Prime Video (via Nerdist.com) has released the first clip from tomorrow's fourth episode of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, and it introduces a character who has never been seen in any previous adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's work.
In the clip, we see The Stranger get himself into a spot of bother when he attempts to pull branch from a tree to fashion his wizard's staff. In a moment that recalls Merry and Pippin falling foul to Old Man Willow in the book, the Stranger is trapped and consumed by the tree until old Tom Bombadil comes to the rescue.
If you've read Tolkien's seminal trilogy, you should be very familiar with this mysterious character, who was introduced along with his wife Goldberry when Frodo and his company made their way through the Old Forest in The Fellowship of the Ring. Bombadil was clearly a very powerful individual, who was actually able to put the ring on without turning invisible or being influenced by its evil.
Tolkien never revealed much about old Tom, but he claimed to have existed before the Dark Lord came to Arda, leading to speculation that he may even have been alive even before the coming of the Valar.
"Sauron has returned. Cast out by Galadriel, without army or ally, the rising Dark Lord must now rely on his own cunning to rebuild his strength and oversee the creation of the Rings of Power, which will allow him to bind all the peoples of Middle-earth to his sinister will."
"Building on Season 1’s epic scope and ambition, Season 2 of Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power plunges even its most beloved and vulnerable characters into a rising tide of darkness, challenging each to find their place in a world that is increasingly on the brink of calamity."
"Elves and dwarves, orcs and men, wizards and Harfoots... as friendships are strained and kingdoms begin to fracture, the forces of good will struggle ever more valiantly to hold on to what matters to them most of all.. each other."
Returning cast members include Morfydd Clark, Benjamin Walker, Charles Edwards, Charlie Vickers, Markella Kavenagh, Nazanin Boniadi, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Tyroe Muhafidin, Maxim Baldry, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Owain Arthur, Trystan Gravelle, Ema Horvath, Sophia Nomvete, Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, Leon Wadham, Daniel Weyman, and Sara Zwangobani.
Sam Hazeldine (Peaky Blinders) replaces Joseph Mawle as Adar, with Ciarán Hinds (Game of Thrones), Rory Kinnear (Penny Dreadful), and Tanya Moodie (The Man Who Fell to Earth) joining the ensemble in key roles.