Middle-earth goes to war in new Rings of Power trailer

Amazon’s latest trailer for the second season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is all about war: big battle scenes and tense conflict in particular — almost as if the show wants you to know that season 1 was just a teaser.

The footage touches on all the major players: the elves of Eregion, who are doing their best to remain unchanged and undiminished in Middle-earth; the dwarves of Khazad-dûm, who have already awakened the shadow and flame; the Numenorean humans, with their dead king, recently blinded queen, and ambitious regent; Adar, the corrupt ancient elf and self-proclaimed father of orcs; and, of course, Sauron himself. And based on this trailer, it appears that all of these factions have their own armies and are preparing for war – except, of course, the Stranger and Nori, who are meeting up with Tom Bombadill somewhere in the East.

Why? Well, trailers for The Rings of Power‘s new season has given every indication that things are going to escalate considerably, with the period in Tolkien’s Middle-earth history where Sauron tricks the Elven smith Celebrimbor into making more rings of power, and then the Elves of Eregion join forces to fight Sauron, and hopefully defeat him once and for all. It doesn’t work, of course, but it does make for some great drama.

Season 2 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power premieres on Aug. 29 with three full episodes! The next five episodes will be released weekly on Amazon Prime, with a season finale on Oct. 3.