Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will sparkle much more when it returns. Morfydd Clark revealed Galadriel will be among the characters to receive a special piece of jewelry in Season 2.
“She’s about to have a life-changing thing happen to her. She’s about to become acquainted with Nenya, her ring. It’s really exciting to see how the magic creeps in,” Clark said at the show’s FYC event in Hollywood on Sunday speaking alongside her castmates who are all on break from shooting in the UK.
The three elven rings were forged in the Season 1 finale of the fantasy series, set a thousand years before the events in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord Of the Rings and The Hobbit, by Celebrimbor with the help of Sauron (as Halbrand).
According to LOTR lore, one of the elven rings is worn by Galadriel, the second is worn by Círdan— a character that will be introduced in Season 2— and Gandalf who has yet to make an appearance on the show. (The Season 1 finale fueled speculation that the Stranger may be the famous wizard but that has not been confirmed.) The third is being worn by Gil-Galad (Benjamin Walker) and Elrond (Robert Aramayo), both characters already on the show.
Other rings forged by Sauron in the lore include seven for dwarf lords and nine for men and the powerful one ring to rule them all worn by Sauron himself.
Clark told Deadline, “When we finished Season 1, the rings were being made and we knew it was going to be a huge change for Middle Earth. [Galadriel] is going to be part of that change because she has her own ring.”
Regarding what fans can expect from her character next season Clark teased, “She’s trying to see the light through the darkness.”
Additional rings will also be forged when the show returns but which characters will score new bling is as yet unknown.
“There are more rings; the show is called The Rings of Power. Maybe I’ll be getting a new necklace, who knows?” cheeky Peter Mullan, who portrays King Durin III in the series, teased.
Though tight-lipped about the King’s accessories, he confirmed his character’s relationship with his son, Prince Durin (Owain Arthur), “gets very problematic.”
He shared cryptically, “My guy goes through some things that change him. So his son is reacting to a very different father; he’s not the father that you see. He’s someone else.”
And the King won’t be the only one who is not really himself. Ismael Cruz Córdova, who brings to life Arondir, teases what’s ahead.
“We were in a time of relative peace in Season 1 and all that gets shaken up. Now we’re dealing with the aftermath of this big evil that is now concrete. We got the guy now; Sauron is here. In Season 2, we’re grappling with that,” Cruz Córdoba said. “These characters are grappling with their elvish-ness or their dwarf-ness, with their humanity and their loves. What you’re going to see is the depth of our reality and how it is expressed. That’s where it all takes off.”
No matter what’s up next for Princess Disa, Sophia Nomvete is proud of how far they’ve come together. “There was real excitement last season because everything felt so new and I was like a rabbit in the headlights. In Season 2, I felt like I wore the backpack of my experiences. Disa was already built and she was there with me and there was this sheer excitement to delve into this new story,” she shared.
Nomvete added, “Season 2 was about me walking in with more strength and more confidence than I had before. I hope it pays off.”
Arthur, who plays Disa’s hubby, knows what the fans want to see which is more of Prince Durin’s bromance with Elrond in the new season—and they will have their wish. Arthur says it’s the brotherly love between them that makes their relationship so special.
“What I like about Elrond is that he’s quite similar to Durin in that they’re different from where they come from. Elrond is half human and Durin thinks outside of the box. Going against his father’s word in the first season was massive for Durin, he did that for Elrond, for the greater good and for the elves. That bond and that looking outside of the box and looking away from their own culture is what holds them together. I feel like they’ve got a plan to make the world a better place,” he added.
Taking on the role of Arondir was a way for Cruz Córdova to make the world a better place but he faced many challenges. Portraying the first Black elf in the world of Tolkien exposed the actor to criticism, racism and hatred before Season 1 even premiered. Going into Season 2, he feels affirmed.
“I had a lifetime of preparation for this role and I’ve been fighting for an opportunity like this one for so long. I’ve been wanting to play an elf for around 20 years, a dream that came with a lot of naysayers along the way,” he said. “By the time we started shooting, I had already faced a year of backlash: a lot of negativity, death threats, racism, all of that. I knew going in that I would have to be bulletproof to prove to all these people that I belong there. Fast forward to Season 2, the love and support were concrete—I still get emotional thinking about it. The impact that it had was no longer in a vacuum. I had thousands of hands holding me and pushing me.”
He continued, “I knew in the abstract what I was doing before but now I know the faces of those I did and still do it for. Now I feel even more galvanized and like I finally have a break from having to constantly prove that I belong. I’ve always known that I belong and now I feel like I can soar.”
Season 1 of Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power can be streamed via Prime Video.