand drift on a raft looking 15 days dehydrated. Yeah, been roasting under the sun and evading sea monsters for weeks on end. That's the fairest form. This is... He's playing to his audience and his audience is Caleb Brimbor. And unlike us, Caleb Brimbor loves a flat iron. So, you know, there you go. I've been trying to like...

It's hard to know how much our, I think, genuinely like reflexive response to seeing this where you kind of like your eyes pop, you lean forward, you almost can't help it. It's just because we have now spent a full season with Charlie Vickers in the Halbrand form. And so it is shocking to see this instead. Whereas if we had seen this first, maybe we would have no response to it. But on the Ferris form front,

Now, trailers are edited to evoke a mood. And I would say that this trailer did so spectacularly. Yes. I would also say maybe it's because of the

low lighting and ample slow-mo, but Annatar is giving me I am evil vibes here. Well, it's also the choice. And I don't know if this is the first, I don't think this is the first outfit he decided to wear for Celebrimbor because we see him later in other outfits, but this one is like obsidian black feathered. And that's not the vibe you want. If you're like, I am the Lord of gifts. I'm just here to give you some divine inspiration. Yeah.

You don't cloak yourself in black feathers in order to do that, right? Am I right? I think I'm right. I think that's, it's a good, but it's a good note. I do have a question about this for you. Like, we won't get too deep into book lore here because who knows like what still awaits, right? In this season. Yeah. But the Annatar Lord of Gifts counseling Celebrimbor and the elves and the forging of the rings plot. Yeah.

Has in part already happened. Like, yes and no. Well, this is my question. Yeah. The three. Yes. Elven rings. Correct. Are forged. Yes.

At the end of the season. Correct. A lot of talk about alloys. We melt down. Yes. Finrod's dagger. The compound amplifies. Silver Lake fade. It's still just a wonderful haircut. One of the great choices in the history of prestige TV. Correct. So other parts of this await. Yeah. But here's my question. Yes.

Halbrand was there to guide Celebrimbor in the forging of those, this hot Sauron who fucks in the forging of those three rings. Returning as Annatar to, I have theories. I have thoughts and theories. Do you been guide the same figure? Like, I'm very curious to see how that is handled in terms of how much of this is like a spell he's under. Obviously we do see him like in a kind of,

Not looking great. Tyrion, Catelyn, you know, surrounded by swords and taken prisoner a moment later. So it's not like he just is going to escape detection for all of time here. But I'm interested to see like how that kind of sequencing is explained. Also more broadly, not to jump ahead again, but like based on a shot at the end, I'm wondering if we're getting any flashbacks in addition to whatever is unfolding in the present timeline of season two.

What do you think of all of that? Where are you on all of this? Oh, based on the closing shot? Yeah, I agree with you. Okay, we'll get to the closing shot. Here's my thought. Galadriel, we love her. Is Galadriel here?

She's not. She's leaving, right? We see her on horseback in forest, blah, blah, blah. But she's not an oregan anymore. And what seemed to be true in the finale of season one is that she was like not really interested in telling people that she had been duped by Sauron for a whole entire season. Yes. So it's possible she leaves without saying, oh, by the way, if that guy Halbrand comes back, he's actually Sauron. So don't engage with him.

So this was my theory, but then the whole trailer being about everybody talking about how evil is back and Sauron is back makes that a harder... What's the messaging system? How quickly does a raven get to Eregion? That's the question. But if Halberd comes back...

who is also Sauron, who is eventually Annatar. If he comes back to Eregion and he's like, hey, Kellog Brimbor, remember how I gave you some advice earlier? Guess what? What I didn't tell you before is I am a ta-da! Annatar! Actually, I'm a messenger from the gods, and I have even more advice to tell you. And what's important about, and I'm so sorry, but I'm not, because this is what Rings of Power Coverage is for, what's so important about those three elven rings is

is they were technically made without Sauron, who was also Halberd, who was also Annatar's input. He had some thoughts and feelings about alloys, but he was not physically there when they made those rings. And what's important always about those elvish rings is that they are free from Sauron's influence versus the other rings that will be forged. So...

I also am curious how to see how this all goes. If I were Kel Brimbor, I'd be a little bit more suspicious, but my guy has other things on his mind, like his own glory. So, you know? Yeah. The, uh, I'll see to it that no one else does either parting threat from Halbrand, who is hot star on who fucks to Galadriel last season, obviously has a bearing on the choices that she makes moving forward. Um,

had his little, you know, I remember you affectionately calling it Detective Elrond. Like his little interlude in the water where he finds the scroll of the broken bloodline. And so I

I definitely think there's a way for all of this to track perfectly. I'm just kind of curious based on some of the things they've already incorporated in season one and now what has to kind of happen in season two, how that will all fit together harmoniously. It's going to require nobody bothering to tell Celebrimbor what's up. And that is something I could see happening if they're like,

He's not here anymore. It's not a problem. Someone forgot to send Caleb Rippor a text that was like, SOS, red flag, block this guy on your phone. Okay. We see a gathering of some sort on a cliffside. I think it's elves, but I didn't see this trailer in high def. Do you think it's elves as well? Okay. I am...

Genuinely delighted to inform you based on how hard we tried to identify that little cluster of that gathering in the nook that in the posted YouTube version. No. That is completely covered by On August 29th. I mean, you can put like...

really much more beyond that. It's just the G-U-S-T of August covering the little assemblage. Okay, then who cares? It's on the cliffside. What I was wondering is could this be Pelagar? That old Numenorean colony by the sea that Brani, our gal Brani, says in episode seven of season one after the battle they're going to head to for a fresh start. Now, that would be a different

of individuals if this is Bronwyn and co. than if it's an elven clustering but sea colony. Oh, I have some questions about Bronwyn but like I would say either Numenoreans possibly Southlanders or elves.

Either way, we're on the sea and it doesn't matter because there's a date in front of it. Okay. We love an ocean vista. We really do. I don't know how you feel about horseback riding, but Galadriel loves a horseback ride. We've seen this from her in season one. And this time it's her and someone else. I think it's Elrond, but it really could be anyone racing their horses across the meadow. And it just looks absolutely lovely. It's beautiful. Yeah.

Splendid and wonderful. Beautiful color on the cloak. Oh, yeah. The cloak plus the meadow plus the sky. All these like blue, green jewel tones. Absolutely great. Then we're underwater. Someone in a white robe and dark hair is underwater as a ginormous. Okay, it's black wormy goop. It's blood moths. It spooks in the forest with the glowing eyes. And it is an enormous sea beastie. Comes towards someone who I think is Muriel.

We don't see her anywhere else in the trailer based on like hair. I think it's Muriel, but what do you, what do you think? So I also can't tell. I, my first thought, not seeing the human figure, but seeing the,

The beastie. Ginormous beastie, to quote you. Ginormous beastie. Yeah. To stick with House of Arcanon was, could this be the Watcher in the Water? Yeah. Could we be by Moria? You know, tentacles, that's an association we have, so I was wondering. And that wider shot after the first close-up does look like this drifting figure, right?

is perhaps mere seconds away from being consumed. So it's not like there's an absence of peril in this sequence, but there's something like

I don't know how, why I think this when there's a giant ginormous CBC with tentacles and a gaping maw in this next shot. But there's something about like a floating figure in the water that almost felt like almost like a serial. And so I was wondering if it is Mario, could it be some sort of like a vision yelling ritual or a vision? And yeah, thinking of like her role in season one and her family line and

and the role of visions and signs and portents, portents and signs. Certainly later in the trailer, we see Galadriel in something that looks like either a dream or a vision, or perhaps she's taken up

and she's in a dark room somewhere. But everything is very bright red. And that looks like a vision to me. This could also be a vision. Miriel, who now has lost her sight, her physical sight, but still has the sort of like vision-y second sight, palantir-based. I'm not laughing at Miriel losing her sight. I'm laughing because it just made me think back to that moment.

in season one where Muriel is like asks you know how long since the smoke cleared right it's like a mile ago and she's like I see and then Alendio walks over and is like do you tough moment there from my guy who I love and who is just unbelievably handsome um

Can't wait to find out what this is. The Watcher in the Water, we should say, features in a mural in the background in Numenor in season one. So that's what gives Numenor vibes to me. But speaking of Moria, speaking of Khazad-dûm. We call it.

Oh, they have a catch-all. All right. So listen, someone else is talking. Again, it's mysterious. We think it's Rory Kinnear, who, again, is a new cast member in season two. We feel very strong Rory Kinnear vibes up here. It's a West Country accent. Sounds like Rory. Sounds like Rory to us. And he says, every soul in Middle Earth is in peril. And...

really cool, calm thing to say. And then Deesa turns and glares at the camera. Gives the camera a super scary look. Mallory, if folks don't remember, can you recap where Deesa was mentally at the end of season one? Yeah, after a lot of really welcoming, sweet, warm... A lot of lovely meals in the abode. Mm-hmm. Some...

Singing to the stones. I don't know why my Baltimore accent is so strong today. You said a booed like I've never heard before. Maybe that's something to do with my stress level right now. I'm going to think about this later and circle back. We got, you know, marriage can be tough and families can be tough. As Thor likes to say, families can be tough. And the Deesa Doran marriage and relationship was a highlight of season one.

The Durin-Elrond friendship was one of our absolute... Exquisite is the perfect word for it. Just one of our absolute favorite parts of season one. Truly, truly, truly magical and wonderful. And Papa Durin had a disagreement with Baby Durin about whether to help Elrond and the elves by providing the, frankly, abundant Mithril. Okay? Abundant. And...

After a rift between father and son, a harrowing argument that we just like were shattered by, Disa sat her husband down and said, fuck your dad. It's yours and it's mine. Yeah.

We'll have the throne. We'll have the whole kingdom. It will be ours. It's mine. My precious. No, she doesn't say my precious. But like, it was a little moment from Disa at the end of season one that we were like, ooh. So every soul in Middle Earth is in peril. We really like, I'll just speak for myself. I really like the word choice here because like,

Yeah. There's a reading of this line, every soul in Middle-earth is in peril, which means like every life or every person in Middle-earth is in peril. But the choice of soul and thinking about Sauron, sorry, what is he doing? Worming his way inside your mind and the rest of him slithering in. He's here to corrupt you. Your very soul is in peril. It's in peril. Great. Great.

Great stuff. Okay. This was also like the soul call out is a great one, but the word peril, I think also makes us think back to so many key moments from season one, particularly the conversation between the stranger and Nori about that word, like using a word that we had a protracted discussion about what it means and what it signifies and what, what it means for a character to wonder if they are a source of that felt like very deliberate. You're not a peril. You're good. Yeah.

I always remember that. Yeah. Beautiful.

What a moment for red apples. The Nori stranger season one stretch was just going to toss that out there. Cool story. Okay. So King Doran, or as you, or as you called him Papa Doran, played by Peter Mullen, squints up through a hole in the rock at what looks like, it seems like the sun is coming in through this hole in the rock as a giant, a same sort of next shot, a giant chunk of rock crashes down on Kazadum and takes out a bridge where,

which is there's a number of moments in the trailer that are very reminiscent, as you mentioned, the sort of like the slit in the eye of the pupil or whatever. This is very reminiscent of Ganoth the Grey's last stand in Moria, like a bridge collapsing in Khazad-dûn in Moria is a familiar sight to us. But this comes from some sort of cave-in, a collapse of their home around them, and we don't know why. But King Doran doesn't look too excited about it.

It seems like things are just going poorly for everyone. We'll come back to that. One of the real banger lines of season one, which was full of, as we chronicled at the time,

gorgeous, lyrical prose that really captured the spirit of the professor who is always welcome here at the House of R. One of the lines that we loved and talked about a lot throughout the season was, for the same wind that seeks to blow out a fire may also cause its spread. Now, that was the High King, our guy Gil. Gil. On Galadriel, who was always here. And I just got like...

inside the pits. I know. It's actually like I literally can't help it. It's so great to be back. It really is. But that's one of those lines that applies to so many of the characters. And so thinking about how the decisions that a character like King Dern makes to seek to avoid a given outcome might contribute to bringing it about. This is one of the things that we love about

Lord of the Rings as a universe and a story. It's one of the things we love about assessing choice, destiny, fate, all of these ideas in fantasy stories. And so you really like feel that in these images in this stretch here. Also just like thinking about, to go back to that word peril, like how all these various things

If that is Muriel underwater with a giant sea beastie sort of looming in front of her, that seems like peril. Definitely, yeah. If Cousin Doom is collapsing all around them, that seems like peril. Whether your tree has magical root rot or whatever it is, the various communities of Middle Earth are feeling scared and uncomfortable.

vulnerable. You know, the Harfoots have lost their leader. Like there's a, there's a lot going on that's, that makes you feel vulnerable. And when you're vulnerable in general, you're vulnerable to the seduction of Sauron, who is here to be like, you need, you know what? You need some magical jewelry to protect you. You know what will help you? I got some rings to sell. All right. Before we get to. That's a great point. I love that too, because we talked so much in season one about like the idea of

and this central talking focus on

when those different cultures and communities can make their way toward a shared... A fellowship. ...pursuit of fellowship. And, you know, we ended season one in an interesting place where we had some fellowships intact or building or forging and some real divisions that were maybe imposed. And so if that threat, that evil... Like, what was one of the other...

key notes of the three lines of season one, evil does not sleep around, it waits. And in the moment of our complacency, it blinds us. So that blinding is now upon us here. And if that peril is shared, then you would think you would be inclined to work together. But what will that look like for each different character? Does that make them more likely to work with somebody they may otherwise be

refusing actively to help. Does it make you circle the wagons and just sort of like think only of your own community and your own kind? Great point. Okay. Speaking of a community in turmoil, we get a shot of Mallory's fave. Sorry, Elrond. I do think this is Mallory's fave. Hot daddy Elendil trying and failing to fight through a crowd of Numenoreans. I'm here to help. I would just like to say I'm here to help. Yeah.

Father's like, clear the way. Yeah, he looks distressed. Yeah. But more importantly, he looks very handsome. And that's all I have to say about that. The hair looks great. He looks like he's a distress us does everyone in the trailer. So I'm concerned for them all, but here to provide comfort. Speaking of wigs, this is a great wig. Wonderful wig. Hey, Fidelity. How can I remember to invest every month? With the Fidelity app, you can choose a schedule and set up recurring investments in stocks and ETFs.

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Galadriel in the aforementioned, you know, red dark room sort of thing. She's shrieking. It's a great two shot. You know, it's deceptively edited to make them look like almost they're reaching for each other. But Elendil is reaching through the Numenorean crowd and she's reaching out in this vision that she's having. She's shrieking. And again, this could be a flashback.

This could be a vision. It could be any number of things. But it looks scary. It does. I like this as a Rings of Power trailer tradition. You know, the season one trailers had some very ominous red-tinged images. Bodies. One of them ended up being the kind of opening prologue of the premiere of the first episode, like from the battle against Morgoth. And then one of the red-tinged shots of Galadriel ended up being post-Bloodthorne.

Battle of Southlands. Before Mordor, now Mordor. Before Mordor, it's now officially Mordor. Yeah. And waking up with the eye covered in soot. So this could really be anything. It could be a dream. It could be a flashback. It could be a terrible thing unfolding in real time. All in play. The orcs. The orcs.

Are here doing what orcs do best, which is licking some blood off a knife. I believe it is their favorite hobby, right? Is there anything they love more than a good old knife lick?

This is a Uruk move right after Fade Ralph's heart. Yeah. We're in handwatch season. We're in knife licking season. It's all happening for us. I love that. All right. In the version of the trailer we had before the one that's up on YouTube that has the date, our trailer did have darkness will bind them over a shot of what looks like a Regian to me. And I,

then that, that those words, darkness will bind them. The them in question being usually rings, but could be souls or people if you prefer, but we get an overhead shot of three elvish hands wearing the three rings of power that were forged at the end of last season. It's Vilja, Nenya, and Narya. This is definitely Galadriel. Yeah. Definitely Gil-Galid. Absolutely.

And then there's a third hand that could be Elrond, but if we're going by lore, the three ring bearers of these three rings at the beginning of their time here on Middle-earth is, uh, Sirdan, who's a very important Elvish character we did not meet in season one. Uh,

Um, but he survives all the way through everything. So we could be meeting Sirdan, um, or they could be tweaking lore a bit and this is Elrond. Um, but how did you feel about seeing the elvish rings of power on elvish hands?

great, you know? Great. This is like, here it is. It's the promise of the show in front of our eyes. Like this is, it's thrilling, exciting. We have a shot coming up in mere seconds that we'll talk about where another ring is entering the fray here. So like this is, this is the stretch of the story that we're in. And I thought that the choice to end season one on the Mithril alloy forging of the three rings was a

perfect note to conclude season one and spin us forward into this season. And so like, yeah, putting them on the hands, of course, this makes sense. You know, one of the notes we got at the end of season one, I am excited to see them take these to, to the high King.

We know we're in Linden because there's foliage on the ground, like golden foliage on the ground. Yeah. Yeah. And the next shot. And again, like who knows how things are edited, but you know, next shot, we've got like the, the tree, but just seeing the golden leaves on the ground beneath their, their hands. I am excited to see what Gil says when they present these three rings. And he's like, when last we spoke, you had mentioned the crown. You promise me you'll update

the plan without consulting me via Slack, and I have some notes. But of course, what we heard from the characters who were present for the forging, one, corrupts. Two, divides. Three, balance. And so we build from that to seeing them on the hands. Feels exactly right. The Gray Tree of Linden, what it looks like to me, and I'm not an expert in magical slash CGI created foliage, but it looks to me like it is...

Growing new healthy leaves. Rather than withering and dying, we're seeing the reverse. We're seeing a surge of life. And it could be, again, we don't know how things are edited, but it could be, you know, we slap the rings on and all of a sudden the tree is like perking up as it never has before, you know? Which should be what happens. I mean, based on our understanding of seeing the mithril next to the one, the blight mithril.

coated leaf on Durin's table that as soon as they're wearing them and the magic is unlocked, the light should be restored. So I think that's what will happen, which will maybe contribute to a, again, Galadriel's in possession of the truth, but for others, perhaps a brief sense of calm before all the characters start dropping tidy soundbites about everyone being in peril and evil lurking around every corner and slithering into your mind. Very soulful.

Yeah, that is, you're right. That is how magical horticulture works. Okay, so King Doran picks up, I gotta say, listen, it's fairly gaudy. A chunky, gaudy blue ring. It's a lot. It's a lot. It's a lot of luck. It looks, I have to say, delicious. It's giving me ring pop. Rock candy. Yeah, and I kind of want to lick it. Like a blue Jolly Rancher. To remind you of the ring poem, Seven for the Dwarf Lords in Their Hall of Stone.

These rings don't get names unlike the Elvish rings, or at least Tolkien didn't give them any. Who knows? The show might decide to name them. I love a named piece of jewelry. But either way, we've got a dwarf and we got a big old ring. So here we go. More to come. We've gotten this far.

Without any action shots of a rondeer, and he seems to be pretty miffed about that, so he decides to enter the trailer in the most dramatic fashion possible. He is just whirling through the air into frame. I love it for him. And who is that standing right behind him, Mallory? It's the old dog!

When last we left Isildur, he was presumed dead and everyone thought he was dead except for his horse and all of us watching at home. So... Be Beric. Yeah, Beric was sure that Isildur was alive and so were we. And guess what? He is here. So... And he's with Erundir, which is sort of a new pairing. So that's interesting. Do you think... How long until Beric finds him? I don't want to wait long for this reunion. I don't...

Yeah, you want this, is this the cold open of season one of Rings of Power? I love that. Season two of Rings of Power? The sweet barrack runs toward him and we can tell it's him because of the little scratch on his... Season one, it's Galadriel in the last several hundred years. And in season two, a horse is here. Sweet barrack. Same scale.

Okay, speaking of creatures. Yeah. We get a shot of a very Gondori-looking Numenor. This is what Numenor looked like last season. I just want to reiterate that it looks like Gondor to me. And holy shit! It's a great eagle.

Wonderful. Surely, if you're a Tolkien fan, you remember the Great Eagles. The Great Eagles show up at the end of Turn of the King. They show up at the end of the Battle of Five Armies and The Hobbit. They always show up at the end to swoop someone home if they need to. They're messengers of the gods. They're a big deal. We'll talk about them a lot if they are indeed a big part of season two. But here's my question to you. We don't know this for certain, I believe. Mm-hmm.

Did the way this was edited look to you as if Farazan arrives, Farazan being Muriel's shady cousin, arrives in the throne room or whatever that is on the back of the great eagle? And I am basing this primarily on how tousled his hair looks. What do you think of Farazan? Because the eagle lands and it's like Farazan's not there. He's not in front of him. He's not there and then he's there. So is he on his back, you know?

And we just can't see him because of the way the Eagles landing. Yeah. I mean, it's either that he's on his back and dismounts, comes to the front, or he's standing at the front of this assemblage and then like moves forward through the crowd and turns around. But it seems like maybe he's on his back and flies in. Look how tousled his hair is. To greet this mass. That is so clearly Eagle wind hair. Flight swept. Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, and he does pull his sword. So I should say that makes it less likely he was like previously just standing there. It does seem like he has arrived on the back of a great eagle, heroin swept, landed, dismounted, and immediately pulled his sword. A sick power move. If you're in a power struggle for the control of Numenor, why not show up on the back of a great eagle, one of the very messengers from the gods? Oh, man. All right.

Theo, he's going through it. Looking very tall and very sad. Weeping freely. Bronwyn is not in the trailer at all. Yeah. These are two facts that are true.

This is my concern for Theo, and I had this concern in season one, actually, because he already shot up like two feet in season one. And I'm sure we talked about this in season one coverage. But I call this like the Walt from Lost syndrome because the young actor who played Walt, who was a kid, season one of Lost –

just grew faster than the timeline could possibly allow him to, so they wrote him off the show, essentially. And this is a problem for kid actors on shows, especially shows with long production times and stuff like that. So Theo, who was cast... I don't know how old the kid was when he was cast, but by the time the season ended, his voice had already dropped, and he looks...

Even taller to my eyes in this shot in this trailer. So is he going to be written out of the show just because kids grow too quickly? There was so much ominous, like plot content swirling around him in season one. Um, so, um,

it would take a significant move to write him out. And if we were to write him and Bronwyn out of the story, then like all this, the Southlander thread is sort of dropped. But, but what do you, what do you think? I have you out of a lad. I've got Mike Wheeler. Like sometimes this happens with stranger things. Like the characters have to remain in the show. I feel does feel weird.

more even than Bronwyn like the link to the men of the South. So... Right. Because we got seven rings for Dors, and we got nine rings for men. So... Yes. You know? And we have just like... So much of season one was like... I mean, obviously, the broken line of kings on the Halbrand front was... We got some tidying of that plot line at the end, but...

Chekhov's who is Theo's father and just like all of these different things. There was obviously his connection to the hilt, the source of art. That feasted on blood. Yeah, the source of so many Waldrick bits that live to this day. You know, and he had like, the thing that makes me feel even more confident that he will remain in the story than just all of the ties to the Southlands is,

He and Galadriel had extended screen time together after the Episode VI battle. In Episode VII, they were just together sequestering in the woods from the air-sniffing Uruk. And...

There were a lot of lessons that Galadriel imparted to him that feel to me like imparted for a reason, right? Now, maybe they're there just for us to hear, but, you know, it darkens the heart to call dark deeds good or do not put the burden of this day upon your shoulders, Theo. You may find it difficult to put it down again. Like,

These feel like lines of consequence and exchanges of consequence. I think it means the character has a role to play. He is incredibly tall, though. Speaking of people with a role to play, Isildur also gets another very important sort of hero shot in this trailer. He's looking way up in the sky. Could be anything. Is it a great eagle? Way up. Way, way up. Could be the comets. Or not comets. Fiery projectiles. Fiery projectiles that are in the next shot. But yeah. Yeah.

Anytime you look skyward, could it be the eagle, the fiery projectiles? Fiery projectiles hurtled towards Eregion. Yes.

And then we see new Adar. So Joseph Maul played Adar, the leader of the Oroks in season one. He is not back this season. Uncle Benjen Coldhands has retreated to the icy north. And it is Sam Hazeldine who is playing, I think it's Hazeldine or Hazeldine, who is playing Adar this season. They've given him makeup that makes him look fairly similar to Joseph Maul. And he draws his sword with an army of Oroks behind him.

Speaking of shots that remind us of other iconic moments in Lord of the Rings, we get the stranger in the desert. As Mallory mentioned earlier, they're headed towards Rune, which is the east. So we're in a very like desert-y landscape and he slams his staff into the ground, which...

Flame of Udon has to make us think of Gandalf, right? So, you know, it's, yeah. Great stuff. I respect the hustle of continuing to draw out this, what feels like increasingly inevitable reveal. Like we did talk a lot in the finale pod. Could it be, could he be one of the blues? You know, there are other possibilities. I'm back on team blue. I don't think. We know he's a wizard, right? We know he's a wizard. Which wizard? The fact that he's a wizard

fact that he's going to the east which is where the blue wizards went like makes me think that he's not Gandalf that he's one of the blue wizards I still just can't shake the like let's sniff the air and follow our nose yeah

Maybe he's too Kansai. Who's to say? Does him slamming his staff into the ground have anything to do with a massive windstorm that looks like it's about to sweep Nori away into the sky? If I've ever said Poppy, I apologize. I wrote it erroneously in the notes. This is Nori. We don't see Pop in the trailer, and that is a hot bummer. But we do see Nori. Nori or Pop.

Yeah. If they are related, if him slamming his staff into the ground is related to the windstorm that we see, then we're invoking, that's like a Saruman move, right? Calling up a windstorm. So like maybe they're just going to try to connect him to various wizarding moves. And we did see like a lot of shit on his head later and you're like, Radagast, my guy. Oh man, maybe, hopefully.

he'll still wipe it off just for once just a little wipe with some of that ample uh potato sack garb you're wearing yeah the sequence against the mystics in the finale like the swirling the the calling of the wind and the swirling of the elements and the fibers of the farthest floor like and and you know other sequences as well we've seen this kind of

summoning and wielding of the elements from the stranger before really any of the wizards feel like they're in play still at this point which is fun i hope nori is okay me too may nori and poppy one day with no wolf waiting on the cliffside enjoy these supple blackberries and raspberries that await hopefully while singing stuffing their mouths and singing at the same time okay

Galadriel back in the forest. It's similar to Supernatural Mist, but her hair is down this time. So this is like a different sequence. Just a fantastic hair swirl. Unless the spooky people in this forest unbraided her hair. Incredible move. Her hard out Sauron, who's also Halbran, who's also Annatar. Because he gets his like slow-mo black feather walk towards the camera. But her slow-mo spin with the arrows, the fiery arrows. Great stuff. She's the queen of the trailer. Okay. Okay.

A fiery explosion that is probably not related to those two fiery arrows sends some Uruks flying. I'm sure Adar is very worried about that. And then, here we go, Mallory. Yeah. It's helm watch moment. What do you want to say about Elrond and his battle helm here? So, first of all, that I miss the hair. As previously noted. Yes. Very, very, very quickly. Yes.

Like, you got to really be like in a freeze frame action here, which I am trying to do in real time as I speak. And I'm sure it sounds very natural and normal. Is this podcasting?

Very good. Because he's drawing a sword, right? He's lifting his arm. Before his arm goes up, like the right shoulder, you can see a blue banner behind him. So this looks like Gil-galad's banner. Yeah. And we see him, obviously, then we see this close-up of Elrond, and then we see this charge. If those fiery projectiles are, in fact, Eregion, and we see an army of elves charging in front of their High King's banner, we have a...

A battle. It's a battle, baby. Large, elvish force in a large battle awaiting us this season, which is exciting. Curious to see where the battle falls this season, like season six being the big battle episode. Last season was kind of a fun little surprise, basically just because of our Thrones-programmed brains. So curious to see where in the season this falls.

Battle of Eregion, if that is indeed what we're getting here, seems like it has had a tremendous impact on the residents of Eregion. No one perhaps more so than Celebrimbor, who is looking, it should be said, not entirely sane as he dumps a heap of rings into some fire. Jo, he is struggling. I...

I rewound to watch this so many times. Bless Charles Edwards as Celebrity Moore. I've never seen a person look more completely unraveled in my life. This is just fantastic. The expression is priceless. And he's covered in soot. And like, we don't know. Is it from working the forge? Maybe it's just a really intense, hard day at work. Is it because of battle? He looks a little bloody. In the land all around him.

Because we see him. Yeah, go ahead. Did you freeze the frame to try to count the number of rings? Because I was like, are these the seven? But they're not. Dumping them into the fire? Wait, we're not through. Maybe he's trying and reforging. I think these are spare rings. These are just. Extras? Yeah. Just all the oopsies. Bands to attach to support the ring candy. And this is a very quick shot. And I tried to freeze. And like in one shot, I counted initially when they're sort of just beginning to cascade out of his hand. And I was like.

And then the next shot, it appears to be either eight or nine, depending on whether a blur is an extra circular form or second tell. But this is just, this is what I, this is how I spent my time. I just can't help it. The shot was heaven. I loved it. I will forever treasure the image of you in your PJs with Halo scooped in your arms, freeze framing on your big screen and being like one, two, three. Okay.

So, Kelbermore is going through it. And the next shot, he looks not just sooty, but, like, bruised and battered. And the forge looks like it's in ruins. Yes. And, um, Anatar, who is Sauron and also Halbrand...

strikes a pose among the rubble of the of the forge just looking he's got a beautiful velvet robe on the wig is wigging this is an excellent fit yeah Fit Watch is gonna thrive looks incredible looks incredible and a very bruised and battered caliber and some elven guards move to arrest and

And or kill Annatar, who is also Sauron and also Halbrand. And in case you were wondering, we hear Galadriel say, he is Sauron. Thank you. Something I should have told you at the end of season one. I've been meaning to mention. Oops. And Sauron, who is also Annatar and also Halbrand, uh,

Looks very ready to drop the act, gives us a full blown evil smirk and does what I'm going to call magic hands. I like it. Yeah. I like it. I don't know what those magic hands do, but the next shot in the trailer, and I don't actually think they're related, but the next shot in the trailer is what I'm calling an Oppenheimer-esque explosion. Yeah.

It seems like it's connected to the magic hands, but I don't think so because we think this might be a flashback. Why do we think this is a flashback, Mallory? This explosion? Because could it be another evil tower? Sure. But this looks identical in terms of the shape and clustering of the

very evil-looking pointy spires and the surrounding field of ice to where we went with Galadriel and her mutinying legion in the opening stretch of the season one premiere, the northernmost waste, the fortress of Thorodwaith. And this was like a really important location, even though we didn't spend a lot of time there. This was where...

Not only crucially in terms of the character arc, we saw this real divide between what Galadriel believes she must do and what other people believe is right. This is where the orcs gathered after Morgoth's defeat. We had seen that glimpse of Sauron decked out in full, like standing on stage, lording above them. And then when we're there with her in that moment...

This is where she discovers the mark, the sigil on the plinth that becomes this obsession over the course of the season. And later in episode six, maybe seven, when Galadriel and Adar are having their conversation, which I think was when they're talking about Sauron. Yeah. And,

He says he sought to craft a power, a power, not of the flesh, but over flesh language that very alarmingly was echoed by Caleb in the finale. Again, everything's going to be fine. No, it's all going to be okay.

a power of the unseen world. Unseen world came up many times in season one. He bid as many as he could to follow him far north, but try as he might, something was missing, a shadow of dark knowledge that kept itself hidden even from him, no matter how much blood he spilt in its pursuit. So are we going back to this initial pursuit?

Like, and living in that moment of the first pursuit in flashback form? Or are we returning to this place both? Because it looks like we're seeing the creation of this tower. Yes. And we might not have been able to count rings, but we can count spires. And it seems like...

same number of spires, same pointy jaggy architecture. Like it seems like the same tower. We, we did some freeze framings and side-by-siding. We, we feel like this is, and the ice is a real tip off. Cause like at first when I was watching this, I was like, is this the creation of bar our door, which is, um, Sauron's like really sick ass, uh, tower in Mordor, but that would be surrounded by soot and fire. And this is surrounded by, uh, ice. Um,

and the ice takes over the Rings of Power logo, etc. So we think, yeah, Is is a flashback. It's on ice and fire. I love it. That's the story we're talking about here today. So,

Flashback, we don't know. But we got some evil towers to recap. We've got some wormy goop. We've got some blood moths. We've got a great eagle. We've got spooky people in the forest with glowing eyes. Windstorms. I mean, we've got it all. Celebrate more going through it.

No Poppy, but basically everything else. No Poppy, no Bronwyn, a very tall Theo, and Oryx galore. So that's the Rings of Power Season 2 Cheeser. I had a great time watching it. Great time putting these notes together. Great time discussing this with you. We had so much fun covering Rings of Power. I'm just really excited that it's going to be back. Me too. Love the show. Love talking about it with you. Can't wait to do it again. We will be back in August, end of August, to talk about...

The Rings of Power. But also hundreds of times between now and then. Well, we'll be back in mere days to talk to you about the House of the Dragon season two trailer and a little bit of Thrones retrospective. We'll be back on Friday to talk about the X-Men finale, which other of my darlings can they possibly kill? Let's tune in to find out. Yeah.

Tune into the ringer verse for everything that they're covering over there. Those guys, the best, our pals forever. Um, check out our residency and, uh, you know, pick up some tickets if you will. The ringer.com slash events. There you go. Thanks. June 25th. Talk to Thrones live June 17th. Ringer verse live. That's why Mallory's the professional. I'm like, you know, you heard it earlier. Um, this episode was produced by Steve Holman. Our guy, uh,

Thanks to our Juno Rankapal for his production work on this episode. Thank you to Jomi Adinaran for all his work on the social. Our May Ringiverse Recommends is like right around the corner. We're going to be back again with our little videos and some recommendations for you. HobbitsandDragons.gmail.com if you have any questions, comments, or concerns about how we're covering both Hobbits and Dragons this week. And we'll be off next week, but most importantly, we'll see you Thursday. Bye! Bye!