Women take charge in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. This was true of the first season, an epic fantasy series extrapolated from J R R Tolkien’s appendices, and it holds good in the second one. Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), betrayed but not bowed, soldiers ahead in her crusade against the dark forces imperilling Middle-earth. This is basically just one guy, a pathological fraud named Sauron (Charlie Vickers).
We then have the two Harfoots, Nori and Poppy, narrative and spiritual ancestors to Frodo and Sam, journeying to the blasted land of Rhûn with their mysterious companion best described by YouTuber Man of Recaps as ‘hobo Gandalf’. Finally, over in Numenor, an Atlantis-like kingdom of Men, queen regent Miriel is picking up rumbles of rebellion.
Days before the premiere of the second season (four episodes are currently out on Prime Video, with weekly drops every Thursday), The Hindu spoke to the series’ diverse cast and crew.
“Anyone familiar with the mythology of Numenor will know it is going to meet a tragic end, though we are not there yet,” says star Cynthia Addai-Robinson, who portrays Miriel. In the first season, Miriel’s decision — prompted by a propitious shedding of white leaves — to ally with the elves foments disaffection among her own. It leaves her cousin, the scheming Pharazon, the man with the magnificent beard, to make a brave bid at power, riding the raucous wave of anti-incumbency that has gripped Numenor.
“In Season 2 we see the polarisation in Numenorean society,” Cynthia says. “Both Mariel and Pharazon have their own worldviews and ideas of where to lead their people. You can connect that kind of political strife throughout history all the way to current events.”
Visually, too, Numenor looks different this go-around. Its prosperous, idyllic glow, let us just say, has been dimmed. “Because it’s more tense and psychological and dramatic, we went darker,” explains Swedish-French director Charlotte Brändström, who has helmed four episodes in the new season. “I kept asking for more dust and mud so it will look as real as possible. It goes with the cast because J. R. R. Tolkien’s characters are always very gritty and grounded, even though they exist in a fantasy world.”
Cynthia reflects on what playing a blind queen — Miriel loses her sight in the battle of the Southlands in the first season — means for her track, both technically and metaphorically. It is one of the great staples of epic storytelling: the Mahabharata, for instance, has the blind king Dhritarashtra, whose devoted wife Gandhara joins him in blindfold. In Greek tragedy, Oedipus gouges out his own eyes after fulfilling his terrible fate.
“Blindness turns Miriel inward,” Cynthia says. “She has to figure out who she can trust and rely on. In that sense, the character Elendil, played by Lyod Owen, becomes her eyes in the show. But she also helps him see through her knowledge of her people and their politics. It’s a beautiful interplay.”
Nori journeying to Rhûn in a still from ‘LOTR: Rings of Power season 2’ | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
While an entire civilization threatens to crumble in Numenor, none are initially sighted in Rhun, this show’s idea of an arid Fury Road-like wasteland. Introduced in the debut episode of the new season, ‘Elven Kings Under the Sky’, this perilous new terrain was filmed in Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands in Spain. Gone are the beaches, the buildings, the revellers who throng to the annual Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. All we see, in Rings of Power, are miles and miles of rocks.
Megan Richards as Poppy, Markella Kavenagh as Nori | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
“The desert landscape of Tenerife is so vast it just goes on and on,” shares Australian actor Markella Kavenagh, who plays Nori/Elanor. “I had quite a view ‘vista’ moments while filming, just looking out and wondering if I were to really cross the entire stretch on foot.”
Megan Richards, her English co-star, who plays Poppy, chimes in. “It was an incredible experience that really put us into character.”
Nori’s hero’s journey turns a new corner in Season 2. She isn’t as “naive and willingly trusting” as before, Markella notes. Adulthood, even for a Hobbit, awaits. “It’s been five years we have been shooting this show, so we have also grown up as people, and it’s something we are bringing to our roles,” adds Markella, who is 24 in real life.
“This season you get to see a lot of growth,” Meghan says. “We explore fresh avenues of Poppy’s life she didn’t know exist.”
It’s not all Numenorean court politics and desert-bound soul-searching. Charlotte teases an epic battle that is awaiting fans in Episode 7. “There are 200 elves on white horses charging in to save Eregion. And they are facing a big, big Orc army.”
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 is streaming episodically on Prime Video
Published - September 11, 2024 11:51 am IST
