Starting on September 2, fans of author JRR Tolkien – and consumers of high fantasy, in general – will be able to venture back to the realm of Middle-earth when the excellent Amazon Prime Video program The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power makes its debut on the streaming service. The sprawling epic takes viewers through numerous lands and introduces waves of new (and familiar) characters, though we are seeing them in early stages compared to when we caught up with them in the Peter Jackson trilogy films. Morfydd Clark’s courageous Galadriel is one of those characters who we will catch up with in the debut episode of the new series, and one who is going to be very important as the saga rolls on. But, how much for Clark know about her role?
Even before The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power starts streaming on Amazon Prime Video, reports confirmed that the studio has agreed to air five complete seasons of the show, giving the bulk of the cast job security. Well, the ones that somehow manage to survive this very dangerous period of time. But we believe that Morfydd Clark’s character Galadriel will make it because she appears in the Peter Jackson films, and is played by the legendary Cate Blanchett. So when we sat down with the cast of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, I asked Clark how much she knew about the direction of her character’s story, and what is to come. And she told CinemaBlend:
We know, somewhat, we know there are sign posts – prominent moments, And it’s how we get there that I think is more fluid. It’s quite exciting to kind of not know everything. And I think also, the showrunners – as they got to know us all, as well – had that influence how they’ve written particular characters. So it’s really exciting.
In addition to having the Peter Jackson trilogy of films to possibly build towards (even though this new Amazon Prime Video series has no direct ties to those movies whatsoever), The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power pull from Tolkien and the world that the author established, so there are ways that the show’s writers can shape and influence the development of a character like Galadriel, even if we think we know where her character is going to end up. In the early going of this show, her mission is to continue a quest started by her brother, and to pound the warning drums that a massive evil is heading to Middle-earth. The Elven warrior figures to be a significant part of the story as it unfolds, and Morfydd Clark’s portrayal is immediately inspiring and exciting, making her storyline one of the most compelling in the first two episodes of the show.
Reviews for the new program have been strong, with even die hard creators like The Sandman’s Neil Gaiman giving the show his seal of approval. Naturally, a good number of us will be curious what Peter Jackson thinks of the new program, even though there has been some confusion over whether or not the Oscar-winning filmmaker was “ghosted” by the creators behind The Rings of Power. My guess is that once he sees it, he’ll appreciate the craft and care that seems to have gone in to this project, because it’s really off to a solid start.
