The Rings Of Power Season 2's New Monster May Be Connected To This Mysterious Tolkien Creature

Summary The Rings of Power season 2 trailer teases new monstrous creatures, possibly inspired by Tolkien's intricate world of magical beings.

Showrunners maintain a relationship with The Tolkien Estate for Second Age adaptation, hinting at the revival of characters from Tolkien's works.

The series could delve into the mysterious creatures of Tolkien's universe, drawing inspiration from the deep lore of Middle-earth for an immersive experience.

The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 trailer shows an assortment of monsters new to The Rings of Power’s story, but perhaps not new to J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of The Rings world. Magical creatures are a highlight of Tolkien’s world, with Shadowfax, the lord of horses, and the Nazgul’s winged beasts both good examples. These creatures, along with Wargs, Orcs, and the Watcher in the Water feature in Tolkien’s The Lord of The Rings books. The Rings of Power has the rights to adapt these, along with The Hobbit and The Appendices.

Yet, there are many monsters described in Tolkien’s other works, and in fact, it is these that The Rings of Power season 2 may be basing some of its creatures on. The Rings of Power covers Tolkien’s Second Age, a timeframe mostly described in The Silmarillion. While showrunners have never confirmed that they have been given special rights to adapt this, they maintain a relationship with The Tolkien Estate, unlike Warner Brothers, who led past and upcoming The Lord of The Rings films. Either by special rights or the avoidance of key names, the show could revive Second Age characters.

Related Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power Review - Slow Start Leads To Engaging Story Though the story is a bit slow to get started, The Rings of Power’s first two episodes show a lot of promise once the story begins taking shape.

The Rings Of Power Season 2's Monster Shares Similarities With Ungoliant

The creeping evil shown in the trailer recalls Shelob’s mother

The Rings of Power season 2 characters will have to face a monster, or perhaps multiple monsters, which could be adapting or referencing Ungoliant, one of Tolkien’s greatest villains. The Rings of Power season 2 trailer shows a dark, writhing shape emerging from rocks, a sea monster, plus sinister, creeping tentacles, and flying insects that recall the witches of season 1. These could be entirely new creations by The Rings of Power, but some of them recall the “Unlight” of Ungoliant and the “cloak of darkness she wove.”

Ungoliant took the form of a giant spider and worked with Morgoth, the original villain of Tolkien’s world, who was the one to corrupt Sauron many years before Elves or Men were around. Though Ungoliant’s stories feature in the First Age, her influence and descendants linger in Middle Earth - notably Shelob in The Lord of The Rings. The dark, oozing shape in the trailer could represent "dark nets of strangling gloom” woven by Ungoliant or her descendants, or evil infecting roots like it infected leaves in season 1. Either way, this is imagery of primordial evil true to Tolkien’s vision.

What Happened To Ungoliant In Tolkien's Middle-Earth Lore

Ungoliant and Morgoth share a dark past

Together, Morgoth and Ungoliant destroyed the two trees of Valinor, which gave off light which lit Valinor. Morgoth was never quite able to control her, but "some said that… in the beginning she was one of those that he corrupted to his service”, according to The Silmarillion. This means that she was likely a Maia, like Sauron - of the Ainur race, like Morgoth, but not quite as powerful, and able to choose her form. Although Ungoliant and Morgoth accomplished their mission of destroying the trees with devastating efficiency, their relationship didn’t end as well.

Morgoth insincerely promised Ungoliant whatever she wanted in return for helping him destroy the trees, but her power grew as she consumed the trees till even Morgoth was afraid. Ungoliant and Morgoth fought in a disagreement over her reward for the task, and she eventually fled, going on to procreate with other creatures of spider form. Poetically, “some have said that she ended long ago, when in her uttermost famine she devoured herself at last.” And yet, “of the fate of Ungoliant no tale tells” - who knows where she ended up when she “went whither she would.”

The Rings Of Power Could Expand On Tolkien's Most Mysterious Creatures

The monsters of season 1 and 2 may have their routes in Tolkien’s books

Tolkien filled his world with mysterious creatures, and it looks like The Rings of Power season 2 will explore them. The sea monster in The Rings of Power season 1 is called a "worm" by a shipwreck survivor, while on-screen trivia states "The Great Sea… divides the Undying Lands from Middle-earth - where there are still nameless things in the deepest places of the world”. This calls back Gandalf’s words in The Two Towers: “Far… below the deepest delving of the Dwarves, the world is gnawed by nameless things. Even Sauron knows them not. They are older than he.”

The sea monster of season 2 could also be a “nameless thing”, or a reference to The Watcher in the Water, from The Fellowship of The Ring. At the same time, like the other evil in the trailer, it could be one of the “many evil things that Morgoth had devised in the days of his dominion: demons… dragons, and misshapen beasts.” This part of The Silmarillion is particularly relevant when considered alongside another part referring to Sauron in the Second Age: “he gathered under his government all the evil things of the days of Morgoth that remained on earth.”

The trailer shows moths or butterflies which resemble those which the Sauron-worshipping witches of season 1 turn into when The Stranger banishes them. Speaking to Vanity Fair, showrunners implied these witches may be back. Whether these ominous insects represent the witches or others of their group is uncertain, but they definitely tie into The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 developing its portrayal of evil, utilizing imagery pulled from Tolkien’s legendarium.

Source: Vanity Fair