‘The Rings of Power’ showrunners tease Sauron’s rise, Númenor’s fall in Season 2

Amazon has released a final trailer for “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” Season 2 — and it might leave viewers with more questions than answers.

With the show’s highly-anticipated (by fans and critics alike) second season premiering on Aug. 29, “The Rings of Power” fans are likely wondering what Season 2 has in store.

In an interview with the Deseret News, “The Rings of Power” showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay hinted at a few of the newest season’s biggest storylines.

Here’s what fans can expect from “The Rings of Power” Season 2.

Sauron ascends into power

In one of the first season’s most interesting — and divisive — twists, Halbrand (Charlie Vickers), a seemingly human man who joined Galadriel on her journey, was revealed to be Sauron.

Now, with the secret out, Season 2 will focus on Sauron and his rise to power.

“Season 2, (Sauron’s) really the center of gravity,” McKay said. “If Season 1 was about the heroes, and about Galadriel’s journey, Season 2 is about the villains and about Sauron.”

“The Rings of Power” Season 2 will see Sauron rise to power by using his most powerful tools: manipulation and deceit.

According to Payne, “(Sauron) specializes in taking your strengths and turning them into weaknesses, exploiting desires for good and using them to achieve his own evil ends.”

Galadriel will be humbled

After the events of Season 1 — with Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) being deceived by Sauron — Season 2 will see Galadriel humbled and struggling to grapple with the consequences of her choices in Season 1.

According to McKay, “Galadriel’s offered ultimate power. She’s a character who is so prideful and believes she knows better than anybody.”

Payne described it as “all a part of her wisdom arc.” We’ll begin to see Galadriel transition from a “young, hot headed, impetuous sword wielding ... warrior” to the “wise, matronly lady of Lothlórien that we know.”

“Season 2, she’s on a journey of reckoning, she’s in a journey of redemption in both her personal relationships with her friend Elrond and with the king, but also her relationship with herself,” McKay said.

We’ll learn more about the Stranger

McKay and Payne spoke about one of the most mysterious characters in “The Rings of Power”: The Stranger (Daniel Weyman).

The identity of the Stranger remains unknown in the beginning of “The Rings of Power” Season 2 — but, after Season 1, we know a little more about his character.

In Season 1, the biggest mystery was if the Stranger was “a force for good or evil,” as McKay put it. Now that we know he’s a force for good, Season 2 will see the Stranger learn about his powers — because “force is dangerous, no matter who’s wielding it.”

“The Stranger, Daniel Weyman’s character, has a really interesting journey Season 2. ... It’s going to be all about learning how to master these mysterious powers he has, learning to control them, and learning to figure out what his larger purpose is,” McKay said.

And, excitingly, fans will finally learn the Stranger’s identity in Season 2.

“We can confirm, you will also learn his name,” McKay said.

Things begin to go badly for Númenor

Númenor is one of the most interesting storylines for anyone familiar with the Second Age. As an Atlantis-like myth in Tolkien’s legendarium, seeing the events on Númenor play out on screen can be exciting.

Most Tolkien fans will already know that things do not end well for the Númenóreans. In “The Rings of Power” Season 2, we’ll see the beginnings of the tragedy.

According to McKay, “(In Season 2), the cracks in the (island of Númenor), the fissures in the island are starting to open. Númenor is ultimately a tragedy. ... We want that tragedy to hang like a cloud over the islands across the seasons. And in Season 2, it’s starting to rain.”

“It’s a cautionary tale,” Payne added, “of a fallen people, and people who are bound for tragedy, in a way that I think is a warning tale for our times.”

In Season 2, we’ll begin to see the divide between Mìriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) and Pharazôn (Trystan Gravelle) and the Númenóreans — a divide that will grow “wider and wider and wider,” according to Payne.

The tragedy of Númenor will especially resonate with modern audiences, because their story is, as Payne put it, a cautionary tale of “the dangers of tribalism.”

Middle-earth is in ‘peril’ — and we’ll see more of it

Unsurprisingly, “The Rings of Power” Season 2 will dig deeper into the Second Age.

Audiences will see the creation of more Rings (specifically the Seven Rings for the dwarves and the Nine Rings for men) and characters that haven’t been portrayed in previous adaptations, like Tom Bombadil and the Entwives.

According to Payne and McKay, Season 2 will even explore parts of Middle-earth that audiences haven’t seen yet, like the lands to the east.

“We want every episode to be better than the last, we want every season to raise the bar,” McKay said.

In Season 2, with Sauron rising to power, the stakes in Middle-earth are even higher than in Season 1.

According to McKay, “Every world is in peril ... from minute one, and it’s just going to get worse as the season unfolds.”