Why Rings of Power Wanted to Recreate an Iconic Return of the King Moment

A batch of the Rings of Power season 2 finale was astir yet pushing the bid person and person to acquainted events and iconography from The Lord of the Rings itself. Characters came into their acquainted selves, names were invoked… and definite objects made their debut connected the series. One successful particular, apparently, made its debut with a wide homage to Peter Jackson’s movie trilogy.

That moment, of course, came successful the finale’s Númenor plotline, arsenic Elendil (Lloyd Owen) and Míriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) prepared to fly the superior aft Ar-Pharazôn staged a subject coup, rounding up Míriel’s spiritual supporters. Preparing to enactment down and look her governmental rival, Míriel begged for Elendil to reclaim the noble title helium had eschewed successful his vocation starring her seaguard, and offered him a acquisition to instrumentality retired of the metropolis successful the signifier of a sword.

Not just any sword, of course, arsenic she names it: it’s Narsil, the one-day-legendary leaf that King Elendil volition usage arsenic helium leads the Last Alliance into conflict against Sauron astatine the climax of the Second Age. The 1 that, erstwhile broken, volition yet beryllium reforged arsenic Andúril and reclaimed by his descendant Aragorn to reconstruct the royal bloodline of the Kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor. It’s a potent moment, the archetypal clip we’ve seen Narsil connected the series, and according to Addai-Robinson, she and her country spouse Owen specifically wanted to telephone backmost to the infinitesimal Aragorn unsheathes Andúril for the archetypal clip successful Peter Jackson’s Return of the King to people its importance.

“We decidedly had the benignant of dual infinitesimal of like.. ‘Okay, we’ve got to marque definite that this country carries successful a symbolic way,'” Addai-Robinson precocious told io9 astatine a property junket for Rings of Power‘s sophomore play finale. “And past we were similar ‘Oh my god, Narsil!‘ Lloyd was watching the Viggo Mortensen clip from the movie truthful helium could spot however to flip the sword astir [in a akin way].”

But for Addai-Robinson, neither she nor Míriel could clasp a peculiar reverence for the limb successful that moment: due to the fact that the country inactive had to resonate for an assemblage that mightiness not cognize Narsil’s eventual value successful Elendil’s hands. “What was important for maine is that it holds this significance—it’s decidedly an Easter egg, possibly it’s adjacent much than an Easter egg,” the histrion continued. “But I said specifically [on the day], my ma besides needs to ticker this country and she knows thing of Narsil, she inactive needs to recognize symbolically what this infinitesimal is about.”

“It’s a infinitesimal of value and allure, but successful that infinitesimal we don’t needfully know—Míriel doesn’t know, Elendil doesn’t know, however that sword is going to play down the line. It truly is much astir giving this consciousness of responsibility, and truly saying [to Elendil] ‘You’re present acceptable to instrumentality connected this work and fundamentally hole for a revolution.'”

In the infinitesimal for Míriel, passing implicit the sword represents her knowing that she and her closest confidant successful the superior are astir to portion ways—for a precise agelong time, possibly adjacent for good, for those viewers acquainted with Númenor’s fate. “As overmuch arsenic it pains her to portion ways, I thought that it was precise existent to life, to me,” Addai-Robinson concluded. “Sometimes you person radical successful your beingness wherever you cognize it’s a indispensable happening to spell connected your abstracted paths and person the condemnation to bash that. And it tin beryllium sad, but you tin inactive recognize that it has to beryllium this way, with nary little emotion successful your heart. She knows she has to stay. But I’m hopeful that she won’t conscionable wither distant successful a prison. I deliberation there’s decidedly much to their story.”

Season 2 of Rings of Power is present streaming connected Amazon Prime Video.

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