Two Harfoots accompany the mysterious visitor through the arid region of Rhun as he continues searching for his name and purpose. But a dark wizard is keenly interested in the visitor . . . and everyone is in great danger. Hope fades . . . but Tom Bombadil might prove helpful.
Their lands in shadow and army defeated, southern humans flee to other lands to re-settle. Isildur, surviving the battle, finds and settles with them in Pelargir, an abandoned Numenorean colony. There they will face the perils including Wild Men, but they find powerful allies, too.
In Numenor, the old king is dead. At Queen Regent Miriel's coronation, revelation of a dark secret, accompanied by a foreboding omen, spurs her cousin, Pharazon, to claim the throne. The land descends into chaos as sides are chosen and distrust abounds. Elendil, faithful supporter of the queen, faces the most difficult decision of his life.
In Mordor, Adar raises an army of Uruks intent on defeating Sauron. Adar knows Sauron is in Eregion . . . and so the Elvish city must fall.
The Elvish rings have restored hope to the Elves. But all is not well . . . in Linden, Elrond mistrusts the rings, while Galadriel remains laser-focused on countering Sauron and his schemes. Their fears of a threat to the south are realized when they find legions of Uruk marching on Eregion . . . the Elves might be able to stop them in time, if the Dwarves send aid.
Shadow has fallen upon Khazad-dum in more ways than one. Their light shafts have collapsed, and traditional methods for finding new ones have been unsuccessful. Hope dims until the rings arrive from the Elves, granting King Durin impressive powers. But with it, increased malice and greed . . . and when he delves too deep in quest of riches, an ancient evil may rise.
After creating the three Elvish rings last time, Celebrimbor ponders what comes next in Eregion. He receives a familiar visitor—a so-called emissary from the valar who now goes by Annatar—who encourages and helps him to craft more rings. First comes seven Dwarvish rings, distributed to the Dwarf lords. Now Annatar is intent on creating nine rings for men. But when concerns arise regarding the Dwarvish creations, Celebrimbor has suspicions and struggles to understand what is going on around him. Is he helping Middle Earth . . . or helping to destroy it?
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The theme of season two could be summarized as "things fall apart."
What I liked:
- the portrayal of Sauron. He is the ultimate manipulator/deceiver, and they do a fantastic job capturing that.
- the overall story. Despite many criticisms from Tolkien fan(atic)s, Amazon is adhering to the spirit of the events in the Second Age, even if they compress timelines, add characters, and inject other differences. (After all, the Peter Jackson films did this, too.)
- the visuals are beautiful.
- the dialogue and wisdom are mostly good.
- the story remains (mercifully) unfocused on romance and inappropriate/unnecessary things in this vein. Tolkien's legendarium had romance, of course, but not in today's way (or for today's purposes), and the show's creators are doing a good job of sticking to that.
- 'cameos' or appearances of familiar characters, events, locations, objects, and beings mentioned in The Lord of the Rings.
- aligning the style with Peter Jackson's films.
What I didn't:
- too many story arcs. There are roughly seven by my count, each getting a paragraph above. Three—Harfoot/stranger, southern human, and Uruk—have their 'cool' moments, but aren't contributing to the progress of the story as much as they are muddying the waters by introducing new elements and that much more to keep track of.
- the speed of the story. With so many arcs, some moved too quickly. I believe three more seasons are planned, and am curious how those will shake out.
- the portrayal of Galadriel. I think the actress does a good job, but am not convinced the character is faithful to the spirit of the books.
- a few head-scratching plot points. One character appears to die in an episode but returns in the next with no apparent injuries. That is the most egregious one, but there are other, more minor, things that could have been better.
Overall, I think it is a powerful story that is done well. I look forward to season three (likely two years out).
Rating: A-
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