Three Episodes From ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ on Prime Video August 29

Season two of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power launches on Prime Video August 29. Three episodes go live that day. Episodes then debut weekly, with the season finale October 3.

The season sees Sauron return. “Cast out by Galadriel, without army or ally, the rising Dark Lord must now rely on his own cunning to rebuild his strength and oversee the creation of the Rings of Power, which will allow him to bind all the peoples of Middle-earth to his sinister will,” goes the Prime Video description. “Building on season one’s epic scope and ambition, the new season plunges even its most beloved and vulnerable characters into a rising tide of darkness, challenging each to find their place in a world that is increasingly on the brink of calamity. Elves and dwarves, orcs and men, wizards and Harfoots… as friendships are strained and kingdoms begin to fracture, the forces of good will struggle ever more valiantly to hold on to what matters to them most of all… each other.”

Charlie Vickers plays Sauron. Morfydd Clark portrays Galadriel. Robert Aramayo plays Elrond and Owain Arthur is Prince Durin IV.

JD Payne and Patrick Mckay are the showrunners and executive producers.

The series is based on the esteemed J.R.R. Tolkien books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings , and is set well before the books.

Prime Video shared a season two trailer earlier this month.

Reviews have not been all that positive. One in USA Today called season two “confusing, directionless and emotionally bankrupt.”

One in Variety called it “a boring slog.”

The New York Times said The Rings of Power “might be the most expensive series in TV history,” with season one costing a reported $715 million. Prime Video said season one has been viewed by more than 100 million people worldwide.

The first season shot in New Zealand and season two in the United Kingdom.