[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 Episode 3.]
The first season of Prime Video‘s The Rings of Power showed a terrifying vision of the destruction of the island kingdom of Númenor, a potential future that only Queen-regent Míriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) and her now-dead father know, thanks to their use of the mystical palantír. Those who know the lore know that Númenor is tragically destroyed under a massive wave in the Second Age of Middle-earth. Míriel is still trying to avoid this dark fate in Season 2, which premiered Thursday (August 29) with three episodes, while also navigating the rough metaphorical waters of political unrest.
Given the game-changing events of Season 2 Episode 3, is Númenor on the path to destruction in this season? Showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay gave TV Insider a clearer idea of how close the show is to depicting the Fall of Númenor, and Addai-Robinson explains that cliffhanger ending.
After the first two episodes focused on the Elves and Dwarves, Season 2’s third episode turned to the mortals trapped in Mordor (the former Southlands) and Númenor. The Queen-regent, blinded from battle, arrived home to learn her father died. She prepared for her coronation in Episode 3 and strongly suspected something untrustworthy in cousin Pharazôn (Trystan Gravelle) throughout the planning. Míriel was right to suspect.
Pharazôn used the chaos of Eärien’s (Ema Horvath) interruption at the coronation, as well as the arrival of an eagle, to his advantage by claiming the revered creature was there for him. An eagle had appeared at the coronation of Míriel’s father, which the Númenoreans took as an endorsement. Pharazôn spun this eagle’s arrival in his favor. Pharazôn seems to have finally wrested the power he’s always wanted in his homeland. Future episodes will reveal what happens to Míriel after this apparent coup, but Pharazôn’s rise to power, paired with Sauron’s (Charlie Vickers) return, is a very bad omen for this nation.
Will the Fall of Númenor happen in The Rings of Power Season 2?
Ben Rothstein / Prime Video
In JRR Tolkien’s history of Middle-earth, Pharazôn is known as the last king of Númenor. His leadership brings Sauron into their midst, and the Dark Lord uses Pharazôn’s lust for immortality against him by convincing him never-ending life is achievable through the worship of Morgoth, Sauron’s master.
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Pharazôn’s destruction of the White Tree of Númenor (seen in Season 1 in Míriel and Galadriel’s visions) doesn’t make him immortal like he was led to believe, so Pharazôn sets sail to invade the sacred land of Valinor, the homeland of the Elves. The Valar (think of them as Middle-earth’s gods), retaliate by drowning Númenor. This happens at the end of the Second Age of Middle-earth, but The Rings of Power condenses the timeline of this era, which spans thousands of years.
The Fall of Númenor is going to happen in The Rings of Power eventually; the showrunners have confirmed as much while speaking to press members for both seasons. However, Payne and McKay tell TV Insider that it’s not happening just yet: “Things are going to have to get worse before they get better, and that’s all we can say,” McKay says of the island kingdom’s impending doom, adding, “We’re not there yet. Down the road.”
“There’s still a lot of things that have to happen before Númenor falls,” Payne continues.
Is this very much a “things have to get much worse before they can get any better” kind of season? “I dare say maybe not just season, but series,” McKay reveals in response to that question.
What does the eagle’s arrival in The Rings of Power Season 2 Episode 3 mean?
Prime Video
Addai-Robinson tells TV Insider the eagle’s arrival “is just the beginning of the chaos that ensues in Númenorean society,” adding a bold warning to “be afraid for Númenor.” The eagle wasn’t arriving for either of them specifically, however. As Addai-Robinson explains, “It’s meant to be appearing for the person who presumably takes that power position, and so he seizes the moment. It’s not necessarily clear that that eagle is there for him, but it’s like, ‘Hey, it’s here and I’m just going to lead the chant and get it going.’”
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The Spartacus alum says that both Míriel and Pharazôn have deep convictions in their beliefs on what’s best for Númenor’s future, but public perception is not on the Queen’s side. In the minds of her people, she used the palantír (which they believe has dark magic, the use of which is never justifiable) to decide to send their army into battle for the Southlands in Season 1. They lost many lives in that fight and won little, so right now it doesn’t really matter to the public that she knows more pressing information about their fates. The privileged information came through untrustworthy means, breaking their trust in Míriel despite her clearly having purer intentions than her cousin.
Míriel accepts the vitriol spewed at her during the coronation even in response to being slapped across the face by a citizen.
“She’s the people’s ruler,” Addai-Robinson says of that moment. “She is not a ruler that rules from on high. She is with the people. She wants to represent them and represent their interests, feels their loss. It’s that thing of being the people’s queen. She is not going to deny the situation and pretend like everyone doesn’t have a right to be as angry and upset as they are. And it’s a great moment.”
Not punishing the woman for hitting her is “a nod to who [Míriel] is at her core,” she continues. “But unfortunately something else overtakes that understanding of her morality and her humanity. People are just riding on a different wave. Pun intended.”
This ultimate challenge will reveal who Míriel really is this season. “When you’re tested, who are you really or who are you becoming?” Addai-Robinson asks. “In our world, some people are going to the dark side. People [are] being corrupted by power. Obviously, the rings represent that. And then for some people in the face of danger, a foe, a challenge, they become the bravest version of themselves or they reclaim something of themselves. For Míriel, we’re going to see that challenge, and I’ll leave it at that because she definitely has a very epic arc this season. It’s less about good and evil and more about life and death. In the face of death, how are they going to react?”
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Thursdays, Prime Video
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