California Dreamin'

Morfydd Clark, Charlie Vickers, and McPayne's return to the press tour for The Rings of Power

Mortal enemies on screen, best friends in real life.

In the aftermath of the triumphant¹ conclusion for Season 2 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, many of the cast and crew went on quite a vigorous media blitz, talking about what they had accomplished and their hopes for the next three seasons. One of the biggest players in this was Charlie Vickers, Sauron, who ended up giving so many interviews I had to write a special article dedicated to just providing links to them. He was of course working in tandem with Benjamin Walker (High King Gil-galad), Robert Aramayo (Elrond), Markella Kavenagh (Nori Brandyfoot), Cynthia Addai-Robinson (Queen Tar-Miriel), Charlotte Brandstrom (director for half the season’s episodes, including the universally acclaimed seventh and eight episodes), Alexis Denisof (Director of Cinematography), and showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McCay. But a few people ended up missing from this press tour. The most notable of whom was Morfydd Clark, our Galadriel, who at the time was busy performing two plays back-to-back for the Almeida Theatre in London. And she was sorely missed, not only for her beauty and sunny disposition, but also because many of us wanted to hear her insights into Galadriel’s character growth, her Season 2 story, and where she hoped Galadriel would go in Season 3 and onwards.

That all changed, somewhat unexpectedly, earlier this week. On Wednesday, the Screen Actor’s Guild hosted a screening of the Season 2 finale in LA, followed by a Q&A session. And who came to represent Rings of Power? Charlie Vickers, McCay and Payne…and Morfydd Clark. For the first time since August.

This panel alone would have been fairly newsworthy. Lasting about half an hour as opposed to the 5-10 minute interviews that for example Charlie did after the finale, it’s the longest time that people have been talking about the show since probably before the season aired. And it was the first time Morfydd had been able to talk about the show, again since before the season first aired nearly three months ago (indeed, the first time talk about anything). And although Charlie had gone on that post-finale media blitz, he did it alone; as we remember from Season 1’s press tour, Morfydd and Charlie paired together equals a lot of chaotic fun as the two of them play off each other. But as it turned out, this was only the first stroke. There ended up being so. Many. Interviews. Most of them featured Morfydd and Charlie working together, but McPayne did appear on a few occasions. And there ended up being enough of them to warrant the treatment I gave the weekend of SDCC, the premiere, and Charlie’s press tour. So, here we go.

Matt Ryan:

Matt Mungle:

LRM Online:

But Why Tho?

Gold Derby:

Popternative:

The Screen Chatter Interview Page:

Awards Buzz:

Morfydd herself gave a solo interview with the Direct Extras:

There was also a text interview with Melody McCune of Geek Girl Authority: “THE RINGS OF POWER: Morfydd Clark and Charlie Vickers on Season 2 and Beyond”

And a couple from Screenrant. One of them has probably ended up causing a bit more confusion than necessary: “Rings Of Power Season 3 Status Finally Confirmed By LOTR Showrunners After Months Of Uncertainty.” But the other provided a welcome bit of clarity for a scene that still rattles the fandom to this day, albeit less so than it did when it first aired: “Galadriel & Elrond's Rings Of Power Season 2 Kiss Clarified By Lord Of The Rings Star & Showrunners”

Finally, an interview with the showrunners by The Direct Extras, with a somewhat less confusing and overconfident headline than what Screenrant had offered in its article:

And as an added bonus, on Wednesday Almeida Theatre, for which Morfydd had performed in those two plays, released an 18 minute documentary about their history and cultural significance and the creative process in staging them in AD 2024. It’s actually a fairly informative documentary, and Morfydd features prominently in it; as she should as the leading lady for both.

That was a lot to cover. But I’m grateful it happened; otherwise I would probably have written about the upcoming release of War of the Rohirrim, which would have almost certainly devolved into a rant about what I consider WB’s atrocious marketing and PR campaign for the movie. It’s much better to talk and share about the things you love, isn’t it? And there was a lot to love in this press tour. Morfydd returning to talk about her achievement in this show and it’s second season, and having fun with her co-star Charlie; how different their relationship is than the bitter rivalry Galadriel and Sauron have! The promise that after spending a season somewhat sidelined, Galadriel will be able to return to the forefront of the action. Clarification about how Sauron and Galadriel actually feel about each other. Confirmation from McPayne not that Season 3 has been officially renewed (that’s not what they said, ScreenRant) but that they are working hard on writing it with no fear of it being prematurely cancelled, and faith that they will be able to realize their 5-season epic. This was a real treat, and proof that there are yet “other minds and hands” that are committed to bring Tolkien’s world to life (contrary to the impression we might get from WB’s promotion of War of the Rohirrim). While this doesn’t make up for the official silence from Amazon on when Season 3 will be announced, it at least allows us to see that the talent behind and in front of the camera are dedicated to their work and proud of what they did for Season 2. And that is no small thing 😊

As an aside, I love that Morfydd went with a dusky gold for this event, as opposed to the black she has worn for most of her public events since September 2022. It helps to deflate the Dark Queen of Mordor allegations just a bit 🤣 ©2024, Eric Charbonneau

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1. Well, triumphant from a technical and storytelling perspective. It actually ended in defeat and tragedy, although as I wrote in my recap/reflections the seeds are there for eventual victory.