Season 2 of The Rings of Power will go to ‘some dark places’ as it explores the relationship between Sauron and Celebrimbor, the actors tease
Charlie Vickers and Charles Edwards have spoken candidly about what we can expect from the mentally taxing relationship between Sauron and Celebrimbor in The Rings of Power season 2.
Speaking to Ny Breaking ahead of the popular Prime Video show’s return today (August 29), the pair revealed that the dynamic between the Dark Lord and the master elven smith won’t play out in the way many viewers are expecting. Vickers and Edwards stressed that their relationship won’t be defined by Sauron, now disguised as Annatar, simply manipulating Celebrimbor into forging more of the titular rings. Instead, their power dynamic will play out with a greater degree of unpredictability.
“It’s not just puppet and puppetmaster,” Edwards told me of the respective roles Celebrimbor and Sauron play in their relationship. “They’re both brilliant minds who initially pursue this (creating the other rings) with honorable intentions. But they’re also vying for control, so there’s creative and domestic friction, and as we get further into season two, he (Sauron) starts to make me (Celebrimbor) question my existence.”
“I come with a proposition to ‘heal’ Middle-earth,” Vickers added. “And in doing so, I tell Celebrimbor that he can be better than his grandfather (Fëanor). So, it starts off with these great intentions, but then it slowly becomes more of a power struggle, especially when I bring up the idea of making rings for me, which Celebrimbor objects to because men are so susceptible to corruption. Then the conflict starts to arise and as a result of the growing level of discord, I have to uphold the law.”
Well, that doesn’t sound good! Understandably, working with The Lord of the Ring‘ legendary villain is not what Celebrimbor consciously signed up for, but it is clear that he is being tricked into creating more of the magical artifacts in The Rings of Power from episode 4. Edwards previously told me that he took a crash course in ring making prior to filming the hit series’ second season, so I expect the other 17 rings – seven for the Dwarf Lords, nine for the Kings of Men and even the One Ring itself – will appear in the series’ latest chapter.
Unfortunately for Celebrimbor (and Middle-earth as a whole), the rings are created before anyone in Eregion realizes that Annatar has been playing them like a fiddle. When his true identity is revealed in the Amazon high fantasy show, expect a melodramatic powder keg to explode – something Vickers and Edwards can’t wait to show the audience, especially once Celebrimbor realizes the enormity of the situation and how he’s been duped into playing such a huge role in it.
“Towards the end it gets so meaty and so dark,” Edwards teases. “With every scene there’s a new challenge and a new method of mental torture. It builds and builds, and eventually it boils over in the most dramatic and shocking way possible.”
“There’s two battles going on once we get to that point (in the season),” Vickers said. “There’s the Siege of Eregion going on outside, but there’s also the siege of the mind as these two brilliant individuals cross swords. That’s what made filming those sequences so much fun. One day you’re walking along the walls of Eregion with things blowing up around you, and the next day you’re locked in a room having this battle of wills. Those things happening simultaneously are what makes the end of this season so special.”
So it looks like one of Prime Video’s best shows is doing everything it can to establish itself as the one Amazon TV Original to rule them all. And that’s exactly what I said about The Rings of Power The three-episode Season 2 premiere you’ll want to catch up on before returning to Middle-earth on one of the world’s best streaming services.
The first three episodes of Season 2 of The Rings of Power are available now on Prime Video. New episodes will be released weekly until October 3.