Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power moved its shooting location from New Zealand to England for Season 2, but that wasn’t the only change in production. The series brought in a new production designer for the second season, Kristian Milsted, who has also worked on series such as Willow, Watchmen, and Killing Eve.

Milsted, who was nominated for an Emmy in 2020 for his work on Watchmen, talked with AwardsRadar about working on Season 2 of the Lord of the Rings-inspired series. He said he was able to discuss Season 2 with showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay as they were shooting the first season, which helped him know where the story was going as the series progressed.

A Lot of In-Camera Work Was Used in Season 2

“I didn’t work on Season 1, but I began to have conversations with them when they were in New Zealand. They were great at sharing ideas for where they wanted the show to go,” Milsted said. “Season 1 was more about Galadriel’s (Moryfydd Clark) story and Season 2 was more about Sauron’s (Charlie Vickers). He’s the one who pulls all the levers. That allowed us to turn the whole world a lot darker and scarier. They were also keen on more technical things, trying to do more in camera. They built beautiful big sets in Season 1, but they still had extensions beyond those big sets,” he continued.

Milsted said he enjoyed all of the in-camera work. “There’s nothing better than designing a set and building it,” he said. “Directors, actors, and cinematographers can say, ‘Wow, we are feeling here that we’re really in a place.’ That’s always what you want to do as a production designer,” he added. But, he stressed, “I’m not trying to say that this is not a VFX-heavy show, but there are many ways of doing it so that you can be clever about it and then keep the costs for those amazing VFX extensions that knock you off your feet. That’s what we went for.”

Khazad-dûm Set Was One of the Biggest in the Series

Another aspect was designing the Dwarven kingdom of Khazad-dûm, over which King Durin presided. Khazad-dûm was featured on a smaller scale in Season 1, but its presence was a major part of Season 2.

“Durin’s house was a Season 1 set that we rebuilt for Season 2, but the great hall and that extensive composite set that contained pretty much everything else were done on one big set,” explained Milsted. “That was one of our biggest builds, if not the biggest, on Season 2. It was great to find a place where the VFX department had generated the inside of Khazad-dûm as a massive 3D model. We adapted the world they had created to create this big King’s Hall for the dwarves to celebrate in an entirely new set,” he added.

There Will Be a Third Season

The Rings of Power will be getting a third season, although details on production are scarce. Showrunners Payne and McKay said in a previous interview with GamesRadar+ that they have a “really strong” story coming in Season 3. “The answer is yes, we’re very excited, but we can’t say anything other than we’re working on Season 3. We have a story we think is really strong, and we’re hoping to turn it around as fast as possible,” McKay said.

Seasons 1 and 2 of The Rings of Power stream on Prime Video.