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Season 2, Episode 2: Where the Stars Are Strange

The Rings of Power · first aired Aug 29, 2024 · map & character journeys
Map of Middle-earth showing character routes in The Rings of Power Season 2, Episode 2: Where the Stars Are Strange

Sauron arrives in Eregion as the radiant Annatar. Khazad-dûm loses its sunlight, and in Rhûn a Dark Wizard sends his servants after the Stranger.

▶ Watch the journeys on the interactive mapExplore in 3D

Who went where

Halbrand / Annatar (Sauron)
the wilds of Eriador → Eregion
Rejected as Halbrand, he takes the shape of Annatar and wins Celebrimbor's trust.
Celebrimbor
Stays in Eregion
Waits for messengers from Lindon who never arrive.
Durin IV & Disa
Stays in Khazad-dûm
A shaft collapse leaves the kingdom in darkness.
The Stranger
Sea of Rhûn → Rhûn desert
Crosses the desert; finds a well.
Nori & Poppy
Sea of Rhûn → Rhûn desert
Tries to give the Stranger a name.
The Dark Wizard
Stays in Rhûn desert
The Dark Wizard searches for the Stranger and sends hunters.
Galadriel
Stays in Lindon
Begs Elrond to come with her to Eregion.
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Key moments

Annatar
Turned away as Halbrand, Sauron returns to Celebrimbor in a new, radiant form: Annatar, the Lord of Gifts.

Places in this episode

Eregion — Ost-in-Edhil
Celebrimbor's city of Elven-smiths. The Three Rings are forged here, then the Seven and the Nine under Annatar, and the city is destroyed in Season 2.
📖 Books: Founded by Noldor Elves early in the Second Age; Celebrimbor and his smiths were deceived by Sauron as Annatar. The Three were made by Celebrimbor alone after Annatar left, and Sauron sacked the city about a century later.
Khazad-dûm
The great Dwarf kingdom under the Misty Mountains, home of King Durin III, Prince Durin IV and Princess Disa, and of mithril and a Balrog.
📖 Books: The greatest Dwarf-city. In the books its Balrog is awakened much later, in the Third Age, when Dwarves mine too deep for mithril.
Shores of the Sea of Rhûn
An inland sea in the far east. The Stranger, Nori and Poppy travel past it into Rhûn.
📖 Books: The inland Sea of Rhûn, home of Easterling peoples.
Rhûn desert — the well approx.
The arid lands of Rhûn, where the Stranger and the Harfoots are hunted by the Dark Wizard's servants.
📖 Books: Rhûn is a vast eastern land Tolkien says little about.
Lindon — Gil-galad's court
The Elven realm west of the Blue Mountains, ruled by High King Gil-galad. Its great tree fades until the Three Rings restore it.
📖 Books: The last Elf-kingdom west of the Blue Mountains, ruled by Gil-galad.
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Routes show the order of places each character passes through on screen, not exact roads. Journeys marked “route inferred” happen off-screen.