Rock Newman the Stranger is pursued in the Southlands and warriors prepare to take up arms on many fronts.

I'm Dominic and I'm Anthony and welcome back to deadlines Inside the Ring, The Lord of the Rings, the Rings of Power after show.

This week, the battle is almost a foot as galadriel tries to pressure and manipulate Hall Brand to take up his true royal role and helped lead a new Minori in army to middle earth from the tightening grip of the orcs.

Meanwhile, over in the south lands, the hard foots migration survives an attack thanks to the stranger.

However, from the strangers, power comes chaos and fear.

At the same time, a trio are looking for the stranger with a clear and dogged agenda of their own back on Newman, your young attraction and differing perspectives on the queen regions, committing ships and soldiers to galadriel cause prove fiery literally and figuratively.

What do you think you're doing?

You're not leaving her.

I suppose we'll be sharing your rations with the tides of fate of flowing no one else will yours may be heading in the two of you meet literally at seat, pulled onto a rap, not pulled on by you, by the way, pulled on by others and then there's, I would say almost the hero moment where you step forward and we clearly know that this relationship is going to develop into something.

What was that like for you guys to bring that moment and also to begin the relationship.

It's an interesting beginning for them, I think because in that moment, their means of survival to each other.

I mean, certainly for how he knows that he's probably not going to survive without and he's a new character that's part of the introduction.

So you're leaping into established law with this character.

Yeah, exactly.

I think that they're dynamic which unfolds as the, as the show progresses, it's more for how he's at a point in his life where he is moving forward.

He's leaving whatever has come in his past behind and he's saying, I'm starting fresh, you call him hal And it really does resemble a certain Shakespearean.

Exactly, and the transformation thought about that a few times actually, when I call him how I've been calling him all the time, but then I realized, does he ever get called Hell in the show?

I don't mean just a little pet name that I have for him.

But yeah, as it unfolds, I think what galadriel represents for him is like a second chance, almost a new start inadvertently, their relationship, she sort of starts to pull him back towards things in his past which he might not be willing to revisit, and she doesn't quite understand and maybe he doesn't either, but there is kind of a real push and pull in their dynamic.

Help me I think I've helped you quite enough then help yourself in this scene, they both have to face an emotional truth about themselves and now that they have full honesty.

Each of them can either decide to move forward or part ways.

That was a hugely pivotal scene for those characters and where they are in the season.

I remember that day really, because it was a big it was a big we knew it had the air of a big scene and it had we had a whole day to do it.

We were just in a room the whole day doing so many different versions of it.

We were really working it with Wayne, the director.

Yeah.

He always said that that was kind of and so there was lots of discussion about it and we're really lucky that lots of it was like done chronologically.

So by that point we kind of knew, I think there's just a huge amount of conflict in in how at that moment that he has this whole new life set up for him.

But there's this person that he is connected with and he I think he knows full well that she is going to be using him.

He he's going to be used.

But there is something within him that is drawing him back to that and some something in his I guess destiny.

He feels like it's written in the stars for him to go with her.

I think he spent that whole thing grappling.

But I think what he really wants from her is just some kind of truth.

Why do you keep fighting?

You're asking me to go to the one place that I swore never to return.

The least you can do is tell me why what Aaron, my cinematographer and I wanted to do was create this sense of entrapment.

The scene starts with galadriel finding how brand at the end of the day in the blacksmith and she feels that she has the upper hand because of information that she's found out about um the mark that how brown wears around his neck.

And so when she comes in it almost feels like she's sort of cornering him and pressuring him to join the mission to Middle Earth.

But then when the tables turn and then how bran gets the upper hand, then we switch around and how Brand feels like he's now cornering her as he presses galadriel to find out why she wants to keep fighting.

What is she really hiding?

And then also through the types of coverage we started with a wider eye line as they begin to sort of verbally spar and as they really sort of begin to kind of pierce each other's sort of emotional armor.

They're almost staring directly into the lens, almost kind of staring directly into each other's souls us Oh hey Nori is personally threatened by the strangers power and there's a scene where her hand is frozen and she's thrown off.

Talk about that up until this point, Nori really has been the one that is trying to convince everyone that the stranger is actually here for good, that their fears are unnecessary.

And also by the time we see them in this scene, the strangers traveled with them.

He's almost like a surrogate family member as they've done part of their migration, which could have been possibly a couple of weeks.

So we get to see the beginning of the episode, we're really gonna get to see them bond as this family.

And so by the time we meet the stranger in the scene, he saved an Orian puppies Malveaux from a wolf attack.

And so Nori thinks that that's you know, the final proof that she has that he was good.

But then when the hands come into contact and she finds that she's frozen to him more worryingly, she realizes that he is in some sort of trance and seems to be oblivious to her, calls for help and for him to stop.

And then something that kind of mirrors their into their first interaction in the crater.

In episode one, we see flashes of light and chaos as she is then propelled through the air and suddenly realizes that you know, maybe she was wrong about the stranger who are these three mysterious creatures overlooking the crater where the stranger landed and what I'm looking for him.

Well, if I told you then we would we would ruin the fun, but what I don't want to give too much away.

But what I would say is uh they are looking for the stranger, although we don't know very much about the stranger.

I can assure you that they do, they're not gonna stop until they locate him.

And we know of course that the stranger has just been invited into the hardwood tribe and they're now migrating together.

So we know for sure that our dear Heart Foots are likely in Mortal Peril isn't a name in this city.

He doesn't know, proud.

He can't turn a favor.

He isn't.

It's impressive.

I was gonna say infuriating, let's talk about your characters budding romance.

Where's it gonna go?

I feel, I should say at the outset that within 10 minutes, the first meeting him, as she said, I don't think my characters into you.

So I'm really curious to see how it plays on screen.

It didn't make sense to me when I first read it.

I was like, why would she is she's so ambitious.

Why would she be interested in?

A rich boy?

Audiences will have questions especially after that first episode because why are they meeting now?

Is it just a coincidence or are they trying to get something out of each other?

Certainly, I don't think this meet cute is an accident.

I think he's finding his way to you.

But I think once they start talking he starts to realize that she's pretty special.

I think at first for me it's I have a growing respect for your father and I'm very aware that you're his son.

Well, I think we've got strong questions about your family.

I think you are well known to be health sympathizers.

We know about the mother.

We know that the brother went Miss we have now this new information that he's been appointed as the kind of like, point person for, which is like, what's that about?

So, I think that's a big part of the reason why we're getting closer to this family.

And it turns out we've got way more in common than I saw coming.

Yeah.

We're both overlooked by our dad's a little bit.

I definitely got a sense watching some scenes that you have two squeaky wheels for brothers and you're not getting a lot of grease that you're constantly looking for.

Like, away away to be appreciated away to.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Arian is a progressive character.

She's supportive of.

Her brother, wants to be an apprentice and wants to make a name for herself and a field dominated by men.

Tell us tell us more.

I like that she has sort of selfish ambitions and she's not sort of careful if she's likable or not.

I think that's cool.

But like, all she really cares about is her brother preventing him from doing the same thing as her other brother running away.

I think her ambition is also closely, like, married with her absolute love of her island.

She she's she's painfully aware of the greatness that her people have created.

So why is she so opposed to the Queen regent support to go and fight in the Southlands?

Well, because it affects her, it affects her viscerally.

Like her brother is going to go fight.

She's already lost her mom.

She's already lost her middle brother if it's sealed or dies over there.

It seems very silly.

She's not really politically minded until it starts affecting her family.

It's very much sort of this ideology took my brother away.

And in some sense, my mother, therefore, it's not what I'm going to align myself with soon.

We will save the low men of Middle earth, lift them up and give them the king they've long awaited.

The king will be forever not dead.

Contemplate if you can.

Now that might benefit us as Chancellor and Cousin Harrison is obviously very loyal to the Queen Regent, but he clearly has his own agenda and his own ideas about the way things should go, some of which he shares with his son.

Tell us a little bit about that.

Well, I think with Farrah's on he, you know, his loyalty is to Newman.

He has a very deep love for his people.

And when you see that also as well, he's an economist as well.

So, you know, he's on about resources.

He I mean, I get a lot of Farrah's on is, you know, very tribal and, you know, I get lots of like sort of Brexit references and he wants to break away from Middle Earth, he doesn't, I think Farrah's on is a globalist.

I think like anybody from whichever land, he just wants it on his terms.

That doesn't make him a bad man.

That probably makes him a very good Newman O'Ryan, I guess, dare I say it, you all that single handedly prevented our last king from dragging us back to the old ways.

Don't tell me he couldn't sway my mind now.

What makes you think, Miriam's minding my own and not as well because my father would seem to die than take orders from an elf?

Why does kevin persuade his father to oppose the mission And then ultimately tries to burn the boat?

It's a really interesting turn, I mean, in episode four, you can see that their relationship is, you know, tough in a lot of ways, but in Kevin's mind photos on is always right.

It may not be like an easy relationship, but he has massive respect for his father.

And then when he starts putting everything in place to follow middles plans, he's thrown by, it goes against everything they stand for everything they believe in and it seems like he's just waiting for his dad to turn this thing around and it's not happening.

I don't think he's sleeping a lot that week.

I think he's waiting for, since to come to the fore and it doesn't happen and I think because of this push from Guardian, he finally challenges him in a way that he never has before, I think it's a massive moment for his growth.

I think he's, as I say, he's only known comfort and he's not really challenge the status quo before because it served him so well.

And I think when a person does get challenged by and maybe for the first time, the first time, he's not just seen his son blindly follow.

There is yeah, the big kernel of respect there, but I don't think as much as it makes sense that the spoils could be worth it.

This is not the politics that came in was expecting.

I think his idea of this is still pretty pure.

I grew up in Wellington, I grew up around I guess youth wing politicians associated with the parties, in our government, and I saw a lot of people who had a lot of passion and not a lot of experience and I think Cayman has been in that boat, he's got really clear ideas about what stands for the reality of what amazon is interested in doing in furthering new manner.

I think that's while understandable, shocking in a certain way, and I think that's part of what encourages him to go down a really dangerous path and makes this wild call a plan that is in my mind half baked.

And personally, I don't know if it happens unless your daughter is there.

I feel like he's mapped out all the steps and unless there's somebody there who he has a scuffle with, I'm not convinced.

He doesn't just sit there until the sun comes up trying to will himself to set this thing on fire.

I think the fact that he runs into this person throws all of it into motion and the fact that there are limited consequences, I think is a really dangerous lesson.

What happened?

He was in a fishing boat, he saved my life, he could have just left, but he saved my life will be sealed or saving him and not reporting his betrayal affect his stands.

I mean, Cayman owes him big time, but to a certain extent, I think I'm as baffled by this move.

I think if the shoe was on the other foot, there's no universe in which came in.

Doesn't drop him in to score points with his father.

I think he's in this moment looking at him absolutely bewildered by his processing.

Cayman is selfish.

Cayman is somebody who is thinking about how can I get ahead or it seems like field or even in this moment where he could absolutely trade off this thing is trying to work out how to do right by people who really don't deserve it.

In my personal opinion.

I guess your brother is not a narc.