The Rings of Power season 3 brings back Celeborn for 'flirty fencing' with Galadriel

Lord of the Rings prequel series The Rings of Power returns this week for series three, in which we will see the evil Sauron (Charlie Vickers) forge the One Ring in his dark quest to rule all Middle-earth. But our first order of business is a lot lighter, as long-absent elven lord Celeborn (Jamie Campbell Bower) enters the fray with a bout of “flirty fencing”. After being presumed dead for the past two series, Celeborn arrives in style, first appearing in a flashback that sees him meeting and drawing swords with his wife-to-be, Galadriel (Morfydd Clark).

With this scene, showrunners John D Payne and Patrick McKay say they wanted to “find an earlier version of these characters’ lives before war and let them have fun with each other – and let it be beautiful before we go to some very dark places.”

“We have an incredible stunt team,” McKay tells RT. “We’re working with [stunt coordinator] Roy Taylor and his company. And for that specific sequence, we have to give a lot of credit to lead director Charlotte Brändström. She coined the term ‘flirty fencing’ and wanted to do it in a very magical fairy-tale way.”

Practically, that meant wire work for the actors to match the elves’ supernatural strength and agility, and close work with Taylor and his stunt team to make sure the visuals matched up with their imaginations.

“On the page, there are times when we choreograph every sword slash and every leap from a rock,” Payne says. “Other times, we leave it more impressionistic because we know we’re going to have a group of collaborators; it depends on the sequence.”

“We spent weeks prepping and designing how the costumes would look in the moonlight and building the forest so you had a place where elves could leap and almost fly,” McKay adds. “We were willing to bend physics in a way we haven’t quite done before.”

Authors

Louise Griffin is the Sci-Fi & Fantasy Editor for Radio Times, covering everything from Doctor Who, Star Wars and Marvel to House of the Dragon and Good Omens. She previously worked at Metro as a Senior Entertainment Reporter and has a degree in English Literature.