Exclusive: The Rings of Power stars tell us about playing Galadriel and Sauron, the status of season 3

The second season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power ended with Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) facing off with Sauron (Charlie Vickers), her old frenemy. The two fought in a pitched people and Sauron finally made off with the Nine Rings meant for mortal men. But Galadriel wouldn't give him the three Elven rings, choosing to plunge off a cliff rather than relinquish them.

As we go into season 3, Sauron is growing in power, having destroyed the Elven city of Eregion and drafted Adar's army of orcs to his side. But the elves aren't things lying down; at the very end of the season, it seems like they establish the stronghold of Rivendell, the last homely house, which is familiar to fans of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

We got to talk to Morfydd Clark and Charlie Vickers about playing Galadriel and Sauron, what they've learned over the course of the first two seasons of the show, and whether a third is in the cards. Check out exclusive interview below!

WinterIsComing: Now that we're a couple months out from The Rings of Power season 2, if you guys had a name one highlight either from your stories or anybody else's, what would it be?

Morfydd Clark: "My highlight will be the battle sequence in Episode 7 and Elrond's realization that Durin wasn't coming. That was devastating. And also Damrod [the troll].

Charlie Vickers: "I've said this to you, but I really liked the scene with Galadriel and Elrond. When Elrond's now in charge — this is a small highlight, but it's a highlight nonetheless — when...you're in the war room and you're like, 'where shall I send the people?' And then he walks in and he's very sassy. Yeah, big big moment, that."

WiC: So Sauron has good intentions. He wants Middle-earth to be a better place. By the end of the season, he's stabbing Celebrimbor and saying, 'stop making me do this.' In his head, is he still a good guy trying for the best, or can he not convince himself of that anymore, seeing as he's laid low a city?

Charlie Vickers: "I think he now understands that like he has fallen back into the rabbit hole. He's self-aware enough to realize that power has corrupted him, but now he's too far gone and he doesn't care anymore. It's like, 'I still wholeheartedly believe that even if I'm destroying Eregion, this will be for the best of Middle-earth in the long run.' But [he] understands that some bad things might have to be done in order to achieve a greater good."

WiC: Is it safe to assume that the Galadriel-Sauron connection/kinship/attraction is dead and buried now that she would rather fall off a cliff than spend another minute with him?

Morfydd Clark: "Yeah, she made her feelings pretty clear. I think, unfortunately the connection will always be there. I think he does KNOW her, she was unguarded towards him. And so he'll always have a certain amount of power, and she'll have to continue to resist it."

WiC: Is there anything that you learned as actors over the first two seasons that you're looking forward to applying to future seasons?

Charlie Vickers: "For me it's levity...The heaviness of the material doesn't have to influence you being heavy or insular or whatever it is; by 'insular' I mean just like off quietly by yourself. I found this really interesting thing that, even if I'm doing really cruel, evil stuff, which I have done a lot of in the second season, I can maintain levity and lightness in between, and in fact it helps."

Morfydd Clark: "Yeah, and I think it's been a great exercise in kind of having intention, because the elves don't say anything unless it's of great value. So nothing can be throwaway. And that's quite fun to kind of find a way of having different colors and shades within such conviction."

WiC: And I can't not ask this: Do you know anything about a third season? Anything you can tease, anything you can reveal? Do you just tell me it's happening and when it's gonna air?

Charlie Vickers: "I can't tell you either of those things. But I can say that I them the question before we came in. I asked [showrunner Patrick McKay], 'what can we say?' And he said, 'you can say what we're doing,' which is that they're writing and they can't wait to share it when the time comes. But they're right in the middle of writing the third season right now. They're right in the thick of it. So we're gonna find out something soon, I guess."

Thanks very much to Morfydd Clark and Charlie Vickers for talking to us! The second we hear about a new season of The Rings of Power, we'll let you know. It would make a nice Christmas gift.

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