As alliances shift in Númenor, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 will see some families split apart between those faithful to the Valar and those wanting changes. The island of Men was introduced in season 1 of the Prime Video prequel to J.R.R. Tolkien’s iconic novel as a largely peaceful region, though some tension brewing between them and the Elves as they sought to establish themselves as an independent power. Númenor serves as the home for many of Rings of Power‘s human characters, including Queen Míriel, her cousin and advisor Pharazôn, heroic sailor Elendil and his children, aspiring warrior Isildur and ambitious architect Eärien.

With The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2, Elendil and Eärien find themselves at odds with one another as they both believe Isildur to be dead amid the sudden rise of Mordor in the Southlands. While the father continues to be a close advisor to Míriel after she became blind in the Southlands exhibition, the daughter begins putting her support behind Pharazôn as he rises to power and overthrows his cousin. Though Isildur is alive and fighting to get back home, the rising tension in Númenor is building toward his home descending further into chaos.

The ensemble Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 cast sees the returns of Ema Horvath as Eärien, Lloyd Owen as Elendil, Maxim Baldry as Isildur, Trystan Gravelle as Pharazôn, and Cynthia Addai-Robinson as Míriel, as well as Galadriel’s Morfydd Clark, Sauron’s Charlie Vickers, Robert Aramayo’s Elrond and The Strangers’s Daniel Weyman, among many others. Netting a “Certified Fresh” 83% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, season 2 is keeping the Lord of the Rings franchise alive and well with its emotional storytelling and massive worldbuilding.

With the season just over halfway through, Screen Rant interviewed Ema Horvath for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2, why Eärien has begun turning toward Pharazôn over her father, working closely with Owen to explore their story off-screen, and the physical toll the season took both on her and her character.

Getting Into The “Nitty-Gritty” Of Eärien’s Arc Was “Almost A Relief” For Horvath

“I got really excited“

Image via Prime Video

Screen Rant: I have just loved this show from the start and The Rings of Power season 2 is really just raising that bar even higher. I’d love to hear what your first reaction was when you saw the scripts for season 2 and when you saw what Eärien’s arc would be this season.

Ema Horvath: I got really excited. I was hired five years ago, I kind of knew where the character was going, and it was kind of almost a relief to finally be getting into the nitty-gritty of where she was headed. I probably overdid it. [Laughs] Yeah, I was so excited. From the very beginning, I knew that the costumes were going to be more luxurious. It was very important to me that the person inside them be dying.

However, we had this beautiful moment — actually, well, not beautiful moment — mid-shooting, hair and makeup found this wiry, single gray hair growing out of my head over the course of shooting and was like, “Can we pull it?” [Laughs] Yeah. I was so excited, but it was a very grueling shoot. For that reason, I knew that making her actions this season believable would require just a fair amount of — how do I say this in an articulate way? I just knew it would be difficult, and I was really excited to work with Lloyd on some of those scenes to make them feel believable that this family could be so torn apart.

Eärien’s Season 2 Story Provided Some Interesting Parallels For Horvath

“It’s funny how personal life sometimes dovetails with work“

I’d love to hear you talk about wanting to make sure that her actions this season are really believable. Obviously, we know she feels that her brother is dead, and that’s sort of part of the driving force, but what was your key to really getting to the heart of her this season’s arc in comparison to season 1?

Ema Horvath: Yeah, I knew it would be more tragic this season. It is funny how personal life sometimes dovetails with work. I had a lot going on, I had just come from a shoot where I was working nights, and I thought that was really appropriate, because I don’t think she’s sleeping a lot this season. I wanted her to look quite drained. I think that this is someone who is stretched way too thin and is almost dying. Her youth is fading, her vitality is fading, so physically, that was probably where I entered her this season.

It was really important for me to talk to Lloyd. We spent hours on the phone discussing the dynamics. A lot of our story happens off-screen, which makes it really important to talk to the other actors, so you know that when you show up, you are on the same page of what’s happened. Because Númenor is a bit on the backburner this season. But yeah, I think talking to Lloyd, connecting with him, making sure we fully understood the history where these characters have been and, unfortunately, the physical aspect was my way in. So there’s a fair amount of recovery once we finished shooting for me.

Eärien’s Sea Guard Disbanding Scene Was An Important Chapter In Her & Elendil’s Fracture

“You kind of feel silly when you’re ordering someone with the gravitas of Lloyd Owen around“

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I’d love to hear about the scene in which the Sea Guard is sort of being disbanded, and you are there trying to both be that authoritative person, but also still be Elendil’s daughter, who doesn’t necessarily want to disappoint her father.

Ema Horvath: Yeah, that scene is interesting, because the power dynamic has shifted, and I think she’s a character who believes, at this point, that she is incapable of receiving love, and if she can’t have love, then she will settle for power and respect. And that’s obviously not true. I think anyone watching the show is probably screaming at their TV and being like, “No, no, no! If you just talk to each other or something, there must be a way to rectify this.” [Chuckles]

You kind of feel silly when you’re ordering someone with the gravitas of Lloyd Owen around on set, which I think it’s supposed to read that way. But yeah, she doesn’t think love is possible for her. I don’t think she’s lost so many people in her life. She believes her brother to be dead, and she thinks her father doesn’t care, and therefore doesn’t, by extension, care about her, and so this is the next best thing.

So do you think that’s why she chooses to side with Pharazôn over Míriel, is that sense of not having or not feeling she could be loved?

Ema Horvath: That’s an element to it. I think it’s three things. I think it’s that, I think she has always had a bit of ambition, and the fact that this path opens up of Pharazôn being the head of the Builder’s Guild, and she wants to be an architect. That’s the second part of it. But the third part of it that I think sometimes gets lost is that these views are mainstream on Númenor. Siding with Pharazôn and being swayed by his rhetoric is the mainstream popular view. The faithful are a small minority at this point in our story. So, I think it would also be very difficult for someone to listen to their parents, side with their parents, if the politics and cultural waves are heading one way. So it’s all three. She’s young enough to be swayed by that.

Valandil’s Death is “Definitely A Bit Of A Wake-Up Call” For Eärien

“…there’s a scene that was cut…”

Image via Prime Video

With this week’s episode, since we can get into spoilers, we see someone who was very close to Eärien and Elendil get killed by Kemen in Valandil. Since you’ve said a lot of Númenor’s stories are told off-screen this season, how is that going to really affect her going forward, especially since her father was present for that moment?

Ema Horvath: Yeah, there’s a scene that was cut — I’m not sure if I can talk about it. [Chuckles] There’s a scene that was cut with Valandil before she drops the palantír, which takes place in the old quarter, and it’s just the two of them. It’s kind of quiet, and the discussion is about their shared mourning for Isildur, and the purpose of it was to make the audience feel like, “Oh, there’s something there that is just begging for someone to mourn with her, and she doesn’t quite get what she wants from Valandil, and then ends up doing what she did in episode 3.” What happens between Kemen and Valandil is definitely a bit of a wake-up call, I’ll say that. Whether or not it’s enough of one, that remains to be seen.

I know you can’t spoil too far ahead, but as far as teasing goes, do you think that that might be enough of a wake-up call to sort of turn her back towards her father? Or do you think that will drive her even further towards Pharazôn and his ideals?

Ema Horvath: Yeah, to be honest, I don’t know the answer to that question. I think it might be one of these things that I think is towards the second half of the season, which you’ve seen, is that there starts to be a bit of, “Okay, how can I still protect the people that I love?” I don’t think she’s giving up the fancy dresses, and she’s not giving up her position, but there starts to be a bit of bargaining and stuff behind the scenes where she’s like, “Okay, let me save what I can, but I am staying put for now.”

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.