Rings of Power’s most unexpected death was originally much “gorier”
Prime VideoRings of Power Season 2’s penultimate episode killed one character off in horrific fashion – but their death was a lot gorier, with Amazon rejecting a grislier version of the scene.
Rings of Power’s Siege of Eregion is one of the greatest TV battles since Game of Thrones’ Battle of the Bastards. It’s that good, and it has everything: catapults, swordplay, trolls, archers, explosions, and plenty of blood.
However, Season 2 Episode 7 had an unexpected casualty: Mirdania, Sauron’s right-hand Elf (mainly due to her resemblance to Galadriel) who stood by his side as Celebrimbor’s mind seemingly withered behind closed doors.
When Celebrimbor tries to convince Mirdania that Annatar is Sauron, she doesn’t believe him. Then, shockingly, he pushes her off the city’s wall and she’s murdered by an Orc with an axe – but it was actually Sauron who forced Celebrimbor to grab her arm.
Prime VideoAn extended scene of her death was filmed, and it was extremely violent, but it was taken out of the final edit.
Vic Armstrong, Rings of Power’s second unit director, explained to Slash Film: “We did a really gory thing where she gets thrown off the castle wall and the orcs kill her.
“And Charlotte [Brändström], my director friend who directed it — she’s a great buddy of mine, fantastic director, good counterpart — she said, ‘Give me some really gruesome bits!’ So I said, ‘OK.’
“So I had her thrown off the roof, you see her go down and hit the ground, there’s a really good shot, and you see this orc chop her. And then he holds up her whole shoulder and arm and starts drinking the blood. But they deemed it a bit too gory, which, I can’t understand why, of course [laughs].”
In an interview with Dexerto, Brändström spoke about the challenges of bringing the historic battle to life.
“The rain, the mud, the cold, and the very, very long nights… Everything is muddy, including us. It was just day in and day out in the mud,” she said, with DP Alex Disenhof also revealing: “That set took over almost a year to build in terms… it was an enormous logistical puzzle that we all had to solve.”
Make sure you’re up to date with our Rings of Power Season 2 release schedule, and check out our other recaps below:
You can also read our predictions for the Dark Wizard’s identity, and check out our guides on Círdan, Forodwaith, and Tom Bombadil.