The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power recently begun filming its second season in the United Kingdom. New photos from the set of the Amazon series confirm the return of a character fans thought was long dead.

During the first season of The Rings of Power, Maxim Baldry’s Isildur was seemingly killed in a fire after saving Queen Míriel’s life. While it was certainly a hero’s death, The Rings of Power fans were upset at this given how far of a divergence it would have been from J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings books. Many believed the death to be a fake-out all along. It seems as though those fans were right to doubt the show, as set photos from the Redanian Intelligence show Isildur with a brand new companion played by Nia Towle.

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While perhaps a bit narratively cheap, Isildur’s Rings of Power return is sure to at least satisfy fans of the original Lord of the Rings novels, as he stands as one of the key characters in them. The Fellowship of the Ring opened with Isildur cleaving the ring off Sauron’s hand, destroying his physical form and setting the events of the entire series in motion. It’s also his corruption by the ring and eventual death that led to Smeagol finding it and transforming into the iconic Gollum.

The future of the Lord of the Rings series

Amazon has big plans for its Lord of the Rings series, having so far spared no expense with its development. The company has committed to a 5-season production plan for The Rings of Power, which is reportedly worth at least $1 billion.

Amazon Studios is producing The Rings of Power in cooperation with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins, and New Line Cinema. J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay are serving as showrunners and executive producers on the series.

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The ensemble for the series also features Robert Aramayo, Owain Arthur, Nazanin Boniadi, Tom Budge, Morfydd Clark, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Ema Horvath, Markella Kavenagh, Tyroe Muhafidin, Sophia Nomvete, Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, Charlie Vickers and Daniel Weyman.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video. Stay tuned for the latest news on the upcoming series, and subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content!