What is Numenor in Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power?

After confining itself to largely acquainted Center-earth locales in its first two episodes, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Energy has lastly proven us a spot by no means depicted on display earlier than: Númenor. Certainly, a lot of the run time of the Prime Video sequence’ third episode, “Adar,” is spent on the island kingdom, which — regardless of its legendary standing — by no means truly seems in both J.R.R. Tolkien’s unique trilogy or the Peter Jackson films it impressed.

That’s proper: The historical past, tradition, and geography of Númenor are all coated in The Lord of the Rings’ appendices, in addition to not-so-accessible tomes printed after Tolkien’s dying, The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales. Due to this, Númenor’s introduction in The Rings of Energy virtually definitely left extra informal followers scratching their heads over how the island kingdom suits inside wider Center-earth lore.

If that’s you, this useful roundup will deliver you on top of things on all issues Númenórean very quickly — together with the dominion’s location, origins, present ruler, and connection to The Lord of the Rings.

[Ed. note: The following covers events not yet depicted in The Rings of Power.]

The place is Númenor?

Picture: Prime Video

The star-shaped island of Númenor (additionally identified by different names, together with Westernesse) is, as Galadriel notes in “Adar,” the westernmost level of Center-earth. Tolkien describes its place within the Sundering Seas as nearer to Valinor, the continent on which the godlike Valar reside, than to Center-earth.

It’s the logical place for Galadriel to wind up after being so near Valinor. And it additionally tracks with Númenor’s seafaring tradition, as their civilization was famend for the talent of each its shipbuilders and sailors. The Númenóreans’ nautical prowess additionally allowed them to make quite a few journeys to Center-earth previous to The Rings of Energy’s setting, regardless of their relative distance from the continent (extra on that later).

Who based Númenor?

Picture: Matt Grace/Prime Video

Like with so many elements of Tolkien’s legendarium, speaking about Númenor’s early days will get sophisticated quick. For starters, there’s the origin of the island itself, which was custom-made by the Valar for the traditional race of males who joined forces with the elves in struggle in opposition to Morgoth. Then, there was the mass migration of males from Center-earth to the newly minted Númenor, which took half a century and relied closely on help from the elves. So, when Galadriel provides the elves the credit score for the dominion even present in The Rings of Energy episode 3, there’s a kernel of fact to what she’s saying.

That’s not the place the elves’ position in Númenor’s origin story ends, both. As touched on in “Adar,” the founding king of Númenor was an elf — albeit one with just a few mortals in his household tree. Like his brother Elrond (of Rivendell fame), Númenor’s inaugural ruler, Elros, got here from a combined bloodline. However whereas Elrond finally selected to reside among the many elves, Elros opted to embrace his mannish roots. This meant giving up his immortality, though he nonetheless possessed a ridiculously lengthy lifespan and was as intellectually and bodily formidable as a non-elf can get.

Elros’ descendants likewise benefited from their supercharged half-elven DNA, which explains why his descendent, Aragorn, is such a formidable specimen. However even higher from an egalitarian standpoint, Númenóreans indirectly associated to Elros additionally bought an total XP enhance, scoring fairly just a few extra birthdays than their mainland counterparts. So, all in all, Elros’ choice to stay with Staff Males labored out fairly effectively for everybody.

Who guidelines Númenor now?

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Elros’ reign lasted simply over 400 years, which is why he’s not on the scene in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Energy. Twenty-four monarchs sat on the throne of Númenor between Elros’ dying and the occasions of the present, though that is one space the place the variation begins to take main liberties with the canon established by Tolkien.

In “Adar,” the rightful king of Númenor — unnamed within the episode, however presumably Tar-Palantir based mostly on the books — presently lives in exile atop a tower, having been deposed by his personal individuals. In the meantime, his daughter Míriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) guidelines in his stead as queen regent, aided by her influential advisor Pharazôn (Trystan Gravelle). All of that is materials invented by The Rings of Energy showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay and their workforce of writers.

In response to Tolkien, Tar-Palantir died of previous age and was by no means compelled from the throne by anybody, a lot much less his personal topics. There’s additionally little or no in Tolkien’s writings to counsel that Tar-Míriel (to make use of her regnal identify) was in cahoots with the treacherous Pharazôn (her cousin within the books), particularly contemplating he compelled her to marry him to usurp the throne. After all, there’s an opportunity that Míriel is barely pretending to cozy as much as Pharazôn within the present, however for now, that complete subplot is veering very off-book.

That isn’t to say The Rings of Energy has fully deserted its supply materials the place Númenórean royalty is anxious. If nothing else, episode 3’s characterization of Tar-Palantir as somebody nonetheless trustworthy to the Valar and sympathetic to the elves is bang on the cash. It’s additionally fairly clear that Payne and McKay are laying the groundwork for Pharazôn to make a play for the throne identical to he does within the books sooner or later within the present’s deliberate five-season run.

And in a broader sense, the best way “Adar” portrays Númenórean society (together with these amongst its higher echelons) as rising more and more resentful towards the elves and the Valar broadly tracks with Tolkien’s personal historical past. Equally, Elendil’s depiction as a high-born lord who bucks this development can be true to Tolkien.

The place is Númenor within the Lord of the Rings sequence?

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So, how come we don’t go to Númenor in The Lord of the Rings? To place it bluntly: as a result of it sank. Tolkien noticed the island kingdom because the Center-earth analog of Atlantis, which is why — as recounted in The Silmarillion part entitled Akallabêth — it winds up on the ocean flooring. What’s extra, as within the unique Atlantis legend, the reason for Númenor’s downfall finally boils down to 2 phrases: divine retribution.

After Pharazôn (now going by “Ar-Pharazôn”) defeats Sauron’s military and takes him hostage, the darkish lord wastes no time changing him and a lot of the kingdom into depraved Morgoth worshippers. Ultimately, Sauron manages to persuade Ar-Pharazôn and his followers that they too might develop into immortal in the event that they went to struggle with the Valar and conquered Valinor. Unsurprisingly, this seems to be unhealthy recommendation, and after the Valar name on Eru Ilúvatar (the supreme being of Tolkien’s cosmology) issues actually escalate. Eru Ilúvatar wipes out the Númenórean fleet together with all the kingdom, in a cataclysmic occasion of actually world-changing proportions (we’re speaking shifting from flat earth to spherical earth right here).

The few Númenóreans who survived Eru Ilúvatar’s judgment have been largely those that stayed true to the previous methods. Led by Elendil and his sons Isildur and Anárion (in contrast to in The Rings of Energy, he doesn’t have a daughter too) they made their method to Center-earth’s shores and based the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor — the latter of which performs a significant position in The Lord of the Rings.