After years of speculations, a wilderness of wild theories, and an uncounted string of dubious “spoilers” in the intervening months, a full-length trailer forThe Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Powerhas finally droppedand given audiences a more complete vision of the Second Age of Middle-earth than has ever been seen before. Part of the marketing strategy in the lead-up to the September release of the series seems to be a slow drip of interviews, articles, images, and scenes gradually settling into a more and more coherent picture as the major storylines of the upcoming series start to fall into place.
What the most recent trailer has revealed has finally given enough material about the plot and development to make a few firm conclusions — and, of course, a whole new set of wild theories inspired by some excellently-placed Easter eggs. But now that we finally have the full trailer, what do we know (and what can we guess) about the new Prime Video series?
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One of the best things about the new trailer is that it opens up on showing a lot more of Númenor than has been revealed before. Combined with the recentarticle from Entertainment Weekly, the context of the trailer shows a fair amount of what the Númenorean storyline is going to be, at least in the opening episodes.
One thing that is very clear in the trailer is that the Númenorean Queen, Tar-Miriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), is going to be extremely important to the plot. But there is also clearly trouble in paradise: one of the things revealed by the recent article is that the gray-bearded character Pharazon (Trystan Gravelle) from the trailer is slated to be one of Miriel’s closest advisors at the outset of the show. The trailer also shows him rallying a crowd in some sort of protest, and walking with Miriel down a street littered with white petals as she looks up anxiously.
For those familiar with the source material, this promises to be a very interesting plotline that will potentially take place over the first season of the show. This is the place for a (potential) spoiler warning, but Pharazon ends up marrying Tar-Miriel and effectively usurping the throne from her, taking on the mantle of Ar-Pharazon the Golden and leading Númenor towards its ultimate downfall. There was speculation for a while about whether Pharazon and Miriel would be married at the beginning of the show, and who would be ruling, but the trailer and article seem to indicate that audiences will see a Queen Tar-Miriel before Pharazon makes his bid for the throne. This may have something to do with Miriel’s foreboding look upwards in the trailer; there is an interesting possibility that those falling petals could come from the tree Nimloth, as well. Nimloth is the tree from which the White Tree of Gondor later came, and those falling white petals could be some sign of impending disaster.
There are also a handful of lines spoken by Elendil (Lloyd Owen), father of Isildur (Maxim Baldry), who is also in a position very close to the rulers of Númenor in the source material. He ominously states: “The past is dead. We either move forward, or we die with it.” For a man who later ends up saving the last hope of Númenor and leading the armies of the Last Alliance, this promises a potentially dramatic story arc for Elendil and his family.
Galadriel’s Mission
What may be the biggest and most important storyline of the series seems to be the enigmatic mission of Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) taking her all across Middle-earth. She is seen on a ship heading West accompanied by a flight of seabirds, trekking across a frozen wasteland and mountainous landscapes, tackling an ice troll, and covered in dust and ash bathed in an eerie red glow. What she is up to is unclear, but she seems to be traveling with a company somewhere in the mountainous north of Middle-earth, perhaps in the area of Mount Gundabad, which has a complicated and dangerous history in Middle-earth lore.
Her journey on the ship is even more enigmatic. It may be a flashback, as a number of shots in the trailer are definitely scenes from the First Age (more on that later), and so it could be some journey (or attempted journey) to sail into the West to reach the Undying Lands. On the other hand, it could be some sort of embassy to the island of Númenor, also situated west of Middle-earth, and might well end in Galadriel’s shipwreck that has been shownin other teasers. Galadriel must make some Númenorean connection, because she is seen in the trailer leading a charge of Númenorean cavalry at something yet to be revealed.
The Easter Eggs
Arguably the most fascinating morsels that the trailers have given to us so far have been the tiny Easter eggs littered throughout each teaser, and the full trailer dropped some of the biggest ones yet.
To begin with, the argument between Galadriel and Elrond (Robert Aramayo) in the trailer hints at a history for each character that the series is likely to explore. Elrond states, “I have seen my share,” and Galadriel responds “You have not seen what I have seen,” as the audience gets a glimpse of what appears to be dead elves floating in red waters. Elrond himself has certainly seen his fair share; as a childhe was taken captiveand imprisoned by the Sons of Feanor and had to be abandoned by his parents in the course of the Third Kinslaying, for one thing. Galadriel, though, seems to be hinting at one of two major scenes the show is likely to give: the red waters and ashen Galadriel might be a reference to the First Kinslaying, when the Sons of Feanor turned on another group of elves and slaughtered them for their ships. Tolkien noted thatGaladriel took part in this, but interestingly went back and forth as to what side she fought on. If the show gives this scene, it will be interesting to see where they decide to place her.
The other major option the scene could be portraying is theWar of Wrath, which was the final conflict that ultimately defeated Morgoth, Sauron’s one-time master. Most of a continent was shattered and cast into the sea in the course of the climactic battles, and some sort of tower seems to be falling into the waters in the background of the shot, so it may be a reference to the war of Wrath instead. And speaking of First Age events, there are at least two shots in the trailer that are undoubtedly from that era. One is the scene of a figure (possibly Galadriel’s brother Finrod) cresting a hill and looking out at the Two Trees of Valinor as they blaze with light. The Trees only existed in the First Age, so it can only have taken place then.
The other near-certainty is the shot of a group of elves drawing their swords in some sort of ritualistic salute with a starry night overhead. This is almost certainly the Oath of Feanor; his sons drew their swords and joined in with their father’s disastrous oath to stop at nothing to take back the Silmarils Morgoth had stolen from them. This ultimately led to the First Kinslaying, and the starry night is probably a hint at this Oath: it was taken after Morgoth had destroyed the Trees and before the Sun and Moon had ever risen, so the only light in the sky would have been starlight.
A couple of other fun Easter eggs came along the way as well: the teaser to the full trailer, dropped a week before, had a quick shot of Ents at the end, and even what looked like an Ent child. The show might then give some answer to Treebeard’s later lament that they do not know what happened to the Entwives. Durin (Owain Arthur) is also seen holding a glittering silvery something in his hand, which is almost certainly mithril — a fitting discovery, as Tolkien noted that mithril in Middle-earth was only ever found in the kingdom of Khazad-dum, where the dwarf storyline is taking place in the show.
A number of the Númenorean statues are tantalizing as well: one in the background of the opening shot seems to be a depiction of one of the Valar of the sea, and the statue with its hand outstretched is probably Earendil, wearing the band around his brow with the Silmaril attached to it.
Meteor Man
One of the most important unanswered questions ever since the Super Bowl teaser has been: who on (Middle-)earth is the Meteor Man? The full trailer gives no answers, but does add more intrigue to the question. Something strange and eerie goes on as the fiery crater dies out, and a number of viewers have pointed out that it looks uncannily like the Eye of Sauron as it fades. Is the Meteor Man Sauron? One of his servants? A good character merely faking out the audience?
The Tantalizing Uncertainties
The final elements of the trailer tease storylines that are the most uncertain of all. The elf Arondir (Ismael Cruz Cordova) is seen chained and fighting some sort of warg creature, and some sinister elf character named Adar (Joseph Mawle) has made brief appearances lately in both the trailer and promotional posters. He also carries a sword that looks remarkably like the swords used at the Oath of Feanor in the trailer (as, notably, do a couple of the elves on the ice with Galadriel). As he is a character invented for the show, how will he fit in? Only time will tell, but the First Age material and hints at major events and plot twists promise a tantalizing new show to watch when it finally drops in September.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Powerpremieres exclusively on Prime Video on September 2. Prime Video is also bringing the series to SDCC next week, on Friday, July 22 at 10:30 a.m. PDT. You can check out the new trailer below.
