Rings of Power Season 2 trailer teases return of LOTR’s scariest monster

Arachnophobes, beware: the first trailer for Rings of Power Season 2 features a brief glimpse of some creepy crawlies, and it could signal the return of an iconic Lord of the Rings monster.

Middle-earth was in a right state at the end of Rings of Power’s first season. Galadriel had been misled by Halbrand, the so-called king of the Southlands – but he was Sauron all along.

In Rings of Power Season 2’s first trailer out of Comic-Con, tension surrounds the forging of the titular rings. “Sauron sees himself as master of all Middle-earth,” Galadriel warns.

“He seeks to rule it not only through conquest, but by bending the minds of all its people to his own. And for that he needs not armies, but rings.”

The trailer gives us a broad overview of the season: Sauron will return disguised as Annatar, the Lord of Gifts who’ll ingratiate himself with the Elves and Celebrimbor; Elrond will lobby against the rings, believing they should be destroyed; and Nori the Harfoot will go on an adventure with the Stranger (*cough* Gandalf *cough*).

Notably, we get a brief glimpse of Isildur, Elendil’s son who was presumed dead in the first season. To the surprise of nobody, he’s alive… but not well.

When we see him, he’s slashing away spiders with his sword. Anyone who’s watched the Lord of the Rings movies will think the same thing: will we see Shelob again?

Viewers should remember Shelob from Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, when Gollum leads Frodo and Sam into her lair in the catacombs near Cirith Ungol (Bilbo and co. encounter some spiders in The Desolation of Smaug, but Shelob doesn’t appear).

For those who don’t know, Shelob is a great spider and the largest offspring of Ungoliant. She’s definitely alive during the Second Age, likely residing in the Mountains of Shadow.

She’s also known to have feasted on her children – perhaps they’re who Isildur is fighting off in the trailer.

Rings of Power Season 2 premieres on August 29. In the meantime, you can check out other TV shows streaming this month and keep up to date with all of the San Diego Comic-Con 2024 announcements.