WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for The Lord of the Rings: The Power of the Rings Season 2!
Chaos is brewing in the man’s world The Lord of the Rings: The Power of the Ring Season 2. A prequel to JRR Tolkien’s iconic novel, Season 1 of the Prime Video series follows the island of Númenor as they try to maintain a peaceful state in their land, despite warnings from Galadriel that Sauron will return. Ring of Power The end of season one leaves Númenor in the grip of early turmoil, as King Tar-Palantir dies and Míriel is blinded during the rise of Mordor in the Southlands.
The Lord of the Rings: The Power of the Ring Season 2 begins with Miriel struggling to maintain her power in Númenor while her cousin Pharazon begins to turn the tide and sway the inhabitants in his favor. With the appearance of the Great Eagle, Miriel’s favor turns in his favor and Pharazon ascends to the throne, with Miriel going into hiding, but the former queen doesn’t give up easily as his son Caimen begins to cause more problems for the island, creating game of ThronesIt’s like a political chess game.
ensemble The Lord of the Rings: The Power of the Ring The Season 2 cast includes Tristan Greville as Pharazon, Cynthia Ade-Robinson as Miriel and Leon Wadham as Caimen, as well as Morfyd Clarke as Galadriel, Charlie Vickers as Sauron, Robert Aramayo as Elrond and Daniel Weinman as The Stranger, among many others. Season 2 raises the stakes not only for the Elves, but for the Isle of Man as well, continuing to expand Tolkien’s world in a bold and exciting way.
The latest season is just halfway through. Screen Rant Interview with Trystan Gravelle Discussion The Lord of the Rings: The Power of the Ring Season 2, Pharazôn’s rise to power in Númenor, the filming of the Great Eagle scene, his relationship with Kemen that has broken down this season, and what the power struggle between Pharazôn and Míriel will look like for the rest of the season.
Pharazôn’s ambition is toTypical ExamplesDangers in Middle-earth
“Now is the situation where opportunity meets preparation“
Screen Rant: I love this season of Pharazôn. We’ve almost seen this. game of Thrones— like the mental planning that he was doing when he was trying to take the crown from Míriel. We saw that for much of season 1, he was at least publicly supportive of her, what was that shift in dynamic like?
Trystan Gravelle: It’s really a classic example of a man’s world, and sure, you can offer support to other people, but I think sometimes we hide our ambitions as well. Some people do it better than others. I think it’s a case of opportunity meeting preparation. He’s been preparing for this his whole life, and what do you do? I think for Pharazôn, maybe he’s not averse to using underhanded means to achieve his ends. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing to do. I mean, if we look at it from a moral perspective, when it comes to playing around with war and the crown and everything, is there such a thing as morality? All is fair in love and war, and I think that’s his mentality.
Knowing Pharazôn’s entire storyline hasn’t changed Gravelle’s attitude toward Season 2
“This is a marathon, not a sprint“
So speaking of preparation, this is a show that JD Payne and Patrick McKay have obviously been planning very extensively for the future, and I’m curious how much of a clue you had that this would be your storyline this season and how that impacted your approach to season one and two?
Trystan Gravelle: Well, I read all the books, so we have a sense of where the story is going and everything, but you can’t predict the ending right out of the gate. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. And, that’s a huge privilege. Not everyone has that privilege of being able to go deep into the characters and know where the story is going, but also to be able to make it come alive. You’ve got the appendices, and now you can flesh out those skeletons and put some flesh on them. So, I think that’s a huge privilege for me as well.
I very much wanted it to be very subtle. I know we see him now as the Garry Kasparov, the Magnus Carlsen of the Kingdom. He plays chess with everybody, but he believes that this is the right path for his people and for all of Númenor. Everyone is going through this huge existential crisis, and they’re becoming very disillusioned, and it’s a generational thing. It’s not just happening now, it’s a generations thing. People are asking, “Well, why are we in this paradise? Why were we put here? Why are there still rules?” It’s a bit like Bluebeard, you know, don’t open the cabinet, don’t sail west.
I think we’ve probably had enough of being treated like second class citizens in Middle Earth. So I think it’s time to ask some really hard questions about where we go from here. I don’t think he’s a nasty guy. I’m sure everyone would hate him if pushed, but I’ve never been in charge of a kingdom or anything. [Laughs] If the path to a better life for you and your people was blocked, what would you do and how hard would you try?
Filming the Eagle King scene for season 2 was “absurd“For Greville
“I kind of chuckle at everything, don’t think about it“
Image via Prime Video
I want to talk about the grand scene where the giant eagle appears and signals that Pharazon is supposed to take over. Your storyline so far has been very focused on the interactions between the characters, and compared to season 1, this is the biggest scene that Pharazon has been involved in. I’d love to hear what it was like to shoot that day, imagining this majestic animal coming to your side and feeling the spirit of this scene.
Tristan Greville: It’s incredible. It’s brilliant. You’re living the dream. Obviously, it’s ridiculous, we’ll never find a bird that big. [Laughs] But once you get past that sense of absurdity, or me as an actor, getting there and letting your imagination run wild, it’s amazing. You’ve got everything else ready, the set is built, the people in costume are ready, everything is ready. You just have to go a little bit further and imagine this big eagle and these wind turbines and all that, and it’s incredible. You pinch yourself. It’s your job. I think sometimes, I do tend to look at things. I work it out before we start shooting every scene or the absurdity of everything. Everything we do in life is ridiculous, isn’t it? So, I laugh to myself about everything, work it out, and get on with business. It was a great day, it was great. Everybody was so professional and so pleasant to be around. The supporting cast, the crew, the designers, everybody was there. We thought, “Everybody did their best, and it’s going to be amazing.”
Kemen’s relationship with his father is all about trying to please him (and failing)
“…He’s on an interesting path indeed.“
Image via Prime Video
So in episode 5, we see Pharazôn begin to make changes to Númenor, but we also see Kemen start to become really power hungry after becoming his father’s right-hand man. I’d love to hear your exploration of that dynamic and why you think his son would go down such an evil path, while Pharazôn might not.
Trystan Gravelle: Yeah, I think he wants to prove it to his father. I think it’s hard because Pharazôn has known where he came from, what his future is, and he’s done it all. He’s been the captain of Elendiel. He’s done it all. I think in the beginning of season 1 and season 2, we see him in robes – and I love that, too, because robes can be baggy sometimes, you know what I mean? You can go to the gym and work out as much as you want, but when you put on a silk robe, it feels soft.
I think it’s great because it shows again that we men sometimes get stuck in the roles we play, and he’s loving life right now as prime minister. He obviously wants more, but there’s a little bit of – not complacency, but just a little bit, potential to be realistic. And then, of course, we see him stepping up now, and now we’re going to see him rediscover his past glory, which is going to be interesting for him.
But for Kemen, Kemen didn’t know his mother. I think, he had everything, the best start in life, but he squandered those opportunities. Obviously, this is also a question to ask Leon, what kind of person is Kemen, because each of us is different. But I think Pharazôn is a very difficult person to please, he doesn’t reveal too much. Yes, he is a chess player, so I think it might be difficult to get the recognition and love of his father, for him to say, “Well, I’m proud of everything you have done.” Maybe he has a tendency to want to yell at his father, “Look at me, acknowledge me. I have myself.” I can imagine. But yeah, it’s really an interesting path that he takes.
Míriel in “An unforgettable time“Take back power from Pharazon in Season 2
“…needs to be transformed“
Image via Prime Video
It looks like I have time for one more question, so the other thing I wanted to ask is, we’ve talked about Pharazôn being a very calculating chess player. Míriel comes in, but not in hiding per se, but she’s been out of the spotlight for a while, and I’m curious if you could give the audience a little bit of a peek into what the subsequent power struggle between you guys is like as she’s in hiding and you’re making your own plans?
Trystan Gravelle: Well, I mean, I think she’s going to have a very difficult time, isn’t she? Because it’s the exact opposite direction that I want to go. So, I think, you need to re-examine your vision and your view of the future of Númenor. It’s going to be very bumpy for her. Because, obviously, we’re going to have to work on changing her and changing the way that she sees the world, and she can’t yet have her views be absolute and have everybody agree with them. So, she’s going to have to compromise a lot of her beliefs, and I think that what she thinks is reality is going to change because of what’s going on.
about The Lord of the Rings: The Power of the Ring Season 2
In The Lord of the Rings Season 2, Sauron has returned. Banished by Galadriel, without an army or allies, the rising Dark Lord must now rebuild his power in his own wisdom and oversee the creation of the One Ring to bind all the peoples of Middle-earth to his evil will. Continuing the epic scope and ambition of the first season, the new season pulls even the most beloved and vulnerable characters into the darkness, challenging everyone to find their place in a world increasingly on the brink of disaster. Elves and dwarves, orcs and men, wizards and orcs… As friendships become strained and kingdoms begin to tear apart, the forces of good struggle ever more valiantly to hold on to what means most to them… each other.
Check out our previous and upcoming The Lord of the Rings: The Power of the Ring Season 2 Interview:
New Episodes
The Lord of the Rings: The Power of the Ring
Season 2 premieres Thursday on Prime Video.