Warning: Spoilers ahead for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2!
Nori and Poppy’s adventure led to a surprising turn of events The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2. Introduced in season 1 of the JRR Tolkien prequel show as part of the migrating Harfoot clan, Nori and Poppy’s lives are changed forever with the sudden arrival of the Stranger, a man who mysteriously falls from the sky and has no Memories of who he is. The first season chronicles Nori and Poppy’s travels with the stranger in the hopes of discovering his identity and how to get a handle on his magical abilities.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 sees Papi rejoin Nori and the Stranger on their journey to Rhûn to try and learn more about the latter’s identity. Along the way, though, they get separated when the stranger creates a sandstorm to protect the group of riders sent by the Dark Wizard to capture them, which leads to Poppy and Nori being swept away. Nori and Poppy’s journey brings them to the Stewers, a community of halflings who were once Harfoots but have established a solitary home instead of constantly migrating.
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Daniel Weyman, Markella Kavenagh and Megan Richards return to the ensemble Rings of power Season 2 cast as the Stranger, Norrie and Poppy alongside Morfydd Clark, Sam Hazeldine, Robert Aramayo, Owain Arthur, Maxim Baldry, Charles Edwards, Charlie Vickers, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Sophia Nomvete and Benjamin Walker. Expanding the world to include more of Tolkien’s vast lore and people, including the Stewards, the Barrow-wits and Sauron’s elven form of Annatar, the show remains as gripping as ever.
With the new season drawing nearer to an end, Screen Rant Interviewed Markella Kavenagh and Megan Richards to discuss The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2, Nori and Poppy’s separation from the Stranger and how it impacts their journey, the introduction of the Stewards and what it means to the duo’s Harfoot beliefs, and what to expect from the final episodes of the season.
Filming Season 2’s sandstorm sequence was a unique new challenge for the duo
“It is quite a humbling experience.”
Screen Rant: So, diving right into the story, I didn’t get to talk about it last time with you two, but the initial separation of the stranger, what a sequence. I would love to hear what it was like actually filming that sequence.
Megan Richards: Yeah, I mean, wow. So, that sequence was actually filmed in two separate months, because there are two parts, really. So, you have the first part where they drag him along and the water in the well and everything, and then the second part, when the sandstorm starts. So, that Sandstorm we are up on wires, we have some wire work, which is really cool. I’d never done that before. And the stunt team was amazing. It was a real huge team effort, I think there were three people each and Markela pulling on the wires in the background, so we would be defying gravity. So, it was all in the studio, and it was really quite amazing. And then we have these incredible stunt doubles that actually kind of throw into the distance, and I remember seeing that and I don’t understand how your ribs didn’t break because it looks absolutely crazy.” [Laughs] But yeah, we did the first half in Tenerife a couple of months later and it was just a completely different experience.
Markella Kavenagh: I would support that. I have a video of us rehearsing the wires in the studio, which was hilarious. Maybe it will see the light of day one day. [Chuckles] Also, you realize when you see something in the final product, on screen, when the music is added, and it’s all very dramatic, but when you rehearse it in a studio, when there’s silence, except for some fans, it’s Quite humbling. It is quite a humbling experience. [Laughs]
silly”Feels a lot of guilt“About her separation from the stranger
“… It’s a terrible note for them to leave on.”
Diving into the actual emotion of the sequence, though, and what comes next, Markella, I’d like to start with you. Nori was such a close friend of The Stranger, and last we spoke, we discussed how her faith in him has been tested this season. How do you feel about the stranger and his struggles with his powers after their separation?
Markella Kavenagh: I really love that question, and I also think that in the first season, so much of their dynamic of Nori trying to help him get more control over, seemingly, his powers, his abilities, when he would lose control, She always felt disappointed. Not in him, but because she knew how much he wanted to do it, and I think for the first time, she really feels a lot of guilt towards him, because she was the one who encouraged him to do it, in spite of his worries. You can already see when she is like “can you show us food”, and he does it, but you can really see how scared he is and how nervous the stranger is. I mean in that sequence, while she accepted the fear, and we know it’s not her fault what happened, but to her she’s the one who was constantly like “stay home just a little longer. Why don’t you just meet So. Just break down the boundary? So, I think she feels quite a bit of guilt, and she doesn’t know when she’ll see him again, so it’s a terrible note for them to leave on Also a lot that was not said about his Dreams and his visions that he also has. I think that this also takes her mind of what will happen to him, and she will not be there, and they will not be able to say their friendship So connected is that they both felt misunderstood, and felt like they weren’t taken seriously, but all the things that she can’t communicate with him about and talk to him about anymore, it’s a lot of unknowns, and it’s Fear in the unknown. So, I think it’s a mixture of all that.
I feelVery conflicted“About the strangers after their separation
“She doesn’t have the level of connection that Nori and the stranger do…”
Megan, I will turn to you next because, as we also discussed last time, Pappy is kind of a reluctant adventurer, her drive is always looking for a sense of belonging. Given how skeptical she was of the stranger since they first found him, how do you think she feels after the incident?
Megan Richards: Yes, very conflicted. I think right after that, there is no time to think, because they are running away from another dangerous thing. But I mean, in the sandstorm, I don’t know if you can hear it, but there’s the line that Poppy says to Nori, “Why doesn’t he stop it?” And I think for Poppy, she’s like, “It’s simple, he created it, surely he can end this. Why?” She doesn’t understand, she doesn’t have the level of connection that Nori and the stranger do, and so there’s only so much that you can observe from an outside point of view when you’re living it in real time.
And I think the way she sees the world is also a little more matter of fact, but also the concern that they created together at the beginning, at the end of season 1 and the beginning of season 2, before they separated , the trust is definitely there. But I think they are still in the early stages of beginning to understand each other. But there’s also still a concern there because she understands the close relationship between Nori and the stranger, so I think that’s also what helps perpetuate her sense of drive like, “Okay, well, let’s just keep figuring this out.”
But yeah, I think, like you said, a lot of what drives her is her sense of belonging, and that’s definitely still the case for this season. I think it becomes less about who is the stranger, and what is the stranger here? These are not really questions for you. Her own questions are really like, “Where am I, what am I doing, and how do we survive? How do we make sure we’re in a safe place to continue literally living and even continue the journey we’ve been on.” ?”
Nori & Poppy’s introduction to the Stores is a “Cultural lesson from their history”
Richards, in particular, loves the relationship between Poppy and Merrimack
Speaking of your sense of belonging, I’ll start with Megan and then Markella for this one, you get to meet the Storrs this season, and I love that, because you get to see a very different side of the Harfoots. I would like to hear how you think each character has a lot to learn about the tribe, especially how Mon finds a connection with nobody, and Norrie is learning a lot more about the history of the tribe leader?
Megan Richards: What they’re experiencing is a sort of cultural lesson from their history, all the stuff that they’ve learned from their own ancestors, their immediate ancestors in the Harfoot community, is very much told in stories or stories or songs, whereas This feels like it’s coming from a more guttural place. It’s a different type of education that Goons provides, of course, primarily to Nori that Markella can talk about. But I think even just that lovely opening shot that introduces the store village, and watching Nori and Poppy look through just in complete amazement and wonder, and also on Poppy’s part, kind of disbelief, like, “How could this be possible? Everything I’ve been dreaming of for a long time is sort of one place of home and belonging, and suddenly it’s just here.”
And then to find that in another being with Merrimack, or nobody, I think that’s something that, aside from all that stuff, that’s another thing for you to even begin to come to terms with, and it’s really scary. But there is also something very beautiful about it. I think what’s nice about their relationship, and the point they get to in episode 6, is that it’s very mutual, and they get there together, which is a really nice sentiment, I think.
Markella Kavenagh: Yeah, I think for Nori, for her whole life, up to this point, she’s been told by the Harfoot community that there’s no other way, no other possibility, that they can live any other way than they are. Now. So, every time she goes to ask a question or goes to challenge someone, or asks if they can venture a little beyond the confines of their community, they always say, “No, it’s not possible, that’s the only way.” .”
And I think when she meets the Storrs, it’s quite liberating and also validating, because there’s another way. They found other ways. This is a community that feels familiar to you in their energy and their personality and their sense of community and protectiveness of the community. I think she recognizes that, and it’s more interesting that she’s able to instill some of the Harfoot morals and values ​​into the community, and also see them join the stuers, so it’s more exciting and different. Adventure for you. .
About The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2
In Season Two of The Rings of Power, Sauron has returned. Cast out by Galadriel, without army or ally, the rising Dark Lord must now rely on his own cunning to rebuild his strength and oversee the creation of the Rings of Power, which will allow him to bind all the nations of Middle-earth to his Evil will. Building on the epic scope and ambition of Season One, the new season plunges even its most beloved and vulnerable characters into a rising tide of darkness, challenging each to find their place in a world increasingly on the brink of Disaster. Elves and dwarves, orcs and men, wizards and harefoots… As friendships are strained and kingdoms begin to crumble, the forces of good will fight ever more valiantly to hold on to what matters to them most of all… each other.
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