Month: July 2024

A new behind-the-scenes video has shed some new light on The Rings of Power season 2’s cast and numerous storylines.

Potential spoilers follow for The Rings of Power season 2.

The Rings of Power season 2‘s release date is fast approaching, and Amazon is ramping up the marketing campaign ahead of the return of its most-watched TV Original.

Indeed, not only have we been treated to an epic new teaser – read my article breaking down The Rings of Power season 2’s official trailer – recently, but we’ve also been gifted a new behind-the-scenes video to pore over. Check it out below:

After watching it, I’m sure you’ll agree that there are some interesting insights and reveals hidden within the Prime Video featurette’s near-four minute runtime. From the grand reveal about other returning faces from The Rings of Power season 1 to the occasional subplot confirmation, here are six of the biggest hidden details within.

1. Kemen, Theo, and Eärien will return in season 2

Eärien (right) will be back in The Rings of Power season 2 (Image credit: Prime Video)

While I expected three of The Rings of Power‘s younger cast members – Kemen, Theo, and Eärien – to return in the show’s sophomore season, we hadn’t actually received confirmation that they would. Indeed, the trio were conspicuous by their absence in The Rings of Power season 2’s first teaser and were equally nowhere to be seen in the official trailer.

Thanks to its latest behind-the-scenes video, though, we know they’ll be part of proceedings, with the three characters showing up at various points in the assembled footage.

2. Gil-galad goes to war

Gil-galad and Arondir looks like they’ll be part of the elven defence during the Siege of Eregion (Image credit: Prime Video)

Season 2 of Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings prequel series is going to be a darker, spookier, and more action-packed chapter than its predecessor. Where the latter of those three are concerned, there’ll be more large-scale fight sequences – and few will be as spectacular as they are grimdark than The Siege of Eregion, which I’ve long predicted to be season 2’s tentpole battle.

As part of that bloody and brutal conflict, it appears we’ll see High King Gil-galad take up arms and enter the battlefield. We had an inkling that he would see some action this season – actor Benjamin Walker teasing he’d pick up his legendary spear Aeglos in a November 2022 chat with Nerdist. Based on the two brief glimpses we get of Walker in elven armor in this featurette, it seems nailed on that this will be the case.

3. March of the Ents

We’re expecting to see more than one Ent in season 2 (Image credit: Prime Video)

The Rings of Power season 2’s official trailer confirmed that we’ll see one Ent – The Lord of the Rings‘ sentient, tree-like beings – in one of the best Prime Video show’s next outing. But, we’re likely to be introduced to more than just a solitary Ent, with Theo actor Tyroe Muhafadin letting slip that we’ll see multiple Ents in the show’s latest installment.

4. Queen Regent Míriel, the Sea Worm, and the Sea Trial

Queen Regent Míriel will come into close contact with the Sea Worm at some point (Image credit: Amazon MGM Studios)

One of the biggest mysteries surrounding season 2’s Númenor storyline involves a giant sea creature we’ve briefly seen in both trailers. Some fans and reporters have suggested this is just a younger version of the Watcher in the Water, who Frodo and company fight outside the Mines of Moria in The Fellowship of the Ring.

That theory, though, is incorrect. As I mentioned in my season 2 official trailer breakdown, the aquatic beast is actually a Sea Worm – and, thanks to this new behind-the-scenes video, not only do we get confirmation that it is a Sea Worm, we also know what role it’ll play in the forthcoming season. 

Essentially, it’s used in what’s known as a Númenórean Sea Trial. Individuals who are rumored to be guilty of committing some form of crime and/or sin must wade into the lake that the Sea Worm inhabits to face it. If they’re innocent of the accusation leveled against them, it won’t kill and/or eat them.

Given what we know about the Númenor-based subplot of this season – that Ar-Pharazôn will try to usurp Queen Regent Míriel, who currently sits on the Númenórean throne – I speculate that Míriel will need to prove her innocence after Ar-Pharazôn accuses her of some form of wrongdoing. We’ll see if I’m right soon enough.

5. Orc-hestrating some individuality

It appears that some of Adar’s orc army will get distinct personalities in season 2 (Image credit: Prime Video)

One of my biggest bugbears with season 1 is that there was a distinct lack of individuality within the ranks of Adar’s orc army. Considering there were a few orcs and Uruk-hai who displayed different personalities in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies, that was something of a disappointment.

But it looks like season 2 will rectify that error. Indeed, we know there’ll be at least one named orc – Glûg, who’ll be played by Robert Strange and who appears to be Adar’s lieutenant-in-chief. Let’s hope there are even more unique orcs who have major or minor roles throughout this season.

6. Adar’s merciless ace in the pack

We wouldn’t want to bump into Damrod the Hill-troll in a dark alleyway (Image credit: Prime Video)

First revealed by Empire magazine and later teased in season 2’s main trailer, a new race of troll – the Hill-troll – will make their debut in The Rings of Power. The towering, monstrous figure we were introduced to in both instances is named Damrod, who is also know as the ‘Eater of Dragon Bones’. Sounds ominous.

Anyway, it looks like Adar recruits Damrod for his assault on the city of Eregion, but Damrod – like the Mumakil in The Return of the King‘s Siege of Gondor/Battle of Pelennor Fields – will be used in a later phase of this conflict, especially if the tide is turning against Adar’s forces.

Damrod, then, looks like he’ll be Adar’s terrifying and merciless ace in the pack. Tat said, it appears he’ll have little regard for soldiers on both sides of the fight, meaning he’s as likely to kill his orc comrades as he is to butcher any elves. That won’t sit well with Adar’s orc warriors and might lead to an orc insurrection against their ‘All-Father’ if they think his decision to send Damrod into the fray resulted in the unnecessary deaths of their orc brethren.

The Rings of Power season 2 debuts exclusively on Prime Video on August 29.

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A fresh leak may have revealed all of the band and color combinations the new wearable will be available in.

While most of the focus is going to be on the Pixel 9 series at Google’s upcoming launch event on Tuesday, August 13, it’s likely that the Pixel Watch 3 is also going to make an appearance – and now we have more of an idea about what’s coming.

This leak comes from the often reliable Android Headlines, and gives us a preview of 10 different bands: an Active Band, an Active Sport Band, a Woven Band, a Stretch Band, a Metal Mesh Band, a Metal Links Band, a Metal Slim Band, a Two-tone Leather Band, and a Crafted Leather Band, and a Performance Loop Band

That last one is the only one that wasn’t available with the Google Pixel Watch 2 – and its introduction is rumored to be delayed. According to sources speaking to Android Headlines, it won’t be available until the end of October.

There are apparently going to be fewer bands available for the larger Pixel Watch 3: the Active Band, the Active Sport Band, the Woven Band, the Metal Links Band, the Crafted Leather Band, and the Performance Loop Band are the ones slated for that model.

Colors and cases

The Pixel Watch 2 launched in 2023 (Image credit: Google)

Android Headlines also provides a full breakdown of the colors of these bands, which vary depending on the band and the casing size. The Woven Band, for example, will be available in Ivy, Porcelain, Lemongrass, Peony, and (at the smaller size only) Bay and Sage.

As for the actual watch cases, these are said to be matte black and polished silver across both sizes. The smaller 41mm model also gets champagne gold, while the larger 45mm version of the Pixel Watch 3 is apparently getting matte hazel as well. These all come with a different default band in the box.

Speaking of that larger 45mm model – and this is going to be the first Pixel Watch to be available in two sizes – another leak suggests that Google won’t be branding it as the Pixel Watch 3 XL, which is a name we’ve seen mentioned in earlier rumors.

It’s just going to be the plain old Pixel Watch 3 for both sizes. All should be revealed in a couple of weeks at the official Google event, and we’ll have to see if the new wearable makes it into our comprehensive list of the best smartwatches.

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The Samsung Galaxy S25 and Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra could both have 4GB more RAM than their predecessors.

Samsung’s flagship phones always rank among the most powerful handsets of the year, but they don’t always have the most RAM. In the case of the standard Samsung Galaxy S24, for example, you get just 8GB. However, the company might offer more RAM in the Samsung Galaxy S25 series.

This claim comes from two sources, with the clearest and most detailed of these leaks stemming from @theonecid. They assert that the Samsung Galaxy S25 and Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus will have 12GB of RAM, while the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra will have 16GB.

So, that would be an extra 4GB of RAM for the S25 relative to the S24, and it would be a similar upgrade for the Ultra, as the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has 12GB of RAM. This wouldn’t be an upgrade for the Plus model, though, as the Galaxy S24 Plus also has 12GB.

While we’d take this leak with a pinch of salt – especially since the source doesn’t have a very extensive track record – we’ve also heard from @UniverseIce that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra will have 16GB of RAM.

Or at least, that appears to be what they’re saying. They claim that something will have 16GB of RAM, and while they don’t name the phone, the majority of their posts on X are focused on Samsung handsets, and this post was sandwiched between two about Samsung software. Go figure.

A likely leak

@UniverseIce also has a much stronger track record than @theonecid, so while nothing is certain just yet, there’s a good chance that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra will come with 16GB of RAM. But as @UniverseIce doesn’t comment on the other two models, we’re less sure of the RAM amounts in those phones.

It’s also worth noting that, even if this leak is accurate, there may still be a 12GB version of the Galaxy S25 Ultra, with the 16GB version possibly only being available with the top storage capacity or in certain regions.

We probably won’t know for sure until early next year, as that’s when the Samsung Galaxy S25 series is likely to be unveiled, but we’re already hearing various things about these phones, including that they could be powered by a beastly Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chipset, and be in for some unspecified design changes.

Plenty more leaks and rumors are sure to start emerging too, and we’ll be bringing you all the most credible ones right here on TechRadar.

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