‘If the sea monster chews me up, then that’s what’s meant to be’: Cynthia Addai-Robinson on Míriel’s Underwater Trial in ‘The Rings of Power’
The sea is always right.
As the de facto leader of the Faithful in Númenor, Queen-Regent Míriel just took a huge leap of faith.
The Mary Sue talked to The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power star Cynthia Addai-Robinson for a Q&A about all things palantir, playing Björk during Míriel’s sea trial in Episode 6, and the Queen’s intense relationship with Captain Elendil.
Since taking her army to assist Galadriel with an orc attack in Middle-earth, Míriel has not had a pleasant return to the island nation of Númenor in Season 2 of the Amazon series. Her people doubt her leadership, her father has died, her cousin Pharazôn usurps her throne, and Pharazôn’s son Kemen arrests her most loyal ally Elendil.
She’s also newly blind, which is its own adjustment. Míriel’s one hope is that if the Palantir, an elven stone that shows glimpses of the future, does not show the doom and gloom she’s seen for ages, maybe that means they’ve changed their fate. Maybe Pharazôn’s coup, distasteful as it is, has to happen to save the island.
However, when Pharazôn sentences Elendil to a sea trial, in which he will risk death, Míriel volunteers to take his place. To do this, she submerges into the ocean where a terrifying “sea worm” determines if she’s worthy per the Valar–governing gods to the elves and the Faithful in Númenor. It’s like Dune and Thor (or Arthurian legend, if you prefer) rolled into one.
This isn’t a show of force, selfish, or intentionally heroic. “If we are to walk the path of the Faithful,” she says to Elendil, “I must take the first step.” While the palace intrigue is delicious on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Tolkien didn’t write political dramas. He wrote fairy tales. So the former princess jumps into the sea to be tested.
The sequence filmed on location in Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands, and in a tank at the U.K.’s Pinewood Studios. Because she survives, we’re meant to assume the Valar approve and that Míriel and Númenor are on the right path … for now.
Leah Marilla Thomas (TMS): What surprised you most about Míriel and Númenor this season?
Cynthia Addai-Robinson: What’s really wonderful, especially when you embark on such an epic tail as this, is that there’s still a lot of room for surprise, even for those of us who are canon characters where we know the endpoint; we sort of know our fate. And really it ultimately is about how our showrunners going to take all roads to get us where we ultimately end up.
And so for me, I know what Númenor’s fate is. I know what Míriel’s fate is. What I don’t know is the how, I don’t know how her journey gets her to this endpoint. This season, it was really gonna be a question of, off the back of her being blind, the king passing, all of these things: what does the future hold for her and how does it link to the initial vision that she sees in the palantir?
I was curious to see the biggest question that I got, especially from friends and family who’d been watching the show in the first season is Míriel still blind? Does this mean that you’re blind for who knows how long? It was something I didn’t actually have the answer to at the time. I didn’t know what that was gonna look like.
And so the new challenge for me was going to be to really learn how to inhabit that and have that be a continuous thing throughout for the season for me. This aspect of blindness, but with the knowledge of how to move about the world with that condition. So, lots of surprises. And probably the biggest surprise, we are going to see in episode 6.
TMS: She kind of is the character that’s ‘read the books,’ in a way, because she has a sense of a sense of what’s going to happen.
Addai-Robinson: Well, I think it’s subject to interpretation. The palantir is a seeing stone; it’s not necessarily as literal as a crystal ball. You are not getting the full picture, no pun intended, where you know what the future holds. It’s almost something that has to be interpreted. So it’s flashes of a vision. It’s flashes of imagery.
And then it’s a question of ‘is what I’m seeing predetermined, are there actions I can take to change this vision if I go back and look again and the vision changes? Have I headed off the disaster that I saw coming?’ These are all the things that she doesn’t necessarily have all of the answers to. Ultimately everything she’s doing is to fundamentally see if she can see a different vision in the palantir. Does it change?
There is definitely a lot tied to that idea of what is fated, what is meant to be, what can you change, or is it what is written is what is supposed to happen? There’s a lot of interesting things in there, certainly tied to the idea of faith. And it was the conversation that myself and Lloyd Owen, playing Elendil, talked about a lot in our own conversations as we prepared for season 2.
TMS: When the first episodes premiered, a lot of people were very surprised by how she lets her creepy cousin into her room, a woman slaps her, and yet she’s very still passive in a sense. Because she’s not an “off with your head” type of Queen.
Addai-Robinson: Definitely not. She’s definitely the people’s queen. Obviously we don’t necessarily see all of the ‘before’ of [Míriel and Pharazôn’s] dynamic, but they’re cousins and they presumably have come up in this world together and were aligned to a point. Their fathers, before them, actually diverged in terms of their belief and their view of the world.
But it’s interesting in the way that with your own family, sometimes it’s family first, but you could have wildly different beliefs, wildly different ways of moving about the world, but it’s the familial bond that kind of is your common link. They certainly are both committed to their cause and they’re committed to their love of country, their love of Númenor, and their desire to kind of do what they believe is best.
So it’s interesting to see the evolution because obviously, it’s less about say her being creeped out by him and more understanding him and understanding, ‘I already know he’s making moves. He’s looking for a power grab,’ and perhaps that sense of passivity is really about, ‘I’m going to let him think that he kind of has the one up.’ She’s a savvy leader.
It’s more about her knowledge of people and how people work and trying to think before she acts. Trystan [Gravelle] who plays Pharazôn, we always have a blast, and there were a lot of variations on that particular scene where he comes into the room and is trying to clearly establish this new dynamic instead of being a consigliere, basically showing that he’s trying to flex because she’s clearly in a weakened position.
TMS: She has this line in episode 5, “not every battle must be fought to be won,” which I think sums up her her viewpoint a little bit, because maybe this is the right path. She’s got more than just her own ambition.
Addai-Robinson: If what’s meant to be is meant to be, even if it doesn’t seem right in the moment, is this what we sort of allow to happen? Because when she and Elendil talk, and she asks him, ‘what did you see in the palantir?,’ he did not see a giant wave crashing down, [so] perhaps this is what is meant to be.
What becomes the concern, certainly for Elendil, is the fact that, ‘but this doesn’t feel right in my heart, in my soul.’ So it’s hard to kind of rationalize if you’re saying this is meant to be because it’s heading off imminent disaster, and yet look at what’s happening, look at what’s unfolding. This doesn’t feel right, this doesn’t seem right.
TMS: She tells him to chill. He does not chill.
Addai-Robinson: Well it’s hard to be chill, admittedly hard to be chill after everything kicks off.
TMS: Very true. So then you get to the sea trial [in Episode 6]. She makes a very big choice. Where is her head at in that moment?
Addai-Robinson: Do you trust in blind faith, as it were, if it is fighting against your own sense of morality, your own sense of what your heart is telling you? Am I meant to go with a leader who is now sowing the seeds of chaos in a very distasteful way?
Initially this is what she’s trying to convince Elendil of; this is what we should trust in based on our shared belief in our tradition. But then the tables turn and it flips. And so for her to make this grand gesture and say, ‘if I make it through, then that’s what’s meant to be. If the sea monster chews me up, then that’s what’s meant to be. And you should trust and believe in that.’
She now has to not only convince Elendil of that, but really as she’s taking steps into the water convince herself [as well]. And I think that aspect of it where really having conviction and what you’ve just told somebody else to believe in, she’s literally putting herself to the test in that moment. And thankfully she passes the test.
TMS: When Elendil was going to do it, they said “throw him in.” I’m glad they walked you down the steps.
Addai-Robinson: I’m glad they walked me down too. Even I, as somebody who knows how the sausage is made, was really impressed [when I saw the completed sequence] and just went, ‘wow, this is amazing. This is incredible.’ Because the whole idea is you want to feel that sense of peril for her.
Is she gonna make it? Is this a fool’s errand and she’s just going to get chewed up in the end? Or is she going to essentially show everybody that she in fact is meant to be the true ruler of Númenor? And in turn it’s obviously gonna be quite a humiliating trial that Pharazôn and for all of his followers. The proof is in the pudding for everybody to see publicly that she ultimately prevails.
TMS: And the people of Númenor are obviously easily impressed by spectacle. We saw that with the eagle. They were immediately on board.
Addai-Robinson: When we talk about Númenor and their ties to their elven tradition, or heritage if you will, as much as people are trying to sort of move forward and Pharazôn and [his] followers want to leave all of that behind, it’s still sort of embedded really in what Númenóreans have always known and always believed.
All of those things, over the course of their history, have been the ways in which rulers have been confirmed, decided. So it’s certainly hard to turn your back on hundreds of years of Númenórean tradition. So they are easily impressed. But these are the sign from their gods that Míriel is the rightful leader of Númenor.
TMS: Can I ask more about the tank? If there’s, if there’s two things that I don’t envy screen actors for, it’s eating on screen and having to be in a tank.
Addai-Robinson: I don’t envy that either, and I think I’ve managed to avoid eating for this show. Although in season 1, there was a scene where we were meant to have a seafood feast. And I just thought, ‘hmm, maybe not lukewarm fish. No thanks. Maybe just grapes.’
But the tank is … as Míriel was facing her trial, which was a very different test, I, Cynthia Addai-Robinson faced my own test. Oftentimes being an actor gives you all of these opportunities and experiences to do things that if you were just asked, for life, you would maybe go, ‘no, I’m not really interested in that. No, I think I can pass.’
And this has happened to me multiple times over the years with this show. Horse riding, helicopter riding, and now tank swimming. You’ve got to do training, obviously. You have to have a certificate so that you can use a respirator to breathe underwater. I’d never done any of these things before. They weren’t things that necessarily appealed to me just as a fun thing to do. I’m terrified of going deep into the water breathing with a tank.
I just thought I was gonna drown every few minutes. There’s a special water safety team that works at Pinewood Studios. I have to give them a massive shout out, because they basically were the reason I was even able to do it, to not lose my cool. You have one person on a microphone giving you instruction, telling you everything you need to do.
I had an incredible gentleman who was by my side at all times, ready for whatever. I requested to have music play underwater because I just thought otherwise, if this is just the sound of my own breathing, I’m going to panic. So I just had Björk playing underwater. I needed something ethereal and something that could get me in the right head space as a lifelong Björk fan.
I needed to focus on the task at hand, which was portraying somebody who was facing off with a sea monster, that she understands is symbolic. That if she triumphs it’s bigger than just she doesn’t get eaten alive. It is the true demonstration of the faith. So for my own test, that felt important for me. I can’t mess this up. I’ve got a whole crew of people who want to see me succeed.
And also Sanaa [Hamri], our director for that sequence, as well as Vic Armstrong who does our second unit; they had a vision for this whole sequence. So you just want to make sure you can kind of give everybody what they need.
I also thought a lot about Morfydd [Clark] and Charlie [Vickers] because they did so much water work in season 1 into season 2 for Charlie as well. And I just thought, ‘Oh my gosh, they did this for weeks’. I have no idea how they manage. It’s so intense. It’s draining to work in the water. It’s very taxing on your system. You’re literally just kind of hanging out. It’s not like being at the pool all day, let me tell you. It’s a whole other thing.
So anytime you see any underwater sequence in any film or series, just know even for a few seconds or a minute of underwater work, it actually takes days, sometimes weeks to complete. It was definitely something that I felt very proud to be on the other side of, and I’m sure it won’t be my last time in the water.
TMS: The trauma bond Míriel has with Elendil is much deeper now. How does this grand gesture affect their relationship going forward?
Addai-Robinson: What Lloyd and I were excited about is trying to work between the lines. Because what their dynamic is isn’t necessarily written on the page, but it goes without saying that you have these intensive experiences that only the two of them really understand with their shared belief. It sort of transcends something that would just purely be romantic, for lack of a better word; it isn’t really about that. And it is, you use the phrase trauma bond, but it’s true. They’ve really gone through these trials and it tests their belief and faith, and with every passing test it just reaffirms their shared belief.
We always thought there was something really lovely and beautiful that their dynamic obviously changed from leader and loyal servant. It’s more than a friendship. It’s not just a romantic thing, or that doesn’t really quite define it, but there is a deep love there. I’m sure people will be very curious to see kind of how that continues to unfold moving forward.
TMS: There is a small part, I’m sure, of her taking his place that’s like, ‘No, I’m keeping you alive if I can.‘
Addai-Robinson: I think it’s that idea. What’s interesting is both of them were willing to kind of step in for the other person to say that ‘by my conviction, I’m willing to do this because I believe it is the right thing to do.’
And you can see how the reaction of the other person in both instances, as much as they have this shared belief, there’s also the difficulty of, ‘but what happens if I lose you?’ If you’re about to lose somebody, the most human aspects of us want to fight that and go, ‘well, no, I don’t know if I can stomach that. I don’t know if that sacrifice is worth it to me.’ And it is really the ultimate test for both of them.
So I think moving forward, you would have to imagine that not only does it deepen their conviction that they are on the right path for their belief for their country, but also for each other. It’s a really poignant, beautiful thing. I love that [the relationship] is a bit, I wouldn’t even say ill-defined, but it has no definition. And I think that that’s a really lovely thing, but there clearly is a deep love there.
This interview has been condensed and edited for length and clarity.
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