With less than a month until The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power returns to screens, Prime Video is reintroducing an old character, albeit with a new face. Season 2 brings with it a few new additions to its staggering cast of characters, among which is the shipwright, Círdan, who fans of the Peter Jackson trilogy will remember from his brief appearances in The Fellowship of the Ring and The Return of the King. Instead of Michael Elsworth‘s wizened Master of the Grey Havens, the series will see a younger iteration of the character, played by Ben Daniels, take on a major role and a new image offers a sneak peek at how he’ll appear.
Círdan never received much screen time in the original trilogy, but The Rings of Power will rectify that by letting the High Elf share his vast wisdom. Aside from being an expert shipbuilder, he’s also the original holder of Narya, one of the three Elven Rings of Power forged by Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) during the Season 1 finale that are left untouched by Sauron. It’s likely he’ll become involved in the fight against the Dark Lord as he receives his ring in Season 2. He’ll also impart some of his knowledge on Robert Aramayo‘s Elrond as his new mentor, helping to mold him into the mighty Lord of Rivendell he’d one day become.
The Rings of Power Season 2 will pick up with the fallout of the finale, as Sauron was revealed to be the mortal Halbrand (Charlie Vickers) manipulating Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) as his unknowing ally. With the cat out of the bag, he’s now taken on a new guise as the elf, Annatar, the Lord of Gifts, easily his most terrifying form. He’ll undoubtedly use the regal visage to worm his way into the lives and works of some of Middle-earth’s most powerful individuals, including the smith Celebrimbor. Meanwhile, Galadriel will set out to right her mistakes after failing to realize Halbrand’s true nature and deal with the repercussions of not telling either Celebrimbor or Elrond what she learned about him. On top of that, new players will enter the fray in what will be an even more action-packed return to Middle-earth where darkness looms larger than ever over our heroes.
‘The Rings of Power’ Will Have a Major Presence at SDCC
The curtain will be pulled back further on The Rings of Power when it comes to San Diego Comic-Con at the end of the month. Prime Video will feature the much-lauded fantasy series as one of their key panels alongside The Boys, offering a sneak peek at what’s to come with help from the cast and crew behind it all. Showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, alongside the stacked cast, have continued to pour their lives into making the fantasy series worthy of its name, even taking some of the feedback from Season 1 into account to craft a perfect follow-up.
The ultimate goal is still to tell a five-season epic that properly recounts the events well before the trilogy even began, and the emphasis of Círdan is just the latest example of how the team is fleshing out Middle-earth in ambitious ways with the prequel series.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 premieres on Prime Video on August 29. Check out the new image of Círdan above.
via Collider