The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2’s penultimate installment follows Adar (Sam Hazeldine) and Elrond (Robert Aramayo) as they and their respective Elven and Orc armies meet in battle outside the walls of the Elvish kingdom of Eregion. The conflict itself, known canonically as the Siege of Eregion, takes up the majority of the episode’s runtime, and for good reason. It already ranks high as one of the most impressive blockbuster battle sequences that has ever been brought to life on TV.
The siege takes place almost entirely at night, but you’re still able to perceive and understand everything that happens throughout it. That’s a testament to the work of director Charlotte Brändström and cinematographer Alex Disenhof, the latter of whom confessed in an interview with Collider that he was worried about how visually legible the battle would turn out. “As [a] cinematographer, I think, some of the scariest things you can read on a page are like, ‘A moonlit night,’” Disenhof admitted.
TV viewers have, of course, experienced the unique frustration of not actually being able to see what’s happening in a big, epic fantasy battle. One of Game of Thrones season 8’s most infamous episodes, The Long Night, was heavily criticized in 2019 for leaning so hard into dim, “realistic” lighting that caused most viewers to have a hard time making out what was happening on a moment-to-moment basis.
In order to avoid making the same mistake as The Long Night, Disenhof relied on one specific aspect of The Rings of Power‘s climactic siege — namely, the giant fireballs that Adar and his Orc army continuously launch at Eregion. “We let that be our guide,” Disenhof revealed. “I was able to use real fire, and fake fire that we lit with lights, as our key for a lot of the scene.”
Disenhof used the set piece’s fiery catapults and explosions to light every facet of it, including the performances given by its actors. “We had this experience where I could say, if a character, Elrond, say, falls down, and I could say, ‘Well, you know what, I really want to see his face here. Hey, Special Effects Department, can you light a fire 6 feet from his head? Or however close you can get it safely?,’ and use that and see it in camera,” Disenhof recalled. “It keeps the frame alive.”
The resulting battle is one that — whether you love The Rings of Power or not — feels like it was made with its audience’s needs in mind. If only Game of Thrones had made greater use of its available dragonfire when it had the chance.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 finale premieres on Prime Video on Thursday, October 3.