The Lord of the Rings all started with The Hobbit. Author J.R.R. Tolkien wrote this children’s fantasy book as a stand-alone work. In it, Bilbo Baggins, the story’s unassuming hero, discovers a magical ring. This ring was only meant to be a plot device, a way for Bilbo to escape the creature Gollum. But all that changed when Tolkien’s publisher requested a sequel following The Hobbit‘s tremendous success.
Rather than make a direct sequel, the author took a different approach. Tolkien expanded upon that briefly mentioned ring to create The Lord of the Rings, a trilogy of adult books that has had an incalculable impact on the fantasy genre.
Tolkien’s iconic work has been adapted into many forms of media. The most famous adaptations are Peter Jackson’s critically acclaimed The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, Jackson’s not-so critically acclaimed The Hobbit franchise, and Amazon’s ongoing TV show The Rings of Power. Amazon will release all eight episodes of season 2 over the next few weeks.
Despite being the most expensive show ever made, with a whopping $1 billion budget over its planned five seasons, The Rings of Power has proven to be divisive among The Lord of the Ring fans. Set during Middle-earth’s Second Age, the series ignores a good deal of Tolkien’s history of Middle-Earth, even though he’s written extensively on the subject and has produced a wealth of source material to draw from.
Significant events are out of order, and some characters were created specifically for the show. You can pour over the thousands of pages that Tolkien has written, but you’ll never find these 10 characters in any of his work.
10 Kemen
Kemen (Leon Wadham) is the son of Chancellor Pharazôn and a Númenórean nobleman of the Second Age. Although Pharazôn is a canonical character, Kemen was invented for The Rings of Power. An aspiring politician, Kemen is eager to win his father’s approval and may go to extreme lengths to do so.
He also seems to harbor an interest in another character, Eärien. Given his father’s tragic ending, which ultimately leads to the Downfall of Númenor, we might be in store for a tragic finale for Kemen.
9 Eärien
Eärien (Ema Horvath) is a Númenórean lady of the Second Age and the daughter of Lord Elendil. More notably, she’s the sister of Isildur, the legendary warrior who cut the One Ring from Sauron’s hand but refused to destroy it, ultimately paving the way for the events of The Lord of the Rings.
While both Elendil and Isildur were created by Tolkien, Eärien is an original character for the show. Season 2 will supposedly move Eärien toward the opposite side of the growing Númenórean conflict, potentially against her father.
8 The Mystics
These are technically three different characters, but we’re grouping them into one entry since they sort of work as one entity. Inspired by the Three Witches from Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the Mystics are three malevolent magic users. These women are known only as the Nomad (Edith Poor), the Ascetic (Kali Kopae), and the Dweller (Bridie Sisson).
The Mystics came from Rhûn to hunt a character that we know only as the Stranger (Daniel Weyman), believing him to be the evil Sauron. But the Stranger, a wizard who came crashing down from the heavens, defeats the Mystics and banishes them to the unseen world. It’s unclear if they’ll resurface in season 2.
You might have noticed that the Stranger is absent from this list. That’s mainly because we don’t yet know his identity, a reveal that’s supposedly coming in season 2.
Although wizards are primarily associated with the Third Age, there is a precedent for Second Age wizards in Tolkien’s work. In Tolkien’s historical volume, The Peoples of Middle-earth, it mentions that two Blue Wizards arrived in Middle-earth during the Second Age, sent to weaken Sauron. Is the Stranger one of these Blue Wizards? Or will The Rings of Power throw us another weird curveball and reveal him to be Gandalf or Saruman?
7 Theo
Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin) is the son of Bronwyn (more on her in a bit) and comes from a small village of Men called Tirharad. An aspiring warrior, he sort of becomes the Robin to Arondir’s Batman. Most notably, he discovers a mysterious sword hilt that bears Sauron’s sigil.
The Orc Sigil Hilt, as it’s called, turns out to be a haunted weapon that was forged by Morgoth himself, the dark lord who paved the way for Sauron. In order to save his mother, Theo surrenders the sword hilt to dark forces, which results in catastrophic consequences for Middle-Earth.
6 Bronwyn
Bronwyn is Theo’s mother and a healer who owns an apothecary in Tirharad. As a single woman, she strikes up a romance with the Elf Arondir, a big no-no in Middle-Earth. Like her son, Bronwyn is an original character that was created for The Rings of Power. However, the actress who plays her, Nazanin Boniadi, chose not to return for the second season. The role was also not recast, which means that fans can probably expect Bronwyn to meet an ill fate in season 2.
5 Poppy Proudfellow
Amazon feared that The Rings of Power wouldn’t feel like Middle-earth without the famous hobbits. Hobbits, however, do not appear in Tolkien’s history until the Third Age. So Amazon decided to explore a precursor to these halfllings called Harfoots, a type of hobbit that was actually invented by Tolkien.
Amazon also wanted to replicate the iconic wizard-halfling relationship from The Lord of the Rings trilogy. So if the Stranger is Gandalf (not literally, figuratively), and Nori is Frodo/Bilbo Baggins, then Poppy Proudfellow (Megan Richards) is the noble Samwise Gamgee. Although Harfoots existed in Tolkien’s history, Poppy Proudfellow did not. Loyal and goodhearted, she is Nori’s best friend, who helps her look after the Stranger. Hopefully, Poppy won’t need to carry the weight of Nori’s burden (this time, we mean it literally) later on in the series.
4 Adar
Adar is one of the villains in The Rings of Power. A corrupted Elf, he’s one of the first Orcs and serves as their leader. Adar prefers to be referred to as an “Uruk”, which is the name for Orcs in Black Speech — the evil and cursed language of Sauron’s realm, Mordor. Speaking of Mordor, it’s Adar who coerces the Orc Sigil Hilt from Theo, ultimately leading to the creation of Mordor. Adar is not canonical to Tolkien’s history. He was portrayed by Joseph Mawle in season 1 but will be played by Sam Hazeldine in season 2.
3 Disa
Disa (Sophia Nomvete) is the princess of Khazad-dûm and Durin IV’s (Owain Arthur) wife. She’s a strong-willed Dwarf, who wields great influence upon her husband and serves as his most important advisor. They’re basically the power couple of Middle-earth. While Durin IV is a part of Tolkien’s history, Disa was created for The Rings of Power. Similar to the Mystics, her character was inspired by Lady Macbeth from William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth.
As mentioned earlier, Elanor “Nori” Brandyfoot (Markella Kavenagh) is the Frodo/Bilbo Baggins of The Rings of Power, a halfling with a yearning for adventure and a fondness for wizards. Nori spent much of the first season helping and looking after the mysterious stranger. In season 2, Nori will reportedly join the Stranger in traveling to the mysterious eastern lands of Rhûn in the second season.
1 Arondir
Aside from Galadriel, Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova) is one of the main protagonists in The Rings of Power. Unlike most Elves we see in Tolkien’s world, who are royal and regal, Arondir is a frontline soldier. He shared a forbidden love with the human healer Bronwyn, though this will change in season 2, since the role wasn’t recast.
Also, considering that Elves are immortal and we don’t see Arondir in The Lord of the Rings, but we do see Galadriel and Elrond, we should probably brace ourselves for a tragic finale for this Silvan Elf.
The Rings of Power
Season 2 premiered on Prime Video on August 29, 2024. Check out the latest trailer below:
