When Amazon gave us our first glimpse at the second season of Rings of Power, it was easy to note that one character in particular was oddly absent. But now, it turns out she won’t be in the new season at all.
The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that Nazanin Boniadi, who played Bronwyn throughout season one of the series, did not return to reprise the character for season two, set to begin streaming on Amazon Prime this summer. Boniadi, who is British-Iranian, previously announced that she had stepped away from her acting career in 2022, in order to focus on advocating for women’s rights in Iran. While she’s set to appear in the indie film A Mosquito in the Ear by Nicola Rinciari, an adaptation of an Italian graphic novel—which Boniadi has recently described as being the project that would “convince me to once again split my time between my day job and my calling as an activist”—a return to Middle-earth was, apparently, not.
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Bronwyn formed a major focal point for one of the key storylines of Rings of Power’s first season. A human healer in the Southlands, she strikes up a burgeoning romance with the Elven scout Arondir (Ismael Cruz Cordova), and she, alongside her son Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin), are caught up in the cataclysmic events that lead to the dark forces of Adar invading the Southlands—and their horrifying transformation in what will come to be known as Mordor. While Rings of Power’s climactic season finale dropped Bronwyn, Theo, and Arondir’s storyline to focus on the revelation of Sauron’s return, both Arondir and Theo were briefly glimpsed in scenes from the recent trailer for season two.
It’s currently unknown if Boniadi’s character was written out of the season altogether, or if Bronwyn will be recast.
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