This Lord of the Rings article contains spoilers for The Rings of Power.
Despite Warner Bros. hogging the news cycle as it pertains to the Lord of the Rings universe, production on the second season of Amazon’s The Rings of Power is well underway. In fact, season 2 has been filming for months at this point, and is reportedly aiming for a 2024 release date.
The Rings of Power season 2 will, of course, pick up where the finale left off: Sauron has arrived in Mordor and trouble is brewing in Numenor, while the Stranger and Nori are off to Rhun and the Balrog has awakened in the depths of Moria. Oh, and Celebrimbor has decided to accessorize and create the three rings of power for the Elves, which will soon mean rings for the Dwarves and Men, too.
With all the rings being forged, it’s no surprise season 2 will spend a bit more time in the Elven kingdom of Eregion, where certainly repercussions will be felt once Sauron unleashes the rest of his plan to control Middle-earth. Celebrimbor, Gil-galad, Elrond, and Galadriel will be feeling a bit guilty about their part in the whole ring fiasco once Sauron has given seven to the Dwarves and nine to Men, while also secretly forging the One Ring in Mount Doom. Galadriel, in particular, may feel a bit guilty about not stopping the creation of the Elven rings once she learned of Halbrand’s true identity…
Set photos leaked from the sets at Bray Studios in Berkshire in the UK confirm that more Elven sets are indeed on the menu for season 2, with one location even teasing a reference to one of the most important characters in J.R.R. Tolkien‘s legendarium. If you zoom in closely on the set photos below, you can see a statue that seems to commemorate a former King of the Noldor, the craftsman Feanor, the Elf who crafted the Silmarils. The hammer the statue holds in one hand, while surrounded by three gems — the exact number of Silmarils — are a dead giveaway.
While Amazon can’t actually adapt material from The Silmarillion or Unfinished Tales, as the studio only has the rights to the Lord of the Rings‘ Appendices, The Rings of Power season 1 alluded to many of the events chronicled in Tolkien’s histories of the First Age. The series opened with a prologue covering the Two Trees of Valinor and the War of Wrath against Morgoth, while later episodes alluded to the fall of Gondolin and Glorfindel as well as the sinking of Beleriand. The Silmarils themselves have been referenced, and with Celebrimbor being a descendant of the House of Feanor, it would make sense for his realm to have a monument to the first of his house. Celebrimbor even uses Feanor’s legendary hammer in season 1!
Some on the internet have speculated that the existence of the monument, as well as the other allusions to the character, could mean that a Feanor flashback is on the way for the second season. But again, that’s a tricky situation in terms of the rights to adapt the First Age material. At the moment, those rights don’t even live with Embracer Group, but with the Tolkien estate itself. The arrival of Feanor on the series will ultimately depend on whether Amazon can get special permission from the estate. For now, we’re just going to assume this monument exists as a fun easter egg for Tolkien fans and as a deft bit of worldbuilding.
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is streaming now on Amazon Prime Video. No release date has been officially confirmed as of yet for season 2.