Summary
- The Rings of Power season 2 will see Sauron's return, leading to the creation of the Rings of Power in Middle-earth.
- Cast , including Celebrimbor and Sauron, share insights on character development and plot progression in the new season.
- The season promises psychological depth, exploring complex relationships and character evolution throughout Middle-earth.
San Diego Comic-Con 2024 about what viewers can expect from the show’s return. The most expensive television series of all time, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is set before the events of the iconic Peter Jackson films but is not connected to that saga. Based in part on appendixes J.R.R. Tolkien wrote for his The Lord of the Rings novels, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power tells the story of Sauron’s rise and builds to the war in which the classic villain lost the One Ring.
While most of the first season’s cast will return in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2, one notable character has been recast. Joseph Mawle left the role of Adar, an elf who became one of the first orcs, and was replaced by Sam Hazeldine. Hazeldine is known in part for his work on shows including Masters of the Air, The Witcher, and The Sandman.
How Old Is Galadriel In The Rings Of Power & Lord Of The Rings
Galadriel’s age in The Rings of Power and The Lord of The Rings depends on the source material, with her age varying between the books and the movies.
Cast returning to season 2 include Charles Edwards as the elf Lord Celebrimbor and Charlie Vickers as Sauron. With the reveal that Vickers did, in fact, play Sauron coming only at the end of the first season, it’s exciting to see what will happen with the character this time around. Screen Rant spoke with Hazeldine, Edwards, and Vickers at San Diego Comic-Con 2024 to get new information about the hit show’s return.
What To Expect From Adar, Sauron & Celebrimbor In The Rings Of Power Season 2
“It has to have a psychological throughline from the first season to the second season.”
Screen Rant: Sam, I know that you're coming into season 2 for the first time. What did you take from Joseph's performance that you wanted to apply to your performance?
Sam Hazeldine: I had a lot of conversations with JD and Patrick before we started about how we wanted to approach that. And luckily, I really enjoyed what Joseph did in the first season, and Adar was probably my favorite character. No offense to anybody else. So, it's actually a pleasure to kind of take the mantle and carry on from there.
We don't look alike, but it's very clearly the same character, so I don't think it was a big problem for an audience. We wanted to make it as relatively seamless as possible, and Adar has a lot to do in this season, so it was kind of straight out of the blocks and into it.
Charlie, your character goes full heel turn at the end of season 1. You guys pulled one over and got me. How would you justify Sauron's actions internally and how do you approach that aspect of his character this season?
Charlie Vickers: I think it has to have a psychological throughline from the first season to the second season. He has to be focused on what he's doing, which is trying to heal and unite Middle Earth.
So, everything that I do, from the difference in physicality to the difference vocally, it all comes back to working towards that purpose of stitching the two seasons together and old Celebrimbor down the end there just gets caught up in the web.
Celebrimbor ends in a very unique place in season 1, having helped craft a weapon that could really damage the world. What real-life inspiration, if any, did you have in mind while playing the character this season?
Charles Edwards: I think what was most helpful to me was thinking of looking at characters from drama who had been in very domestically abusive relationships. Because the way the story plays out, it's just two guys in a room. They're working on big things, but it's essentially a working relationship; a power play between two characters.
There are almost little domestic moments within that relationship; there's bickering there, there's bullying, there's torment, and there's trauma. All the big things that turn up in these very codependent, gaslighting kind of relationships. All the great heroes from drama that have portrayed those kinds of relationships were very much an inspiration.
Sam, what can you tease about your character in season 2 and exploring the character of Adar?
Sam Hazeldine: That's a difficult question. What can I tease about it? Adar at the end of season 1 has succeeded in what he set out to do, which was to create a home for the Uruk. And now his work really is done, but he has this kind of nagging feeling really from episode 6 of season 1, where he meets Halbrand and gets this feeling of recognition, but he doesn't know what that is.
He's going to see Halbrand again at the beginning of season 2. The seed of Sauron's return is planted, and that just changes everything.
The Rings Of Power Cast Look Back On Season 1 & Where The Season 2 Journey Leads
“In of where we were headed, we were feeling very secure.”
Screen Rant: What lessons did you learn from the first season that you wanted to bring with your characters into season 2?
Charles Edwards: I think the most exciting thing - certainly for myself and Charlie, because we spend a lot of screen time together in this season - is we both knew where our stories were headed because it's Tolkien and its lore. We knew the tale we were going to tell.
In of lessons learned, I'm not sure about that. But in of where we were headed, we were both feeling very secure and happy about that.
Charlie Vickers: Yeah, I think it's twofold because there are things as the character, but also things as the actor. I found it a really exciting season because we'd all had this experience in beautiful New Zealand, where we filmed the show, and I'd gotten used to the scope and the scale of what we were doing. It was kind of nice to rock up at the start of season two and be like, "Yeah, I know where this sits now."
You learn so much from being a character for however long - it had been a good couple of years that I'd had this character going around in my mind.
Charlie, in the first season, Halbrand is a physical warrior. He's a badass dude who knows how to handle himself. But in season 2, I feel like he's playing mental games with the other characters. Can you talk about your different approach to the character?
Charlie Vickers: I think we see another side of Sauron, and it's probably the side that he's most notorious for. Certainly, when I was a Lord of the Rings fan before this show, I thought of Sauron not as a warrior, but more as someone who is a warrior of the mind.
He kind of manipulates and works his way through the season toying with people, really, and bending them to his will. I guess we're seeing the true Sauron, but that's not to say that he's given up his sword forever. That's not a spoiler!
As you're exploring this show and being on these massive sets in New Zealand, can you talk about the adventure of being on this show and working with each other?
Charlie Vickers: Charlie and I were talking about this before. I think it was very unique in that when we started filming this show in New Zealand, the circumstances around it meant that we all became really close friends, which I think is a pretty rare thing for shows like this - for the whole cast to know each other so well.
And I think it's because we were on this massive adventure on the other side of the world. When we returned to film the second season in the UK, we kind of arrived with these relationships that we'd already formed, which makes the show extra special.
Charles Edwards: That experience was an amazing grounding for the whole cast. You're not only filming when you're away from home, you're filming every day, but also you spend all your social time together if you're there in a group in a country far away from home. All that was in place ready for season 2.
The Rings Of Power Cast Reveal Favorite Season 2 Moments & Lord Of The Rings Movies
I've seen the first three episodes of season 2. Can you tease your favorite moment from those first three episodes?
Sam Hazeldine: I think my favorite moment from those first three episodes would be... I really enjoyed a prison cell scene between Charlie and I. It's mind games central.
Charlie Vickers: That's a cool scene because you're seeing two people who have had this relationship for thousands of years talking to each other, and there's a lot going on the surface. But then beneath the surface, it's like, "What are they thinking?" Which is cool.
That's one of the first things that came to mind for me. But also, there's a scene in episode 2 when Sauron and Celebrimbor meet each other again for the first time and things unfold.
Charles Edwards: Mine was going to be the moment at the end of episode 1 when he turns up at the gates and my assistant brings me out to see who it is. Seeing him there is where the story kicks off again, and that was a great moment for me.
Charlie Vickers: Is that the bit with the umbrella?
Charles Edwards: No, that's later.
Charlie Vickers: There's a great scene in the pouring rain where Celebrimbor has [an umbrella]. Elves can do everything except make a good umbrella. It's the worst umbrella; we're soaking wet.
The Lord of the Rings is such an iconic franchise shared from generation to generation. What was your favorite Lord of the Rings movie?
Charles Edwards: Mine was going back before Peter Jackson. The equivalent of my Peter Jackson obsession was an obsession with the 1978 animated Ralph Bakshi [film], which I was totally obsessed with. Obsessed to the point of making a play out of it. I wrote a script from this movie, but I never put it on at school.
And reading The Hobbit, I would say, made me interested in wanting to become an actor as well - other than what I already felt - because of the extraordinary range of characters and possibilities in those worlds. It was magical for me.
Sam Hazeldine: I was going to agree with Charlie about a lot of that. I think, in answer to your question, the first film [of the Peter Jackson trilogy] was my favorite. But The Hobbit was what got me when I was a kid, and I think I must have read it five times. The complexity of the world that he creates, it's not often that someone spends their entire life building a world like that. It's just so complex and amazing.
Charlie Vickers: The Fellowship of the Ring would be my favorite, but The Two Towers gets a special mention because of the PlayStation game. The game took a lot of time from my childhood.
About The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power Season 2
In Season 2 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.
Check back soon for our The Rings of Power season 2 interviews here:
- Daniel Weyman, Markella Kavenagh, Megan Richards
- Morfydd Clark and Sam Hazeldine
- Benjamin Walker and Ismael Cruz Cordova
- Charlie Vickers and Charles Edwards
- Patrick McKay and Lindsey Weber
- Cast on the Red Carpet at SDCC 2024
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 begins with a three-episode premiere on August 29, followed by new episodes every Thursday on Prime Video.
Source: Screen Rant Plus
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
- Release Date
- September 1, 2022
- Network
- Amazon Prime Video
- Showrunner
- John D. Payne, Patrick McKay, Louise Hooper, Charlotte Brändström, Wayne Yip
Cast
Galadriel
Halbrand
WHERE TO WATCH
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.
- Directors
- J.A. Bayona, Sanaa Hamri
- Writers
- Patrick McKay, John D. Payne, J.R.R. Tolkien, Justin Doble, Jason Cahill, Gennifer Hutchison, Stephany Folsom, Nicholas Adams
- Franchise(s)
- The Lord of the Rings
- Seasons
- 2
- Streaming Service(s)
- Amazon Prime Video
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