Benjamin Walker, who plays King Gil-galad in Amazon Prime’s upcoming series, The Rings of Power, has revealed plot details and explained his character’s inner conflict in the series.
Walker plays High King of the Nordor Elves in The Rings of Power. The series is based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s world of Middle Earth. The series will premiere on Amazon Prime on September 2, 2022.
King Gil-galad first appeared in a flashback in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, portrayed by Mark Ferguson. He was one of the alliance’s founders who eventually fell to Sauron at Barud-dûr at the war’s end.
The Rings of Power is a spinoff of The Lord of the Rings and chronicles the build-up to the war with Sauron throughout the Second Age. So, King Gil-galad will have a significant role in the series. The actor recently hinted that his character would have more significant existential conflict to deal with in the show.
In a conversation with ScreenRant at a press conference at San Diego Comic-Con, Walker revealed several details about the inner turmoil of his character in the series. Check out his statement below:
“Gil-galad is thousands of years old, and he has to wrestle with this question. When you’ve seen everyone you know and love die over and over again, how do you muster the strength to have hope? And he does.
Tolkien understood the inevitability of the resurrection of evil, and Gil-galad, in particular, is constantly vigilant. But that’s the price of peace: vigilance. There’s your television conflict right there. It writes itself.”
Gil-galad had to watch many of those he cared for pass away, but he remained hopeful and responsible about his duties, and the series explores what kept him going. Walker further elaborated that Tolkien’s original writing inspires Gil-galad’s inner conflict.
During the SDCC 2022 panel, the makers of the series also explained why they decided to explore the Second Age, as they wanted a more human story. The series’ characters deal with Sauron’s rise and figure out how to deal with him.
The showrunners wanted the viewers to experience the anxiety associated with an impending threat capable of destroying everything. They wanted to portray humanity’s strength and power as the series characters go to any extent to protect their loved ones.
Though we are aware of Gil-galad’s fate through previous adaptations and Tolkien’s books, Walker promises that he will have a complicated character arc and conflicts to deal with.
About The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is an American TV series, based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien, developed by J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay for streaming on Amazon Prime.
Set 3,000 years before the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, the show will be set in the Second Age of Middle-earth. Beginning with a time of peace, the series will follow the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron and the forging of the rings of power.
The cast includes Robert Aramayo, Owain Arthur, Nazanin Boniadi, Morfydd Clark, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Markella Kavenagh, Joseph Mawle, and Dylan Smith among many others.
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