All ‘Lord of The Rings’ characters that appear on ‘Rings of Power’

Do you remember watching Galadriel’s opening prologue of The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring and wishing you could know more about elven king Gil-Galad, Elendil and Isildur, or even who Elrond was before he became the wise lore master we meet in the movies? Thankfully, The Rings of Power is giving us all that and more.

The LOTR movies are set in the Third Age of Tolkien’s Middle-earth and only touch upon the forging of the rings of power and the Last Alliance of Elves and Men against Sauron in the prologue. But Rings of Power is set in the Second Age and is fleshing out those very stories that led to the events of LOTR. In addition, it gives us essential backstories to our some of our favourite characters, and how they became who they are in the Third Age. You’d be surprised to learn just how old some of them are, and how different and full of light they were a couple of millennia ago when the ravages of war, grief, and time had not yet hardened them. Or in Sauron’s case, his body wasn’t destroyed!

So which Lord of The Rings characters appear in The Rings of Power? Here’s a list!

Sauron

When Halbrand (Charlie Vickers) reveals to Galadriel that he is Sauron in the season 1 finale by saying that he has been around since the breaking of the first silence, he’s spitting facts! Sauron is a Maia (a lower race of angelic beings), who was corrupted by the first Dark Lord Morgoth, so he has been around for a long, long time and there are several terrifying stories about him from the First Age. For example, did you know he has shapeshifted into a werewolf and a vampire on two different occasions? In the Second Age, for his deception, he takes the fair elven form of Annatar, the Lord of gifts, back when he still could shapeshift. 

Galadriel

She may not be the oldest elf on Middle-earth, but Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) of the golden house of Finarfin is the oldest elf on Middle-earth who has seen the light of the Two Trees of Valinor before the Dark Lord Morgoth had Shelob’s mom Ungoliant destroy them in the First Age. And that makes her a pretty special elf. When we met Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) in the LOTR movies, there was much about her that was elusive and inspired awe. 

With Rings of Power, we see the storm, the tempest in her before she became the wise Lady of Light, and the real meaning behind that “test” she spoke to Frodo about when he offered her the One Ring. Since TROP deviates quite a bit from the timeline, we could also see her founding Lothlórien with Celeborn, and the birth of their daughter Celebrían!

Elrond

The Elrond (Robert Aramayo) we meet in The Rings of Power is exuberant compared to the Master Elrond we met in The Lord of the Rings movies. If anything, the latter is a tad more cynical and tough on the outside. And let’s not forget, he is a ringbearer in the Third Age. But what led him to become so? How did he found Rivendell, and meet and fall in love with Celebrían? And what led him to distrust the dwarves so much with taking care of the One Ring? Rings of Power brings us the answers with a much younger version of Elrond, going through an entire age before he becomes the great Master Elrond (Hugo Weaving) we know from the movies.

Gandalf

By canon, Gandalf (Daniel Weyman) probably doesn’t even belong in this story this early on in the Second Age since the wizards, the Istari, arrive on Middle-earth in the Third Age. But Rings of Power is playing it differently, and giving us an interesting backstory to what made Gandalf (Ian McKellen) the wise, humble old wizard who loved the hobbit’s leaf and considered them the best adventure partners! The series also ties in Gandalf’s greater purpose of being sent to Middle-earth, giving us a deeper understanding of his powers and his limitations. Maybe well know the origin stories of all the other Istari like Saruman and Radagast too!

Elendil

Elendil (Peter McKenzie) is such a legendary figure who makes an impression despite the small screen time in the LOTR movies during Galadriel’s prologue. His sword, Narsil, shatters, and it is that broken blade that his son Isildur uses to cut the ring from Sauron’s hand during the Last Alliance. It’s a crucial moment in the history of the One Ring. But Rings of Power is broadening the lens and giving us a proper backstory for Elendil (Lloyd Owen) of Númenor, and how before he became a king of the realms of Gondor and Arnor, and allied with High King Gil-galad against Sauron, he was a single parent, a member of the Faithfuls, and a man who lost his home to Sauron’s evil machinations.

Isildur

He is Aragorn’s ancestor and  inspires fear in the mind of Sauron until his end! Yes, okay, Isildur (Harry Sinclair) isn’t exactly a stand-up fella after he refused to throw the One Ring into Mount Doom and prolonged Sauron’s lifespan into the Third Age. But with Rings of Power (played by Maxim Baldry), we’re about to get a better look at a tragic hero who won the battle but fumbled the war, about the darkness within him that the ring called to, perhaps something to do with all the people he lost on the way.  

Gil-galad

Did you know Tolkien wrote a poem about the elven king Gil-galad? No, you don’t because the LOTR movie prologue barely gives us a peek at who he is, except that he formed the Last Alliance of elves and men with Elendil, and Elrond was the commander of his armies. What the movie doesn’t tell us is that Gil-galad (Mark Ferguson) was the first ringbearer of Vilya, the elven ring of Air, that eventually came to Elrond. Thankfully, Rings of Power gives us a wonderful portrayal of the Noldorian High King (Benjamin Walker), with an insight into who he was, what he thought of Sauron and the rings of power, and his relationship with Elrond and Galadriel.

Círdan

Probably one of the most fascinating elves, he is one of the oldest creatures in Tolkien’s stories, having lived from the First Age, when the elves were migrating to Valinor, to the passing of Aragorn in the Fourth Age, only after which did Círdan the shipwright sail on the last boat out of the Grey Havens to the Undying Lands. In Fellowship of The Ring and The Return of The King, Círdan (Michael Elsworth) is present on the sidelines but never explicitly named or given a speaking part. But on Rings of Power season 2, Círdan (Ben Daniels) is portrayed as the wise, fatherly figure who possess the Valar’s gift of foresight, and whose assistance every elf seeks, including King Gil-galad, to whom, the lore indicates, Círdan was like a foster father. He definitely will show up again on the series, as he bears the elven ring Narya, which will eventually go to Gandalf!

Shelob the spider 

Ladies and gentlemen, HER. Shelob is a nepo-baby (Her mother was Ungoliant) who is so terrifying that Gollum and the orcs barely even speak her name. We meet her in The Return of The King at the mountain pass of Cirith Ungol (Pass of the Spider) when she tries to make dinner of Frodo, but even as Sam manages to maim her, she probably survives, as her fate is left open-ended in the books and the movies. But having her make a cameo appearance in Rings of Power when she was still a youngling was a fun moment!

Apart from the aforementioned characters, it’s only a matter of time before the following characters might appear on The Rings of Power season 3 onwards!

Celeborn

Haters love to troll Rings of Power for the whole Sauron and Galadriel dark romance but can we all just wait for it? Because it has been hinted that hubby Celeborn will be showing up soon! The harder part would be establishing a convincing explanation for where he was all this time his wife was being seduced by the Dark Lord that might’ve almost killed him! But we know that Lothlórien needs to be established. And we know that Celebrían needs to be born. So we wait and watch!

Some of the Nazgûl 

With Ring of Power season 2 ending with Ar-Pharazôn’s (Trystan Gravelle) vision of Halbrand as Sauron in the palantir, Númenor is about to wage its own war against the Lord of the Rings. The lore tells us that the nine Ringwraiths were nine kings of Men, of which three were from Númenor. Fan speculations are rife about certain characters, such as Kemen (Leon Wadham), son of Pharazôn, to be a top contender to be a Nazgûl. Or, in an interesting twist, could it be Eärien (Ema Horvath)?

The King of the Dead

As we know from the Return of The King, the King of the Dead (Paul Norell) betrayed an oath to Isildur to come fight for him despite pledging his allegiance. Since we’re getting an Isildur backstory on Rings Of Power, it would be an interesting aspect to explore on why this King refused him. And wouldn’t this betrayal hurt something awful if it came from someone that Isildur deeply trusted and counted a friend? With TROP season 2 establishing a bond between Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin), the Lord of Pelargir (as Arondir calls him), and Isildur, there are rumours that Theo could grow up to be that king! Either way, we might just see this LOTR character show up in Rings of Power!

The Istari

Look, we already got Gandalf in the Second Age on Rings of Power. And the Dark Wizard could be one of the Blue Wizards, since he seems to know about the Istari. Could this mean we can get some of the other wizards of the order too, perhaps Saruman (Sir Christopher Lee)?