The following contains major spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2, Episode 8, “Shadow and Flame,” now streaming on Prime Video. 

Much preparation went into the epic battle scene between Sauron and Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) in the Season 2 finale of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Sauron actor Charlie Vickers and the episode’s director, Charlotte Brändström spoke with CinemaBlend about all that went into the showdown between the two iconic J.R.R. Tolkien characters.

Notably in the scene, Vickers’ character morphs several times – from the blond, clean-shaven Elf, Annatar, to Halbrand then to Galadriel, and the Elven smith Celebrimbor before ending the scene as Annatar. In Season 1, of The Rings of Power, Sauron was continuously disguised as Halbrand, a brunette and often scruffy-looking man, quite different from Annatar. Vickers described what went into the shapeshifting aspect of the battle. 

“…God, changing from Halbrand to Annatar. I think I did the Halbrand stuff on a Monday morning. So they gave me the weekend to try and grow some stubble, and it was pretty pathetic. My beard’s really patchy and I grew just enough, but they still had to color it in,” Vickers said. Brändström added the scene looks simple, “but it’s not that simple when he’s clean-shaven, and you need to add that (beard stubble).”

A Slightly Different Look

Vickers noted the shapeshifter version of his character had a bit of a different look than Halbrand in the first season. “It was like Halbrand, but it was slightly different. Like his hair’s a bit curlier, and he’s not quite as stubbly, but it kind of works, because he looks like a more shiny memory version of Halbrand.

In the shapeshifting scene, Brändström said Clark had to play both Galadriel and Sauron at different points. “For Morfydd to come back as the other Galadriel, also, she obviously needed to put her – performance needed to be very different. She was harder. She was Sauron…and she came back clean,” Brändström said. “So, she had to go and change and become a different person, and to play to, I mean, to act against. And then what you do, really, is that you shoot above a double and then you just keep changing them,” Brändström added, saying the process is “very time-consuming.”

The Actors Joked Around on the Set

Vickers said that scene was shot during a couple of weeks, and he enjoyed acting with Clark again. He added the actress even did an impression of his character.

“And then it was equally funny watching Morfydd and (Charles Edwards) do impressions of me on the rocks,” Vickers said. “I was like, Okay, is that how you interpret my performance,” Vickers said humorously of Clark’s impersonation.

An announcement could come as soon as this month on the status of Season 3 of The Rings of Power. In October, Prime Video presented at the UK Upfront presentation in London, an event for advertisers, and featured several actors from The Rings of Power. Studios typically present shows to buyers if plans are in the works to continue them.

Vickers said previously he would love to see Sauron’s story continue with the War of the Elves and Sauron, the Fall of Númenor and the forging of the One Ring.

All episodes of The Rings of Power are streaming on Prime Video.