On Friday, everything changed in “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” when worlds collided and light battled darkness.
(Spoiler alert: This article addresses plot points from the most recent episode of “Rings of Power” on Prime Video.,
Humans, elves and Numenoreans come together in a fierce battle against Adam and the Orcs. Ismail Cruz Cordova, who plays the elf Arondir, said that preparing for the fight in Episode 6, “Udun”, was a long process.
“I was training a lot for this,” he told TheWrap. “Training went on for over a year, this exact episode. … You know the nerd I struggled with that long thing – long orc? That was probably two or three months of training because I There was a lot involved in making the fight as well as that fight. And I wanted to make it a distinctive thing.
“We were going through the throes of battle, and there is always a story. This is the moment where our hero can die,” he continued.[I]It was very important to show that he really is not above dying. I mean, elves are eternal, unless they are killed. So it was important to keep it there. ,
Friday’s episode was the most action-packed of the series to date, and the coming together of characters – who were up until this episode – in distant lands in Middle Earth, made it all the more rewarding.
“It was the first time the world began to collide, which [was] Super exciting for everyone. But for us, as artists, we were already living in New Zealand for a year and a half – almost two years, ”he said. “Many of us knew each other as friends and neighbours. We knew we were all doing the same show, but we didn’t see each other performing. So when all of a sudden, you’re on the scene like Cynthia, [Addai-Robinson) playing the Queen and Galadriel and Halbrand and all these people, it was so exciting. It’s your friends just being badass as hell.”
As those worlds collided, Arondir finally met and spoke (briefly) with the legendary elf Galadriel, who acknowledged his fighting skills.
“It’s a beautiful moment in terms of that, you know? He is, in a way, a lowly elf in the hierarchy. He’s just a soldier of the frontlines tasked to do a … a single thing only. There are these regal, legendary elves that have these political positions and are actual legends within the elf realm. So he was essentially meeting an idol,” Cruz Córdova said. “That was pretty cool.”
Throughout the battle, Arondir never gave up. Across the season so far, he’s been the elf who stood up to the orcs when he was held captive; he stood alongside Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi) to encourage the humans to fight; he gave her hope when she had a moment of self-doubt. And when things were dire, Arondir battled on. Asked about what drives his character’s indomitable spirit, Cruz Córdova cited his character’s belief in hope.
“For the character, I think there is a curiosity that has helped him to have hope. … That is kind of a distinct human quality because elves are eternal,” he explained.
“And then I think he has the respect and admiration for humans and seeing how they are essentially powered by hope in these lives that are so brief,” Cruz Córdova continued. “I think it’s something that he gets to admire so much. And it’s a thing that carries him through – aside from the deep, deep love that he feels for this woman [Bronwyn]And the respect he has for humans—I think he’s really a human lover, you know in that sense.”
New episodes of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” arrive Friday on Prime Video.