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One of the most exciting aspects of Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is that it offers lovers of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy masterwork a glimpse into one of the least well-known corners of his sprawling fictional universe. The author didn’t explore much of the Second Age of Middle-earth in his lifetime. However, he frequently referenced the events that took place during this period, and their impact is felt throughout Third Age stories The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. The Rings of Power is the first attempt to bring this particular era of Tolkien’s fantasy saga to the screen, and no matter how you feel about the series’ first season, it’s difficult to deny the thrill of seeing settings like the doomed island kingdom of Numenor or the vibrant dwarf city of Khazad-dum brought to life.
Perhaps more importantly, the series also introduces several of the most famous (and beloved) figures from Tolkien’s expansive history, including Elf High King Gil-galad, the master smith Celebrimbor, future dwarf ruler Durin IV, and Numenorian Chancellor Pharazôn. Season 2 will add even more, such as original ringbearer Cirdan the Shipwright and the mysterious being known as Tom Bombadil. But no matter how many new faces grace our screens in its second season, Tolkien’s most intriguing Second Age arc has always belonged to his most human character: Elendil.
As Lord of the Rings fans already know, Elendil has a big future waiting for him. He will play a pivotal role in crafting the kingdoms of men in Middle-earth, founding the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor after the fall of Numenor and ruling as the first High King of the Dunedain (what Tolkien called the descendants of the exiled Numenoreans). The ancestor of Aragorn—he’s something like his 38th-great grandfather—Elendil goes on to lead the Last Alliance of Elves and Men alongside Gil-galad at the end of the Second Age, before dying by Sauron’s hand during the Siege of Barad-dur. It is his sword, Narsil, that is shattered by the Dark Lord and must be reforged in The Return of the King. And it is his son, Isildur, who uses the broken blade to cut the One Ring from Sauron’s hand and refuses to cast it into the fire afterward. Even the best parents make mistakes, is what I’m saying.
But, for all that Elendil’s life has a profound impact on Middle-earth and leaves a legacy that lives on for generations after him, he appears only briefly in Tolkien’s ancillary writings and his prior onscreen presence consisted of a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it death in the prologue to Peter Jackson’s The Fellowship of the Ring. The Rings of Power clearly aims to change all that, introducing a version of Elendil who has not yet become the legend history will remember him as. But the promise of his transformation into a leader and hero is one of the most tantalizing threads season 2 needs to explore.
A respected Numenorean sea captain with a fondness for Elvish culture, Elendil initially seems to be little more than a man with noble ancestry and a tragic past. Grieving the recent loss of his wife and struggling to figure out how to parent his—often difficult—children without her, he’s a warm and deeply sympathetic figure who’s almost instantly likable. (The fact that actor Lloyd Owen looks as though he could be distantly related to Viggo Mortensen, who played Aragorn in the Jackson films, certainly doesn’t hurt.)
Season 1 saw him risk his reputation by befriending Galadriel before joining the Queen Regen Mirielt’s disastrous trip to the Southlands, in which many Numenorean soldiers were killed and Miriel herself was blinded. The battle with Adar’s forces also carried a distinctly high personal cost, as Elendil believes Isildur was killed during the disaster that turned the Southlands into Mordor. Viewers of course know Isildur isn’t dead, but the question of whether Elendil will learn his son is alive this season is up in the air.
Reeling from multiple tragedies, Elendil and Miriel return home to a Numenor in crisis, with the ruler of the island kingdom dead and Chancellor Pharazon’s faction scheming to steal Miriel’s rightful throne. How Elendil will navigate this treacherous situation will likely be the first real test of his leadership, as he’ll almost certainly find himself thrust directly into the kingdom’s larger power struggles whether he wants to be or not. While other areas of Middle-earth may be more directly battling Sauron’s influence, Numenor has its own very human problems to deal with: increasing civil strife and competing political ideologies that pit former friends and family against one another.
“Ambition,” Owen recently told Den of Geek during a chat at Den of Geek’s SDCC 2024 studio. “That is what gets turned up and up and up in them, and all without a ring needed. That’s already there in the politics of Numenor. That schism in society has always been there. It’s just going to start cracking and getting wider.”
Elendil’s larger story is quintessential Tolkien, though. In his world, heroes are made, as much as they are born, and greatness is a burden long before it ever leads to glory. From Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee to Eowyn of Rohan and Faramir of Gondor, Middle-earth’s greatest characters are often those who rise to meet the moment in front of them. Even Aragorn, who is born with a great destiny, spends much of his life living as a Ranger of the North and, at least in Jackson’s movies, wrestling with no considerable amount of self-doubt. And it seems like Elendil’s story in season 2 will be much the same.
With Miriel’s eyesight gone, Elendil’s role as her right hand will be more critical than ever. He will, quite literally, have to see for her, learning how to interpret the things he’s witnessing in a political context and use that information to their advantage. His counsel may be the only advice the queen can truly trust, and his political education alongside her will be the first step in forging the leader he’ll one day become. Elendil will likely have to make difficult decisions about what he believes in, from his faith to the future of their kingdom. And, of course, he’ll have to do all this while simultaneously grieving his lost son and living at odds with his daughter, Earien, who seems all too ready to disregard the ways of the Faithful and join forces with Pharazon’s faction. What sort of moral compromises and personal sacrifices will Elendil discover he must make along the way?
“Are you going to be on the wrong side of history or the right side of history?” Owen teased during our chat. “As a Numenorean, you have a choice. There’s a moral choice for everyone.”
Granted, there is still quite some time before Elendil must pick up a sword to face off with Sauron himself. But the Dark Lord is moving openly in the world again, and darkness is spreading across the face of Middle-earth and beyond. Heroes must rise to meet the monsters ahead of them, and those journeys must begin somewhere. The growing crisis in Numenor is the crucible in which one of the greatest of men will ultimately be forged. Buckle up.
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 his Prime Video on Aug. 29.
The post Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 Needs to Forge Elendil Into Tolkien’s Hero of Legend appeared first on Den of Geek.
