With "House of the Dragon" season 2 in the rearview, it's time to turn to the other epic fantasy series hitting our screens this month: "The Rings of Power" season 2.
Prime Video's Tolkien adaptation is poised to take the series in a darker direction. Sauron (Charlie Vickers) has been revealed and is ready to begin his campaign to seize Middle-earth in earnest. If you'd like to get a sneak peek at what's in store, be sure to tune into the Future Games Show, which will contain an exclusive look at season 2!
The first season certainly split viewers, but I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy what I watched. Plus, the promise of seeing Sauron take center stage, of meeting new faces (Rory Kinnear as Tom Bombadil!), and encountering new creatures like the Barrow-wights and Damrod the Hill-troll already had me looking forward to the next chapter. But after a big Entertainment Weekly article, I've got a new most-anticipated moment: Isildur's encounter with Tolkien's nightmarish arachnid, Shelob.
Talking about what his character will face in the new season, Baldry said: "I'm awoken in a cave and I have to fight my way through Shelob to get to safety, which is an obscene way to start a season.
Baldry went on to sum up what Isildur's arc will look like in the new season. "It's a story of survival and it's a story about 'be careful what you wish for'", he said. "He grows from a boy into a man and has to learn who to trust and who not to trust".
Okay, so what's so exciting about a giant spider? Well, Shelob was already brought to life in terrifying detail in Peter Jackson's adaptation of "The Return of the King". After arriving in Mordor, Sam and Frodo are tricked into venturing into the lair of Shelob.
As Frodo realizes he's in danger, we're treated to a truly nightmare-inducing sequence in which he's chased deeper into the foul creature's lair, crawling and stumbling through cobwebs and desperately trying (and failing) to escape, at least until Sam comes to his rescue with the light of Elendil.
That sequence has lived in my memory ever since I watched it for the first time — and I don't even hate spiders all that much — but this new incarnation could be even creepier.
Divisive though "The Rings of Power" might have been, the series was gloriously realized, and that's got me hoping that the show's Shelob will be a series highlight. Since Morfydd Clark claimed in the same interview that the barrow-wights Galadriel crosses paths with in season 2 were 'terrifying' and 'so scary in real life', I'm hoping to be on the edge of my seat when Shelob's on-screen.
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