Rings of Power Season 2 Features Undead Barrow-Wights

For the biggest Tolkien fans, a proper adaptation of the Barrow-wights has been a long time coming. Based on a mix of mythology and old English folktales, these ghostlike spirits played a big role early on in “The Fellowship of the Ring,” when Frodo and his loyal Hobbit friends end up crossing paths with some of the deadliest and most ancient foes in all of Middle-earth. Jackson opted not to adapt this subplot in the movie (and rightfully so, since it had so much going on already), but “The Rings of Power” showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay apparently decided that the events of the Second Age, set thousands of years before the Fellowship began trudging their way to Mordor, would be the perfect opportunity to unleash Tolkien’s twist on the undead.

In fact, Smith went on to reveal how the creative team took their cues from the beloved fantasy author, directly incorporating his description of the Barrow-wights’ physical appearance into the show. “The eyes are one key thing we took from the writing,” he explained, pointing to their creepy blue eyes as seen in the image above. While it might be tempting to compare them to the famous Ringwraiths, fans can look forward to the wights presenting a completely different kind of threat than anything we’ve seen before. As Smith went on to say:

“The feeling the passages give you is of a doom that is approaching, not by speed but by being indefatigable. It’s a menace that is just going to encroach an inch at a time until you have nowhere to go and you die.”

I, for one, welcome our new undead overlords. “The Rings of Power” season 2 hits Prime Video on August 29, 2024.