Even though we don’t get to see Nori, The Stranger, or Poppy in the latest episode of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, their presence is still felt. These three have a greater purpose in store that will change the direction of Middle-Earth forever. And when we got a chance to speak with Markella Kavenagh, Daniel Weyman and Megan Richards, we talked about their individual journeys, as things heat up and we reach past the midway point of the season.
Last we left off with Weyman’s The Stranger, he had just come upon Tom Bombadil, another stranger. And he feels his destiny start to shift as he experiences this world away from Nori, the Harfoot that has helped shape who he is since falling from the sky. Weyman shared that “I think what’s really difficult to understand for The Stranger, all his experiences in Middle-Earth has been around the Harfoots. So he’s got this sort of sphere of interaction that feels all-encompassing. And yet when he meets Tom Bombadil, this character who is as old as the universe, the sphere is massive.”
Bombadil makes him rethink everything, from where he fits into the world and what his destiny is. Weyman continued by saying, “So where does the relationship with Nori and Poppy fit, where there does their sphere fit in this massive sphere of time? And I think for The Stranger, his journey…part of his journey is going to be, “How does he hold onto that sphere? That sphere that has set him up, has been so formative in terms of his personality and what’s he’s going to do? How does he hold onto that? How important is it to him? And what he might have to sacrifice in order to keep it or let it go?”
For Kavenagh’s Nori, she’s on a similar road of self-discovery. Because she’s had her family, The Stranger, and her home to protect her. But now she’s out in the wild of the unknown with her best friend, hoping to find that purpose. Kavenagh told Fangirlish, “The only way that she can [find her purpose] is if she leaves what she already knows and goes into unfamiliar territory.”
And of course, it’s nice to have her best friend Poppy at her side as a grounding force. When talking about how Poppy grounds Nori, Kavenagh said, “[Having her best friend] roots her in someone who knows her so well and knows her tendencies and to go off trail. So it’s kind of a really nice balance between what she already knows and what she’s going to discover and having them kind of meet in the middle and hopefully help her with her identity and purpose.”
Then there’s Richards character Poppy. Because yes, The Stranger and Nori are on this big journey of self-discovery as the world is changing in Middle-Earth. But Poppy is also going on her own journey in The Rings of Power. And maybe she’s finding a new connection too. On Poppy’s journey in season 2, Richards said, “I think that she’s growing up. And what’s lovely is that you’ve kind of seen her development throughout season one. And then it kind of continues throughout season 2, just in different avenues that she didn’t even expect to even be there.”
As an actor, Richards hasn’t quite experienced this kind of journey before when it comes to a role. “I think there’s something really wonderful, as an actor, exploring that with a character alongside a character. I’ve never experienced that before. But to sort of see it in real time and to live it in real time is really fun. And I think that’s something that hopefully audiences will really enjoy too.”
Like the rest of the cast of characters on The Rings of Power, Poppy is looking for a sense of belonging. But after so much loss, old and new connections, they just hit different for Poppy. “With the Harfoots being a migratory group, for her, belonging and home isn’t a space, it isn’t in one place. She puts in peoples and beings around her. And so I think she’s kind of discovering that there are more beings that just Nori or just the Brandyfoot family. There’s a whole expansion and I think that in itself is mind-blowing for her.”
Watch the interview below:
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power drops new episodes every Thursday on Prime Video.
