Amazon is nearing the end of filming on the second season of The Rings of Power, its fabulously expensive Lord of the Rings show. Set thousands of years before the events of the main series, this is The Lord of the Rings as we’ve never seen it; the elves remain in Middle-earth in great numbers, Sauron has gone underground, and Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) is a young(er) woman who’s a lot more warlike than the serene person we meet in Peter Jackson’s movie trilogy.
In fact, Galadriel has so much vengeance in her heart that when Sauron finally reveals himself, he asks her to join him. That scene came at the end of the first season, and it was electrifying to film.
“We kind of rehearsed, but had never really gone full Sauron until we were on set,” Clark told Collider. “So that first time where he actually was like, ‘I’ve had many names,’ I was like, ‘ I’ve never seen Charlie like that. It’s kind of frightening!’”
"I felt like we’d earned that moment as well. Charlie is a wonderful actor, and also a wonderful man who made me feel super comfortable, and I think that meant we could really kind of push ourselves and create this chemistry between these characters. But then it, ultimately, was really satisfying when we saw it crumble, so it was really fun."
Morfydd Clark teases The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2
Being of noble heart and spirit, of course Galadriel turned down Sauron’s offer, but who knows if there will be a repeat in season 2? “I kind of want to keep it ambiguous, as well, but I think the thing with Galadriel is that she knows that should she go to the dark side things will be catastrophic,” Clark said. “I’ve been thinking a lot about what the gift of foresight would actually feel like, and I’m like, ‘Is it just like increased anxiety in a way?’ Because you have all these ideas of what could be, what could be, what could be, and I think one of her big ‘what could be’s’ is like, ‘What if I’m bad?’ But I don’t know. I mean, they definitely vibe because they’re very powerful, but I’m not sure.”
Having pretty much filmed season 2 already, Clark doubtless knows more than she’s letting on. She did give out one little tease about season 2: “What I can tease about Season 2 is, there’s some very interesting villains coming.”
What could she be talking about? We’ve already met Sauron, the dark elf Adar, and some of the schemers over on the island of Númenor. J.R.R. Tolkien invented all manner of gods and monsters, so we’ll see what The Rings of Power comes up with when it premieres on Amazon Prime Video sometime in 2024.
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