Lost ending explained: What actually happened to the Oceanic Flight 815 passengers?
Lost had one of the most divisive series finales of all time, leaving fans feeling either blown away, disappointed, or completely confused. The series, which is now available to stream on Netflix, became an instant hit following its premiere in 2004, with the pilot episode following the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815, which crashed onto a mysterious tropical island in the South Pacific. What started off as a standard survival tale, however, soon became increasingly convoluted as the series progressed and, by the sixth season, a new narrative technique – the flash sideways – had even been thrown into the mix, raising even more controversy and questions, namely the one people still ask to this very day – were the Oceanic Flight 815 passengers on Lost dead the whole time? The creators of the Lost aren’t immune to the divisiveness over the finale, recognising that they didn’t answer every question. In a 2023 interview with Esquire, Lindelof addressed the controversy surrounding the ending, but insists he wouldn’t change a thing. He said: "It seems arrogant to say I would change nothing, but it’s the truth." Wondering what actually happened in the finale? Read on for a breakdown of the ending of Lost. Lost ending explained: What's going on with the 'flash-sideways' timeline? Like the rest of Lost, the series finale jumps between events on the island itself, and in this case, a flash-sideways – an alternate timeline in which Flight 815 never crashed on the island. That alternate timeline was created thanks to Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell), who, because of a time-shift, had become stranded in the 1970s. With a lot of other factors in play, like her love of Sawyer (Josh Holloway), Juliet goes through with a plan to destroy the hatch on the island, using the logic that this will stop Oceanic Flight 815 from ever crashing, therefore stopping the events of Lost from ever taking place. So throughout the series finale our 'survivors', for lack of a better word, are being drawn together in this flash-sideways, and over time, they slowly begin to regain memories of their stint on the island thanks to interactions with each other. All of this culminates in the big twist that still leaves people awestruck, confused or annoyed to this day, depending on how you feel. Our characters are all dead in the flash-sideways events, as the alternate timeline functions as an afterlife to bring everyone together so they can move on from the island and their experiences together. Naturally though, this created all sorts of confusion among viewers as to whether they had really been dead all along. The answer: no, they hadn’t. The events on the island, the heartache, pain, joy and love, were real, as were the connections they formed with each other. The flash-sideways was a construct created by the survivors because of their time on the island, a time that is described perfectly by Jack Shephard’s (Matthew Fox) father, Christian (John Terry) – "the most important part of your life was the time that you spent with these people on that island". It may seem even more confusing given that the other storyline of the finale which takes place on the island ends with some characters dead, some alive, and many who died much earlier in the show’s run. The interpretation of that final flash-sideways in the church adds a deep layer of poignancy to it all though – making it one of television’s most elegant depictions of the afterlife, and of the bonds we share with others. It’s a timeless place where they wait for each other before embarking on to “whatever comes next” together. What happens on the island at the end of Lost? While the flash-sideways in The End is the part that often trips up viewers of the show, there’s still plenty that takes place on the island in that final episode. Much of the mythos on the island centres around its protector, Jacob, and his adversary, the Man in Black. Their arc concludes finally with Jack killing the Man in Black, while Jack also convinces an emotional Hurley (Jorge Garcia) to take over as the new protector of the island. In a touching moment, with Hurley unsure on how to proceed, he asks Ben Linus (Michael Emerson) for his help, for which Ben is more than happy to give. This moment has a beautiful payoff in the flash-sideways, as the two share a moment outside of the church, reminding each other of the good deeds they would go on to do together for the island. Were they dead the whole time at the end of Lost? No, as detailed above, while a lot of people speculated that the characters were dead all along, that isn’t the case. While the characters are all dead in the flash-sideways timeline, none of them died in the initial plane crash, and everything that happened on the island was real. Who lives and who dies in Lost? However, there are two important deaths in the series finale. As stated, the Man in Black dies after being shot by Kate (Evangeline Lilly) and pushed off a cliff by Jack. But more importantly, Jack himself dies on the island, in a tender scene that perfectly mirrors our introduction to him as a character, and to the show as a whole – laying flat in the bamboo forest as he looks up at the sky and the escaping castaways. What have the Lost cast and creators said about the ending? Looking back at how the series wrapped up to mark its 20th anniversary, cast member Michael Emerson recently told RadioTimes.com he wouldn't change a thing about the ending. He said: "Oh, I adored it when we shot it, and I like it even better with the passage of time. I think it's a wonderful conclusion." He added: "I always say, every show dictates its own ending by the form of its narrative, by the way it was constructed. So a show like Lost can't have the same ending as something more linear or conventional. "It was a fantasy and an allegory exploding out from the centre. So to end it, you must bring all the parts back to the centre, I think. At least, it seems to me, that that was what they were attempting to do." View Green Video on the source website He continued: "To me, it was really satisfying – particularly if you're playing Benjamin Linus and you're left outside the gates of the hereafter on a cold stone bench because you haven't earned it yet. I thought, 'Oh, that's perfect.' It really was perfect. And sad too, in a way. "Again, the work mirrored the social ending of the family. All my friends in the cast were trooping by to go off to some golden paradise, and I'm there saying goodbye as they pass. And it was the end of things. It was the end of that golden adventure, in addition to the show." Matthew Fox, who played Jack Shepherd, also defended the ending, telling Metro: "For me, I loved the way the show ended, and I loved that it was a nebulous thing and there was lots of room for interpretation because the people that love the show, they have their own experience. "So I think that Damon Lindelof, JJ, everybody involved in the making of the show intentionally wanted it to be something that can be interpreted by each individual." Jorge Garcia, who played Hurley, told The Independent: "It’s definitely true that a lot of people misread the ending and thought they were dead the whole time. I think there were a lot of things that contributed to that." Co-creator Damon Lindelof added to the outlet: "I guess the takeaway from Lost is that I am unapologetic about the fact I’m fascinated by ambiguity and questions that will never be answered, because that’s what life is. I’m just really interested in those stories and I understand that there is an experience of frustration and dissatisfaction. But I also think that there is nobility in the exploration and the journey of these ideas." Co-creator Carlton Cuse also said: "I wouldn’t apologise either. I think the journey of Lost, like life, has its flaws and blemishes, which may be perceived differently by different people. But in totality, I’m very proud of what we did. The fact we made the show and touched a lot of people’s hearts is something that’s incredibly special to me." What were the alternative ending to Lost? The show's creators previously opened up about an alternative ending which would have seen the volcano on the island being the setting for a confrontation between Locke/Man in Black and Jack, and the volcano erupting to symbolise the release of darkness. Creator Lindelof told Entertainment Weekly: "The volcano had been dormant for the duration of the series, but based on moving into this endgame, the island had become unstable and the volcano was going to erupt. "We were going to have lots of seismic activity, and ultimately, there was going to be this big fight between the forces of good and the forces of evil, which ended up in the series manifesting as Jack and The Man in Black, in the midst of magma. Magma spewing everywhere!" The volcano element was ultimately scrapped due to budget constraints. Lost is available to watch on Disney Plus. You can sign up to Disney Plus for £7.99 a month or £79.90 a year now. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guideto find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5 ending explained: What happened to the Cerritos crew?
With the release of The Next New Generation, the final episode of season 5, the latest series in the retooled Star Trek Expanded Universe comes to a close. Star Trek: Lower Decks boldly went where no show in the saga to this date had ventured: adult animation. While Star Trek: The Original Series was continued briefly in animated form, aptly titled Star Trek: The Animated Series, Lower Decks represented a bold step forward for the franchise, and for the new expanded universe that began with Star Trek: Discovery in 2017. Over its five seasons, Star Trek: Lower Decks has grown into itself, finding more and more comfort in the tightrope between sweet and charming, while still bringing a fresh, adult sense of humour to the USS Cerritos and its intrepid crew. Created by Mike McMahan (Solar Opposites), Lower Decks finds itself occupying the same universe as its sibling shows – Discovery, as well as Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Stark Trek: Prodigy, Picard and the upcoming Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. Throughout its five season run, Lower Decks follows the exploits and missions of various crew members aboard the USS Cerritos – a Starfleet ship of the Federation that is deemed mostly unimportant in the search for new alien life and new civilisations. Whereas Discovery, Strange New Worlds and the earlier series’ in the saga focused almost exclusively on the command deck, Lower Decks focused on ensign-class crew members, or "lower deckers" – crew members with more menial jobs compared to those of the senior staff we’re used to seeing. The final season of Lower Decks focused on our beloved crew entering an alternate reality, and subsequent quantum fissures leading to more and more alternate realities – threatening the very fabric of the universe itself. But how does it all wrap up? Luckily for you, we have it all explained for you. Read on for a breakdown. Star Trek: Lower Decks ending explained – What happened to the Cerritos crew? Ransom (Jerry O’Connell) is appointed as the new captain of the Cerritos, and he in turn names Boimler and Mariner as his co-first officers. The rest of the core Lower Decks crew remains with the Cerritos, and the starship embarks on its next adventure to close the show, featuring a new phrase in the pantheon of Captain’s orders to hit warp speed – "Engage the core". Naturally, heroism and ingenuity save the day in a Star Trek show, so of course the quantum fissure crisis and the threat to the multiverse is averted. At the end of the previous episode, Brad Boimler’s (Jack Quaid) clone sends information to his prime version about the impending collapse, leading to the Cerritos entering the main anomaly to seal the rift as it’s the closest ship, with the Enterprise still hours away. There are a few hijinx along the way as the Cerritos harbours two fugitive Klingon, as well as multiple starship changes as the Cerritos flies closer and closer to rift, altering its very nature – turning it from its usual iteration into a Terran Empire warship, and a Sovereign-class starship along the way. Thanks to some quick thinking from Tawny Newsome’s Beckett Mariner, the rift is sealed by actually keeping it open thanks to… science, I guess. This stops the multiverse from breaking down, and actually keeps a permanent portal open for access to alternate dimensions. Something which seems destined to be explored in future potential shows. The series finale does an excellent job of wrapping up every character's arc in ways that feel satisfying. Captain Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) leaves the Cerritos to take over at Starbase 80, a dilapidated but wholesome Starfleet space station tasked with overseeing the now stable dimensional rift. So, could the show ever come back? While it is the final season, both the creators and the cast have been open about their hopes for a return some day. View Green Video on the source website McMahan and Kurtzman previously said: "We remain hopeful that even beyond season 5, Mariner, Boimler, Tendi, Rutherford and the whole Cerritos crew will live on with new adventures." The cast have also made it clear that they'd love to return. Eugene Cordero told RadioTimes.com of the show: "It feels great, and it feels like it could keep going," with Jack Quaid adding, "I'll play Boimler for 17 more years, until I can't do the Boimler scream anymore." Tawny Newsome noted that season 5 "comes to a nice pause", adding: "We'll do this show until we're dust in the ground." And the fighting talk didn't stop there, with Newsome telling RadioTimes.com: "Mike [McMahan] has re-written 5.10 [the finale episode] so many times, and I feel like it gets longer and longer, and it’s great but you will feel the hanging on that he and we are all doing, like, 'We could keep making this! Let's keep making this.'" So, perhaps it's only a goodbye for now. Star Trek: Lower Decks is available to stream on Paramount Plus. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Who is Adar in The Rings of Power and why was he recast?
Sauron gets his revenge in the season 2 finale.
*Warning: Spoilers for The Rings of Power season 2 episode 8 ahead.* The Rings of Power season 2 episode 8 offered us one of the most brutal finales we've seen in a while, with plenty of our favourites being killed off – and, tragically, Sam Hazeldine's Adar was one of them. The character of Adar has been getting even more complicated throughout season 2, from sending his Orcs to wage war on Eregion (despite their doubts) to offering an alliance to Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), but the finale episode saw his demise in an emotional and poetic final moment that mirrored Sauron's death in season 2 episode 1. Speaking about Adar's tragic death in the season 2 finale, executive producer and director Charlotte Brändström told RadioTimes.com: "It was always planned that he was going to die but what I think what makes it very emotional is that he dies when he wants to do good. "He gives the ring back, he's ready to sacrifice himself, and he realises what he's done to his children, the Orcs, and that he is their father after all, and that they're going to fight Sauron together now." She added: "We give a little moment of hope and then we go in for the kill! We tried to mirror what happened to Sauron in the first scene with the stabbing and Sauron gets his revenge there." Introduced by Game of Thrones alum Joseph Mawle in season 1, the character became a fan-favourite for his nuance and mystery as he led a plan to conquer the Southlands once and for all. But eagle-eyed viewers will notice that Mawle was swapped out for Slow Horses actor Sam Hazeldine for season 2. Here, we break down exactly why the role of Adar was recast and give you all the background information on the character that you need. Who is Adar in The Rings of Power? Adar is one of the Moriondor – the very first Elves corrupted by Sauron's predecessor, the Dark Lord Morgoth. The word "Adar" comes from the Elvish language of Sindarin, meaning "Father", explaining that paternal bond he shares with the Orcs in his care. While some characters in the show assumed him to be Sauron, this suggestion angered Adar, building his resentment of Sauron. Adar was once Sauron's right-hand man but betrayed him after seeing his cruelty towards the orcs. During season 1 of The Rings of Power, Adar is on a mission to provide a home for his "children", free from the influence of Sauron - who he believed he killed years before the events of the series. Adar sought the mysterious Hilt that was then possessed by Bronwyn's son Theo, which would help him to achieve his plans. Adar is not seen until the end of the third episode, and even then is shown out of focus as we learn Arondir is being brought to him by the orcs. In the fourth episode, Arondir witnesses Adar hold a dying orc before ending its life. Adar also recalls his own life as an Elf. Arondir asks Adar why the orcs call him "Father", but Adar tells Arondir that he has been fed many lies throughout his life. Adar reveals that he is no god - not yet. He then frees Arondir to go to his old watch-tower with a message. When Arondir arrives at the watch-tower, he tells the human Bronwyn that Adar has offered the Southlanders the chance to swear fealty to him and follow him or he will destroy them. In the sixth episode, Adar's army attacked the watch-tower, but fell foul of a trap set by Arondir. In response, Adar's remaining orcs went on to launch an all-out assault on the Southlanders. Eventually, the third wave of orcs overwhelmed the Southlanders and threatening Bronwyn saw Theo give up the Hilt to Adar. When the forces of Numenor arrive to liberate the Southlands, Adar enacts his plan and hands of the mysterious Hilt we saw repeatedly throughout the season to Waldreg (Geoff Morrell), a human supporter of the forces of darkness. Waldreg plants the Hilt in an altar at the watch-tower, sparking a great flood that leads all the way down the various tunnels Adar and his children had created, flowing into a volcano and triggering a cataclysmic volcanic eruption. This marked the birth of Mordor, and the awakening of Mount Doom. In all of the chaos, Adar escaped his captivity at the hands of Galadriel and Halbrand - but not before the show planted a lot of seeds for future conflict between himself and Sauron. In season 2, we see a highly-rumoured storyline come to fruition - Galadriel and Adar's meeting, and a potential alliance between the pair. In episode 6, Adar presents Morgoth's crown to Galadriel, telling her he used its power to slay Sauron. Of course, Sauron returned - but Adar has a theory that the crown's power combined with the power of the three Elven rings could slay the villain once and for all. Of course, Galadriel has some major reservations about teaming up with Adar, but he urges her to look beyond her pride - and she does so. Agreeing to form an alliance with him, she tells him about Elrond's mission to free Celebrimbor from Sauron's grasp and says that together they can destroy Sauron. Adar says that she has revealed everything he hoped – including Sauron's identity - and reveals the terrifying extent of his army as they prepare to march on Eregion. Galadriel says Sauron has lured Adar's army and that he wants him to march on Eregion - but he refuses to believe it and has Galadriel taken away. As episode 6 ends, the Siege of Eregion begins with the Orcs raining fire on Eregion. Previously chatting to RadioTimes.com about the potential of an alliance between Adar and Galadriel, Hazeldine said: "We're looking at the options and seeing what we could do to counteract the threat of Sauron, for sure. We're not the best of friends so it's a careful balance we have to do to see if we can trust each other or not." However, in season 2 episode 7, it's made clear that an alliance is off the cards completely, with Adar imprisoning Galadriel and threatening to charge into battle with her head on a spike. Luckily, Elrond manages to free her, but something tells us there's unfinished business with this trio. In season 2 episode 8, Galadriel finally agrees to Adar's terms of an alliance but she's too late. Sauron has already taken back Adar's army of Orcs, and the creatures Adar knew as his children brutally kill him. How does Adar die in The Rings of Power? Season 2 episode 8 sees Adar killed by his Orcs, who he referred to as his children. During the episode, Sauron takes power of the Orc army back. One of the Orcs feigns an injury to get close to Adar, before stabbing him. In a brutal scene paralleling Sauron's death in the prologue of season 2 episode 1, the Orcs fully turn on Adar, stabbing him over and over again in sight of Galadriel. In his final moments, Adar still refers to them as his "children". Speaking to RadioTimes.com about Sauron getting his revenge on Adar, actor Charlie Vickers told RadioTimes.com: "There's vindication and it's an element of, 'I have killed you and now I have your children, your army,' and he can rule over them, whether it's fear or whatever - they're now his.' "He did it that way so that he could get what he needed which was an army and so he's left this season no longer alone. Adar's death scene mirrors Sauron's death scene in the opening and I think that's a really cool parallel." Who was Adar to Sauron in The Rings of Power? After Morgoth's defeat, Adar became a servant to Sauron and even became his right-hand man. While he initially served Sauron faithfully, he became displeased with Sauron's treatment of his "children" (the orcs) and lost faith in him. He eventually turned on Sauron and attempted to assassinate him. For years, Adar believed he had killed Sauron. Who plays Adar in The Rings of Power season 2? The mantle of Adar has been taken up by Sam Hazeldine for the second season, and likely the rest of the show’s run. Joseph Mawle stepped down from the role of Adar just after season 1 finished airing in December of 2022. Hazeldine has previously starred in Slow Horses, The Sandman and Peaky Blinders, to name but a few shows. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Hazeldine discussed taking on the role of Adar from Mawle, saying, "I worked with him (Mawle) years ago. I think he’s a fantastic actor, and I really loved what he did in the first season. "So it was actually a pleasure to take the baton from him. Obviously we don’t look the same, but the character is instantly recognisable." Asked by ComicBook.com whether taking over the role was a challenge, he said: "No, it wasn't actually. It was honestly a pleasure." He added: "I think that's because it was such a rich character that's been created by the writers and by Joseph in season 1. And so, it was a real privilege to take on that character and see where the story takes him from there. So, I really enjoyed it. I just loved every part of it." Hazeldine also exclusively told RadioTimes.com of Adar's role in season 2: "Adar's work is kind of done at the end of the first season1. He's created Mordor and has a home for the orcs and that's kind of it until Sauron comes back and then it's like, 'We've got to do something about this.'" Why was Adar recast in The Rings of Power? Whenever a role in a major show is recast, there are naturally a lot of questions about the what and the why. In the case of Joseph Mawle and Adar though, the reasons were straightforward – he wanted to explore other career opportunities on-screen. Mawle took to X to explain his own decision to step away from the role. View oEmbed on the source website "I loved my time exploring Middle-earth and diving into Tolkien’s mythology. I’m so honoured that the character was liked. He cared deeply about telling you his story. "Though as an actor it remains my wish, my job description to explore new characters and worlds. Wishing all the best to cast and crew for S2, I’ll be cheering you on from the sidelines." Since, Mawle has starred in Yellowstone spin-off 1923 as Captain Shipley, and Mary and George as Sir Walter Raleigh. Is The Rings of Power's Adar in JRR Tolkien's books? No. While most of the characters in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power are characters from Tolkien’s mythology, Adar is one of the few original characters created for the show. While the character remains an enigma as to his ultimate role, he does provide a humanising aspect to the orcs - something no other adaptation of Tolkien’s work has been able to accomplish. There was a lot of speculation during season 1 that Adar may be a disguise of Sauron himself, but the finale’s reveal of Halbrand’s true identity put those to rest. Other theories have questioned whether he is an adaptation of the Witch-king of Angmar, or one of the other Ringwraiths - but it seems unlikely, given their characters all being men is a central point of their fall to Sauron. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 premieres on Thursday 29th August 2024 on Prime Video. Sign up now for a free 30-day Prime Video trial. Check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on, or visit our dedicated Fantasy hub. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Who is Tom Bombadil in Rings of Power? Rory Kinnear character explained
*Warning: Spoilers ahead for The Rings of Power season 2 episodes 1 to 6.* One of the most interesting developments for season 2 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is the introduction of Tom Bombadil – a titanic figure in the mythos of Tolkien’s world, but one of mystery. It was announced earlier this year that the enigmatic figure of Bombadil would be brought to the screen, played by British actor Rory Kinnear, and now, in season 2 episode 6, we're learning more about him. Speaking about taking on the role of Tom Bombadil, Kinnear told RadioTimes.com: "It's great to have some source material to work with when you're creating a character. Quite often you're having to use your own imagination, right from that, from a blank page. "So actually, for some guidance to be given to you, and I was trying to put as much to one side, the idea of how beloved he was and how excited people might be for this first representation of him on screen. And just try to focus on how I connected to him and what he meant to me." But who is this mysterious character? What role does he play in Tolkien’s work? Where do you know Rory Kinnear from? Luckily, we’ve got you covered. Read on for everything you need to know about Tom Bombadil. Who is Tom Bombadil in The Rings of Power? A question that has puzzled readers of Tolkien’s great work since the pages first opened, and one with no clear answer. His origins are unknown, but what we do know about him is that he’s old. Really old. It's even suggested he might have been the first living creature in all of Arda (Earth). When describing himself in the novel, Bombadil says: "Eldest, that’s what I am… Tom remembers the first raindrop and the first acorn… He knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless - before the Dark Lord (Morgoth) came from Outside." Elrond has a similar description, saying: "But I had forgotten Bombadil, if indeed this is still the same that walked the woods and hills long ago, and even then was older than the old. That was not then his name. Iarwain Ben-adar we called him, oldest and fatherless." While his origins are still debated among Tolkien fans, we do have slightly more knowledge about his abilities and how he interacts with the world around him. Being the oldest being in all of Arda obviously tells us that Tom Bombadil possesses the power of immortality. His singing is where his greatest power comes from, however, as he uses his voice to exert authority over both Old Man Willow, and later the Barrow-wights – both immensely powerful beings in their own right. Speaking to RadioTimes.com, Kinnear said he honed in on "the enigmatic nature" of the character. He added: "That sense of having seen everything and so whilst being aware of how important this interaction with The Stranger has the potential to be, he is also aware that should he choose a different path than the one he believes is the right one, that we will go back to beginning." Season 2 episode 4 introduced Tom Bombadil. The episode, which also saw Ents and Barrow-wights appear and followed The Stranger, played by Daniel Weyman, as he encountered Tom after being separated from Nori (Markella Kavenagh) and Poppy (Megan Richards), saw Tom drop quite the bombshell on The Stranger – that his task is to face Sauron (Charlie Vickers) and the Dark Wizard (Ciaran Hinds) and save Middle-earth. In the latest instalment, season 2 episode 6, Tom Bombadil continues to teach The Stranger, this time telling him about Secret Fire, which gives The Stranger a terrifying premonition about his friend Nori. While The Stranger is desperate to go and rescue her, Tom Bombadil tells him that he has to choose one path - saving her, or saving all of Middle-earth from Sauron and the Dark Wizard. How old is Tom Bombadil in The Rings of Power? Tom Bombadil's exact age is unknown – although he seems to suggest he was the first creature in Middle-earth, or even in the world. In the book, he says he was "here before the river and the trees" and refers to himself as "eldest". Questions have been asked over the years about whether Tom is Middle-earth's god. Showrunners McKay and Payne recently addressed that question – but decided not to answer it. Payne said: "We would have no problem if that question was being asked. Because people say that about the character in the books." McKay added to The Hollywood Reporter: "And I think people asked that of Tolkien himself. Tolkien chose to remain silent on it and so shall we." Who is Tom Bombadil's wife? Tom Bombadil's wife is a river-spirit named Goldberry from Withywindle - and she is briefly heard in The Rings of Power season 2 episode 4. During the episode, The Stranger hears a woman's voice singing, although Tom dismisses his questions about anyone else being present. While Bombadil and Goldberry didn't appear in Peter Jackson's movies, the spirit is described as having flowing blonde hair. Who plays Tom Bombadil in The Rings of Power? Tom Bombadil is portrayed in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power by English actor Rory Kinnear. Kinnear starred in four of the five Daniel Craig James Bond films as Tanner, M’s chief of staff, while also famously appearing in the first ever episode of Black Mirror as Prime Minister Michael Callow. Kinnear hasn’t done a lot of work in the fantasy genre before, but speaking to Radio Times magazine's Sarfraz Manzoor, he expressed a desire to try new things. "I like to do things I haven’t done before, from doing big action films to studio sitcoms, to television dramas to Shakespeare. But I’ve never done a fantasy thing before. I’ve never really understood it – it’s never been my bag." On what drew him to the character of Tom Bombadil, Kinnear told Radio Times, "He has a quite jovial positivity, but there is this notion that he has seen all of life and everything that has gone before – and in that way has a sense of everything that will happen in the future as well." What is Tom Bombadil's role in the Lord of the Rings books? Frodo and the other Hobbits of the story encounter Bombadil upon leaving The Shire, after getting in a pickle with Old Man Willow – a malevolent tree spirit. Frodo searches for help, finding Bombadil, who commands the tree to release its prisoners, before inviting the group to stay at his house for a night or two. During this stay, which takes place on an almost dreamlike quality, Frodo inadvertently tells Bombadil all about the One Ring he carries, and his quest to get it to Rivendell. Asking to inspect the One Ring, Frodo gives it over without any reluctance, something he had previously shown to any other people prying about his possession of it. From there, Bombadil actually puts the One Ring on, but it has no effect on him whatsoever, further confusing both Frodo and readers. He also tells Frodo that when the Hobbit does wear the Ring, its power of invisibility doesn’t hide him from Bombadil’s eyes. Why isn't Tom Bombadil in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings films? Originally considered for a cameo appearance, Jackson decided to not pursue a role for the character in his films. His justification for the omission was that Bombadil doesn't have a major impact on the wider storyline being told, and his introduction and development would hinder the films rather than help them. View Affiliate Playlist on the source website The Rings of Power season 2 is now streaming on Prime Video – you can sign up now for a free 30-day Prime Video trial. If you’re looking for something else to watch in the meantime, check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide, or visit our dedicated Fantasy hub. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Rings of Power is defined by its relationships – that's what sets it apart
Prime Video's Lord of the Rings series puts characters and their connections at the forefront, in contrast to other fantasy TV.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power can be defined in a lot of ways: its commitment to expanding and exploring Tolkien's Middle-earth; the gargantuan budget which allows for some of the most gorgeous vistas on television; the action set-pieces that never fall short of outstanding, whether it be Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) sparring with some Númenóreans, or Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova) firing off more arrows than you can shake a stick at. But in so many other ways, these characteristics of Amazon Prime Video's hit show are secondary to what really makes The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power tick – its commitment to developing complex, nuanced relationships between its characters. Credit for this is shared, belonging to showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay for bringing their ultimate vision of Tolkien's Second Age to life; belonging to the team of writers and the directors who work on the series, each bringing a unique sense of flair to the show's dynamic; and of course, belonging to the cast who bring Tolkien's (and the show's) creations to life. So much of season 1 revolved around the relationship between Charlie Vickers's Halbrand and Morfydd Clark's Galadriel, eschewing a barrage of constant action in favour of developing their connection. There was plenty of pushback over the pacing behind that story, but it's hard to not look at it as a show that simply knows exactly what it wants to be. Clark and Vickers's chemistry is a defining feature of the show, with fans shipping 'Haladriel' in the two-year gap between seasons 1 and 2 – but it's the connection between their characters that makes it all the more special. Her culpability in Sauron's return. His genuine desire to rule Middle-earth with Galadriel beside him. It's quintessentially Tolkienian, and one of countless connections in The Rings of Power that makes it must-see TV. Season 2 has furthered Sauron's relationships with other characters though, and in doing so, entrenched its own commitment to being a different kind of fantasy show – focusing on those connections with a focused pace instead of charging through the story, leaving the audience feeling a lack of connection to so many of the characters. Whereas season 1 paired Vickers's Dark Lord with Galadriel, season 2 has evolved his character into his Annatar form, pairing him up with Charles Edwards's wonderful Celebrimbor. Their delicate dance of manipulation, deception and just a touch of one-sided desire is as heartbreaking to watch as it is beautiful, while never being anything less than magnetic for the viewer. But away from the central antagonist of The Rings of Power, these connections blossom across every story arc. Elendil and Míriel's tender affection and his desire to keep her safe is something we've watched slowly build, elevated by Lloyd Owen and Cynthia Addai-Robinson's palpable chemistry. Owain Arthur and Sophia Nomvete continue to delight as Durin and Disa, bringing so much warmth to their scenes together in the depths of Khazad-dûm. Even the love affairs of Arondir and Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi) in season 1, and the ongoing back and forth between Isildur (Maxim Baldry) and Estrid (Nia Towle), both feel organic to the story in a way that elevates each and every scene. It stands in stark contrast to other fantasy shows, namely House of the Dragon – the hugely successful spin-off to Game of Thrones. Both The Rings of Power and House of the Dragon are exceptional shows, but crucially, they define themselves in different ways. House of the Dragon, much like its predecessor, is a show defined by its grander moments. While the interpersonal connections work to varying degrees, you always get the sense the show is waiting to unleash its next blast of dragonfire, or another battle sequence. View Green Video on the source website The Rings of Power can deliver those action sequences, as we saw with the battle in the Southlands in season 1, and as we will undoubtedly see with the Siege of Eregion in the coming weeks of television. But it never feels like that's what Payne and McKay want The Rings of Power to be remembered for. Their slow pace, their deep love and affection for Tolkien's world and words, and their commitment to establishing a large ensemble cast, populated by characters who share meaningful relationships together – relationships that stay with you long after the credits roll – feels like the worthier goal. View Affiliate Playlist on the source website The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 releases new episodes on Prime Video weekly on Thursdays – you can sign up now for a free 30-day Prime Video trial. If you’re looking for something else to watch in the meantime, check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide, or visit our dedicated Fantasy hub. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
The Rings of Power's Adar has expanded Tolkien's Middle-earth for the better
Adapting the work of Tolkien is no easy feat. It's a sprawling, complex, dense world, with legions of fans who all feel a certain type of ownership over it. So when the showrunners of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, JD Payne and Patrick McKay push their adaptation towards more original characters – naturally, some fans felt a certain kind of way about it. The most prominent of these original characters is Adar, Lord Father of the Uruk, played by Joseph Mawle in season 1, and Sam Hazeldine in season 2. Introduced as a quasi-villain, Adar borders somewhere between a true sympathetic figure and a villain to eventually be vanquished by the show’s protagonists (or by Sauron, himself). While a certain subsect of fans have pushed back on the character, their views are far outweighed by people like me, who see his creation as a wonderful addition and evolution of Tolkien’s world. Adar provides a humanisation for the Orcs, or Uruk, as they’d prefer to be known, while also standing on his own two feet as a layered and nuanced character in isolation. For background, if you’re still unsure about who Adar is, here’s the skinny: Adar is one of the Moriondor, meaning he is one of the very first Orcs. Taken by Morgoth, Sauron’s predecessor, Adar was once an Elf, but corrupted by Morgoth’s influence into a new form of life. Over time, Adar became disillusioned, and after Morgoth’s defeat, he turned on his new master, fearing the loss of Orc lives under Sauron’s charge. If you need a more detailed overview, we created a handy one here. It's in this period after Adar's assassination of Sauron that the character really comes into his own, both as the leader of the Orcs, but also as a figure who has expanded Tolkien's lore and world for the better. While no one, least of all me, will ever have a bad word to say about Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, or the sneakily under-appreciated Hobbit trilogy – it is fair to say that those films offer no development for the Orcs as a people, instead using them as a mostly faceless evil to be beaten, time and again. The Rings of Power has made a worthy and concerted effort to change that, and it all stems from Adar. His name derives from the Sindarin language – a fancy way of saying Elvish – and it means ‘father’, and that truly is a role he took on when it came to his people. What could have easily descended into being a by-the-book secondary villain, Adar delivered some of the most thought-provoking and poignant scenes of season 1 thanks to Joseph Mawle, and with three episodes down in season 2, Sam Hazeldine has taken that mantle and run with it. In season 1, episode 6, titled Udûn, we see Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) interrogate a captive Adar, aiming to learn the whereabouts of Sauron. And it’s here that we get one of those rare perspective shifts that blows the cobwebs from your eyes and transports you to a new vantage for viewing a story. Galadriel, while wonderful in so many ways, strays into some pretty xenophobic ideas when it comes to the Uruk, but Adar counters her point for point. When she refers to the Orcs as "slaves", Adar’s response is as follows: "But each one has a name, a heart… we are creations of the One, master of the Secret Fire, the same as you. As worthy of the Breath of Life, and just as worthy of a home." In those short lines of dialogue, Adar forces you to consider the Orcs in a completely different way. As more than just mere creations of evil, but as conscious, sentient beings with their own wants and desires – pushed to do what they have done by Morgoth (and Sauron), not because of their own innate desire to destroy. These ideas of what Orcs truly want in life progressed further in the three-part premiere of season 2 for The Rings of Power, when Glûg (Robert Strange), the right-hand man, so to speak, of Adar, goes to cradle what we can surmise is his baby alongside his partner. While this has seemingly upset a very vocal minority of people online, it’s actually a tender moment that drives home the lesson all of Adar’s story within The Rings of Power is trying to teach you. Orcs are, for lack of a better word, people. Not everything works in The Rings of Power, at least not for everyone. There’s still a fair criticism of its pacing, how it balances the many different threads it has going on, along with some nitpicking we don’t have time for. But it undeniably is made by creators with genuine care and affection for the work of Tolkien, and Adar is a perfect example of that. The Rings of Power, Middle-Earth, and TV as a whole, is better for his presence and his story. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 releases new episodes on Prime Video weekly on Thursdays – you can sign up now for a free 30-day Prime Video trial. If you’re looking for something else to watch in the meantime, check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide, or visit our dedicated Fantasy hub. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Who is Pharazôn in The Rings of Power? Trystan Gravelle character explained
This article will contain potential spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, and for the works of JRR Tolkien One of the most notable changes in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power centres around Pharazôn, who so far cuts a remarkably different figure in the show than to how he is portrayed in Tolkien’s original work. While the differences exist, we’re here to lay out his story as it’s written in the books, what he got up to in season 1, and the actor behind the character. Read on for everything you need to know. What was Pharazôn doing in season 1 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power? There’s some fairly significant changes to the character’s backstory from page to screen beyond the major timeline differential. Instead of being a strong military leader, and like much of Númenórean society, a regular seafarer, The Rings of Power depicts Pharazôn as the chancellor of Númenor, a cunning political figure, and the right-hand-man of Queen Regent Tar-Míriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson). The show’s depiction of Pharazôn also differs when it comes to his own family, as the show’s version possesses a son of his own, Kemen (Leon Wadham), in stark contrast to the childless figure of Tolkien lore. Pharazôn cuts a fascinating figure throughout the first season of The Rings of Power, in part because he isn’t at the front and centre, instead working different angles, all the while keeping his true motivations and agenda hidden from those around him, and from the viewers. We first meet him in the third episode, titled Adar, when Galadriel and Halbrand are presented to Queen Regent Míriel’s court in Armenelos - the capital city of Númenor. While supporting the wishes of his regent in sailing with Galadriel to aid the people of the Southlands, Pharazôn continues his own agenda of amassing more and more power for Númenor. He reaffirms his position to the anti-Elvish guildworkers on Númenor in populist, pro-human speech - all with a clear veneer of gathering support should any power struggle arise. That power struggle seems like it will play out in season 2, as season 1 closed out its Númenórean arc with the death of Míriel’s father, Tar-Palantir, the king of Númenor. Who is Pharazôn in Tolkien's original work? Sentiment varies on Pharazôn within the Tolkien fandom, with some fans viewing him as a figure of utmost tragedy, and others seeing him as a tyrant whose pride brought about the fall of his people and the destruction of his realm. Born to Gimilkhâd, the leader of the King’s Men faction - the pro-human faction in Númenor opposed to friendly relationships with the Elves - Pharazôn grew to share the traits and ideas of his father. A man who coveted glory and wealth, Pharazôn would venture out to war repeatedly with similar-minded Númenóreans, with the hope of conquering the western coasts of Middle-earth and the men who occupied them. In a major difference from the show to the books, when Tar-Palantir, the king of Númenor dies, Pharazôn weds Tar-Míriel against her will, and against the customs of Númenor - therefore seizing the throne for himself. In his new role as king of Númenor, Pharazôn is eventually manipulated into marching on Mordor and Sauron, who feeds his pride and his ego, eventually positioning himself as one of Pharazôn’s closest advisors. Sauron corrupts Pharazôn and many Númenóreans under his influence into worshipping the Dark Lord Morgoth, promising eternal life in return. This leads to the building of the Temple of Morgoth, as well as the burning of the White Tree of Númenor, along with brutal sacrifices of non-believers and members of the Faithful - a group of Númenóreans who support friendly relationships with the Elves. Sauron eventually convinces Pharazôn to launch an attack on Valinor. This led to the Valar calling upon Eru (essentially, God) - who in turn sank Pharazôn’s fleet and all of Númenor in an event known as the Changing of the World. Who plays the character in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power? Pharazôn is portrayed in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power by Welsh actor Trystan Gravelle. Gravelle has appeared on shows such as A Discovery of Witches, The Terror, and 2023’s Great Expectations. In a 2022 interview with ScreenRant, Gravelle spoke about taking on a role in Tolkien’s iconic world, saying, "My introduction to Tolkien was in 2001, The Fellowship of the Ring film with the Lord of the Rings trilogy. "Saw that, then I read The Hobbit book, then I saw all three films by the end of it when they came out, read the books, Lord of the Rings, and then saw The Hobbit film. "So yes, I approached this as a fan." View Affiliate Playlist on the source website The Rings of Power season 2 launches on Prime Video on 29th August – you can sign up now for a free 30-day Prime Video trial. If you’re looking for something else to watch in the meantime, check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide, or visit our dedicated Fantasy hub. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Who is Celebrimbor in The Rings of Power? Charles Edwards character explained
As The Rings of Power season 2 gets set to hit our screens once more, the trailers have made it pretty clear what we’re in for. High-stakes drama, scale-defying battle sequences, jaw-dropping visuals and, naturally, a lot of rings. Those rings will come from talented hands of Elven smith Celebrimbor - one of Middle-earth’s most important and influential figures. At the end of season 1, Celebrimbor crafted the first of the titular Rings of Power - Nenya, Narya and Vilya - free from Sauron’s influence, with the hope of halting the passage of time for the Elves in Middle-earth, and keeping their fading light shining bright. The trailers for season 2, however, show that Celebrimbor looks to be an even more central figure in this upcoming season - tied up with Annatar (Sauron in disguise) as he looks to craft more and more Rings of Power. But who is Celebrimbor? What are his aims? Who is the man behind the character? We’re here at RadioTimes.com to answer those questions for you. Minor spoilers ahead. Who is Celebrimbor in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power? Like many of the characters in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, our on-screen Celebrimbor is tweaked slightly from his iteration in Tolkien’s original work - older and possessing an incredible amount of experience, as well as the title Lord of Eregion. Celebrimbor, in both the show and the books, comes from a long line of Elvish smiths - most notably Fëanor, the greatest of them all. Fëanor crafted the Silmarils, three gems created using the essence of the two trees of Valinor. The Silmarils are seen as the greatest creation of the Elves, so it’s fair to say that Celebrimbor has quite the legacy to live up to - something which his character emphasises to Elrond in season 1. What will Celebrimbor be doing in season 2 of The Rings of Power? We know that Sauron will return to Eregion in the guise of Annatar, an emissary of the Valar, there to instruct the smiths of Eregion, particularly Celebrimbor, in the art of ring-making. But, as the trailers make it plain, Celebrimbor’s manipulation by Sauron won’t go all that well for him, as his usual austere and dignified appearance fractures under the weight of his actions, and the pressure placed on him by the Dark Lord. Based on knowledge of the Second Age, evidence in the trailer, and a track name on the now released score for season 2 by composer Bear McCreary, the Siege of Eregion is just around the corner. Celebrimbor will be in the thick of that action, and looks to be a major player in season 2. View Affiliate Playlist on the source website What is his relationship to Sauron? At the end of season 1, we saw the seeds of a fascinating dynamic between Celebrimbor and Sauron, at that time in the disguise of Halbrand. In part, it’s down to an incredible chemistry between Charles Edwards and Charlie Vickers, as anyone who’s seen them together on the season 2 press tour can attest to. Mainly, though, it’s down to the fascinating complexity of Celebrimbor’s character and state of mind, and the will and awareness of Sauron to manipulate that. Given his family legacy, and the current plight the Elves are Middle-earth are faced with, Halbrand/Annatar/Sauron will offer him a chance to stand above even his legendary grandfather, Fëanor, as a genuine saviour of the Elvish race. Speaking to The Telegraph, actor Edwards touched on the dynamic between his character and the one brought to life by Vickers. "Celebrimbor wants to do good, but he also wants to be famous and remembered. He’s vain, and susceptible to Sauron’s predatory suggestion. There’s a lot of mind games going on, a lot of gaslighting." Who plays Celebrimbor in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power? Celebrimbor is portrayed in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power by English actor Charles Edwards. Edwards has had a lengthy career both on screen and on stage, featuring in shows like Downton Abbey, The Crown and Colditz, while also appearing on stage in plays such as Best of Enemies - where his turn as Gore Vidal earned him a nomination for Best Actor at the Laurence Olivier Awards. Before Edwards's casting, Celebrimbor was initially pictured by a lot of fans as a classical Elf from fantasy - imagine Legolas at a forge, essentially. Edwards wanted to push back on that. Speaking to The Telegraph, Edwards described how fans viewed his character initially as a "hunk with a hammer", before going on to say, "When I first read that on the threads I thought, 'Hmm… That’s probably not how I’m going to play him.'" The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 premieres on Thursday 29th August 2024 on Prime Video. Sign up now for a free 30-day Prime Video trial. Check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on, or visit our dedicated Fantasy hub. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
What are the Rings of Power and what do they do?
This article will contain potential spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, and for the works of JRR Tolkien. If the name The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power wasn’t enough of a giveaway, the core thrust of Amazon Prime Video’s dive into JRR Tolkien’s world concerns the most powerful fashion accessories in all of literature. If you remember Cate Blanchett’s iconic introduction to The Fellowship of the Ring, Rings of Power were divided up between the three main societies of Middle-earth. Three to the Elves, seven to the Dwarves, and nine to mortal men. They were crafted by the Elven smiths of Eregion, led by Celebrimbor, all at the urging and encouragement of Annatar, one of Sauron’s many devious disguises. While the Rings of Power given over to the Dwarves and to men will certainly be explored in season 2 of the hit show, it’s the three rings of the Elves that we have concrete knowledge about - their names, their powers, and so on. Those rings are Nenya, Narya and Vilya. But what are they and what do they do? Nenya Other times known as the Ring of Water or the Ring of Adamant, Nenya is the ring worn by Lady Galadriel. Forged by Celebrimbor at the end of season 1, and free from Sauron’s influence, Nenya is maybe the purest source of power in all of Middle-earth. Crafted from mithril and inlaid with a diamond-like stone, Nenya is so radiant that non-ring-bearers actually can’t perceive it in Tolkien’s original work. Samwise Gamgee describes the sight as "a star through her fingers", whereas Frodo can perceive Nenya clearly, on account of being a ring bearer himself. Its power allows the wearer to preserve and protect their people, and conceal them from evil. Much later in her life, when Galadriel takes up residence in the forests of Lothlórien, that concealment will be vital to maintaining the safety of her people as Sauron’s power grows and grows. Unlike the two other Elvish Rings of Power, Nenya is only ever wielded by Galadriel. Narya The Red Ring, or the Ring of Fire, is a striking opposite to Galadriel’s Nenya. A gold-like metal, inlaid with a bright ruby, Narya granted the wearer the ability to resist tyranny and despair, the ability to inspire hope in others, and the ability to resist the weariness of time. Much like Nenya, we saw Narya being crafted at the end of season 1 of The Rings of Power, but we haven’t actually met their ring-bearer yet. Ben Daniels (The Crown, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) will be joining the cast for season 2 as Círdan the Shipwright, Lord of the Grey Havens - a wise and clairvoyant Elf, and one of the oldest in all of Middle-earth. Much later in the story, Círdan will surrender Narya to Gandalf, when the Elf recognises the worth of everyone’s favourite wizard. Vilya The strongest and most powerful of the three Elven rings, Vilya is also known as the Ring of Air, the Blue Ring, even the Dominant Ring. Crafted with Nenya and Narya, Vilya is gold-coloured and inlaid with a sapphire. There’s actually little known about the powers Vilya prescribes to its bearer, although we can speculate. Healing and preservation are a major part of the other two Elven rings, so it’s safe to assume they are a key part of Vilya’s power. First being worn by the High King Gil-galad, Vilya will pass to Elrond, and the latters gift of foresight as demonstrated in both Tolkien’s original work and the Peter Jackson film series suggests another power to the ring. All three of the Elvish rings had some detrimental effects on their wearers, although not nearly as devastating as the ones inflicted on both the Dwarves and the men. The rings were crafted, in essence, to try and halt the passage of time for the Elves and their fading light in Middle-earth - leading to a sense of procrastination and an overall slowdown in their action. When compared to the Seven and the Nine, though, this seems like a fair trade-off. Little is known about the specifics of the other 16 Rings of Power. The seven given to the Dwarves allowed them to gain more and more wealth, but in doing so, fuelled their greed and their anger to no end. The Nine granted mortal men power and extended life, but over time corrupted and enslaved them into the creatures we know as the Nazgûl - or Ringwraiths, if you prefer. Bent to Sauron’s will and fading to a permanent state of invisibility over time. View Affiliate Playlist on the source website The Rings of Power season 2 launches on Prime Video on 29th August – you can sign up now for a free 30-day Prime Video trial. If you’re looking for something else to watch in the meantime, check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide, or visit our dedicated Fantasy hub. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
What is the Second Age of Middle-earth? Rings of Power timeline explained
This is where Amazon's epic series fits into the Lord of the Rings timeline.
Explaining with detail and clarity the intricacies and depth of Tolkien’s world and its timeline is a task of monumental proportion. After all, it spans thousands of years, different ages, various wars, world-changing events, and the journey of a Hobbit from his house to a land of Shadow. Now included in that timeline is The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Amazon Prime Video’s hit show based on Tolkien’s work, which takes place in the Second Age. Set thousands of years before Frodo Baggins sets out from The Shire, and just as long from Bilbo Baggins’s similar journey, The Rings of Power occupies a currently unseen on-screen part of Middle-earth. When chatting about the formation of the series with Entertainment Weekly, showrunner Patrick McKay said: "We were not interested in doing a show about the younger version of the same world you knew, where it’s a little bit of a prequel. "We wanted to go way, way, way back and find a story that could exist on its own two feet. This was one that we felt hadn’t been told on the level and the scale and with the depth that we felt it deserved." While season 1 took us from cross-country journeys with proto-Hobbits, called Harfoots, to the great Elven realms of Lindon and Eregion, and even deep down into the mines of Khazad-dûm, season 2 will continue this extraordinary journey with even greater depth and scale. Where does The Rings of Power fit in the Lord of the Rings timeline? The Rings of Power is set in what is known as the Second Age of Middle-earth, or the Age of Númenor. Lasting 3,441 years, this age runs from the creation of the two great Elven and human kingdoms, all the way up until the first defeat of Sauron. Most movie fans will recognise where the Second Age ends, as the events of Sauron’s downfall are closely described in the opening monologue of The Fellowship of the Ring by Cate Blanchett’s Galadriel. Yet looking back, so much happens in this chronicled period that even three of Peter Jackson’s films couldn’t cover it. Starting with the Elves, this period saw the founding of the Elven capital Lindon. Ruled over by High King Gil-galad, played by Benjamin Walker, this region included the Grey Havens – the port city where Frodo and Bilbo Baggins would eventually leave Middle-earth from. During this time, many Elves broke away and created the realm of Eregion, which played a central role in season 1, and looks to be the main area of focus in season 2, given Celebrimbor's (Charles Edwards) importance to the story. During the endgame of The Rings of Power season 1, Sauron, in his disguise as Halbrand, begins his slow manipulation of the Elven smith, which will ultimately lead to the creation of the titular Rings of Power, and Sauron forging his own One Ring. We know that Sauron will be reunited with Celebrimbor in season 2, continuing that manipulation, this time in the guise of Annatar - a self-proclaimed emissary of the Valar. Lord Elrond, who is best known for being played by Hugo Weaving in Peter Jackson’s trilogy but now appears as Robert Aramayo, also split from Lindon in this age to create the well-known haven of Rivendell. Alongside the Elves, the Dwarves made their move to the mines of Khazad-dûm. This name might be unfamiliar to the less lore-obsessed Lord of the Rings fans – however, nobody could forget the name Moria, by which the mines eventually become known. We meet the Mines of Moria again thousands of years later when the Fellowship come across cave trolls, goblins and the monster that almost brings down Gandalf. In The Rings of Power, we get the chance to see the caves of Khazad-dûm when they are still thriving and prosperous under Prince Durin, but as the show already teased in the first season, there is a growing darkness both in the caverns of Khazad-dûm, as well as underneath. Season 1 also explored the history of men in the Second Age, in both the Southlands region, and the island kingdom of Númenor. The Southlands is a bleak, desolate stretch of land, home to the ancestors of Men who sided with the Dark Lord Morgoth in the First Age. The show teases us with revelations about the history of the area, and some of the characters in the region still deserve exploration, it’s the fate of the land itself that stands out. In a change from the books, Mordor is spawned out of the Southlands thanks to a cunning plan by orc leader Adar, who awakens a dormant volcano (Mount Doom). We can’t wait to see more of Mordor in the second season. The other realm of men, Númenor, was formed, and will fall entirely in this Second Age - although at the current point in the show it’s thriving, the cracks are there to see. When this nation falls, those who escape will venture to Middle-earth to find refuge and exile, and it is from that bloodline of kings that Aragorn will come… most likely pushing open double doors. In addition to the already visited places of season 1, season 2 will take us to the land of Rhûn to the East, as a part of The Stranger and Nori’s story. Here, they’ll encounter an Istar (Ciaran Hinds), as well as the enigmatic Tom Bombadil (Rory Kinnear). While the Second Age is being massively truncated for the show to function, season 1 showed it’s possible to do this without affecting the gravity of the story, and season 2 promises much of the same. While we don’t know what the final endgame of The Rings of Power is, we can surmise it will be the Last Alliance of Elves and Men to close out the Second Age and usher in the Third, otherwise known as the prologue scene of The Fellowship of the Ring. Before we get there, though, there’s still plenty of story to get through in this Second Age. View Affiliate Playlist on the source website Read more on The Rings of Power: How to watch The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies in order Meet the cast of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power What is Valinor in Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power? What are Harfoots? The Rings of Power Hobbits and history explained Who is Morgoth in Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power? Who is The Stranger in The Rings of Power? Daniel Weyman role theories Who is Galadriel’s brother? Meet Finrod actor Will Fletcher Who is Galadriel actress Morfydd Clark in The Rings of Power? Who is Elrond actor Robert Aramayo in The Rings of Power? The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 premieres on Thursday 29th August 2024 on Prime Video. Sign up now for a free 30-day Prime Video trial. Check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on, or visit our dedicated Fantasy hub. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
What's behind the hatch in Lost? DHARMA Initiative explained
Season 1 sees Locke and Boone discover the Hatch.
One of the best moments in season 1 of Lost is when Locke and Boone discover the Hatch. It’s so out of nowhere, adding another mystery to a show already packed full of them. Throughout the course of the show, we glean more and more knowledge about the Hatch, the other stations that our survivors discover, and their true purpose. If you need a refresher, we’ve put together an explainer that does all the work for you, answering all the questions you might have had around the Hatch, its connection to Desmond, and its role in the jaw-dropping ending to the show. Major spoilers ahead. What is the Hatch itself? Discovered by Locke and Boone in the season 1 episode, All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues, the Hatch obviously has a longer history than just appearing at that point, and leads down to a greater mystery. But the Hatch itself plays a huge role in season 1 of the show, beginning with Locke and Boones excavation of the site, all in secret from the other survivors. After Boone’s death, Locke goes back to Hatch, furiously banging on the door, demanding to know what the Island wants from him, before a light shines from within restoring Locke’s faith. Unbeknownst to Locke at the time, this light came from Desmond. Eventually, Jack decides they need to open the Hatch as a safe refuge from the Others. They do this with dynamite found on the shipwreck of the Black Rock, but not before Hurley tries to stop them after seeing the Numbers on the side of the Hatch. Over the course of season 2, the survivors discover more about the Hatch and the station below - the Swan. The events of the season 2 finally see the Hatch, and the Swan, to implode in on itself due to the discharge of energy from Desmond’s triggering of the fail-safe system after the Numbers sequence can no longer be input. What’s inside? Down the Hatch is The Swan, an underground facility built by the DHARMA Initiative in the 1970s. The purpose of The Swan was to study the electromagnetic energy that emanated from that part of the Island - otherwise known as the Heart of the Island. After an incident in the '70s though, the DHARMA Initiative altered the remit of The Swan to ensure there would be no global catastrophe by accidentally releasing the Island’s energy. This was done by having workers operate in shifts, entering the Numbers into the computer terminal every 108 minutes, periodically discharging the energy in safe amounts. Aside from the Swan’s computer, the station itself had a few other areas. The pantry becomes an important part of the season 2 episode, Everybody Hates Hugo, but it’s the armoury that plays the larger role in the early seasons. The survivors discover Ben Linus in the season 2 episode, One of Them, where he maintains the alias of Henry Gale, a man who crashed on the Island in a ballooning accident. His captivity and questioning becomes a major arc of season 2, ending with his escape and the reveal of his identity and role within the Others’ hierarchy. View oEmbed on the source website Who are the DHARMA Initiative? The DHARMA (Department of Heuristics and Research on Material Applications) Initiative was a research group established by Gerald and Karen DeGroot, backed by Danish industrialist Alvar Hanso and his foundation, the Hanso Foundation. The stated goal of the group was to create "a large-scale communal research compound where scientists and free-thinkers from around the globe could pursue research" across various different fields, while also studying the properties of the Island for “the betterment of mankind and the advancement of world peace". What are the other stations? The Swan is one of six major DHARMA stations on the Island, along with three other facilities on the Island and one that sits away from the Island, underneath a church in Los Angeles. The six main stations on the Island are The Swan, The Hydra, The Arrow, The Flame, The Pearl and The Orchid. There is also The Staff, The Looking Glass and The Tempest. Off the island, there is The Lamp Post. Each facility performs a separate function, and is found by different survivors throughout the course of the series’ run. The Hydra focused on zoological studies, with numerous cages above and below ground. The Others controlled the station, and it’s where they hold Jack, Kate and Sawyer captive at the start of season 3. The Arrow was the facility devoted to intelligence gathering, and it’s where the survivors from the tail section of Oceanic Flight 815 lived until meeting up with the main survivors. The Flame was the DHARMA Initiative communication hub, commandeered by the Others to monitor the rest of the Island and communicate with the outside world. The Pearl was a facility created to monitor The Swan and other stations, with The Swan’s inhabitants unknowingly part of an experiment to monitor their behaviour. The Orchid is the facility built around the frozen wheel, responsible for space-time manipulation. The Staff is a DHARMA medical facility visited repeatedly throughout the show, beginning with Claire’s abduction by Ethan. The Looking Glass was an underwater station connected to the Island’s mainland by a cable. The Others have control of it, until the events of season 3's Through the Looking Glass, where the station is partially flooded and Charlie drowns. The Tempest is DHARMA’s chemical weapons facility, used by Ben and Charles Widmore to initiate the Purge - the Others’ act in wiping out the DHARMA Initiatives Island inhabitants. The Lamp Post was the first facility built by DHARMA, with the sole purpose of determining the Island’s location and how to access it. Lost is available to stream on Disney Plus. Sign up to Disney Plus from £4.99 a month. View Affiliate Playlist on the source website Check out more of our Sci-Fi and Fantasy coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Everything you need to know about the seasons-long mystery.
If you can cast your mind back to when you first watched Lost, among the many mysteries it offered (was that a polar bear?!?!), one of the most enduring was Smoke Monster, or the Man in Black if you prefer. We get snippets of information here and there throughout the series’ run, but it isn’t until the season 6 episode Across the Sea that we get at least a good chunk of the story for the Smoke Monster’s origin, and its brother, Jacob. Here’s everything you need to know about his origins, his intentions and his story throughout Lost. *Major spoilers ahead.* How did the Man in Black become the Smoke Monster? Claudia, the Man in Black’s mother, was shipwrecked on the island and gave birth to twins (Jacob being the Man in Black’s twin brother), with the assistance of a woman from the Island, played by Allison Janney. That woman kills their mother though, and raises them herself on the Island. When the boys are older, the Man in Black (the Boy in Black?) discovers the other survivors of their mother’s shipwreck - known as Claudia’s People, but in reality, were part of a Roman legion - and a vision of his mother’s ghost convinces him to join with her people, against the wishes of his new foster mother. View oEmbed on the source website Before he can go however, Mother shows him a cave containing a glowing light - The Heart of the Island - something that the future Smoke Monster was immediately drawn to, before Mother warned him to never enter the cave again. The boy leaves to his new people, inviting Jacob to join him, but his twin insists on staying with Mother. Over time, Claudia’s People discover the power of the Island, and the Man in Black urges them to build a well down to the source, hoping to rediscover the light Mother showed him. His plan was to use that energy to escape the Island. Jacob told Mother of his twin’s plan though, and she incapacitated the Man in Black, filled the well and killed Claudia’s People - in which he responded by killing her in return. Jacob would avenge Mother’s death by throwing his twin into the Heart of the Island, finally transforming him into a sentient cloud of black smoke. From there, Jacob leaves his mother and twin’s bodies in a cave, which two millennia later, Locke would find and name Adam and Eve. How does the Smoke Monster present itself? For so much of the show's early run, the Smoke Monster presents as exactly that, a cloud of black smoke with a mind of its own, appearing in this guise to numerous survivors in the early seasons of the show, including John Locke, who after standing his ground against the Monster, tells Michael: “I’ve looked into the eye of this Island… and what I saw was beautiful.” He continues to appear as this Smoke Monster throughout the series, including when he kills Mr Eko in The Cost of Living, and later in season 3, he even appears to Nikki in the form of spiders. This was confirmed to be the Smoke Monster in disguise by Damon Lindelof in the Official Lost Podcast. Outside of the Smoke Monster form, though, the other way the Man in Black presents himself is in the forms of deceased people - most notably Jack’s father, Christian, and in later seasons, John Locke. It’s in the guise of Locke that the Man in Black sets up the endgame for his ultimate defeat, by convincing Ben Linus to kill Jacob. What does the Smoke Monster want? Throughout the show’s run, and for thousands of years preceding its events, the Smoke Monster/Man in Black wanted one thing: to escape the Island. Throughout the series, this plays out in numerous ways, with the Smoke Monster attempting to manipulate figures into eliminating Jacob and his replacement candidates to be the protector of the Island - believing that in doing so, he would free himself from the Island, allowing himself to leave. In the climax of the final season, the Monster also used Desmond Hume to, in essence, deactivate the Heart of the Island, destroying it for good and freeing himself in the process. His hubris didn’t allow him to consider that the Heart of the Island - which made him what he was - also tied him to his immortality, and with it gone, the Monster became mortal, later dying thanks to Jack and Kate. Lost is available to stream on Disney Plus. Sign up to Disney Plus from £4.99 a month. Check out more of our Sci-Fi and Fantasy coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Who is Desmond in Lost and how did he get to the island?
Lost has many memorable characters, but perhaps none more-so than Desmond Hume. Played by Henry Ian Cusick, we’re introduced to Desmond in season 2, and from then on he becomes a pivotal figure in the show. But his arc isn’t without questions, as it is the story most heavily concerned with flashes-forward, backwards and sideways. So we’ve put together this nifty explainer, laying out Desmond’s crucial past, how he wound up on the Island, his purpose while he’s there, and how his journey ends. Spoilers ahead. What was Desmond doing before the Island? We get quite a few explorations of Desmond’s past prior to shipwrecking on the Island, and all of them serve to flesh out his backstory. Originally, Desmond had a religious experience that led him to call off his wedding to his fiancee, Ruth, and joined a monastery as a novice monk (his repeated usage of the word “brother” comes from his time here). Ruth however, didn’t buy his claims of a religious experience, claiming he joined out of fear of commitment. This scalding leads to Desmond turning to drink, and being politely asked to leave the order, but as he does, he meets Penelope Widmore - a figure of importance in both his story, but also the wider story in Lost. Desmond and Penelope fell deeply in love, but with one major stumbling block: Penelope’s father, Charles Widmore - a man who valued Desmond’s worth as less than a glass of MacCutcheon whiskey. Desmond eventually broke things off with Penelope, feeling that he wasn’t good enough for her, before joining up with the Royal Scots Regiment. It’s here that things start getting a bit timey-wimey, covered in the iconic episode The Constantm - which sees Desmond’s consciousness bounce back and forth between 1996 and 2004. In a meeting with Daniel Faraday, Desmond explains that he is crossing time, only to be told that unless he finds a "constant" - something meaningful to him across both time periods - he will likely die. Desmond decides that Penny will be his constant. Desmond meets with Charles Widmore to try and contact Penelope, which Charles allows, confident that his daughter will reject Desmond. Desmond meets Penelope, explaining that he won’t call here for eight years, as that’s the period of time his consciousness bounces forward to. She agrees, and Desmond returns to the Royal Scots, before being dishonourably discharged for reasons unknown, serving time in a military prison. How did Desmond wind up on the Island? After his release from prison, Desmond encounters a waiting Charles Widmore who attempts to bribe Desmond from ever contacting Penelope again. Desmond however, declines, and enters into the world sailing race that Widmore himself sponsors so as to prove his worth to both Charles and his daughter. Desmond travels to America, where he encounters two future survivors of the plane crash – Libby, and more memorably, Jack. He also has an encounter with Penelope, who tells him "with enough money and determination you can find anyone". While sailing the Pacific as part of the race, Desmond’s boat is hit by a storm – knocking him unconscious before he washed up on the shore of the Island. What has he been doing since his arrival? Desmond is dragged to "safety" by a man named Kelvin Inman, taking him to the Swan – what we commonly refer to as the Hatch – telling him there is a sickness on the island (in reality, it is the Man in Black infecting people), and Desmond may have been exposed. Over time, Desmond learns the Numbers sequence and the routine of pushing the button, despite the lack of answers to any of his questions about why they do this. During his time with Kelvin, the latter would go out to "analyse the environment", never allowing Desmond to take up that particular task. Eventually, Desmond discovers Kelvin’s biohazard suit has been ripped, but he continues to go out – leading Desmond to wonder if the sickness is just a lie constructed to keep in the Swan. Desmond departs the Swan to follow Kelvin one day, discovering his partner fixing up his sailboat, seemingly plotting to depart the island and leave Desmond behind. In a confrontation, Desmond accidentally kills Kelvin by dashing his head against a rock. Hurrying back to the Swan, Desmond found the countdown timer at zero and a system failure imminent due to not inputting the numbers in time. During his time away from the Swan however, an energy built up only to be released when he averted the system failure, which led to the crash of Oceanic Flight 815. Desmond spends the next 40 days in isolation inputting the numbers, before eventually contemplating suicide. Before he can end his life though, he finds a letter from Penelope in his treasured Dickens’ novel, stating that she loves him and she will wait for him. He starts destroying the Swan, before hearing a banging on the Hatch above that turns out to be John Locke in a beautiful moment that rekindles the hope of both men within the story. What is his role in the overall story? Introduced in the Season 2 premiere, Man of Science, Man of Faith, Desmond plays a limited role in the season, leaving the Hatch in the first episode to sail off the Island, before returning in the two-part finale. It’s in the finale that Desmond uses the Swan’s fail-safe key with the computer destroyed, having realised his own role in the crash of Oceanic Flight 815. The discharge from the fail-safe leads to the implosion of the Swan, and Desmond’s consciousness being sent back to his 1996-self. Desmond re-lives his experiences from the past, with flashes of the future coming back to him, while also seeing the numbers everywhere. Events play out slightly differently than the past though, but Desmond learns in a conversation with Ms Hawking that he can’t escape his fate, and that the universe will always "course-correct". View oEmbed on the source website Drowning his sorrows, Desmond gets into an altercation in the pub before being hit by a cricket bat, transporting his consciousness back to the future, where he becomes a key figure on the island within the survivors group. After turning the fail-safe key, Desmond also starts experiencing "flashes", visions into the future that become pivotal for the story, and the characters around him. Much of his arc from this point on in the show concerns his desire to change the future that he foresees - a nod to the characters namesake, Scottish philosopher David Hume, whose ideas were concerned with concepts surrounding free will and determinism. How does Desmond’s story finish? Like every other character, Desmond has a dual story in the final season of Lost, with events on the Island and events in the flash-sideways occurring simultaneously on-screen. In the flash-sideways, Desmond is working for Charles Widmore as his right-hand man, and has everything he could want - apart from Penelope. When he eventually meets her though, after shaking hands he recovers memories of his past life, as well as the true nature of the flash-sideways. All of this leads him to ask for the flight manifest for Oceanic Flight 815 - a flight he was on in this timeline - to carry out his new plan. In essence, he recruits all of the survivors, helping them all learn the truth of the flash-sideways and the reality of their time on the Island. Like everyone else, his story finishes with the church doors opening and being engulfed in white light as he and his fellow survivors "move on" together. Lost is available to stream on Disney Plus. Sign up to Disney Plus from £4.99 a month. Check out more of our Sci-Fi and Fantasy coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Baghead ending explained: Does Baghead escape?
The Freya Allan-starring horror flick is now available on Netflix.
*Warning: Contains spoilers for Baghead.* Baghead, has dropped on Netflix in the UK and Ireland, giving horror lovers a fresh dose of dimly lit interiors and more jump scares than you can shake a stick at. Arriving on Netflix after a brief theatrical run earlier in the year, Baghead is just the horror you need for a gloomy British summer like this. Starring Freya Allan, fresh off her role in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, alongside Ruby Barker, Jeremy Irvine, Ned Dennehy and Peter Mullan, Baghead follows Iris (Allan) as she inherits her father’s pub only to discover she has also inherited the sinister entity that lurks underneath the building. Said entity, the eponymous Baghead, allows people to speak with their deceased loved ones, but as with any malevolent force like this, it’s never quite as simple as you’d hope. As the tension builds, it’s perfectly understandable if you began pacing around your living room and missed the climax of the film, but luckily we braved it out for you to explain what actually happened to Iris, Baghead and the pub… Baghead ending explained: Does Baghead escape? In the film’s endgame, Iris ventures into the underground cavern following the distant voice of her friend, Katie (Ruby Barker) – against the warnings of her father’s instructions never to cross the seal into Baghead’s domain. Iris finds ‘Katie’, but almost immediately sees her actual friend's corpse, swiftly realising Baghead has lured her down. Iris quickly gets out of the cavern and decides to try and trap Baghead down there, ensuring it can’t be used again. This plan doesn’t sit right with Neil (Jeremy Irvine) however, who doesn’t want to give up on speaking to his deceased wife, driven by his own guilt surrounding her death. So, Neil drugs Iris and heads down to the basement to negotiate with Baghead on becoming its new guardian and keeper. Neil takes the all-important deed to the pub and signs his name on it in front of Baghead, proclaiming himself the new guardian, but his signature disappears from the spooky document almost as soon as he shows the titular character. Baghead then takes the form of Neil’s dead wife once more, encouraging Neil to kill Iris, thus allowing him to take over the role of guardian, and letting them continue their life as a family. It’s easy to see the manipulation, but Neil follows through with it, chasing Iris up to the roof, where despite her attempts to convince Neil he’s being led on, he ultimately pushes her off the roof to her death. By bringing Iris's body back down to Baghead, and allowing it to take her form, Neil has fallen into the trap that the creature had easily led him towards. Instead of taking on Iris's form and signing over the deed to Neil, the creature could instead take her form and effectively become her own master, making it free to escape into the wider world and wreak whatever havoc it so chooses. Firstly however, Baghead decides to – shock horror – brutally murder Neil to tie up the last loose end. It’s at this point that we are shown flashbacks that make it clear to the viewer Baghead has been playing the long game in seeking its escape, pulling all of the strings since the very beginning of the film, and even before then, most likely. As Iris's father solemnly states in his goodbye/instructional video for her: "She’s always the one pulling the strings." Now free to leave, Baghead, in the guise of Iris, burns the deed and leaves the basement, as the pub itself starts to burn to the ground as the film concludes. Baghead is now streaming on Netlix – sign up from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream. Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
7 brutal House of the Dragon book moments we need in season 2
The Dance of Dragons is getting even more brutal.
Warning: Spoilers ahead for Fire and Blood. When season 8 of Game of Thrones concluded in 2019 with The Iron Throne, it felt like the appetite for all things Westeros had been sated. Season 8 fell short of what we’d come to expect from that series, and in doing so, raised a lot of questions about the potential success of House of the Dragon. Then the spin-off became one of HBO’s most successful shows, dominating television, and clearly demonstrating that season 8 didn’t do the damage we all expected it might have done. Adapted from George RR Martin’s anthology book Fire & Blood, House of the Dragon centres around the bloody Targaryen civil war, aptly named the Dance of the Dragons. Much like its predecessor show, however, House of the Dragon has a lot of characters, events, battles and blood to cram into its run, and it’s likely we see some truncation to the timeline to make it a more streamlined show. It’s unlikely the show will follow Fire & Blood beat-for-beat, so with that said, here are seven moments we need to see in House of the Dragon season 2… Blood and Cheese Given the announced episode title for season 2's opener, A Son for a Son, Blood and Cheese are an inevitability. Fire & Blood readers will be familiar with what those two words signify, standing as one of the darkest moments within A Song of Ice and Fire. With Prince Lucerys’s death at the conclusion of season 1, Rhaenyra’s grief is understandably overwhelming, and Prince Daemon acts swiftly to avenge the loss of his stepson. He enlists the help of two contacts in King’s Landing, a former City Watch officer named Blood and a rat-catcher named Cheese, who together use the Red Keep’s secret tunnels all the way to Queen Helaena’s bedchamber, where they offer her the choice of which of her sons will be killed. It’s a barbaric moment, and it will be fascinating to see how it plays out on screen. Ser Erryk and Ser Arryk die on each other's blades Season 1 of House of the Dragon did an excellent job at showing just how divided the court was when it came to siding with Rhaenyra or Aegon, and that’s never more evident than with knights of the Kingsguard - Ser Erryk Cargyll and Ser Arryk Cargyll. Erryk is fully aware of what Aegon II is, and defects from the Kingsguard to take his place in Rhaenyra’s Queensguard, while his twin stays true to his oath. Being something from the mind of George RR Martin, however, you already know where this is heading. Lord commander of the Kingsguard, Ser Criston Cole, hatches an assassination plot for Rhaenyra Targaryen, dispatching Ser Arryk to Dragonstone to kill the queen, under the guise of his twin brother. As fate would have it, the twins cross paths on the former Targaryen seat of power before Arryk can complete his mission, and duel each other to death, each delivering a mortal wound to their twin. It’s one of the more tragic stories within the Dance of the Dragons, and it feels nailed on to take place in season 2. Rook's Rest and the death of Princess Rhaenys It’s highly unlikely we wait until the climax of season 2 for a major action set-piece, so the events of Rook’s Rest and death of Princess Rhaenys seem like a perfect middle point for the season. Unhappy with Otto Hightower’s effectiveness as Hand of the King, Aegon II removes him in favour of Ser Criston Cole, who swiftly launches a campaign against houses loyal to Rhaenyra’s claim. Before Cole could take the castle of Rook’s Rest, its lord - Lord Staunton - would get a message out to Dragonstone, which Princess Rhaenys responds to atop her dragon, Meleys. Sadly for Rhaenys, she is killed by Cole’s army, along with the arriving Prince Aemond and King Aegon II, atop Vhagar and Sunfyre, respectively. It’s not all good news for the Greens, though, as Aegon is severely injured and burned during the Battle at Rook’s Rest, his dragon Sunfyre loses a wing and is near-death, all the while the headstrong Prince Aemond assumes the mantle of Protector of the Realm. Introduction of the Dragonseeds In season 1, Daemon gives a speech to the assembled Blacks on Dragonstone about their martial power, including the dragons at their disposal – a number that far exceeds those available to the Greens. The catch is that a lot of those dragons don’t have any riders. Enter the dragonseeds. Prince Jacaerys puts out a call that anyone capable of mastering one of their riderless dragons will receive a knighthood, wealth, and a valued place at court. While there are quite a few failures (mastering a dragon is probably quite hard), the riderless dragons of the Blacks do find riders in Hugh Hammer, Ulf the White, Addam of Hull and a girl called Nettles. There’s a lot more to each of these characters that House of the Dragon will dive into, but it seems inevitable they’re introduced in season 2. The Fall of King's Landing This stretch of the Dance of the Dragons has a lot of battles, so unless moving forward House of the Dragon is going to be a battle per episode, there’s going to be a fair number of skirmishes that are squished together for the sake of the narrative. Amalgamating the Battle of the Gullet and the Fall of King’s Landing seems like the smartest option for the climactic battle sequence of season 2. The former is a naval battle between the Sea Snake’s forces and a fleet from across the Narrow Sea who have briefly sided with Aegon, which sees the death of Rhaenyra’s heir, Prince Jacaerys. The latter is Rhaenyra’s response to the Gullet, as she unleashes her dragons on King’s Landing and takes control of the Westerosi capital. The Iron Throne rejects Rhaenyra With the Fall of King’s Landing likely to close out season 2, there’s still one more twist that feels destined to close out the season within that whole sequence. We all know the Iron Throne is a perilous chair to covet, and even more dangerous place to sit – something which Rhaenyra discovers when she finally takes it. Sitting upon the throne after taking King’s Landing, one of the blades cut hers, leading to rumour in court, and in the realm, that the Iron Throne has rejected her claim as Queen of Westeros. There are more events to come that damage her standing in the eyes of highborn and common-born citizens of Westeros, but this moment is where it starts, and it would be a fascinating way to end season 2. An Other/White Walker A slightly out-there prediction, but one that has been seeded within the show. The biggest change in the story from source material to show has been Viserys's revelation to Rhaenyra about Aegon the Conqueror’s dream centred on the looming darkness in the North and the prophesied Song of Ice and Fire. None of this is mentioned in Fire & Blood, so it provides a fresh canvas for House of the Dragon to paint something new and intriguing with the story. We know that season 2 will take us to the North at some point, with Jacaerys and Cregan Stark. But while we’re in the North, it doesn’t feel like too much of a shocking prediction to suggest the show might give us a glimpse of the lands north of The Wall, and the gathering cold and darkness. View Affiliate Playlist on the source website House of the Dragon season 2 will air on Sky Atlantic and NOW in the UK from 17th June – find out more about how to sign up for Sky TV. Check out more of our Fantasy coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what's on tonight. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Does The Bad Batch ending do it justice? Following this will be no easy feat
Jack Francis breaks down the finale of Star Wars: The Bad Batch.
Warning: contains spoilers for The Bad Batch. Star Wars animation is a proud and popular component of the wider brand. Shows like The Clone Wars and Rebels introduced us to unforgettable characters, delivered powerful stories, and built out the world we know and love. Other shows like Resistance occupy their own corner of the galaxy, with a more colourful palette and stories aimed more overtly for children. There were lofty expectations for The Bad Batch when it was first announced, and the first two seasons more than exceeded those expectations. So when it was announced that the third season would be our final hours with Clone Force 99, there was bound to be some trepidation as to whether the ending would do the show (and our clones) justice. Luckily, those fears were swiftly allayed thanks to the outstanding final episode – The Cavalry Has Arrived. Before we tackle the closing story and character beats that elevated The Bad Batch to the upper echelons of Star Wars animation, it’s important to focus on two of the more unsung moments of the show at large. The Bad Batch is an achingly beautiful show, with the trademark block-animation style of The Clone Wars refined to perfection. There’s a real sense of emotion in each and every character, in part due to the performances of Dee Bradley Baker and Michelle Ang, of course, but in part because the animation has levelled up to such a degree. The same goes for the worlds our clones inhabit, interact with and adventure through. Whether it’s Tantiss, Pabu or Bracca – there’s a level of detail that is hard to ignore. Along with the visuals, Kiner Music delivered once more with a score to die for, weaving rousing set-piece music with poignant character themes, seamlessly understanding what each moment called for. The Kiners have a proud history in Star Wars music, and that legacy continued in The Bad Batch. On the characters, though, and the wider narrative The Bad Batch was telling, head writer Jennifer Corbett told exactly the story that Clone Force 99 deserved. In the bigger picture, The Bad Batch gave more context to Project Necromancer than we’ve had as of yet in the canon. The Imperial contingency plan to, in essence, resurrect Emperor Palpatine has been fleshed out in the wider world of Star Wars books, but the TV shows of Disney Plus have helped to provide some more context as to "how" Palpatine returned. But Project Necromancer was never the main thrust of the series. Instead, the main thrust of The Bad Batch has always been the clones themselves, their individuality, the bonds of family they share, and their desire for a peaceful existence together. The show’s first ending encapsulates that beautifully, with Hunter, Wrecker, Crosshair and Omega (and Batcher, naturally) finally getting the chance to build a life for themselves on Pabu. There’s an emotional resonance to it, with all of them, aside from Omega, being bred for nothing but war. Soldiers created for one purpose, to be used up and discarded once the war is over. To fight for that lasting life of peace is a beautiful one, and a fitting reward for Clone Force 99. View oEmbed on the source website It's the second ending, though, after a delicate fade to black on the family at peace, that strikes the biggest chord of all. The show cuts to years later and a grown-up Omega on Pabu. A lantern illuminates a grizzled Hunter, and he and Omega share another tender moment in their brother-sister/father-daughter relationship, before Omega leaves to join the Rebellion against the Empire. Omega continues to fight, even after The Bad Batch have found their life of peace, but the important distinction that she herself is making that choice makes all the difference. We can all find ourselves in positions we’ve been thrust into, but making a choice to fight tyranny in the way Omega does to close the show is a central tenet of any good fantasy storytelling. So much of a show’s journey can be negated by an ending that doesn’t do the series justice. That simply cannot be said for The Bad Batch. There was no unnecessary death for Echo, Wrecker, Crosshair or Hunter to get a cheap emotional pop. There was no "Tech is alive" swerve, negating his sacrifice from season 2. There was just a clean arc tying up each strand in the show’s narrative. Beyond Tales of the Empire, there’s no word yet on what is next for Star Wars animation, but following on from The Bad Batch will be no easy feat. View Affiliate Playlist on the source website Star Wars: The Bad Batch is available to stream on Disney Plus. Sign up to Disney Plus for £7.99 a month or £79.90 for a year. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Can you have The Matrix without the Wachowski Sisters? Probably not
Warner Bros announced a fifth Matrix film with neither Wachowski sister attached, and fans are concerned.
Twenty-five years ago, a film called The Matrix hit movie theatres, redefining both storytelling and action cinema. It really is quite hard to overstate the impact it had on the industry, and it’s stood the test of time like few films have. Followed by The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, a wonderful, original trilogy was created by the Wachowski Sisters, chronicling the story of Neo, Trinity, Morpheus and countless other characters, while also providing a deeply personal message from the sisters themselves. Then, in 2021, we returned to the saga with Lana Wachowski’s underrated The Matrix Resurrections, which at the time felt like a delicious cherry on the cake, while simultaneously providing a scathing commentary on legacy sequels and nostalgia cash grabs. So, when it was announced on 3rd April 2024 that a fifth Matrix film was in the works, with Lana Wachowski attached as executive producer only, a role that could have some weight but could just as likely mean absolutely nothing within the structure of Warner Bros, you’d be forgiven for rolling your eyes, and fearing what comes next. Because what is The Matrix without the Wachowski Sisters at the helm, or even without just one of them leading the line, as was the case with Resurrections? There are few intellectual properties that possess such an inherent, symbiotic relationship with their creators than The Matrix franchise. Not just because of the originality of the story within the films themselves. Not just for the action sequences they created that became the gold standard for cinema moving forward. But for the deeply personal nature of the wider theme which The Matrix is tackling. The Matrix is, in part, an allegory for the transgender experience. Both Wachowski Sisters are trans women, the red pill has been likened to oestrogen pills, and the description of the Matrix itself by Morpheus – "a splinter in your mind" – the feeling that there is something wrong with the world you find yourself in, has been compared to experience of gender dysphoria. All of this is evidence presented in the film, and both Lana and Lilly Wachowski have made repeated statements in later years that writing The Matrix was intended as metaphor for their experience as closeted trans women. Losing that perspective feels like losing an integral part of the film itself, and yet that’s exactly the decision Warner Bros has made with the announced fifth instalment of The Matrix. The as-yet untitled project will be written and directed by Drew Goddard, creator of the supremely successful Daredevil show on Netflix, director of cult classic Cabin in the Woods, and writer for films such as The Martian and World War Z. His résumé speaks for itself, being a part of projects with interesting stories, excellent action sequences and big, broad themes to be tackled. None of this is a knock on Goddard as a filmmaker. But moving forward with someone like Goddard at the helm of this project, without Lilly or Lana Wachowski, just feels… wrong. It runs the risk of turning something as vital as trans storytelling into a triviality, just another run-of-the-mill franchise in the Hollywood landscape. Goddard even used the word "stories" in the WB press release. Are we in line for a Matrix Cinematic Universe? Is that really a road that we need to head down? The answer is a firm no. Away from the seriousness of the transness within The Matrix, though, there is also a quite incredible irony to this new project given where the story of Matrix Resurrections took us in 2021. Lana Wachowski created a film that provided a coda of sorts for the original trilogy, but also made her own feelings on legacy sequels startlingly clear. From The Merovingian’s meta analysis, saying "originality mattered", to the back and forth between Neo and Jonathan Groff’s Smith in which the latter goes so far as to utter the line, "Things have changed, the market’s tough, I’m sure you can understand why our beloved parent company Warner Bros has decided to make a sequel to the trilogy… they informed me they’re gonna do it with or without us." While that all feels very on the nose to you and me, it seems Warner Bros weren’t in on the joke. We know next to nothing about the fifth instalment of the franchise, aside from Goddard’s involvement and the lack of a Wachowski in either the director’s chair or the writers' room. Maybe our fears will be assuaged, and the film will be a success, taking the proverbial baton from the Wachowski Sisters and continuing to take the franchise further to new heights. But then again, maybe it won’t, and all that has been achieved is the diminishing of one of cinema’s most transcendent stories. View Green Video on the source website Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
The X-Files pilot remains the greatest in TV history – even 30 years on
30 years on, the opening episode of the sci-fi cult classic remains television’s greatest ever pilot.
The history of television is littered with failed pilot episodes. Hell, even Game of Thrones, one of the most successful shows of all time, had to completely reshoot theirs because it was so disastrous. With all of that said, it’s hard to describe the pilot episode of The X-Files, titled Pilot (duh!), as anything other than a resounding success - and if we’re being honest, the best pilot in television history. While this may seem like a grandiose claim, upon closer inspection it becomes hard to argue with. For the uninitiated who need a refresher on the events of The X-Files pilot episode, it goes as follows: Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) is assigned to work on the X-Files with Fox Mulder (David Duchovny), with the hope that her scientific background will debunk his work. Their first case takes them to the forests of Oregon where they investigate a series of deaths in a community, which Mulder suspects are centred around extra-terrestrial interference. If we start with the overall premise itself, the pilot episode of The X-Files provides the skeleton for the following 11 seasons and 217 episodes. There’s a pervasive sense of mystery, suspense and, dare I say, horror, from the very first scene of a teenage girl running through the woods of Oregon before a bright light from the sky engulfs her. The X-Files immediately established itself as something new and alternative in the television landscape of police procedurals, right from the off. As the episode progresses, these ideas of mystery and suspicion build, and the show establishes a central tenet that will drive The X-Files until the end: trust no one. Pilot introduces countless avenues to demonstrate this tenet, from Division Chief Blevins (Charles Cioffi) asking Scully to debunk the X-Files right off the bat, to the local Oregon sheriff who’s about as shifty a bloke as you can imagine, to the Cigarette Smoking Man (William B Davis) who will loom large in the shadows for years to come as he works towards his own endgame. However, for all the narrative tone-setting that The X-Files pilot admirably delivers, it also provides something far greater. For all of the government conspiracies, alien invasions, shape-shifters and super-soldiers, the core foundation that made The X-Files such a remarkable show was the chemistry of its central relationship. It’s hard to put into words how good Duchovny and Anderson were together on-screen, whether they were butting heads over unexplained phenomena, defending one another from alien shape-shifters, or giving each other a once over to check for potential extra-terrestrial spots – there’s an almost static charge between the two of them that propels the show forward. It's not uncommon for shows built on a core relationship to take time in getting to the point where that chemistry sings, and understandably so. That makes the relationship between Mulder and Scully in the pilot episode all the more remarkable. From their first encounter in the depths of the J Edgar Hoover Building, where Mulder has been, in essence, banished for his work in the eponymous X-Files, you just knew this was an on-screen relationship that was destined to flourish. While the sceptic/believer dynamic would reach a breaking point later on in the series’s run, as Scully’s sceptism simply couldn’t be justified given all the things her character had seen and experienced up to that point (seriously, you’ve been abducted by aliens… a regenerating paramedic who eats cancer should seem perfectly normal by that point), it felt wonderfully fresh in the pilot. Scully’s bright-eyed, science-first approach versus Mulder’s haunted past and fervent belief in the unexplained was appointment viewing, playing so well thanks to crackling chemistry between Duchovny and Anderson. The X-Files was a rollercoaster of a television show, delivering some of the highest of highs while also serving its audience with some of the most abject episodes in small-screen history. But the journey started in its pilot episode, an episode that made you want to believe in The X-Files, made you want to believe in Mulder and Scully’s long quest for the truth. View Green Video on the source website You can watch The X Files on Disney Plus. You can sign up to Disney Plus for £7.99 a month or £79.90 for a year now. Looking for something else to watch? Check out our list of the best movies on Disney Plus and best shows on Disney Plus, or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what’s on tonight. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10, PLUS a £10 John Lewis and Partners voucher delivered to your home – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.