Summary
- The Rings of Power Season 2 focuses on Sauron and Celebrimbor.
- The actors have creative freedom to interpret Tolkien's characters, adding depth to the story.
- Chemistry between the protagonist Celebrimbor and antagonist Sauron drives Season 2's narrative forward.
Somehow, Sauron has returned. The opening scene of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The Rings of Power Season 2 is a flashback, showing Sauron announcing hꦕimself to the Orcs and bidding them obey his command. Crucially, it’s not Charlie Vickers (who played Halbrand, revealed to be Sauron in disguise) in the role. Instead, Jack Lowden is announcing himself to the assembled orc throng🏅.
From here, we see Adar brutally murdering the Maia with the crown intended to coronate him. Through a painful process of becoming black, wormy go💞o, we see Sauron reincarnated as Charlie Vickers’ Halbrand. Later, Halbrand turns up at Celebrimbor’s door seeking an audience, an audience forbidden by Galadriel. She hasn’t shared his true identity, likely out of guilt, but the order is clear.
However, his golden tongue works its magic in the elf smith’s ear, and soon the pair are r🗹eunited, working on yet more magical finger bands. As a part of his persuasion, Halbrand undergoes yet another transformation, this one less gruesome and more magnificent, angelic, to become Annatar, which he tells Celebrimbor is his true form.
Despite the glow u🌱p — he’s had the straighteners out and affects a posh accent — there is still evil at the heart of Annatar. Celebrimbor trusts him, but this is a toxic relationship built on lies.
When I ask Vickers and Charles Edwards (Celebrimbor) how they depicted🀅 the rollercoaster relationship between the pair, they clearly relished the opportunity.
“It's been a really, really fun experience, to be honest,” says Vickers. “It's so rich, everything that we've been afforded to play with and the world that we're acting. The level of detail from all the departments is so vast that it just provides us with such inspiration.
“And our time on the set, we were incredibly lucky because we could film it chronologically, we were on the same set, so we were coming in and it didn't feel rushed. And I think that was one of the biggest things that we appreciated, was the time that we were afforded to tell this story, because it's such an important story to us as well as [for] a lot of fans.”
The particular props that stood out to Edwards were all of Celebrimbor’s tools around the forge, and one in particular made an impression for the wrong 🥂reason.
“There was one prop that was slightly problematic, which was my Ithildin dispenser that was a bit wobbly,” he laughs. “It was fixed with a bit of glue and it was fine, but I won't welcome the return of that particular prop.”
Vickers had a fo🧸nder recollection of Sauron’s crown, which he wields to lethal effect over the course of Season 2.
“I had the crown of Morgoth, which was very cool,” smirks Vickers with Edwards looking on with envy. “I get to do a lot of stuff with it, which is cool – it's very powerful.”
Prompted by his co-star, Vickers explains the differences between the ‘hero’ prop and the version created for stunts. “The real one is heavy, the stunt one not so much,” he says. “The stunt one is when you're fighting with it.”
Immersed as they are in the world of The Rings of Power, I wonder how much freedom the actors have to interpret Tolkien’s words. I note one iconic scene involving Celebrimbor which I expect to see at the end of this season as having such vivid imagery burned into my m⭕ind since I read it as a teenager, and wonder if ‘the Charlies’, as the showrunners call them, feel press☂ure to live up to expectations taken from the pages of fantasy’s all-time greatest.
“Celebrimbor is briefly glanced at by Tolkien,” Edwards explains. “He's intrinsic and vital, but there aren't any, for example, descriptions. There is one episode that I think you're referring to that is described, but other than that, I felt that I have plenty of breathing room to create my own vision for the character and the showrunner's vision and how they've written him.
"Celebrimbor is briefly glanced at by Tolkien,&qဣuot; - Charles Edwards, Celebriཧmbor
“Obviously, I want people to be happy with the way we tell this very important story, and I think they will be. Because not only do we honour [Tolkien’s] story, but we're filling in all kinds of really twisty-turny dark stuff in between. So, it's not pressure, it's the excitement of looking forward to sharing it. It's what I always feel with this whole show, actually.”
“And with the bit that you're talking about, which we will not name,” Vickers continues where Edwards left off. “I think everyone that has read this part of Tolkien is so excited about that scene. And it's something that we didn't feel any pressure about, but were very aware of when we were filming this whole journey, I guess. And I'm really, really pleased with this journey.”
The Rings of Power Season 2 will rely on the chemistry between Edwards🌜 and Vickers to carry it, as the primary protagonist and antagonist respectively. From the three episodes I’ve seen, they start strong, and from our short in❀terview, in which they finish each other’s sentences and clearly get along well, the professional relationship is comfortable and easygoing. Hopefully that translates onto the screen, and the “not quite bromance” that the showrunners described brings the season to life.
