The clearest match for the idea behind “Rings of Power Stars Discuss How Their Characters Don’t Fit In” is an interview with the series’ composer, Bear McCreary—not a confirmed interview with multiple stars. McCreary explains how the score sets each Middle-earth culture apart, then gives characters who stand outside their community’s expectations musical identities of their own. His interview with Nerdist offers a way to hear that tension in characters such as Nori, Elrond, Galadriel, and Prince Durin.
How the score establishes a character’s place in Middle-earth
McCreary described five musical cultures for the series: Elves, the Men of the Southlands, the people of Númenor, Dwarves, and Harfoots. Each has its own anthem. A character who fits comfortably within a culture can be associated with its musical language; someone who departs from its norms can have an individual theme that still carries traces of that cultural sound.
That distinction makes the score more than a set of labels. A character’s music can suggest both where they come from and where they feel pulled to go. McCreary put the broader idea plainly: “There’s always a character that’s an outsider that doesn’t belong or doesn’t fit in that realm. Prince Durin, Nori, Elendil and Isildur, and others are outside the norm.”
Characters whose music signals that they are outsiders
Nori looks beyond the Harfoot life she knows
Nori Brandyfoot’s theme begins with elements of the Harfoot musical world, but its rhythm and melody move away from the expected pattern. McCreary connected that change to Nori’s curiosity about what lies beyond her community’s customary nomadic life. “Why? Because she is the one Harfoot that is looking outward. She’s looking upward. It tells you she is our character that is not going to be satisfied living a regular Harfoot life,” he said.
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Her difference is a matter of direction: Nori belongs to the Harfoots, but her attention reaches beyond the limits of their familiar world.
Elrond stands between heritage and chosen identity
For Elrond, McCreary set aside the associations many viewers might bring from Hugo Weaving’s portrayal of an older, authoritative figure. The series presents an earlier Elrond, whom McCreary described as an optimist, politician, and diplomat—and an outsider. His father and brother are legendary, while Elrond himself is half-Elven. “And yet here he is, half-elven, not quite fitting in the world that he has chosen,” McCreary said.
Elrond’s position is not simply a rejection of his people’s culture. His theme reflects the distance between his mixed heritage, his family’s legacy, and the life he has chosen.
Galadriel’s drive sets her apart
McCreary described Galadriel as an outlier within Elven culture, driven by a pursuit of justice that may also contain a desire for revenge. Her theme presses forward as she hunts for Sauron, and McCreary noted musical similarities between their themes. The connection gives the pursuit a musical echo without erasing the difference between the two characters.
Prince Durin’s theme keeps a Dwarven foundation but changes its character
Prince Durin IV’s music remains recognizably Dwarven, yet it differs from the traditional, patriotic sound associated with his father, King Durin. McCreary described the prince’s theme as jauntier. The contrast places Durin within his culture while marking him as distinct from the expectations embodied by his father.
Elendil and Isildur are named among the outsiders
McCreary also included Elendil and Isildur among characters who are outside the norm. The Nerdist interview names them but provides less detailed musical analysis of their themes than it does for Nori, Elrond, Galadriel, and Prince Durin.
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What the music can—and cannot—tell you
McCreary’s account offers a listening guide, not a ranking of characters or a claim about how audiences respond. The useful distinction is between a musical culture’s shared identity and the ways an individual theme bends away from it. Nori’s music points toward a life beyond Harfoot convention; Elrond’s evokes an identity shaped by divided heritage and personal choice; Galadriel’s conveys relentless pursuit; and Prince Durin’s separates him from his father’s more traditional sound.
A separate interview provides a different perspective on fitting into Tolkien’s world. Actor Charlie Vickers said he researched Middle-earth lore to understand how Halbrand, who initially seemed to be an original character, could fit among established figures; he later learned the role was Sauron. That is Vickers discussing his preparation, not McCreary’s explanation of outsider themes. Inverse interviewed Vickers about the role.
For broader story context after Sauron’s reveal and the making of the Elven rings, NPR’s North Country Public Radio coverage of Season 2 summarizes continuing character arcs.
