‘Rings of Power’ season 2 puts an intriguing focus on an unexplored area of Middle-earth

Despite having returned often to Middle-earth on the big and small screen, there is still so much of Tolkien’s world we have not covered. Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy showed us much of the lands of Middle-earth, but Rings of Power is taking us somewhere new.

The lands of Middle-earth are vast, from the Grey Havens on the western shores to Mt. Doom in Mordor, but there is more beyond there. North of Mordor are the lands of Rhûn, considered the most easterly point on the Middle-earth map. Rhûn refers to all the lands lying east of Rhovanion and boasts the Sea of Rhûn. Though it appears as the most easterly point on the maps, there are lands and mountains beyond.

The history of Rhûn

Many years after the creation of the world, Arda, the Elves awoke in Cuiviénen, a place further east of Rhûn and not shown on the maps. They made a Great Journey across Middle-earth through the lands of Rhûn and then through the Great Wood (later known as Mirkwood) before heading to the sea to make the crossing to Valinor, home of the Valar. Along the way, many Elves chose not to continue the Great Journey and settled at various points in Middle-earth.

Many years later, Men, too, were awoken in the east, in a place called Hildórien. Here, Morgoth (the first Dark Lord) tried to corrupt them. While many were swayed by him, many also fled to Beleriand, a land that was later destroyed and lies under the sea to the west of Middle-earth. The ones who chose Morgoth were known as Easterlings, a term that then later referred to the men who occupied Rhûn and later served Sauron. There were four Dwarf clans who were also awoken in Rhûn, though they do not impact Tolkien’s stories in any major way.

In Tolkien’s work, The People of Middle-earth, around the time of the forging of the One Ring, two Istari, Blue Wizards known as Alatar and Pallando, were sent to Rhûn to help the Easterlings that were rebelling against Sauron. Their presence in Rhûn delayed and weakened Sauron’s efforts to build an army for his war with the Elves. This leads us to…

Rhûn in Rings of Power

Not much is written about Rhûn in Tolkien’s major works, Aragorn is said to have traveled through the lands but his tale from those travels is not recounted. Not even Gandalf has visited. This is then interesting when it comes to the Rings of Power series, as The Stranger, who has no knowledge of what or who he is, has made his way to Rhûn accompanied by the Half-foots Nori and Poppy.

There have been so many hints that the Stranger is indeed Gandalf, from his line at the end of the first season, “If in doubt, always follow your nose,” to linguistic hints in the second season. Unless the show is simply setting us up for a twist in which The Stranger is one of the Blue Wizards, then it appears they are changing Gandalf’s story from the source material. The show has certainly been liberal in diverting from Tolkien’s story, especially when it comes to Galadriel’s role, so it isn’t too big a leap to think they would change Gandalf’s as well.

Rings of Power is giving us a glimpse of a land only now adapted for screen, introducing us to the Easterlings and their way of life in a harsh, hot climate. We have also been introduced to a new, powerful Dark Wizard, played by actor Ciarán Hinds, and discover it is he who sent the three white travelers after The Stranger. Could this be Saruman? Or have we met an entirely new character?

It will be interesting to see more of Rhûn and its people as the show continues, given it has a rich history but also serves as a blank canvas for the show to work with. However, whether it will be accurate to Tolkien’s work is anyone’s guess.