A lot of The Rings of Power season 2 was about how a lot of Center-earth was not having a good time, except you have been named Halbrand, Annatar, or Sauron. The excellent news for actor Charlie Vickers, was that he was in fact all three, because the Darkish Lord made his greatest strikes but in manipulating the creation of the titular rings. However now season 2 is over–and our heroes are bruised, however defiant within the face of an ascendant Sauron acquired virtually every thing he wished. So what’s subsequent?
“Shadow and Flame”, the season 2 finale of Rings of Energy, sees Sauron, livid at Celebrimbor’s defiance of his presents, slay the forge smith he’d spent all season manipulating and making his greatest strikes on the present to this point. With Eregion besieged, Sauron turns Adar’s orcs towards him, practically kills Galadriel if not for one inconvenient cliff face, and, after all, ends the season with full management of the 9 Rings cast for mortal humankind. And with Ar-Pharazôn over in Númenor seeing visions of Halbrand within the palantir, anybody conversant in how Tolkien’s pre-Lord of the Rings worldbuilding goes is aware of that Morgoth’s former protégé is simply simply getting began.
“I couldn’t choose one, there’s an excessive amount of,” Vickers lately informed io9 over Zoom of what he’s most wanting ahead to as Sauron actually comes into his personal going ahead. “I genuinely don’t know what’s to return, however there are issues that we all know on this time interval must occur. The story that the present goes to inform, the downfall of Númenor, the creation of the One Ring, the battle of the Final Alliance, all of these issues. It’s just like the loss of life of Celebrimbor and the crafting of the rings–the thrilling factor is that the crafting of the rings is simply the primary of many issues that I’ve in my thoughts from studying the books… I’m so excited to be part of how these remaining tales come to life.”
In a becoming climax at this level of Rings of Energy‘s story, Vickers’ Sauron–the mask of Annatar really fallen at this level–spends a lot of his time within the season 2 finale battling, with barbs and blades alike, his two greatest scene companions on the collection to this point: Charles Edwards, bowing out in defiance as Celebrimbor, and Morfydd Clark as Galadriel, as she finds herself face-to-face with the Deceiver as soon as extra. Locking swords with Galadriel for management of the 9 required Vickers to assume, and act, in a manner he’s probably not needed to as Sauron up thus far within the collection.
“For me it was all about financial system. It was like, he has to battle in a cheap manner the place it required, notably early on within the battle, essentially the most effectivity” Vickers mentioned of creating Sauron’s battle model for duelling with Galadriel. “That was a part of my improvement of his motion: there was nothing extraneous. And with preventing, it was like… he’s most likely, in hand-to-hand fight, essentially the most highly effective particular person in Center-earth. So what can present that? For me that’s like there’s nothing fancy, it’s how can I get my intention achieved again and again, and the way actual individuals battle. You see all through that battle scene he underestimates [Galdriel], and he or she’s stronger, so he’s beginning to have to make use of increasingly more effort to complete her off.”
However for Vickers, it was one final episode with Edwards carried a particular resonance greater than anything within the finale: a lot of his scenes in Eregion with the actor this season had been filmed in chronological order, so attending to the second the place Sauron is brutally torturing the smith to death carried an additional weight. “I believe it was advanced, as a result of we have been mentioned that w have been coming to the top of this actually cool, superb alternative that we’d had as performers,” Vickers mentioned of filming Celebrimbor’s closing moments. “However then I used to be additionally actually excited, as a result of these have been the scenes that we have been actually wanting ahead to.”
“It’s sort of every thing that result in these scenes, ? [Celebrimbor] realizes that Eregion is falling, and Sauron revealed the blood trick to him, after which after all, Celebrimbor’s loss of life. That was a scene that has imagery that’s actually drawn from Tolkien’s works, and we have been so excited once we acquired to see that was occurring,” Vickers continued. “That was a giant day, and it was actually… a extremely beautiful technique to finish. It makes me sound very sadistic after I say that,” the actor joked. “However , from a efficiency perspective!”
Celebrimbor would possibly come to his finish a pincushion of arrows and raised up on a spear by Sauron, however he will get one closing act of defiance towards his manipulator, cursing him that the rings he’d manipulated Celebrimbor into crafting will finally be his doom–the remark that sends Sauron into the petty rage that finally strikes Celebrimbor down, moments after he was nonetheless making an attempt to show him to his facet. “I believe there’s most likely a little bit of self-reflection [coming out of season 2],” Vickers mentioned of simply how a lot Celebrimbor’s closing phrases actually acquired to Sauron. “Celebrimbor fairly clearly says to him, ‘You are the Lord of the Rings, they usually’re controlling you,’ however Sauron, as a result of he’s all about management, and I believe he really believes that these rings are going to do good for Center-earth, I believe Celebrimbor makes him understand that he’s descended into insanity, and darkness, and that this need for management has change into one thing much more horrific.
“And that causes Sauron quite a lot of unhappiness, and anger, and rage, actually. When [the episode] leaves on him with Fëanor’s hammer, he’s excited about every thing that had come earlier than and everuthing that’s to return. That’s why their relationship was so good, as a result of it’s not similar to puppet and puppet grasp. It really works each methods.”
Rings of Energy season 2 is now streaming on Prime Video.
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