Fans ofThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ringwill remember an iconic sequence where Elrond (Hugo Weaving) urges Isildur (Harry Sinclair) to toss the One Ring into the fires of Mount Doom, only for the Prince to opt to keep it for himself instead. Now withThe Lord of the Rings: The Rings of PowerSeason 2 streaming on Prime Video, it’s becoming clear that that was not the first time Elrond tried to do something about Sauron’s rise to power through the use of jewellery.
In a new interview with Collider’sCarly Lane,actorRobert Aramayo, who plays a young Elrond, shared where his character’s mistrust ofthe Elven ringsstems from. As Aramayo explained, once Elrond began to piece togetherSauron’s (Charlie Vickers) deceptionat the end of Season 1, his mistrust of the rings too began to grow:
“He doesn’t have all the pieces either at that moment, at the end of the first season. He doesn’t know all the pieces or understand exactly what’s going on, and he hasn’t made all the jumps to the Dark Lord. He still doesn’t really know what is going on, which is what leads to the big, dramatic introduction in the second season.He definitely is of the mindset that if Sauron has been anywhere near anything that we’ve created, then it’s tarnished and evil.He doesn’t underestimate the manipulative ability, the power that Sauron has. He just does not underestimate it. So, that leads him to a series of choices that are uncomfortable for him to make.”
Elrond Is Conflicted Because of His Friendship With Galadriel
Part of Elrond’s conflict, Aramayo continued, stems from hisclose friendship with Galadriel (Morfydd Clark). The two start Season 2 at odds, which leads to inner turmoil for Elrond. As Aramayo explains:
“He’s in conflict because of how much he cares for her. What he’s in conflict about is that she is for him. Whilst he doesn’t underestimate Sauron’s power, he also doesn’t underestimate Galadriel either. He understands her worth, her value, andherinstinct and power. He loves her, as well. So, he’s got conflict not with her decision-making, perhaps, although that is definitely true.He’s also got conflict with the fact that he cares so much about her. So he’s like, “How could she do this?How could we be here from a decision that you’ve made? What does that mean? Do I trust it? And if I don’t trust it, what does that mean about so many other things?”
I feel like Elrond often has these people, these Elves or Dwarves or whoever, in his life, who are central for him, and he builds a foundation on top of them—Gil-galad, Galadriel, Durin. These relationships are so important to him. So,when it gets so complex with Galadriel, it’s so challenging because of how he feels about her.”
The first three episodes ofThe Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Powerare streaming on Prime Video now. Stay tuned to Collider for more on Season 2.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Epic drama set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth.
Watch on Prime Video
