Only six episodes of Lord of the Rings TV prequel The Rings of Power have been broadcast so far, but filming is already underway on the second season, with some significant changes. The main filming location has changed from New Zealand to the UK, in a new hub called Bray Studios outside London.
Much has been made of the time involved, and the cost of filming the first season of The Rings of Power, but much of the money spent so far was on acquiring the rights from the Tolkien estate. Pre-production costs such as making costumes, props and sets would have also been vast, but some of these can probably be re-used in the second season. Filming of the first season also took 18 months, but this was when there were stricter on-set protocols regarding Covid. It seems unlikely that the second season will take anywhere near as long to film.
We don’t yet know much about the second season, but the production has also announced that a new character, Círdan (not yet cast), one of the oldest and wisest of the elves, will be joining the ensemble.
There are only two episodes of the first season of The Rings of Power remaining. Due to the fact we know there will be a second season, it’s hard to say how many of the narrative threads will be wrapped up in the final two episodes. There are currently many lingering questions such as: is Halbrand Sauron? We also want to know more about Adar and the powerful sword/magic key that was pivotal to episode 6.
Back in the Harfoots storyline, the main burning question is: who is The Stranger? And who are the white-cloaked beings hunting him? The series has included references to more Tolkien lore than you can shake a staff at – such as The Simarils, and we also want to see what becomes of Isildur and what seems like a friendship that must develop between him and Elrond.
The potential for the second season of The Rings of Power seems unlimited at the moment, which is very exciting.