A new enemy has shown its face in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2. In “Eldest,” Isildur (Maxim Baldry) and Arondir (Ismael Cruz Cordova) finally rescue Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin) from captivity — as it turns out, he wasn’t captured by men at all, but by Ents. At the end of the episode, Snaggleroot (Jim Broadbent) and Winterbloom (Olivia Williams) release their prisoners, most of them carrying the mark of Adar (Sam Hazeldine) on their flesh. These are the Wildmen, and, although they may not seem like much of a threat right now, they are probably growing into one in the future.

The Wildmen Are Southerners Who Serve Adar

It’s not easy being a Southerner in The Rings of Power. At the end of Season 1, Adar triggers the eruption of the Orodruin (also known as Mount Doom) and covers the Southlands’ skies in perpetual ash, thus turning those lands into Mordor. In the Season 2 premiere, “Elven Kings Under the Sky,” Sauron (Charlie Vickers) returns to Mordor posing as Halbrand, a lost king of the Southlands, and bargains information on how to “find Sauron” in exchange for “his people’s” freedom. Later, Adar tells Halbrand the Southlanders have been set free, but they all carry the Mark of Adar.

Now, the South is in disarray with Adar having won his war against Númenor and the Southlands. Pelargir, an old Numenórean outpost, is the last settlement of free people, and the lands between it and Mordor are ravaged by the Wildmen. Arondir is the first to call them that, saying they outnumber the free people by many to one when he rescues Isildur and Estrid (Nia Towle) in Episode 3, “The Eagle and the Scepter.” Later, when Isildur and Theo try to rescue Isildur’s horse, the awesome Berek, Theo ends up kidnapped by the Ents along with the Wildmen.

When they reveal themselves to Arondir, Isildur, and Estrid in “Eldest,” Snaggleroot and Winterbloom mention how the Wildmen and Adar’s Orcs have been destroying the woods, killing many young trees in the process. Because they carry the Mark of Adar, the Wildmen can’t really be trusted by the free people, and have permanently aligned themselves with Adar. In Season 1, people like Waldreg (Geoff Morrell) have already proven that Southlanders have a tendency to align with the forces of darkness, although some of them, like Estrid, seem to be divided. Either way, the Wildmen are likely the predecessors of some of Sauron’s fiercest allies.

The Wildmen May Be Tied to the Haradrim

Although people usually imagine Sauron’s armies as comprising mostly of Orcs, the second Dark Lord has many human allies, too. The Rings of Power has been setting up his influence over them on two fronts: the eastern lands of Rhûn, and, now, the south. The first is the Easterlings, the troops that Frodo (Elijah Wood), Sam (Sean Astin), and Gollum (Andy Serkis) encounter by the Black Gate in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers; and the latter are the Haradrim, the warriors the two Hobbits see riding olyphaunts before being found by Faramir (David Wenham).

By the end of the Second Age and during most of the Third, too, the Haradrim (also known as Southrons) are a people from the southern lands of Harad, located to the south of Gondor and Mordor in Middle-earth. They are fierce warriors, known for their loyalty to Sauron during the War of the Ring. Sauron’s domain over them was established much earlier, though, likely motivated by a combination of fear, promises of wealth, and their long-standing enmity with Gondor. After the fall of Númenor (which is also being set up in The Rings of Power), Isildur establishes the kingdom of Gondor in Middle-earth, just west of Mordor and north of Harad — Haradrim literally translates to “people of Harad” in Sindarin.

Much of the enmity between Gondor and the Haradrim comes from the fact that both come from Numenóreans. Also after the fall of Númenor in the Second Age, two Numenórean renegades called Herumor and Fuinor rise to power among the Haradrim. These Numenóreans turn away from the influence of the Faithful and align themselves with Sauron, using their influence to become mighty leaders among the Haradrim​​. The Numenórean colonization of other nearby regions also extends their influence into the southern lands, where the Haradrim live, further entrenching their connection to the dark powers.

Númenor May Become a Foe for the Wildmen in the Future

In J.R.R. Tolkien‘s Legendarium, Númenor is one of the enemies that Sauron fears the most in the Second Age. The island nation is well-organized and has a powerful military, posing the biggest challenge to his conquest of Middle-earth. He only manages to turn this disadvantage around when Ar-Pharazôn (Trystan Gravelle) leads an invasion of the lands south of the mouth of the Anduin river (where Pelargir is) to fight Sauron’s forces. The Dark Lord lets himself be captured and taken to Númenor, where he slowly tricks the Numenóreans into turning on the Valar, eventually leading to their downfall.

In The Rings of Power, the context is a little different from the same period of time in Tolkien’s writings. Right now, Sauron is in Eregion working on the forging of the Rings of Power with Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards), and Pharazôn has apparently claimed the throne of Númenor only now, so it may take some time before Sauron establishes himself in Mordor and Númenor attacks. In the meantime, the Wildmen are still at large in the south, with only the free people in Pelargir to keep them in check. The outpost has already been established as Númenor’s entry point in Middle-earth, and, with Pharazôn consolidating his position, he is bound to turn his power-hungry eyes to Middle-earth, eventually, even if not leading a fully-fledged invasion at first.

This means that the Wildmen and Numenóreans are probably going to be clashing a lot in The Rings of Power. Season 2 is currently focused on the plot leading to the Siege of Eregion, so these conflicts between Numenóreans and the Wildmen are probably going to be left for further seasons. With Númenor’s inevitable fall, the stage is set for Sauron to earn his Southron allies, the Haradrim.

Season 2 of The Rings of Power is streaming on Prime Video. New episodes air weekly on Thursdays.