16-05-2025
‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' star Charles Edwards on his tragic death scene: ‘He did single-handedly withstand Sauron'
'I knew I had a finite journey to go on,' admits Charles Edwards of his doomed character in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. But the actor was excited to play out the final arc of Celebrimbor, the elven smith from J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth novels who forged the titular rings. In a recent interview (full video above), Edwards discusses how the Prime Video series expands on the deeds of this pivotal figure, and allows Edwards to explore a downfall and death worthy of the greatest tragic heroes.
Edwards spends the bulk of Season 2 locked in a deadly dance with Charlie Vickers as Sauron. The Dark Lord appears to Celebrimbor as the ethereal Annatar to convince the prideful elf to craft the rings that will one day oppress Middle-earth. 'Charlie is a very relaxed person, a very gentle person, a very intuitive person,' describes Edwards of his scene partner, 'we connected on that level. We just did it. We just acted it and had a great time doing it and loved doing it. We felt very lucky to be telling this story out of all the Tolkien stories.'
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Celebrimbor is a prime target for Sauron's exploitation because of his desire for greatness. Particularly his wish to outshine his grandfather Feanor, the most talented elven smith that ever lived. So the actor was tickled and inspired by the scenic design saw Feanor's statue hovering outside of Celebrimbor's forge. 'When I arrived on the set and saw that, I thought, 'Oh, that's brilliant,'' exclaims Edwards, 'because he's there, he's looming, he's on my shoulder the whole time.' This ambition is ultimately his downfall. 'The moment Annatar steps forth from the flames, that being in Celebrimbor's forge is essentially a god,' notes Edwards. 'Celebrimbor believes that he's a god and that he's been sent by the Valar to create something wonderful with Celebrimbor.'
The elf soon finds himself trapped in an illusion cast by Sauron, only able to focus on crafting the rings. As such, Edwards has to chart Celebrimbor's mad descent into an all-consuming obsession. 'The luck we had with this was to shoot it in order,' says Edwards, noting that this 'quirk of the shooting schedule' helped him chart Celebrimbor's downward spiral.
The end of the ordeal with Sauron contains some of Edwards' most emotional work on the series. The illusion broken, Sauron shoots half a dozen arrows into Celebrimbor before stabbing him with a spear. But Celebrimbor, knowing his life is at an end, launches into a speech that terrifies Sauron. 'He has a prophecy to make. He talks about the One Ring in kind of fairly clear terms,' explains Edwards. The ring, he foresees, will turn Sauron into a prisoner instead of a master. In his final words, Celebrimbor becomes the first person to refer to Sauron as 'The Lord of the Rings,' but the title is bestowed as a grim warning of failure. 'It's the classic moment of death, isn't it, of someone saying something that's going to fundamentally change your world,' describes Edwards. 'He feels hugely and horribly betrayed. … Sauron has turned Celebrimbor into a kind of gibbering wreck. And when he looks around his workshop and sees what's become of it, I mean, it's totally total humiliation. And he knows he's going to die and he just has to leave this guy with something that's going to haunt him.'
These final moments are a delicious twist on one of Tolkien's descriptions of Celebrimbor's fate. The author writes: 'Celebrimbor, desperate, himself withstood Sauron on the steps of the great door of the Mírdain.' Many readers may read this line and envision a duel with swords, but Edwards believes that the language his character uses in the series is just as powerful of a weapon. 'He did withstand with words,' claims the actor, 'those words were tough to swallow. So I believe he did single-handedly withstand Sauron.'
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