The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power was meant to be Amazon Prime Video's Game of Thrones-beater, with the streamer spending enough for it to reportedly become the most expensive series ever made.
When the prequel series debuted last September, it delivered Prime Video's biggest-ever debut in what Amazon Studios boss Jennifer Salke called "a very culturally defining moment" for the company. However, we later learned that The Rings of Power lost a massive number of viewers as the season progressed.
The show had only a 37% completion rate in the U.S. Overseas, only 45% of people finished the series, with 50% typically deemed an okay, but far from amazing, result.
With that in mind, it's not overly surprising changes are being made to the upcoming second season. Talking to Deadline, Disa actor Sophia Nomvete has promised fans they can expect to see the pace pick up when The Rings of Power returns to Prime Video next year.
"Season 1 was a time of relative peace, an introductory time meeting everybody," she says. "Season 2 is the unravelling of it all. It’s when the force of evil really starts to put pressure on Middle Earth and we watch how everyone that we know and hopefully love handles that situation."
"The stakes are higher. We see what that force of evil does to each race and to each relationship. There’s so much more action," Nomvete adds. "We weathered the storms, and there’s a real sense of confidence in who and what we are. I’m really excited about it."
That sounds very promising, and with production moving from New Zealand to the UK, the second season having a very different feel is inevitable. With the mystery surrounding Sauron now solved, it's also easy to imagine a more exciting story in this next batch of episodes.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is meant to be here for the long haul, but if season 2 doesn't perform well for the streamer, it could reach a premature end.