In celebration of The Rings of Power‘s final episodes, Nerdist had the pleasure of sitting down for a chat with Robert Aramayo, who plays the noble elf Elrond. In part one of our interview, Aramayo discussed Elrond’s controversial kiss with Galadriel. But then, of course, our attention turned to Elrond in The Rings of Power season two finale.
As we dived into the finale with Aramayo, we touched on Elrond’s relationship with the Rings of Power, his growth throughout season two, his relationship with Durin (and how we all hope for more scenes with the pair), and, of course, delved into whether or not Elrond discovered Rivendell in the last scenes of the second season. Aramayo also treated us to some incredible insights into the tales of Tolkien he’s reading right now.
Take a look at our full chat with The Rings of Power‘s Elrond below.
Nerdist: Elrond went on a very intense journey with the Rings of Power this season. What do you think in the end brought him to embrace the elven rings?
Robert Aramayo: Galadriel, I think. My experience of them, of their power, it’s more about her, really. And it’s more a question of my faith in her that ultimately is put to the test in the eighth episode when I turn up and she’s on the verge of death. It’s like you have two ways you can go and I think he chooses the right path.
When do you think we might expect Elrond to inherit his ring?
Aramayo: I don’t know. I really don’t. I mean, we know again, through the lore when he’s supposed to inherit it, but in terms of when that’s going to happen in the show, if that’s going to happen in the show, I dunno. But I know that right now all I can say is that he’s comfortable not wearing one.
It also looks like we’ve found nascent Rivendell at the end of episode eight of Rings of Power, season two.
Aramayo: Maybe…
Well, it seems like Rivendell to us. And if it is Rivendell, how meaningful is it for Elrond and for you to arrive in that place?
Aramayo: Well, we never actually said that when we were shooting it, and there’s a lot of ambiguity as to where we are. Obviously, I asked those questions. But yeah, I think the thing is about Rivendell, and this is actually what I love about it, is we know how it begins. It begins as a strategic position. It doesn’t begin as something that means anything to anyone other than it’s a really good place to defend, and then it grows from there. And that’s why I love so much about the development of that city. And what makes it so unique, actually, is that Elrond is able to slowly pour who he is, what he’s interested in, what he wants to preserve and project into the world, into this place that builds and builds and grows and then becomes a city. But it’s built from necessity. And if it were to be in the show, which I really hope it is, that’s where I’d love to begin. So, his relationship to it, if he was there, would be just, this is a cool place to stem the coming, darkness.
Elrond and Durin didn’t really get to spend much time together this season. There were kind of ships in the night, which made me sad. Do you think we might see them reunite more in upcoming seasons?
Aramayo: I hope so, because, for Elrond, with Galadriel, for example, there’s this epicness to it. It’s sort like she’s a celebrity, she’s his hero, you know what I mean? She’s all of these things in the world, and it feels familial. But with Durin, it’s his best mate. And I like that. And also it’s always great to work with Owain Arthur because we’re best mates as well. So I really, really hope so because I love that relationship. Elrond is also really different when he is around Durin. He’s just a different elf and they understand each other on such an interesting level. So I would love to do more work with Elrond and Durin.
We’ll put it out into the world.
Aramayo: Let’s do that.
What do you think has changed most in Elrond by the end of the season and what do you think about him has remained the same?
Aramayo: I think what has remained the same within him is that if you think about, there are lot of moments where, especially in the early episodes where he could just go, “You know what, then carry on. Just get on with it. I’m out. I’m out of here. I don’t agree with anything that you’re doing and I’m out.” But he doesn’t. And he’s in that kind of place at a few points through the season, I think. But he always is drawn back in. And what draws him back in is his sense of duty and honor and helping the sort of larger cause to do the right thing. He is a good guy and that I think is central to Elrond and remains the same.
In terms of what has changed in him, I think that he’s grown older. He’s had experiences that he’s never had before. He’s been in battle now, which he’s never even seen before, and he’s lost people who are really, really, really important to him. So I think, yeah, he’s grown older, and I’m interested in exploring what that means to him now.
You’ve earned a reputation as quite a Tolkien Scholar. Can you share your favorite poem or story from the lore?
Aramayo: Well, I’ll share my most recent one, which is at the minute, I’m rereading Children of Húrin, and I just finished The Battle of Unnumbered Tears. And I just think that’s a really interesting story as obviously it’s told in a few different books. But in that version of it, what’s interesting is that all the elves are there. They’re about to attack Morgoth, and they know what he wants them to do. He wants them to lose control charge in, like heroes, and then he’ll encircle them and destroy them, but only if he can get them to come.
And so they know the trap, they’re aware of the trap, but then he pulls this stunt where he kills this young prince. And even though they know that, they charge in. And I think that we often think that elves are these totally ethereal beings who have wisdom in abundance and would never do that. But to see that and to read that and to imagine that, that if you do what your heart is telling you to do, it’s going to screw you over, but you do it anyway. It’s quite human.
And I like that because it’s challenging the perception of the elf. It’s easy to think that an elf would never do this or that an elf would never do that. But there are countless examples across the Legendarium where you’re like, wow, that’s an elf that’s centuries, thousands of years old elf making this terrible choices. Fëanor and all of that. I think that that is a really interesting element of his writing that it constantly challenges what you think. So yeah, that’s just the most recent thing that I’ve read. So that’s in my head.
