J.R.R. Tolkien spent his life working on the histories, languages, and peoples of Middle-earth that The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is based on. As his magnum opus, he fleshed out an entire world that he named Arda, the histories of which he split into different “Ages.” Any information beyond these Middle-earth ages are mysterious and hard to come by, but Tolkien’s conceit when writing the series was that this was the true history of Earth, which was now in a Sixth or Seventh Age.
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As reported by Slash Film, both showrunners were brought on to The Official Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Podcast, where host Felicia Day asked the two about the sophomore season of the series (which is currently filming). McKay responded, “There’s a lot of canon here, and season 1 is a place where there’s an enormous amount of invention happening between tent poles and the canon.” He continued, “Season 2 is a lot more canon that we’re interested in adapting and bringing to life.”
“Season 2 has a canonical story,” McKay noted a separate interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “There may well be viewers who are like, ‘This is the story we were hoping to get in season 1!’ In season 2, we’re giving it to them.” The fact that the Rings of Power co-showrunners felt the need to emphasize this fact in two separate interviews indicates that fans have a lot more canonical stories and characters to look forward to when the show returns for its second season.
The seeds for this have already been planted: in the season finale, it was revealed that Halbrand (Charlie Vickers) was, in fact, the Dark Lord Sauron. And it was revealed that the identity of Rings of Power’s mysterious Stranger (Daniel Weyman) who fell from the sky is a member of the Istari, a group of five wizards sent to guide Middle Earth and protect them from Sauron’s machinations (of this group, Saruman, Gandalf, and Radagast are members).
Maybe audiences can expect to see one of the defining moments of the Second Age in Rings of Power season 2: the forging of the One Ring, one of the most important moments in Middle-earth’s history. In the season finale, Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards), and Elrond (Robert Aramayo) forged the three rings Narya, Nenya, and Vilya in order to combat Sauron. The forging of the One Ring in Mount Doom happens shortly after this in Tolkien’s canon, so it’ll likely show up at some point or another.
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Source: Slash Film, The Hollywood Reporter
