Everybody makes mistakes. But in the first season of The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power, Galadriel made a pretty significant one. Right under her nose, she failed to realise that the seemingly benevolent Halbrand was, in fact, the soon-to-be Dark Lord Sauron, pulling strings and creating rings left, right, and centre. Played here by Saint Maud’s Morfydd Clark, the Second Age of Middle-earth finds the ethereal Elf in a more battle-ready form – and after her monumental miscalculation last time around, she’ll be donning her armour and heading back into the fray with even more fervour in Season 2.
“She really messed up so badly,” Clark tells Empire in our world-exclusive Rings Of Power Season 2 issue. “There’s a desperation to redeem herself, and through redeeming herself protect Middle-earth, which is in more danger than it ever has been.” Safe to say, the Galadriel-Sauron beef just got personal. “Now she’s seen the whites of the eyes of the person who’s bringing it all down, she’s all revved up,” Clark promises. As well as a new resolve, the other thing Galadriel possesses in Season 2 is Nenya, one of the three Elven rings of power; what exactly that means for her is something audiences will get to explore as the show continues. “Even Sauron doesn’t know exactly what they’ll do,” says Clark of the enchanted accessory. “But it’s an extra-weird connection between Galadriel and the baddest man in Middle-earth.”
Get ready, then, for Galadriel to step up in Season 2 – along with every other facet of The Rings Of Power. “The scope is just going to become bigger and bigger with every season,” Clark teases. “It’s constantly on this big trajectory to massiveness.” Sauron should be quaking in his boots.
Read Empire’s full The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power Season 2 feature – going on set, and speaking to showrunners J.D. Payne and and Patrick McKay; stars Charlie Vickers, Morfydd Clark, Sophia Nomvete, and Daniel Weyman; director Charlotte Brändström, and more – in the August 2024 issue, on sale Thursday 4 July. Pre-order a copy here – choose the Galadriel cover, or the Sauron cover. The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power Season 2 comes to Prime Video from 29 August.