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 go 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 yr, 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 Inventive 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 street, 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 do not 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 cute 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 strategy 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 far 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 the whole lot up. There’s so many various worlds, and there’s a lot to arrange.

We additionally did lots of analysis, cinematically and visually, to see what sort of look we might 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 attainable the weather in nature, just like the mud, wind, rain, mud. I wished the whole lot to be very actual. So the movies that we checked out after we had been prepping had been “Saving Personal Ryan” and “The Northman.” We love the battles in “The Northman,” and likewise the very lengthy oners. In Episode 8, I’ve large motion scene that I did in a single shot with one digicam. 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 completed.

What else are you able to tease about this large 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 lots of very robust, intimate and emotional character moments inside these episodes. However the battle retains happening.

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, so 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 option 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 lots of nuances to them.

How a lot time passes between the opening scene with Sauron’s authentic kind and after 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’s 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 street.

To me, he’s not essentially a 100% unhealthy character, as a result of, as Tolkien mentioned, nothing is evil from the start. To start with, we didn’t need Sauron to be 100% evil. So when he meets the previous man on the street and appears again on the darkish clouds over the bushes and he makes the selection to go along with the individuals onto the ship, he nonetheless doesn’t know what he’s going to be as much as. He hasn’t made a selection of changing into what he’s going to develop 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 appropriate 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 choose. He in all probability at all times had this inside him, however we had lots 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 desires to do good. He’s not there to destroy it. Even Adar desires to discover a dwelling for his youngsters. He desires a house; they’re refugees, in a method. Sauron desires to assist everyone, however he desires to try this with the last word energy and the ring. He’s stepping into everyone’s head and manipulating everyone. This season is absolutely 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 robust scene between the 2 of them in Episode 8, a faceoff between them. It’s going to be a unbelievable scene. I typically examine 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 thought of that, as a result of he wrote this in all probability in the course of the First World Conflict. What’s nice about his tales is that they’re all so related to at this time. 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 troublesome was it to shoot all of the orcs within the opening sequence?

I wanted 200 orcs as extras. This yr, 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 attainable. Every prosthetic took hours to placed on every additional. You think about within the morning, when you have got everyone arriving, you don’t have 1,000 make-up individuals, so we had been getting them sporadically on set. I’d 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 lots of time in comparison with different episodes, however on the identical time we had been at all times pressed for time due to all of the logistics. It’s an amazing inventive present, and there’s a lot of inventive freedom, however there it’s very technical, so it must be extraordinarily well-planned out. You’ll be able to’t simply wing it. That’s not possible.

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

There’s far more at stake. There’s extra hazard, and we are able to now get into the characters, so that they’re gripping. It’s getting stronger and stronger, and I believe it should finish with a bang on the very finish.

This interview has been edited and condensed.