LOTR: The Rings Of Power BTS Photo Teases Season 2's Armies - Plus A Rivendell Reveal

Contains potential spoilers for "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" Season 2

"The Rings of Power" Season 1 was a bit of a slow burn. The first eight episodes of the show introduced countless characters, times, and places. It established major locations like Mount Doom and Númenor and kicked off the forging of the show's titular jewelry (albeit out of order from the source material). It revealed where Sauron is (we knew it was Halbrand all along!) and set up key characters like Galadriel, Elrond, and Elendil.

Now that the stage is set, Season 2 promises to be an epic affair — and a new rumor from fan site Fellowship of Fans (FoF) promises a ton of action coming down the pike, as well as the reveal of another key location. The latest four-part batch of scoops from the site's X (Formerly Twitter) page claims a handful of interesting, interwoven revelations. One of these is that Oliver Alvin-Wilson, who formally joined the cast of "The Rings of Power" back in December 2022, will be part of the Elven storyline and will share scenes with Morfydd Clark (Galadriel), Charles Edwards (Celebrimbor), and others.

Another part of the exclusive scoop boldly declares, "'RIVENDELL/ IMLADRIS' is a location & term internally listed in the production of 'The Rings of Power' Season 2." It adds that a production listing can "range from just a dialogue mention of the location, teaser or seeing the location itself on screen." Still, the fact that Rivendell could factor into the story this quickly is welcome news after the aforementioned sluggish start to the series.

The other two FoF scoops focus on Elvish armor, hairstyles, and military formations. The first part reads, "Elven Soldiers in battle/ army formation 7x3 wide will march in Lindon in episode 4 of The Rings of Power Season 2." The fourth and final scoop adds that "The elven battle armour in season 2 is full silver armour with massive shields with a silver helmet which has a long crest on its top." The final line reads, "Most elven soldiers have long hair. The horses are also padded in the similar silver colour armour."

These detailed descriptions are usually difficult to decipher. However, in this case, the fan site had an added bonus: a behind-the-scenes photo. While a little blurry, the pic appears to show two Elven warriors in the aforementioned accouterments. They are riding horses that are similarly decked out in resplendent armor, only fit for an immortal being.

If "The Rings of Power" has shown us one thing in its first season, it's that the production team isn't afraid to go all out on practical effects and on-set investments. The fact that we could be seeing lines of very real Elven actors heading off to battle in equally real armor is par for the course at this point — and something that will be worth tuning in for when Season 2 finally drops.

The question is, what battle will they be riding to? It may not be obvious at first glance, but the foundation of Rivendell and Elves in battle armor are actually closely connected in the source material. While Rivendell is a peaceful location by the time of "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings," it was actually founded thousands of years earlier in the middle of a war.

Rivendell doesn't exist during "The Rings of Power" Season 1. That's because Elrond Half-elven founds the place in a moment of crisis as a refuge for a retreating Elvish army. In the book "Unfinished Tales," J.R.R. Tolkien explains that this comes on the heels of Sauron demanding the Rings of Power from Celebrimbor of Eregion (something that hasn't happened yet on the show). At this point in the original story, the Dark Lord has forged the One Ring, and the Elves have figured this out and taken their Rings off. Discovering that his plot to control the Elves through the Rings has failed, Sauron resorts to brute force, attacking Eregion with a huge army.

Elrond is sent with an Elven army to help, but he arrives too late, and Sauron, in effect, divides and conquers the two Elvish hosts. After annihilating Celebrimbor, he attacks Elrond. This leads to a line where Tolkien says, "Elrond was able to extricate himself, but he was forced away northwards, and it was at that time [in the year 1697, according to the Tale of Years] that he established a refuge and stronghold at Imladris (Rivendell)."

If Season 1 of "The Rings of Power" ended with the forging of some of the Rings of Power, then Sauron's attack can't be far off. And if that happens in Season 2, as seems likely, there's a good chance that we'll see Elrond retreat shortly afterward, setting the stage for the founding of his Elven stronghold. Whether we'll actually see Rivendell in the season or it is only mentioned remains to be seen. Still, if the rumor is true, it seems likely we're close to seeing Elrond build his future home, either way.