Charlie Vickers Is Ready to Be the Lord of the Rings

Much of The Rings of Power play 2 was astir however overmuch of Middle-earth was not having a large time, unless you were named Halbrand, Annatar, oregon Sauron. The bully quality for histrion Charlie Vickers, was that helium was successful information each three, arsenic the Dark Lord made his biggest moves yet successful manipulating the instauration of the titular rings. But present play 2 is over–and our heroes are bruised, but defiant successful the look of an ascendant Sauron got astir everything helium wanted. So what’s next?

“Shadow and Flame”, the play 2 finale of Rings of Power, sees Sauron, furious astatine Celebrimbor’s defiance of his offers, slay the forge smith he’d spent all play manipulating and making his biggest moves connected the amusement truthful far. With Eregion besieged, Sauron turns Adar’s orcs against him, astir kills Galadriel if not for 1 inconvenient cliff face, and, of course, ends the play with afloat power of the Nine Rings forged for mortal humankind. And with Ar-Pharazôn implicit successful Númenor seeing visions of Halbrand successful the palantir, anyone acquainted with however Tolkien’s pre-Lord of the Rings worldbuilding goes knows that Morgoth’s erstwhile protégé is lone conscionable getting started.

“I couldn’t prime one, there’s excessively much,” Vickers precocious told io9 implicit Zoom of what he’s astir looking guardant to arsenic Sauron truly comes into his ain going forward. “I genuinely don’t cognize what is to come, but determination are things that we cognize successful this clip play person to happen. The communicative that the amusement is going to tell, the downfall of Númenor, the instauration of the One Ring, the conflict of the Last Alliance, each of those things. It’s similar the decease of Celebrimbor and the crafting of the rings–the breathtaking happening is that the crafting of the rings is conscionable the archetypal of galore things that I person successful my caput from speechmaking the books… I’m truthful excited to beryllium a portion of however these remaining stories travel to life.”

In a fitting climax astatine this constituent of Rings of Power‘s story, Vickers’ Sauron–the disguise of Annatar genuinely fallen astatine this point–spends overmuch of his clip successful the play 2 finale battling, with barbs and blades alike, his 2 biggest country partners connected the bid truthful far: Charles Edwards, bowing retired successful defiance arsenic Celebrimbor, and Morfydd Clark arsenic Galadriel, arsenic she finds herself face-to-face with the Deceiver erstwhile more. Locking swords with Galadriel for power of the Nine required Vickers to think, and act, successful a mode he’s not truly had to arsenic Sauron up to this constituent successful the series.

“For maine it was each astir economy. It was like, helium has to combat successful an economical mode wherever it required, peculiarly aboriginal connected successful the fight, the astir efficiency” Vickers said of processing Sauron’s combat benignant for duelling with Galadriel. “That was portion of my improvement of his movement: determination was thing extraneous. And with fighting, it was like… helium is probably, successful hand-to-hand combat, the astir almighty idiosyncratic successful Middle-earth. So what tin amusement that? For maine that is similar there’s thing fancy, it’s however tin I get my volition done implicit and implicit again, and however existent radical fight. You spot passim that combat country helium underestimates [Galdriel], and she’s stronger, truthful he’s starting to person to usage much and much effort to decorativeness her off.”

Charlie Vickers arsenic Sauron

But for Vickers, it was 1 past occurrence with Edwards carried a peculiar resonance much than thing other successful the finale: galore of his scenes successful Eregion with the histrion this play had been filmed successful chronological order, truthful getting to the infinitesimal wherever Sauron is brutally torturing the smith to death carried an other weight. “I deliberation it was complex, due to the fact that we were said that w were coming to the extremity of this truly cool, astonishing accidental that we’d had arsenic performers,” Vickers said of filming Celebrimbor’s last moments. “But past I was besides truly excited, due to the fact that these were the scenes that we were truly looking guardant to.”

“It’s benignant of everything that pb to these scenes, you know? [Celebrimbor] realizes that Eregion is falling, and Sauron revealed the humor instrumentality to him, and past of course, Celebrimbor’s death. That was a country that has imagery that is truly drawn from Tolkien’s works, and we were truthful excited erstwhile we got to spot that was happening,” Vickers continued. “That was a large day, and it was really… a truly beauteous mode to end. It makes maine dependable precise sadistic erstwhile I accidental that,” the histrion joked. “But you know, from a show perspective!”

Celebrimbor mightiness travel to his extremity a pincushion of arrows and raised up connected a spear by Sauron, but helium gets 1 last enactment of defiance against his manipulator, cursing him that the rings he’d manipulated Celebrimbor into crafting volition yet beryllium his doom–the remark that sends Sauron into the petty rage that yet strikes Celebrimbor down, moments aft helium was inactive trying to crook him to his side. “I deliberation there’s astir apt a spot of self-reflection [coming retired of play 2],” Vickers said of conscionable however overmuch Celebrimbor’s last words really got to Sauron. “Celebrimbor rather intelligibly says to him, ‘You are the Lord of the Rings, and they’re controlling you,’ but Sauron, due to the fact that he’s each astir control, and I deliberation helium genuinely believes that these rings are going to bash bully for Middle-earth, I deliberation Celebrimbor makes him recognize that he’s descended into madness, and darkness, and that this tendency for power has go thing acold much horrific.

“And that causes Sauron a batch of sadness, and anger, and rage, really. When [the episode] leaves connected him with Fëanor’s hammer, he’s reasoning astir everything that had travel earlier and everuthing that is to come. That’s wherefore their narration was truthful good, due to the fact that it’s not conscionable similar puppet and puppet master. It works some ways.”

Rings of Power play 2 is present streaming connected Prime Video.

Want much io9 news? Check retired erstwhile to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s adjacent for the DC Universe connected movie and TV, and everything you request to cognize astir the aboriginal of Doctor Who.