The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 just wrapped up, and Elrond makes a major choice that goes against everything he's been fighting for.
Throughout the second season of Amazon Studios' streaming epic, Robert Aramayo's Elrond has been rebelling against the use of the Elven rings of power as hard as he could. As it goes, he does fail, and the Elves decide to use them anyway.
Elrond, however, doesn't. That is, until the Season 2 finale when he's forced to put one on to save Galadriel's (with whom he has a strong bond) life after her fight with Sauron, Middle Earth's big bad.
The Rings of Power Season 2 Elrond Actor Talks About His Big Finale Moment
While speaking exclusively to The Direct's Russ Milheim, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power actor Robert Aramayo, who portrays Elrond, shared why his moment putting on the Eleven ring was so important.
In his own words, Aramayo explained the obvious reasoning behind why Elrond finally put on the Elven ring of power while also pointing out how it parallels the fact that Elrond will eventually go on to be "known as the best healer around:"
"I mean, it is kind of obvious, isn't it? I mean, because the stakes are right there laid in front of me, you know, it's sort of do something, or she dies. His back is in the corner, and he has to act. But I think what's larger and more interesting is the power of The Rings, how they work, and thinking about Elrond's, you know, Elrond is known as the best healer around by the time we get to The Third Age."
He went on to say that he isn't sure if Elrond is aware of his strong healing abilities yet:
"And so... we've seen that the power of the Rings work on them earlier on, in the barrow-wight sequence, in terms of the healing and stuff like that. But it's interesting to think about where Elrond will go, his ability with healing and this moment. I don't know if he's aware yet of that ability, but I think it would be wrong to ignore what we know about Elrond in reference to that moment."
The conversation then turned to Elrond and Galadriel's complicated relationship, which has had a bumpy road in Season 2.
On where they might stand following the events of Season 2, Aramayo conceded that their relationship "is always going to be complicated" but that they will "eventually become the guardians of Middle Earth:
"I think that the relationship between the two of them is always going to be complicated, but they will eventually become the guardians of Middle Earth. And so it's that relationship and that love, that bond between them, that ultimately holds Middle Earth together at a certain point. I think it's going to grow and change."
"I think for a long time, they have not been equals," Aramayo explained, noting how he feels they will eventually "find equality between them:
"I think for a long time, they have not been equals. I think even in this season, we're pushed into a hierarchy that is not of our own choosing... But I think eventually we will find equality between them as well. But Elrond still has a long way to go, I think. Which is also fun and exciting too."
Benjamin Walker, who plays High King Gil-Galad, also spoke with The Direct, where he was asked about his character's future.
In the original source material, Gil-Galad eventually hands his ring off to Elrond before going off to fight at Mount Doom––a battle that ends with Gil-Galad's death.
When asked how close Gil-Galad might be mentally to feeling the need to hand his powerful ring to Elrond, the actor shared that after the King started seeing visions, "there's a sense that he is aware of his own demise over time:
"Maybe on another viewing, you can see a change in the king. There's a great line in the play Antigone that is the spring of tragedy is unsprung. I think as soon as he puts on the ring and starts to have visions, there's a sense that he is aware of his own demise over time. And the eventual bequeathal of the ring is a kind of acceptance of his own inevitable fate…"
The actor continued, explaining what makes Gil-Galad's eventual sacrifice so beautiful:
"That's what makes the sacrifice beautiful, as well as the beauty of Gil-Galad's endearing hope in spite of circumstances and how his counsel is either heeded or not. I think the burden of the responsibility of Middle Earth weighs heavily on the king, and it only grows exponentially... His strength coincides with his need to unify Middle Earth…"
Walker confirmed that he feels "when Middle Earth is full one united against evil" is the "natural time for his passing and his sacrifice:"
"And right as they peak, when Middle Earth is fully one united against evil, is the natural time for his passing and his sacrifice. And I like that about kind of how [J.R.R.] Tolkien constructs things, that if you reverse engineer some of the narratives, you can see the inevitability of it, but while you're in it, it feels so desperate. And I think whether that's a subliminal storyline, it's one that I like about it and that I adhere to."
One of the biggest parts of The Rings of Power Season 2 was the massive Siege of Eregion (which, thankfully, wasn't too dark) that played out over the course of Episodes 7 and 8.
Charlotte Brändström, the director of those two installments, revealed to The Direct that they didn't actually feel much pressure in terms of trying to live up to what the classic Peter Jackson films accomplished with their impressive action scenes:
"We've seen the movies, so I'm sure there are things that come to mind constantly, but at the same time, we really try to do our own thing based on what was written on paper. We tried to give it scope, make it cinematic, build the set so the shots are interesting, but also very dramatic, very character-driven, and personal, and try to make it different."
Alex Disenhof, the cinematographer for Season 2 Episodes 7 and 8, reinforced that sentiment, adding that they wanted to "make every single part of it the best version" it could be:
"I don't think either Charlotte or myself went into any of it thinking about that legacy of what had come before or how the show would even be perceived. Because what we're trying to do is just take what's on the page and make something that we feel proud of and that we feel is right for what the story is trying to tell. It's really about [an] enormous amount of preparation and attention to detail... and really just going through piece by piece, and trying to make every single part of it the best version of what it could be."
Brändström revealed that one unexpected challenge they face in pulling off the Siege of Eregion is how "difficult [it was] to shoot in mud:"
"That it would be so difficult to shoot in mud, in a lot of mud. And I didn't think mud could be so sticky that you actually could get stuck in it. Even sometimes the camera operator, if he was doing handheld, he was running, he couldn't even suddenly move anymore, and actors were falling into it. And it was gruesome. And on top of it. It even had more mud than we wanted because it rained all the time."
She went on to lament over how bad she felt making so many people lie in the cold mud for hours and hours over the course of weeks:
"Then I had to have this, all these poor people, because we had some dummies, but we also had a lot of real people that had to lie down in that mud for hours, nights, and nights. And I felt so bad. And I was like, looking at these people that are making them lie down in the mud for weeks on the ground, and it's actually horrible."
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 is now streaming on Amazon Studios' Prime Video.
