The best ship on ‘Rings of Power’ was never romantic

WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power Season 2.

Over its two seasons, The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power has had many ships. We’ve had Arondir and Bronwyn, Durin and Disa, Elendil and Míriel, Isildur and Estrid, Halbrand and Galadriel (Haladriel), and even Celebrimbor and Annatar. But the best ship on TROP was never romantic

Because what ship could ever stand before the friendship between an elf and a dwarf, between Elrond and Durin? Robert Aramayo, who plays Elrond Halfeleven, and Owain Arthur, who plays Prince Durin, have shared such warm and easy chemistry since their first scene together, that you can’t help but get invested in their friendship. And no matter how many ships get created over the seasons, this one, full of laughs, love and respect, and unwavering loyalty, is going to remain untouchable.

In J.R.R. Tolkien’s world, the epic love stories that were worthy of songs and tales have usually been the ones between men and elves—Beren and Lúthien, Tuor and Idril, Aragorn and Arwen… And yet, this has always been a story that valued friendship above all. Whether it was the friendship that Gandalf had with Bilbo, or the one that the members of the Fellowship kept with each other until their end, long after Frodo and Gandalf had departed into the West. 

There’s no denying that the friendship between Legolas the elf and Gimli the dwarf was one of the best things in The Lord of The Rings movies. Something that the movie fans wouldn’t know unless they read the books too is that the year that King Elessar (Aragorn) died, Legolas built a ship in Ithilien and invited Gimli to sail with him to the Undying Lands. And this way, Gimli became the first and only dwarf to have crossed over to Valinor. A mark of a truly beautiful friendship that perfectly captures the message that Tolkien is trying to put forth in his books.

While interracial friendships in this world have always been a beautiful thing, there’s something incredibly special about the friendship between dwarves and elves, who had a lot of history between them, not all of it pleasant. The elves were the children of the Eru Ilúvatar, the God in Tolkien’s world. However, Eru did not create the dwarves. They were created by the Vala Aulë in what was considered a disobedience to Eru, although he could not grant them life independent from him, and they were bound to him. However, Eru’s mercy allowed the dwarves to live and become a part of his greater plan for Arda, and they thus became the adopted children of Eru.

This is only one of the many ways in which dwarves and elves are different, other than their skills, their temperament and even their mortality. The elves, as you might’ve guessed by now after watching The Rings of Power, can get a bit holier-than-thou, and look down upon other races with an air of superiority because they are the fairest of beings. You can sense this in the way that Celebrimbor easily judges men when Annatar asks him to make rings for them, or when Galadriel refuses to call Adar Uruk instead of orc.

But a major cause of the enmity between dwarves and elves is also due to the Silmarils, which led to the death of the elven King Thingol of Doriath at the hands of dwarves,  causing the biggest strife between the two races. So the fact that Elrond, who is a descendent of King Thingol and his wife Melian the Maia on his mother’s side is best friends with Durin, a prince of the dwarves is a pretty big deal! 

Just as the movies, one of the USPs of The Rings of Power has been the friendship between Elrond and Durin, for which they were both willing to even go against their respective kings. The series has been able to recreate the sort of banter-filled, playful dynamic between these two characters that we’re used to seeing between Legolas and Gimli in LOTR; yet, Legolas barely had much to say in the movies and in the series, the characters and their friendship are much more fleshed out. The addition of Disa, Durin’s wife, into the dynamic further makes this friendship endearing.

In season 1, Elrond and Durin’s friendship had only just been mended when it was threatened again due to the elves needing mithril to stop their fading and King Durin forbidding its mining. In season 2, Elrond and Durin are both tackling their own troubles, caused by the same enemy, yet on different fronts. It is towards the end of the season that the two besties are once again reunited, when Elrond asks for Durin’s help to fight against Adar and Sauron to save Eregion. 

Unfortunately, we saw at the end of episode 7 that despite his best efforts, Durin was held back at Khazad-dûm, warned to not leave the city at the mercy of his father, who was under the influence of his ring and would’ve destroyed the kingdom with his greed. Also, did anyone see that Balrog? *screams* For those expecting a Helm’s Deep kind of reinforcement for Gil-galad’s army were left shocked when Durin and his dwarves didn’t show up.

But even more heartbreaking was the scene where Elrond’s unshakeable faith in his friend was slowly being shattered, and he was rendered almost catatonic as he held on to hope while saying, “Durin will come… Durin will come…”

With the gates of Khazad-dûm being shut, would it close all doors of reconciliation between these two friends too? Or should we also wait for Durin to show up in the season 2 finale for the sake of our favourite Rings of Power ship? I know I will be! Durin will come!

From what we do know of the lore, the dwarves of Durin IV (our current Prince Durin) fight alongside the Last Alliance of elves and men against Sauron. However, after the destruction of Eregion, the doors of Durin that remained open to allow elves and dwarves to freely come and go between the kingdoms of Khazad-dûm and Moria are shut from the inside. And they are practically forgotten until the events of The Fellowship of The Ring. It’s a huge blow to another attempt at a lasting friendship between elves and dwarves.

With Rings of Power choosing to develop this friendship between Durin and Elrond, it’ll be interesting to see whether their friendship survives or is doomed, and its failure becomes one of the many things that turns Elrond into the wisened, serious, slightly cynical elf we meet during the Council of Elrond in LOTR. Remember the way he spoke about dwarven greed? Could it be because of something that will happen with Durin?

I am still going to be rooting for my favourite ship, because a wise elven king once said, “Hope is never mere, even when it is meagre.”