The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power came to New York Comic Con's Empire Stage on Friday to follow up on Prime Video's presentation of fellow epic fantasy series, The Wheel of Time. Members of the expansive cast of The Rings of Power, including Benjamin Walker, Sara Zwangobani, Daniel Weyman, Nazanin Boniadi, Leon Wadham and Charles Edwards shared stories from filming the series' unforgettable first season as viewers prepare for its finale. Moderated by Felicia Day, the panel included answers to some of the Tolkien adaptation's big questions and hints about what's coming next for Middle-earth.

Day began by discussing the music in the show, pointing out the vocals of Fiona Apple in the ending credit song. "You can drop this song into your playlist today," she said. "Who's excited for the finale?" She then did a crowd survey, asking who felt they identified as Dwarves, Elves, Harfoots or humans. After a fan objected, she added Orcs.

A personal video message from showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay was played, and then the cast members were welcomed onto the stage.

"After #3, we're watching along with the audience, so there's a lot in the finale that we don't know," explained.

"I've been a fantasy fan all my life," said Zwangobani, "and it started when I was a little girl with The Lord of the Rings. Yup, I'm one of you! And I've always wanted to go to Comic-Con, especially because Felicia Day was there, and I was a huge Supernatural fan."

"Thank you for shipping Aronwyn, that's what it's called," said Boniadi about the romance between her character Bronwyn and the Elf Arondir. She also revealed that the couple would share their first kiss in the finale.

"Well, some people were doing stunt prep for a very long time, and then of course the COVID pandemic hit," said Wadham.

An exclusive preview for the finale was played.

Day begged for secrets to be revealed, and the cast played an impromptu game of "I am Spartacus," replacing the name Spartacus with Sauron.

"I have to say even watching this trailer, we're on the show and I got chills!" said Addai-Robinson. "Oh my God, it's incredible!"

Boniadi was asked about playing her deeply dramatic scenes, and responded, "I loved killing Orcs. And I also loved saving -- is this a spoiler?" She went on to praise the directors for the beautiful action scenes.

Day asked Walker what it was like to be the king. "There's worse gigs," he said in a deadpan voice. About his costume, he confirmed, "Yeah, I'm wearing a corset. I can't complain about it, because women were forced to wear them for a hundred years, but it's really uncomfortable. But when you're wearing the outfit, you can't help it, you feel like the king."

"When you start talking about your character, you get so kingly, and yet I hear you're the funnest guy in the bar," said Day to Walker. He replied, "Like Gil-galad, I have many facets."

"I'm always in awe even just hearing people speak," said Addai-Robinson. "I really appreciate everyone trying to honor and respect the source."

Day asked Addai-Robinson to elaborate on how her character had turned during the course of the first season. "I had a fangirl moment with Morfydd. When I saw her in the armor I was like, 'Oh my God, it's Galadriel!'" Addai-Robinson said. "If you know the lore, you know what's coming, but what I think it's gonna be really great is how we're going to get there."

"There's stuff you'll only catch if you're looking for it," said Edwards. Addai-Robinson also pointed out the use of the soundtrack for when he is on the scene.

Day said she had a "softball question" for Weyman, and then asked him, "Are you Sauron? I know, you can't answer that."

"I could, but I won't," Weyman said.

Zwangobani talked about her scenes with Weyman and her character's relationship to his. "In terms of Marigold...yeah, she hates him. At first. She's been so anti-Nori's idea that we need to go out into the world, but when he moves the cart, that's where the initial germ starts."

Another clip from the season finale was played, focused on the decision to forge the Rings.

The cast was asked what characters they would play if they weren't their own, and several mentioned the Harfoots, especially Nori. However, Wadham said that he wanted to be Sauron.

"Have you been recognized on the street by baristas or fans?" asked Day of the actors.

"'You're that chick from...something!' Or, 'You're that chick from,' and it's not even me. But I think for all of us it's been extraordinary."

"I had an interesting encounter," said Addai-Robinson. "I was in France, and a guy asked, 'Are you on TV?' I said 'Yeah,' and he said '....The queen!'"

Walker related an anecdote from yesterday, addressing the crowd to say, "If you're here, you made my day. Someone came up behind me and said, "Are you Gil-gadaddy?' I'm still buzzing from that one. It made me feel good all over."

Day replied, "I didn't know if it was appropriate to bring up that meme," and Walker was astonished, saying, "It's a meme?! I thought it was just a really clever person!"

"I took a photo of myself with the Supernatural boys," Zwangobani admitted about what she's been up to at Comic-Con. Day replied, "I'm going to text Jared [Padalecki] about that!"

Day asked about their favorite scenes to film. "The scale of the show is really dazzling," she said. "Episode 6 was quite a monster to film, wasn't it?"

"But my favorite was in Episode 2," said Boniadi after describing the difficulties of filming something that goes from night to day and back. "In the town, with those disbelieving people, and then slamming that table down."

"The migration scene, because it seems so magical," said Zwangobani. "But there's a scene I can't talk about, with my Harfoot family. It's one of my best moments as an actor."

"My favorite scene is also in the finale," said Addai-Robinson.

Day finished by announcing a Rings of Power podcast which she was hosting.