The following contains spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2, Episode 8, “Shadow and Flame,” now streaming on Prime Video.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 was not kind to the Elves, who found themselves dealing with even greater challenges as Sauron manipulated Celebrimbor and worked to seize control over Middle-Earth. Two of the key figures standing in his way were High King Gil-galad and Elrond — both of whom were pushed to their limits during the second season of the Prime Video series.

In an interview with CBR, actors Benjamin Walker (who portrays Gil-galad) and Robert Aramayo (who plays Elrond) reflected on what their characters went through at the end of Season 2. They discussed Gil-galad and Elrond’s struggles as leaders and in combat. Plus, learn what stood out the most to them in the massive conclusion to the season… including a detail fans might have missed.

CBR: The Elves have struggled a great deal throughout Rings of Power Season 2. As their leader, where is Gil-galad’s head going into and through the finale? How do you approach that amount of inner turmoil?

Benjamin Walker: He’s in a bad spot, and these seemingly omniscient, all-powerful creatures are actually incredibly fallible. Galadriel, as it turns out, is a pretty bad judge of character lately. [Laughs.] Elrond keeps running off with the rings and I send the army to the dead wrong place. Also considering how prescient the king is potentially — or at least is in the lore — and how capable they are as a species… but also remember, we’ve got a long way to go.

Evil has just finally reached his form and we are still struggling to understand the potential of the rings, in terms of what they can do together. We are not unlike Middle-earth in the second age. We are in a state of becoming and in that sense, we’re shedding a skin which is not entirely painless.

The conclusion to Season 2 also showcases a different side to Elrond. Rings of Power audiences have seen his political work, but now he’s literally in the middle of some massive battles. What was it like to portray that aspect of his character compared to previous scenes?

Robert Aramayo: It’s definitely a different facet of the character, and it’s good to show it because both things exist within him. He just doesn’t know it yet… He’s read everything, he’s gained all the information, but he’s not put a lot of it into practice yet. So as a politician, he’s made some errors that have blown up in his face and now as a fighter, it almost came off. And if his plan would have worked in the Battle of Eregion , he would have saved the city. He doesn’t know what’s happening behind those walls, but he would have saved the city with Durin and that plan and everything.

Exploring someone who’s not fully realized yet, but is on the journey to that, is really fun. I’ve never done anything like that before — rolling around in the mud, fighting [with] swords, and how intense it was. It was great to try and work in those character moments and dramatic beats and as [director] Charlotte [Brändström] says, moments of decision. Being careful to take care of those emotional beats when they existed.

What stood out to you about the Rings of Power Season 2 finale? Was there anything that particularly struck you?

Walker: I do want to highlight something that I think is some beautiful work from our editor and director. The simple version of the finale is lift sword into the air and people cheer, and we’re carried off into the credits. But it actually happens backwards. As the King is turning, though we’ve made this unified decision to continue to fight, to continue to protect Middle-earth, actually the crowd cheers first. He awakens the spirit of the Elves.

We see them defeated and wounded and dejected and fractured, but their spirit persists. And where the King is technically the catalyst and guide of that, it is a testament to the characters that Tolkien has created that they are willing to rise again and face evil over and over and over again. That they still have hope for Middle-earth.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 is now streaming on Prime Video.