Benjamin Walker on Gil-Galad’s Shift from Peace Leader to Wartime General in Season 2

“Rings of Power” Season 2 is sending Gil-Galad to war.

The season kicks off shortly after the creation of the three elven rings—Narya, Nenya, and Vilya—and the revelation that Halbrand (Charlie Vickers) was Sauron all along. Now, Gil-Galad faces some significant choices.

Benjamin Walker, who portrays the elf high king of Noldor, explained that just as he got accustomed to playing Gil-Galad as a peacetime leader, he had to switch gears for the war. “What’s exciting about Season 2 is the beginning of the departure of who we know him to be in Season 1,” Walker remarked. “If you know the lore, and how far we have to go in the Second Age, it’s exciting that we’re taking such big steps so soon.”

In the first season, Gil-Galad was a peacetime counselor. In contrast, the upcoming season shows the wheels coming off in terms of Middle-earth’s well-being, compelling him to inch toward becoming a wartime general. “As soon as I got comfortable with who I was playing, the circumstances change so drastically that you have to let him adapt,” Walker added.

Walked shared insights on the darker second season, Gil-Galad’s wavering trust of Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) and Elrond (Robert Aramayo), and his dual role as the hill troll Damrod.

When balancing fan expectations and reverence to the lore with finding his own voice as Gil-Galad, Walker emphasized the importance of extensive research. “Luckily, we have JD and Patrick, who are superfans, at the helm of the show and you can trust the text that they’ve written.”

Season 2 is noticeably darker. “Of the characters that we see onscreen, he’s one of the most experienced—with the exception of Galadriel. The resurrection of evil is ever present. For me that’s one of the main things about Tolkien, the cyclical nature of darkness,” Walker commented.

The season shows Gil-Galad grappling with a sense of dread and frustration, akin to a loving parent setting firm boundaries. “He’s certainly in a darker place. It’s almost as if in the second season his kids are teenagers, and that makes it exponentially more frustrating and complicated.”

On his relationship with Galadriel, Walker highlighted that trust among elves is earned over time. “The fund of her trust at this point has been depleted. He believes in her potential to be trusted again but in some ways he’s having to tighten the leash on his kingdom because things have gotten out of hand.”

Trust with Elrond is also complicated. “Their relationship is much more of a mentor-mentee dynamic. Elrond still has a lot to prove. Gil-Galad is aware of that,” said Walker, noting that concerns about saving Middle-earth take precedence over personal feelings.

Gil-Galad chose Elrond to lead the task force searching for Sauron over Galadriel. Walker explained that this decision reflects Gil-Galad’s understanding of “relationship chess.” He tries to elevate each character’s strengths and believes that both Elrond and Galadriel need each other.

Gil-Galad picks up a weapon and gets into the action in Season 2. “Every time we inch toward it, we want to make sure that it’s not just cool and fun but maintains the narrative. It became about what is the vocabulary of how he fights, how can we tell how experienced he is by how he fights,” Walker said. He described riding a stallion into a battlefield of orcs as a childhood fan’s dream come true, but also emphasized that, in the narrative, the characters are desperate and rising to the occasion.

Walker also voices Damrod the Hill Troll this season, a role he was thrilled to take on. “They knew that I would be interested in the story of Damrod—what is his past, what is his opinion about fighting, is he funny, what’s his perspective on death and destruction.”

Singing in Elvish in front of a Comic-Con crowd was uniquely nerve-wracking for Walker. “It had been over a year since I had sung it. I was lucky that it came back to me in time. If you’re going to speak or sing in Elvish, that’s the room not to do it in because everyone there knows it.”

“Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” Season 2 releases new episodes Thursdays on Prime Video.

Source: TheWrap