Warning: SPOILERS lie ahead for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2!Galadriel and Sauron’s ties have finally come to an end inThe Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Powerseason 2. The latest season of the J.R.R. Tolkien prequel show has followed Morfydd Clark’s Elf who, after having created the titular rings with Celebrimbor, has visions of the forger’s death and the subsequent downfall of Eregion, leading to her racing across Middle-earth in the hopes of saving him from the Uruk. Charlie Vickers' Sauron, on the other hand, has infiltrated Eregion initially in his Halbrand form before transforming into Annatar, manipulating Celebrimbor into making more rings.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Powerseason 2 finalesaw multiple conflicts came to a head as Adar and the Uruk successfully invade Eregion, while Galadriel attempts to flee with the Nine Rings of Men from Sauron, who has killed Celebrimbor. Successfully posing as a key Uruk figure, Sauron kills Adar and has a climactic final fight with Galadriel, failing to convince her to join his side and left with the Nine Rings after she jumped off of a cliff to escape him. Having narrowly survived death, Galadriel and the other Elves have settled in the valley that will later become Rivendell.
The Lord Of The Rings: Rings Of Power Season 3 - Confirmation, Cast, & Everything We Know
Prime Video returned to Middle-earth with Rings of Power season 2 in 2024, and a third season is now on the way.
Alongside Clark and Vickers, the ensembleRings of Powerseason 2 castsaw the returns of Elrond’s Robert Aramayo, Durin IV’s Owain Arthur, Isildur’s Maxim Baldry, Celebrimbor’s Charles Edwards, Arondir’s Ismael Cruz Córdova, Disa’s Sophia Nomvete and Gil-galad’s Benjamin Walker, among many others. Effectively raising the stakes for its wide roster of characters while also bringing them closer to their book counterparts, season 2 is keeping the prequel show exciting and unpredictable.
As the show gears up for awards season consideration,ScreenRantinterviewed Morfydd Clark and Charlie Vickers to discussThe Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Powerseason 2, Galadriel and Sauron’s epic climactic fight and what the outcome means for the two going forward, why Elrond kissing Galadriel may not be as romantic as audiences think, and how Sauron feels about the Uruk destroying Celebrimbor’s work.
Clark Was Both Thrilled & Surprised By Elrond And Galadriel’s Kiss
“…I kind of wanted the Elves kissing on the mouth all the time from the very beginning.”
ScreenRant: It is great to chat with you both again and dive more into spoilers for this season, because God, there was so much to talk about inLord of the Rings: The Rings of Powerseason 2. Morfydd, I’d like to turn to you first. One of the big surprises was seeingGaladriel and Elrond kiss. I always kind of looked at them as a sort of unrequited love dynamic on Elrond’s part. Do you feel that maybe Galadriel reciprocates that sense of affection, or do you think that she’s just as surprised as the audiences are?
Morfydd Clark: Well, I kind of wanted the elves kissing on the mouth all the time from the very beginning. I kind of see it as an ultimate show of love and admiration, but in a platonic way. And I quite like that. It was kind of felt, to us as humans, quite like, “[Gasps] It’s romantic.” I quite like the idea that the elves do move through the world quite differently, and kind of a little bit Bohemian. But when I read it, I was like, “[Gasps] Ooh.”
But I also think that this idea that romantic love is the greatest, most important form of love isn’t something that I necessarily kind of — it’s wonderful, but there are also so many different types of love, and the love that Elrond and Galadriel have for each other, which is millennia long and filled with respect and loyalty and admiration, is something that I think is so beautiful.
Sauron Is Okay With The Destruction Of Celebrimbor’s Work For A Key Reason
“…as we know, there is another ring that he needs to make.”
Charlie, I’ll turn it to you next. Last we talked,we mentioned Celebrimbor’s death, and Sauron being very sad over it. We also see the Uruk destroy all of Celebrimbor’s works, and since Sauron is trying to build these Rings to manipulate the world, how do you think he’s going to view the Uruk now that they have wiped out his means of doing so?
Charlie Vickers: I think that them destroying the books, I saw that more as them destroying a lot of Elven lore and old scriptures and stuff. I think Sauron doesn’t mind about that so much, because although he loves Middle-earth, he hates the Elves, and I think they could be wiped from the face of the earth, as far as he’s concerned. But I think that him being a maiar, anything that he’s learned from Celebrimbor, he still holds very dear, and it’s there now.
I think that a lot of that was very crucial information that he needed, because, as we know, there is another ring that he needs to make. And I think that his work with Celebrimbor probably informed a lot of the process that he needs to undertake in order to make the next ring. But I think we’ve seen a gradual [progression], the way it’s kind of been presented is that he’s putting more and more of himself into each ring as he makes them. And you would think that a lot of himself has to go into the next one.
Galadriel Will Always Have “A Little Shadow On Her Heart Of All The Guilt” From Her Actions
“…I feel it’s this big new chapter…”
Morfydd, I’ll turn back to you, because I also loved in the finale that we see the early days of Rivendell as the Elves arrive there, and it is a very beautiful and hopeful moment for the audience. But for Galadriel, I’m sure she’s still dealing with a lot of the trauma of having fought Sauron again and lost the Nine Rings. What do you think is going through her mind as they make their way to Rivendell? Do you think she has that same sense of hope that the audience might, or do you think she’s still carrying some of that guilt from what we just saw?
Morfydd Clark: Yeah, I think she’ll always carry the kind of [guilt], there’s going to be a little shadow on her heart of all the guilt of what she did. But I think, in that decision where she decides the door is shut to Sauron, and she jumps from that cliff, she’s ready to kind of commit herself to caring and loving and hoping. So, I feel it’s this big new chapter to where she’s kind of becoming so much closer to the Lady of Light that we know, which is the thing that will separate her from Sauron, and mean that no matter how much he reaches and gropes for her, she is untouchable. I think she’s very inspired by those around her in a way that she wasn’t before she’d lost her ability to be inspired.
Sauron Will “Be More Emboldened” By Severing Ties From Galadriel
“…he’s getting closer and closer to being at his peak power.”
I see I’ve got time for one more question, so Charlie, I’ll turn back to you. We know thatSauron has gotten the Uruk back under his belt, in a sense, how do you think he’s going to be going into this next season now that he can’t really manipulate Galadriel like he used to do? Do you think he’s going to be feeling more emboldened, or you think he’s going to be a little aimless, in a sense?
Charlie Vickers: I think he’ll be more emboldened. I think in the sense that he’s getting close, if you look at his power on a chart, he’s getting closer and closer to being at his peak power. I think we could get a form, or a version, of Sauron where he is Sauron the Terrible, like he is at his most mighty externally, at least. Because, I don’t know, Tolkien wasn’t very specific about the form that he took when he went to Númenor, but there’s a whole bunch of psychological stuff there, interplay between him and Pharazôn. But I think that’s a bit further down the line, in terms of our show. I think he is on a vendetta against the elves.
Morfydd Clark: And he hates boundaries, so he’ll continue to push them. [Chuckles]
Charlie Vickers: Yeah, exactly. He’s a bit forward-thinking. He’s a bit ahead of his time.
AboutThe Lord of the Rings: The Rings of PowerSeason 2
In Season Two of The Rings of Power, Sauron has returned. Cast out by Galadriel, without army or ally, the rising Dark Lord must now rely on his own cunning to rebuild his strength and oversee the creation of the Rings of Power, which will allow him to bind all the peoples of Middle-earth to his sinister will. Building on Season One’s epic scope and ambition, the new season plunges even its most beloved and vulnerable characters into a rising tide of darkness, challenging each to find their place in a world that is increasingly on the brink of calamity. Elves and dwarves, orcs and men, wizards and Harfoots… as friendships are strained and kingdoms begin to fracture, the forces of good will struggle ever more valiantly to hold on to what matters to them most of all… each other.
Check out our previous and upcomingLord of the Rings: The Rings of Powerseason 2 interviews with:
All episodes of the first two seasons ofThe Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Powerseason 2 are streaming on Prime Video.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Cast
Set in the Second Age of Middle-earth, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power explores the forging of the iconic rings, the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron, and the epic events leading up to the stories in J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic novels. The series chronicles the creation of legendary characters and the historic alliances and rivalries that shape the fate of Middle-earth.
