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In just two episodes, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has already introduced us to quite a few characters – with Elves, Harfoots, and Dwarves alike all appearing on screen. The show has also given us a glimpse of Numenor, home to the greatest Human civilization in Middle-Earth, though by the time Frodo and Sam enter the picture (some thousand years later) the island and its people are nothing more than a memory.
The Rings of Power picks up when the Numenoreans are still alive and at their peak. "Númenor is almost like Tolkien’s version of Atlantis, and it’s a massive part of his work that’s never been explored on screen before," Charlie Vickers, who plays Halbrand in the show, tells SFX Magazine in the new issue, featuring Chucky on the cover. "You get to see amazing mariners and sailors."
Lloyd Owen plays Elendil, the father to Eärien, Anárion, and – most famously – Isildur, the man who will one day cut off Sauron's hand, removing the One Ring from the Dark Lord. Maxim Baldry portrays the future king, and he's well aware of his character's fate.
"It’s hard to get up in the mornings from the weight of the expectation, so hopefully I do it justice!" Baldry says. "But one of the beautiful things about the show is that we’ve been given the chance to explore these characters in long-form TV. We have a chance to breathe with them and live with them, and watch them eat – I always love when a character just eats on screen!"
Owen says of Elendil that he's dealing with both the loss of his wife and the task of caring for his grieving adult children. "He then gets drawn into some of the politics of Númenor," the actor says. "There’s a schism in society that’s also being reflected in the family itself, because there are differing views among us as to which way Númenor should go."
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The above is just a snippet from the longer Rings of Power feature, available in the Chucky issue of SFX Magazine, which is out on newsstands now. For even more from SFX, sign up to the newsletter, sending all the latest exclusives straight to your inbox.
