The Rings of Power director teases "darker," "edgier," "gritty" season 2

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power was a pretty divisive show when it debuted on Amazon Prime Video back in 2022. People love The Lord of the Rings, but did this new series set during the Second Age of the Middle-earth do right by the source material? The visuals were spectacular — Amazon famously spent a record-breaking amount of money on the show — but did it matter if people didn't connect with the characters?

In the end, the show ended up being something of a mixed bag. Amazon is coming back sometime this year with season 2, and director Charlotte Brändström is teaser a grimmer experience. As she told Jonatan Blomberg from MovieZine:

"What I know and what I can say for a fact is that it's going to be darker, and it's going to be edgier and more character-driven. I still think that we have some very interesting episodes coming up. I watched all of them over Christmas, just the cuts. I think it's going to be a very good season. We tried to make it more gritty, a little bit more dirty...to make it as authentic as possible. We have some very surprising twists and turns in it as well."

Brändström directed two episodes in the first season of The Rings of Power, including Episode 6, "Udûn," which was essentially one long battle sequence between the people of the Southlands and an invading horde of Orcs. That was my favorite episode from the first season, so I'm glad to hear that Brändström is directing four episodes in season 2.

As for Brändström using words like "darker," "edgier," "gritty" and "dirty" to describe season 2, it's hard to know what exactly she means until we see it for ourselves. Things are definitely about to get more intense. Season 1 ended with the Orcs making a home for themselves in the newly formed land of Mordor, as well as the return of Sauron, who we know goes on to become the Dark Lord of all Middle-earth. But I hope that they keep the lightness and beauty that always been a part of The Lord of the Rings, in addition to all the darkness and grittiness.

We still don't know when exactly we're going to see The Rings of Power season 2, although if Brändström was watching cuts of the new episodes around Christmas, you figure they have to be on their way in the near-ish future. Stay tuned.

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h/t Screenrant