7 of the most exciting moments from ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ Season 2 teaser

The first teaser for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 is here, promising Sauron like you’ve never seen him before. (Blond.)

J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendary villain (played by Charlie Vickers) spent most of The Rings of Power Season 1 disguised as human Halbrand, only revealing his true nature in the Season 1 finale. But now that Sauron is officially back in action, it won’t be long until his darkness threatens to corrupt all of Middle-earth for good.

The Season 2 teaser leans heavily on that encroaching darkness, highlighting Sauron’s new destructive tactics and his bold new form. From new rings to unexpected team-ups, here are the seven most exciting moments from the Rings of Power Season 2 teaser.

1. Sauron becomes Annatar in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2

If you take one thing away from this teaser, let it be this: It’s Annatar time!

Annatar, also known as the Lord of Gifts, is Sauron’s fair form. In Tolkien’s The Silmarillion, he takes on this disguise to nudge Elven smith Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) into forging the Rings of Power for dwarves and men. While Celebrimbor creates the Elven rings last in The Silmarillion, he makes them first in the show, meaning that The Rings of Power is switching up Tolkien’s ring-forging timeline. However, the appearance of Annatar — because who else would blond, Elven Sauron really be? — in the teaser suggests that the Lord of Gifts isn’t done gifting quite yet. Perhaps he’ll even pay Celebrimbor another visit, explaining the brief shot of the two of them in the same room together towards the end of the teaser.

2. The Rings of Power forges even more rings in Season 2

Season 1 of The Rings of Power ended with the forging of the three Elven rings, and the Season 2 trailer shows them off in all their glory in the above shot. The three Elven ring bearers in Tolkien’s legendarium are Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), the High King Gil-galad (Benjamin Walker), and shipwright Círdan. We met the first two in Season 1, and showrunner Patrick McKay confirmed in an interview with Deadline that Círdan will be playing a major role in the series going forward. Brace yourselves for more Elven ring action!

But the Elven rings aren’t the only rings we’re working with this season. The teaser also shows off Durin III (Peter Mullan) taking a good long look at a ring of his own. That likely means we’re getting the “seven [rings] for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone” in Season 2. But do they come from friendly forges? Or is this more of Sauron’s trickery at work? I’m going to guess the latter.

3. Sea monsters and nasty tendrils — things are getting scary in Middle-earth!

I did not expect the Rings of Power teaser to send a chill down my spine, but then that gargantuan sea monster showed up. The rest, as they say, is spine-chilling history.

The sea monster isn’t the only freaky beastie at play in The Rings of Power Season 2. The trailer features a frightening, humanoid mass of black tendrils crawling out of the ground, as well as tree roots worming their way menacingly through a forest. And we can’t forget Galadriel’s red-tinged scream queen moment! Looks like Sauron’s darkness is taking hold already.

4. Arondir and Isildur — who did not die! — team up

The Rings of Power left Isildur’s (Maxim Baldry) fate up in the air at the end of Season 1, with the Númenorean soldier getting trapped in the fallout from the volcanic explosion that created Mordor. However, the Season 2 teaser proves that he’s very much alive. No surprise there, since Isildur has a big part to play in the founding of Gondor and the coming fight against Sauron.

Not only is Isildur alive, he’s also teamed up with an unexpected ally: elf Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova). They’re only together onscreen for a brief amount of time, but this is a partnership I’m fully ready for.

5. The Stranger is still doing his mysterious magical thing in Season 2 of The Rings of Power

The Season 1 finale of The Rings of Power all but confirmed outright that the figure known as the Stranger (Daniel Weyman) is actually Gandalf. And in Season 2, it looks like we’re going to see some more of his powerful Istari magic in action. The Stranger only appears for a flash in the Season 2 trailer, but it’s enough time for him to summon a powerful windstorm — one that nearly sends his Harfoot traveling companion Nori Brandyfoot (Markella Kavenagh) flying.

Remember, these two are headed to the land of Rhûn in the east, which is a fairly underdeveloped region compared to other areas of Tolkien’s work. It’s the home of the Easterlings, who later choose to serve Sauron, but other than that, this is uncharted territory — both for Nori and the Stranger, and for the audience.

6. Expect battles galore

The Rings of Power Season 1 stunned us with its epic battle between the forces of Númenor and the orcs of the Southlands. Based on this new teaser, it looks like the show hopes to match (or even surpass) that level of action in Season 2.

We see several shots of elves like Galadriel and Elrond (Robert Aramayo) gearing up for battle, including a sequence where Elrond leads an army charging into battle. Perhaps most intriguing is a night-time battle sequence where catapults rain fire upon an Elven city. Is this the realm of Lindon coming under attack?

7. Is that… Barad-dûr?

The final seconds of the Rings of Power Season 2 teaser deliver one of the most exciting — and slightly terrifying — Sauron moments yet. Faced with several angry elves, including Celebrimbor, Sauron (in Annatar form) flexes his hands and sends a massive icy blast across the landscape. As he does, we see a castle that is exactly what you’d picture if someone told you to imagine an evil lair. It’s dark, it’s spiky, it’s gargantuan — and it might just be Barad-dûr, Sauron’s central fortress in Mordor.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 premieres Aug. 29 on Prime Video.