The second season of Amazon Prime Video's J.R.R. Tolkien adaption, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, will be "fundamentally different in that our major villain is out and about, and doing his thing," according to executive producer Lindsey Weber. The EP continues, "I think in some respects, it's going to be grimier, more dramatic, maybe a little frightening."
The antagonist in question is Sauron, who was revealed to be the deposed Dark Lord himself in the recently released Season 1 finale, played by Charlie Vickers's would-be blacksmith and King of the Southlands Halbrand.
The huge mystery surrounding Sauron's true identity came to light in the final episode of RoP Season 1. After considerable narrative deception, we eventually received our answer, along with a truckload of betrayal and new journeys to embark on in Season 2.
The "Alloyed" episode, which was directed by Wayne Che Yip and written by J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, picks up after Adar (Joseph Mawle) and the Orcs' victory in episode 6 in what is now Mordor. The Ascetic (Kali Kopae), The Nomad (Edith Poor), and The Dweller (Bridie Sisson) approach The Stranger (Daniel Weyman), However, they are mistaken, as the Mystics discover the hard way, and as Nori (Markella Kavenagh) essentially counsels the Stranger later in the episode, it is better if he is true to himself.
Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), who is now back among the frightened Elves, discovers that she is the one who has been duped after thoroughly researching Halbrand's family tree and uncovering various flaws. Her investigation may provide an explanation for why Halbrand, a skilled blacksmith who ardently desired to create rings with Lord Celebrimbor, was imprisoned in Numenor (Charles Edwards). When Galadriel confronts the would-be King, whom she believed to be a reliable ally, she is forced to relive a number of flashbacks, including one from the season's early episodes when the two were stranded on a raft and one from a disastrous reunion with her long-dead brother. When she awakens, Halbrand/Sauron has already left for the current flaming Mordor. Finally, Celebrimbor, Galadriel, and Elrond (Robert Aramayo) combine the potent mithril with other valuable metals to create those legendary rings in a haste to prevent the extinction of the Elves. A grieving Nori leaves her Harfoot family behind to accompany the Stranger on a new voyage while a blind Queen (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) returns to Nmenor to find her father dead and divisions growing.
The eighth and final episode of their Tolkien epic, which Amazon picked up for a five-cycle run, was discussed with me by EP Weber and the showrunners Payne and McKay while they were toiling away in the UK on Season 2. The three discussed antagonists, adventures, how they reached Season 1's conclusion, potential futures for Rings of Power, new characters, and what the deal was with apples.
WEBER: You know, we have a big cast and a lot of beloved characters, and they all deserved to have a great moment. However, you know we wanted a conclusion that was going to be emotional and delicious, exhilarating, and shocking, and sort of terrifying and intense, and extremely dramatic. By this time, our main plot engine is just massive stuff occurring. We really just tried to create room for the performers to do their best work so that these huge moments could really connect and resonate, and I believe the guys created a great script, and it was really brilliantly directed and done.
PAYNE: I believe that from the start, we intended to establish a bond between Galadriel and Sauron. We found a passage in the Mirror of Galadriel that said, "I view the Dark Lord and know his mind, or at least all of his mind, the concerns, the elves, and ever does," to be quite fascinating.
So, from the start, that sounded like something we would really enjoy. Then it seemed like a delightful way to begin that plot, a Tolkienian chance meeting, as he called them, an encounter on the raft. Consequently, such was the opening narrative. The Stranger was undoubtedly always going to be someone we knew people would be thinking about given his powers; we considered other characters you may think of for Sauron as well.
All of those are, in my opinion, important questions that require a solution. We can hopefully peel back those new onion layers now.
We're just getting started, so these first few days are kind of a luxury for us while the guys continue to write, you know, polish the script for Season 2. It's like you have to be an octopus with tentacles in all the right places at once. But if you wait, we'll be dispersed to the corners in editing rooms, different sets, different locations, different directors and filmmakers, prep meetings, post meetings, and all these things.
Additionally, I believe that in the first few episodes of Season 1, there is just so much that is novel that it is important to watch how your actors perform as well as how the material feels and how well it is balanced. We have the advantage of having established these bonds between the characters and the real-life cast members going into Season 2, and we're the wonderful winners of that thing and being this much further along in the process.
Apples have numerous mythical associations in virtually every culture on earth. There is, undoubtedly, a biblical concept. It's also frequently linked to the tree of knowledge of good and evil, after all. But for a very long time, you know, the word "apple" could kind of indicate any fruit in numerous languages. But in this scenario, I believe you may see it as a single thing, a representation of their friendship (between the Stranger and Nori). Food is expensive and in short supply, therefore it is clear that Nori was showing kindness by giving the stranger one of the few remaining nice apples.
In addition, if you want to go into any interpretation, you could say that picking fruit in a garden signifies a kind of loss of innocence, leaving Eden, and entering the challenging outside world. And The Stranger has essentially through a birth; he is now with the Harfoots, who have helped to nurse, look after, and, for him, it has been a time of innocence. You could say that he is now moving on from it and into the outside world. I believe that when he hangs onto the apple—and friendship, once more, is important—he hears Nori's voice in his thoughts and considers eating it even though he is obviously going to be quite hungry. At that point, he had been on the road for a while. However, as you are aware, he chooses to hold onto the apple in order to preserve his friendship with Nora rather than eating it. He values it, as I've already stated.
