SPOILER ALERT: This text accommodates spoilers for the primary three episodes of Season 2 of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Energy,” now streaming on Prime Video.

Seize your rings and your fellowship, as a result of it’s time to move again to Center-earth with “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Energy” Season 2.

Charlotte Brändström, the Swedish movie and TV director who helmed standout Season 1 episodes “Udûn” and “The Eye,” returns for twice as many outings this 12 months, together with Episodes 1, 3, 7 and eight of Season 2. Between engaged on the seasons of the “Lord of the Rings” prequel, Brändström additionally ventured into the violent worlds of “John Wick,” with the Peacock miniseries “The Continental,” and feudal Japan, by way of FX’s Emmys favourite “Shōgun.” Every collection showcased her expertise for crafting action-packed set items, along with her “Shōgun” episode “Tomorrow Is Tomorrow” that includes a memorable ship battle sequence.

In Season 1, Brändström helped create the notorious Mount Doom of Mordor within the fiery episode “Udûn,” which nabbed a Artistic Arts Emmy nom for its sound modifying. That episode was filled with orc battles, the volcanic eruption of Mount Doom and its ash-filled aftermath. Now, she ramps up the Center-earth insanity with two episodes within the three-part premiere and the ultimate two episodes of the season — which embrace an enormous, multi-part battle.

Season 2 begins off by revealing Sauron’s origins hundreds of years in the past in a prologue. In a shock twist, Jack Lowden (“Sluggish Horses”) performs an earlier type of the evil elf who will get murdered by a pack of orcs. Sauron is later reborn out of some evil-looking black goo, and he takes the acquainted type of star Charlie Vickers. We see this early Sauron get taken in and clothed by a form stranger on the highway, however Sauron betrays the person and doesn’t save him once they get swept away by a flood. The premiere then connects to Season 1 when Sauron, disguised as Halbrand, meet Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) after being shipwrecked and drifting within the water on a raft.

After leaping again to the primary story, Galadriel reveals the reality about Sauron’s identification and the origins of the rings crafted by Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards). She, Elrond (Robert Aramayo) and Gil-galad (Benjamin Walker) really feel the mysterious, darkish pull of the rings — however they don’t know what’s in retailer.

In the meantime, Sauron is being held captive by Adar, who’s now performed by Sam Hazeldine after Joseph Mawle originated the position in Season 1, and his military of orcs in Mordor. Sauron is aware of he can manipulate the elves, however he additionally pledges his help (for now) to Adar. Utilizing some magic trickery, Sauron instructions a wolf to assault his jailer, and he’s in a position to escape free on horseback.

After having put followers in a theory-frenzy over his true identification, the magical Stranger (Daniel Weyman) is again, and he has a bit extra management over his powers. He’s touring by the deserts of Rhûn with lovable harfoot Nori (Markella Kavenagh). They’re later joined by Nori’s buddy Poppy (Megan Richards), however that will not be the one particular person following them. Lastly, the premiere episode ends on a cliffhanger as Sauron returns to satisfy with Celebrimbor at his forge the place he crafted the primary three rings.

With Selection, Brändström discusses directing 200 orcs within the premiere, crafting Sauron’s prologue and why Celebrimbor and his rings are like J. Robert Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb.

What did you study from directing your two episodes final season, and the way did they affet your method to your 4 new episodes?

The episodes I did final season had been like a premise of what I did this season, as a result of it arrange this darker tone and edgier storytelling. On this one, we go proper into it. You go way more into the characters. It will get stronger as a result of it will get extra dramatic and there’s extra battle. The scope continues to be there, it’s nonetheless cinematic and we’ve nonetheless labored on visuals, however we’re in a position to do much less exposition. It’s much less presentational. We needed to take that point in in Season 1 in an effort to set every thing up. There’s so many various worlds, and there’s a lot to arrange.

We additionally did a whole lot of analysis, cinematically and visually, to see what sort of look we’d give the second season. We actually wished to discover a darker undertone this time. I mentioned it in Swedish as soon as to Swedes and so they translated it — the entire world has translated it as “being extra soiled.” That was not fairly the phrase I meant! However I did imply that I wished to be extra genuine, extra edgy, extra harmful. I additionally wished to make use of as a lot as potential the weather in nature, just like the mud, wind, rain, mud. I wished every thing to be very actual. So the movies that we checked out once we had been prepping had been “Saving Non-public Ryan” and “The Northman.” We love the battles in “The Northman,” and in addition the very lengthy oners. In Episode 8, I’ve large motion scene that I did in a single shot with one digital camera. We rehearsed it a lot. We shot it very, in a short time and everyone was shocked — it took two hours to do. I completed at midday that day; that they had deliberate all day. We did, like, 5 takes and it was executed.

What else are you able to tease about this huge battle?

The final three episodes, 6, 7 and eight, are an enormous battle. It’s going to go on over three episodes. It’s not solely motion, as a result of it’s going to be intercut with a whole lot of very sturdy, intimate and emotional character moments inside these episodes. However the battle retains occurring.

The season stars by displaying Sauron’s origins way back, and his transformation into Halbrand and the character we all know now. How did you conceptualize that opening?

That was meant to be in Episode 6 within the first season. Then there was no room, in order that they determined to maintain it for this season. They opened the season with this look again, and I believe it’s a really sensible approach to get into Sauron’s character. As a result of what the showrunners are actually attempting to point out is that everyone is an actual character. The evil characters aren’t simply black; they’ve a whole lot of nuances to them.

How a lot time passes between the opening scene with Sauron’s authentic type and once we later see him, disguised as Halbrand, assembly Galadriel in Season 1?

Within the second he meets Galadriel and the second when he comes again and he’s reborn that’s hundreds of years. First there may be the primary Sauron — that’s the very first scene hundreds of years earlier than. He takes this new form into this blob and this creature, that’s hundreds of years earlier than. Then when he turns into Halbrand and meets Galadriel — when he comes again it’s like six months later after he has garments on, and meets the previous man on the highway.

To me, he’s not essentially a 100% unhealthy character, as a result of, as Tolkien mentioned, nothing is evil from the start. At first, we didn’t need Sauron to be 100% evil. So when he meets the previous man on the highway and appears again on the darkish clouds over the timber and he makes the selection to go together with the folks onto the ship, he nonetheless doesn’t know what he’s going to be as much as. He hasn’t made a selection of turning into what he’s going to turn into. I believe the selection occurs when the ocean monster assaults the ship, it begins sinking and the previous man is asking him to assist him, and he doesn’t.

I interpreted that scene as him plotting and ready for the precise second to strike, however was there part of Sauron which will have been good?

No, we wished it to be a second when he was at a crossroads; he was attempting to select. He most likely all the time had this inside him, however we had a whole lot of discussions with showrunners about who he was on the very starting. He nonetheless says, “I need to heal Center-earth.” So he thinks he needs to do good. He’s not there to destroy it. Even Adar needs to discover a house for his kids. He needs a house; they’re refugees, in a means. Sauron needs to assist everyone, however he needs to do this with the last word energy and the ring. He’s moving into everyone’s head and manipulating everyone. This season is actually about how Sauron goes to perform what he’s going to do. He’s beginning off with nothing, he’s by himself, no military. He’s on their own. How is he going to mainly conquer Center-earth and still have Celebrimbor make the ring for him?

Sauron and Celebrimbor have a really tense assembly within the premiere episodes, who has the higher hand between the 2 of them?

Celebrimbor believes on a regular basis he has the higher hand. He’s being tricked, and Sauron will get into his head. He has him think about issues, and controls him on a regular basis. There’s a very sturdy scene between the 2 of them in Episode 8, a faceoff between them. It’s going to be a unbelievable scene. I generally evaluate Celebrimbor to Oppenheimer. I imply, what did Oppenheimer learn about what he was doing, proper? He was nonetheless making [the atomic bomb] — he didn’t need it to finish the best way it ended.

I don’t assume Tolkien essentially considered that, as a result of he wrote this most likely through the First World Battle. What’s nice about his tales is that they’re all so related to immediately. They had been related as a result of they’re about energy and corruption. The One Ring is the last word weapon that may destroy Center-earth and the world.

How tough was it to shoot all of the orcs within the opening sequence?

I wanted 200 orcs as extras. This 12 months, we wished to make use of extra prosthetics and particular results, however not visible results, on the orcs. We wished them to be as actual as potential. Every prosthetic took hours to placed on every additional. You think about within the morning, when you’ve got everyone arriving, you don’t have 1,000 make-up folks, so we had been getting them sporadically on set. I might begin my day with 5 orcs. Then I’ve 10, then 20, then 50, then 200 for 3 hours after which I needed to ship them again once more. I knew I solely had three hours to perform the photographs that had lots of people. We really feel like we had a whole lot of time in comparison with different episodes, however on the similar time we had been all the time pressed for time due to all of the logistics. It’s an important artistic present, and there’s a lot of artistic freedom, however there it’s very technical, so it must be extraordinarily well-planned out. You possibly can’t simply wing it. That’s unimaginable.

Lastly, what are you able to tease about the place the remainder of the season is headed?

All of it revolves round Sauron. He and Celebrimbor have an unimaginable relationship, as a result of it’s actually how Sauron methods Celebrimbor into creating these very highly effective weapons that might destroy Center-earth. However on the similar time, Sauron needs to heal it. He thinks he’s doing the nice factor in his means. Then there’s Sauron and Adar. Are they going to attempt to destroy one another? Then we now have Elrond and Galadriel, who’re superb collectively. Elrond goes to have an episode on his personal in Episode 7. It actually depends on him. Then we’ve acquired the Númenóreans and all of the politics and the Stranger and the hobbits.

There’s way more at stake. There may be extra hazard, and we will now get into the characters, in order that they’re gripping. It’s getting stronger and stronger, and I believe it’ll finish with a bang on the very finish.

This interview has been edited and condensed.