The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 sees Poppy 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 become separated when The Stranger creates a sandstorm to protect the group from 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 Stoors, a community of halflings who were once Harfoots but have established a solitary home instead of constantly migrating.
Daniel Weyman, Markella Kavenagh and Megan Richards return to the ensemble Rings of Power season 2 cast as The Stranger, Nori 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 Stoors, the Barrow-wights 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 is impacting their journeys, the introduction of the Stoors 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’s 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 from The Stranger, what a sequence. I’d 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 to it, really. Obviously, you’ve got the first part where they’re dragging him along and the water in the well and everything, and then the second part, when the sandstorm begins. So, that sandstorm we were up on wires, we did some wire work, which is really cool. I’d never done that before. And the stunt team were amazing. It was a real huge team effort, I think there were three people per myself and Markella pulling on the wires in the background, so that we would sort of be defying gravity. So, that was all in studio, and that was really quite amazing. And then, we had these incredible stunt doubles who did the actual sort of fling into the distance, and I remember watching that and kind of going, “I don’t understand how your ribs haven’t broken, because that just looks absolutely insane.” [Laughs] But yeah, we did the first half in Tenerife a couple of months later, and that was just a whole other experience.
Markella Kavenagh: I would back that. I do have a video of us rehearsing the wires in the studio, which was hilarious. Maybe it’ll see the light of day one day. [Chuckles] Also, you realize when you see something in the final product, on screen, when the music’s added, and it’s all very dramatic, but when you’re rehearsing it in a studio, when there is silence, except for a few fans, it’s quite humbling. It’s quite a humbling experience. [Laughs]
Nori “Feels A Lot Of Guilt” About Her Separation From The Stranger
“…it’s a horrible note for them to leave on.“
Diving into the actual emotion of that sequence, though, and what comes afterward, Markella, I’d like to start with you. Nori has been such a close friend of The Stranger, and last we talked, we discussed how her faith is being tested in him this season. How do you feel she feels about The Stranger and his struggles with his powers after their separation?
Markella Kavenagh: I really love this question, and I also think that, in the first season, so much of their dynamic of Nori trying to help him gain more control over, seemingly, his powers, his abilities, whenever he would lose control, she always felt disappointed. Not in him, but just because she knew how much he wanted to do it, and I think for the first time, she actually feels a lot of guilt in regards to him, because she was the one who encouraged him to do it, in spite of his concerns. You see already when she’s like, “Can you conjure us up some food,” and he does do it, but you can really see how scared he is and how nervous The Stranger is. I think that in this sequence, while she’s accepted the fear, and we know it’s not her fault what’s happened, but for her, she’s the one who has constantly been like, “Just push a little more. Why don’t you just step over, just break down this boundary? Let’s try this, or let’s try that, trust in yourself.” So, I do think she feels quite a bit of guilt, and she doesn’t know when she’s gonna see him again, so it’s a horrible note for them to leave on. I think that there’s a lot that also has been left unsaid about his dreams and his visions that he’s been having, as well. So, I think that is definitely occupying her mind, as well, of a vain indication as to what’s to come for him, and she’s not going to be there, and they’re not going to be able to voice their comments. What keeps their friendship so connected is they both have felt misunderstood, and have felt like they’ve not been taken seriously, but all those things that she can’t communicate with him about and speak to him about anymore, there’s a lot of unknown, and there’s fear in the unknown. So, I think it’s a mixture of all that.
Poppy Feels “Very Conflicted” About The Stranger After Their Separation
“…she doesn’t have that level of connection that Nori and The Stranger do…“
Megan, I’ll turn to you next, because, as we also discussed last time, Poppy is sort of a reluctant adventurer, her drive is always looking for a sense of belonging. Given how skeptical she’s been of The Stranger since they first found him, how do you think she’s feeling after this incident?
Megan Richards: Yeah, very conflicted. I think immediately after, there’s no time to think, because they’re immediately running away from another dangerous thing. But I mean, within the sandstorm, I don’t know if you can probably hear it, but there’s the line that Poppy says to Nori, “Why isn’t he stopping 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 that 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 that she sees the world is also slightly more matter of fact, but also the care that they have created together at the beginning, at the end of season 1 and the beginning of season 2, before they’re separated, the trust is obviously definitely there. But I think they’re still in the early stages of beginning to understand each other. But there is also still a care there because she understands the close relationship of Nori and The Stranger, so I think that is also what helps persevere her sense of drive of like, “Okay, well, let’s just keep figuring this out.”
But yeah, I think, as you said, a lot of what drives her is her sense of belonging, and that is definitely still the case for this season. I think it becomes less about who is The Stranger, and why is The Stranger here? Those aren’t really questions for her. Her own questions are really like, “Where am I, what am I doing, and how do we survive this? How do I make sure that we are in a safe place in order to continue literally living and even continuing the journey that we were on before?”
Nori & Poppy’s Introduction To The Stoors Is A “Cultural Lesson Of Their History“
Richards, In Particular, Loves The Relationship Between Poppy & Merimac
Speaking of your sense of belonging, I’ll start with Megan and then Markella for this one, you get to meet the Stoors this season, and I love that, because you get to see a very different side to the Harfoots. I’d love to hear how you think each character is feeling about getting to learn more about this tribe, especially as Poppy finds a connection with Nobody, and Nori is learning a lot more about the history from the tribe leader?
Megan Richards: What they are experiencing is a sort of cultural lesson of their history, all of the stuff that they’ve learned from their own ancestors, their immediate ancestors in the Harfoot community, is very much told within tales 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 gives, obviously, primarily to Nori that Markella can talk about. But I think even just that lovely beginning shot that introduces the Stoor village, and watching Nori and Poppy look through with just complete amazement and wonder, and also from Poppy’s side, sort of disbelief, like, “How can this be possible? This is all that I’ve been dreaming of for a very long time, is sort of one single place of home and belonging, and all of a sudden, it’s just here.”
And then to find that in another being with Merimac, or Nobody, I think that’s something that, aside from all of that stuff, that’s another thing for her to kind of even begin to come to terms with, and it’s really scary. But there’s also something that’s very lovely 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 sort of arrive there together, which is a really lovely sentiment, I think.
Markella Kavenagh: Yeah, I think for Nori, for her whole life, up until this point, she has been told by the Harfoot community that there is no other way, no other possibility, that they can live any other way than how 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 bit further out of the confines of their community, they’re always saying, “No, it’s not possible, this is the only way.”
And I think when she meets the Stoors, it’s quite liberating and also validating, because there is another way. They have found other ways. This is a community that feels familiar to her in their energy and their personality and their sense of community and protectiveness of the community. So, I think that she recognizes that, and it’s exciting more than anything that she’s able to instill some of the Harfoot morals and values into the community, and also seeing them align with the Stoors, so that it’s more exciting and another adventure for her.
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 peoples of Middle-earth to his sinister will. Building on Season One’s epic scope and ambition, 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 that is increasingly on the brink of calamity. Elves and dwarves, orcs and men, wizards and Harfoots… as friendships are strained and kingdoms begin to fracture, the forces of good will struggle ever more valiantly to hold on to what matters to them most of all… each other.
Check out our previous and upcoming Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 interviews with:
Morfydd Clark & Sam Hazeldine
Daniel Weyman, Markella Kavenagh & Megan Richards
Charlie Vickers & Charles Edwards
Benjamin Walker & Ismael Cruz Córdova
Co-Showrunner Patrick McKay & Executive Producer Lindsey Weber
Ema Horvath
Trystan Gravelle
Vic Armstrong
Barrie Gower
Markella Kavenagh & Cynthia Addai-Robinson (post-mortem)
Charlotte Brändström & Alex Disenhof
Charlie Vickers (post-mortem)
Benjamin Walker & Robert Aramayo (post-mortem)
