Posted in: Amazon Studios, Lord of The Rings, TV | Tagged: amazon, Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, prime video

LOTR: The Rings of Power Season 2 Dives Into Dwarf Rings, New Lands

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power showrunners Patrick McKay and John D. Payne on Season 2, expanding on the dwarf rings, and Rhûn.

Patrick McKay and John D. Payne continue their Herculean journey of diving deeper into the uncharted territory of the J. R. Tolkien Middle-Earth lore in Prime Video's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power as the second season looms closer. Introduced in the San Diego Comic-Con trailer were the treelike Ents and the spider Shelob. McKay and Payne spoke to Entertainment Weekly about how the series will expand on the lore of dwarven rings and lands.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Explores the Dwarves' Seven Rings

Tolkien's writings clarify what the three rings worn by the elves Vilya (worn originally by Gilgalad and then Elrond, who used it to protect Rivendell), Nenya (worn by Galadriel to do the same for Lothlórien), and Narya (worn by Cirdan and then Gandalf to inspire the people of Middle earth against the forces of Sauron). The author never explained the purpose of the seven dwarven rings other than that they're lost by the events of Lord of the Rings takes place. The Rings of Power season two allows fans to see them finally.

Fans will see how they'll affect King Durin III (Peter Mullan) of Khazad-dûm. "There are tantalizing hints in the source text that the dwarven rings didn't really control the dwarves the way Sauron might've liked, but it did stoke their greed," McKay said. "That sent us down this rabbit hole of 'What about Peter Mullan going mad as a villain in Khazad-dum in season 2?'"

McKay explained the unique position they're put in. "The whole idea of doing a show in the Second Age was that it's not a fixed target; there's an enormous amount of room for creation and improv within a loose framework. The dwarven rings are a great example where it's like, 'What exactly did they do? How might that play on a father-son relationship?'"

Season two will also see Harfoot hobbits Nori Brandyfoot (Markella Kavenagh), Poppy Proudfellow (Megan Richards), and the Istari Stranger (Daniel Weyman) about to explore the desert known as Rhûn, which lies east of Mordor. "Rhûn is this blank check that Tolkien has given us to go somewhere that's never been depicted before," Payne said. "We're huge admirers of Lawrence of Arabia, one of the greatest movies ever made, and we love 'Mad Max: Fury Road,'" McKay added. "These are movies that are set in a vast desert landscape, but they make the desert feel beautiful. We've never seen deserts before in Lord of the Rings, so the idea to have a spice like that thrown into the mix was really exciting to us."

You can check out the entire interview. It includes information on blue wizards, filming the Rhûn scenes, production changes, and comments from Kavenagh. Season two of The Rings of Power premieres August 29th on Prime Video.

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