Episode 5 of Rings of Power’s second season marked a major turning point for Númenor and Kemen, the son of Pharazôn, specifically. In an act to knock the faithful down a peg, he decided to close their place of worship, and that ended in a battle between him and Valandil. In the end, the son of the new king ended up literally stabbing him in the back. So, when I spoke to Leon Wadham, who plays Kemen, about this turning point, he opened up about how it will impact his character as the season moves forward on the 2024 TV schedule .
As part of CinemaBlend’s interviews for Rings of Power’s sophomore season, I spoke to the Númenor cast about Episode 5. Wadham and I specifically talked about Kemen’s big fight. Between his abusive relationship with his dad and his own quest for power and acceptance, he’s making big moves, and we don’t know what the consequences of this one will be yet, as he told me:
It really depends how this action, this transgression, is received. Because I think part of what's changed with Kemen between Season 1 and Season 2 is that in Season 1 he made this massive swing, took this huge risk, and there were no consequences. And so the old Kemen, who was like, ‘I'll just pay my dues. I'll keep chipping away, and eventually, I will earn some respect. I'll earn some legitimate power,’ has gone, ‘I don't have to wait anymore. I can actually make bold moves. I can take big risks, and they'll either work or, you know, they'll fail.' But what would be the consequence here?
(Image credit: Ross Ferguson / Prime Video )
Arguably, Kemen killing Valandil will have major repercussions, as he deals with the reactions of his father Pharazôn as well as Elendil – who was there and trying to defend Valandil – and Míriel. Among those faithful to the former leader, the man Kemen killed was adored, so his loss won’t be taken lightly. However, his focus is on his father, as Wadham told me:
So he's now killed somebody, and the question is: Will he be punished or will he be rewarded? And in the absence of a punishment, I think he would read that as a reward. So, the future kind of lies in his dad's hands. However he responds will be the lesson Kemen learns.
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OK, let’s break this down a bit. Kemen and Pharazôn have an abusive relationship. In this last episode, for example, Pharazôn used information about Kemen’s mother as currency to get him to do what he wanted. So, if him killing Valandil gets no reaction out of his father, then he’ll read the situation as a victory.
However, if Pharazôn has a negative reaction, Wadham’s character will see his actions differently.
Therefore, it’s possible that he’ll be proud of what he did in the next episodes or he’ll wind up feeling ashamed.
Obviously, Elendil and Míriel will probably be upset about this situation, and Eärien – while she aligns with the new king – did offer Valandil help, so she probably won’t take his death lightly either. Overall, I can see a target being put on Kemen by those who are faithful to the queen. However, based on Wadham’s comments, he’ll be more impacted by his father’s reaction more.
So, whatever happens next is bound to be complicated and very emotional. To how everyone, including Kemen, reacts to his actions next, you can catch new episodes of Rings of Power – which is one of Amazon Prime’s best shows – every Thursday.
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