Season 2 of The Rings of Power introduced one of the most famous weapons in the entire J.R.R. Tolkien universe. An ultra powerful and crucial artifact inThe Lord of the Rings.
Warning, the rest of this article contains SPOILERS for episode 8 of season 2 of the Rings of Power. We therefore advise you not to continue reading.
The Rings of Power – season 2: An apotheosis ending?
This season 2 of the Rings of Powerfinally has its epilogue. Yesterday, Thursday October 3, marked the end of this second batch of episodes on Prime Video. In a series of announced climaxes, the series offered us spectacle and visual effects, as much as you want. Indeed, it was necessary to conclude most of the narrative arcs in apotheosis and try to satisfy the viewer in demand for a great spectacle. If everything was not successful – and by far – it is clear that we had something for our retinas, and that the dose of epic was respected, if we refer to the showrunners' promises to offer us a large-scale battle spread over two episodes.
As usual, the series was not stingy with references to The Lord of the Rings,that she tries to attach. Pure fan service imposed on the specifications and noted on several occasions. The arrival of the Balrog concluding the narrative arc of the Dwarves, the Elves gathered in “the sanctuary”, which will later be the site of the creation of Rivendell, and this way of justifying the attachment of the Orcs to Sauron after they killed their father (Adar). Episode 8 also introduced one of the most powerful artifacts in the entire universe : the sword of Narsil.In Næmenor, Mæriel entrusts the weapon to Elendil, Isildur's father. The Næmenærean is known in the saga to be the owner of the sword, until his death in the end of the Second Age.
The story of Narsil until the Return of the King
In The Lord of the Rings, the weapon is better known as Andúril, the Flame of the West. Elron keeps the fragments in Rivendell, before it is reforged to be given to Aragorn – the descendant of Isildur. In The Return of the King,It is this sword that will allow the rightful heir of Gondor to rally the army of the dead to his cause, to win victory in the Pelennor Fields, and to establish his position on the throne.
But what is its journey, from its passage in the hands of Elendil, to finding itself broken into several fragments at the beginning of The Lord of the Rings?If Tolkien introduced the weapon after the submersion of the island of Númenor by the Valar, we know that it wasforged in the First Age by a dwarf named Telchar of Nogrod, who also forged the dagger, which Beren used to cut a Silmaril from Morgoth's crown. Narsil then passed from hand to hand before landing in Númenor. Later, Elendil used it to challenge Sauron during the siege of Barad-dúr against Sauron., during the War of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, but Morgoth's disciple kills the Numenorean, breaking the sword in two. In a burst of heroism, his son Isildur then seizes a fragment of the blade to cut Sauron's finger, separating the One Ring from its master. An event that serves as a well-known prologue to Peter Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring to justify the story of the Ring.
During episode 8, while Númenor is subject to the dictatorship of Ar-Pharazôn, Elendil flees with his weapon in his bag. There is no doubt that we will see the legendary artifact again in season 3, at the opening of a new arc around Elendil. If the series follows Tolkien's story, he should land at Lindon, where he warns King Gil-galad of the danger, before later founding with his sons (in Amazon, only Isildur appears, and is already exiled in Middle-earth) and the exiled Numenoreans, the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor.
We notice that Amazon has also distanced itself from the source material here. We're waiting to see what showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay will offer us to justify their deviation.