The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will return to screens to address Sauron’s rise to power in Tolkien’s Second Age in season 2 and there are some Celebrimbor storylines from the source material that the show shouldn’t miss. In a Total Film print feature, showrunners revealed that Celebrimbor will “arguably become the principal protagonist” in Rings of Power season 2, despite being a relatively minor character in season 1. Lore gives showrunners good reasons for this – author J.R.R. Tolkien gave Celebrimbor an important role in the Second Age.

With Celebrimbor’s role in the story about to become central, it’s time for the show to manifest certain highlights of Tolkien’s legendarium. From the appendices to The Lord of the Rings to certain parts of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales, Tolkien’s details on Celebrimbor ranged across multiple passages with one common thread – Celebrimbor was key in the story of the Rings of Power. With these rings cropping up in The Rings of Power season 2 trailer, it would be surprising if season 2 didn’t develop Celebrimbor in line with key plot points from the books.

6The Rings Of Power Season 2 Can Highlight Celebrimbor’s Connection To Fëanor

Celebrimbor And Fëanor Were Related

The Noldor Elf Fëanor was Celebrimbor’s grandfather, who was mentioned in The Rings of Power season 1, and will seemingly feature in season 2 as well. Fëanor was one of the most powerful characters in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings world, evidenced by the description of Galadriel as “greatest of the Noldor, except Fëanor maybe.” Master smith Fëanor created the Silmarils, the beautiful jewels that drove characters to war in The Silmarillion. Fëanor’s hammer was in Celebrimbor’s study in season 1 and from set photos, it looks like a statue of Fëanor will grace season 2:

The Noldor were one of the three great families of Elves, Fëanor was one of the greatest Noldor, and Celebrimbor was the last of Fëanor’s line, so the importance of this family tie really cannot be overstated. Celebrimbor inherited Fëanor’s greatness as a smith, coming to be “greatest in skill” among “the craftsmen of the Gwaith-i-Mírdain, the People of the Jewel-smiths” of Eregion. Celebrimbor will need this talent in The Rings of Power season 2, as he steps into the foreground of the series to begin work on the show’s titular magical items.

5Celebrimbor Forging The Rings Of Power In Season 2

Sauron Will Guide Celebrimbor To Forge The Rings

Undeniably, Celebrimbor’s true importance in The Rings of Power season 2 will be forging more Rings of Power. Season 1 saw Sauron nudge Celebrimbor towards the creation of the three Elven rings, and the season culminated in their completion. The three rings – Nenya, Narya, and Vilya – were made last of all the Rings of Power in canon, but first in the show. Although the show bent canon here, it stuck to canon where it counted – as Tolkien stated of the three Elven rings in a letter:

Though unsullied, because they were not made by Sauron nor touched by him, they were nonetheless partly products of his instruction, and ultimately under the control of the One.

It is now up to Rings of Power season 2 to ensure it can navigate any further diversions from lore to remain within key canonical guidelines throughout the creation of the other Rings of Power. A disheveled Celebrimbor is seen in the season 2 trailer throwing rings into a fire, presumably trying to destroy them after finding out Sauron’s Rings of Power plan. The show could follow these rings as they are divided between Men and Dwarves, or otherwise transpire to be the other Elven rings of lesser importance.

The Three Elven Rings
Bearers

Narya
Gil-galad, Círdan, Gandalf

Nenya
Galadriel

Vilya
Gil-galad, Elrond

4The Rings Of Power Season 2 Must Explore Celebrimbor’s Most Fatal Flaw

Celebrimbor Wasn’t Perfect

It was not just skill as a smith that ran in Celebrimbor’s family, but Noldor pride, and all the difficulty that came with it. Celebrimbor was heir to a bloody history. Fëanor’s violent pursuit of his lost Silmarils was taken up by his sons, one of whom fathered Celebrimbor. Fëanor was a controversial Elf in The Silmarillion, to say the least, so the statue glorifying Fëanor in Rings of Power season 2 may be near the forge, where it would be most relevant and least offensive. Celebrimbor was not without a dose of Noldor pride himself. As Tolkien explained:

Sauron had… fortune with the Noldor of Eregion and especially with Celebrimbor, who desired in his heart to rival the skill and fame of Fëanor.

It is exactly this desire for family honor and glory, as outlined in Tolkien’s Unfinished Tales, that will be the undoing of Celebrimbor, just as it was with Fëanor and his sons. Rings of Power’s Celebrimbor is vulnerable to Sauron’s machinations due to this desire, and season 2 will cover Sauron’s “temptation, manipulation, and corruption” of Celebrimbor into the Elf that seals the fate of Middle-earth by making the Rings of Power (via Total Film). However, it is uncertain if the show’s version of Celebrimbor will follow his dark path all the way to its canonical end.

3Sauron And Celebrimbor’s Relationship Will Be Vital In The Rings Of Power Season 2

Temptation, Manipulation, And Corruption Abound

Showrunners said to Total Film that season 2 will be more “personal and psychological,” portraying “arguably the central relationship of the season, between Sauron and Celebrimbor.” Sauron’s temptation of Galadriel failed in The Rings of Power season 1 finale, so it makes sense that Celebrimbor will step into Galadriel’s shoes as the focus of season 2, as Sauron will have to switch his attentions to Celebrimbor. What Sauron was trying to achieve in tempting Galadriel, according to Sauron actor Charlie Vickers in Den of Geek, is what he will achieve with Celebrimbor:

He thinks with her, he can affect his designs more quickly. With her by his side, he has the ear of the Elves, he has a way in.

According to one tale in Tolkien’s body of work, apocryphal by virtue of being unpublished by Tolkien in his lifetime, Sauron’s manipulation of Celebrimbor and the Eregion smiths was “worked in secret, unknown to Galadriel,” which may transpire in the show. To deceive Celebrimbor in season 2, Sauron will embrace his fair form from the books, since his Halbrand cover was blown. It’s unclear whether the show will address the similarity between the disguises, but producer Lindsey Weber confirmed in an Empire print exclusive that Sauron will be “becoming besties with the worryingly pliant Celebrimbor“ in this disguise.

2Celebrimbor’s Role In The War Of The Elves And Sauron

Celebrimbor Was A Catalyst For The War

In The Silmarillion, it was Celebrimbor’s forging of the three Elven rings that precipitated Sauron’s war against the Elves. After Sauron forged the last and greatest of the Rings of Power, the One Ring, he learned of the other rings through the One Ring’s connection to them. He demanded they be handed over but the Elves refused, and “From that time war never ceased between Sauron and the Elves; and Eregion was laid waste.” Celebrimbor’s role in an unpublished version of events in Unfinished Tales was even more significant:

Before long Sauron had the Gwaith-i-Mírdain under his influence… So great became his hold on the Mírdain that at length he persuaded them to revolt against Galadriel… and to seize power in Eregion… Galadriel thereupon left Eregion… Now Celebrimbor was not corrupted in heart or faith, but had accepted Sauron as what he posed to be; and when at length he discovered the existence of the One Ring, he revolted against Sauron… When Sauron learned of the repentance and revolt of Celebrimbor… his wrath was revealed; and gathering a great force he… made at once for Eregion.

This would be a dramatic turn of events indeed for The Rings of Power season 2. Celebrimbor’s loss of trust in Galadriel and his turning away from her toward Sauron sounds just like a “descent into madness“, which is how showrunners described Celebrimbor’s journey in season 2 to Total Film. This would make Galadriel’s choice to withhold Sauron’s identity in season 1, before Celebrimbor’s madness took hold, yet more catastrophic, as her warnings would fall on deaf ears here. Sauron’s erosion of Celebrimbor’s mental faculties may also explain why his disguise works. Either way, Sauron’s war will come to Eregion.

1Celebrimbor’s Tragic Death Could Happen In The Rings Of Power Season 2

Celebrimbor Came To An Untimely Death

“Eregion was laid waste, andCelebrimbor slain” were the words used in The Silmarillion of Celebrimbor’s untimely death at the hands of Sauron in his war against the Elves, but Unfinished Tales provided more detail. In a draft Tolkien never published while alive, Sauron “turned… to battle… bearing as a banner Celebrimbor’s body hung upon a pole, shot through with Orc-arrows.” This rather aggressive response on Sauron’s part to Celebrimbor refusing to give up the Elven rings could be one of the “very dark and quite violent moments” promised by director Charlotte Brändström to Empire for season 2’s battle.

Charles Edwards’ performance as Celebrimbor had the nuance to portray an ambitious Elf driven to an unhealthy obsession in his craft. It would be a pity to see him leave The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, but Celebrimbor’s death was a gory moment from lore that would make Game of Thrones’ Red Wedding look like prom night. Perhaps Celebrimbor’s death is the shock moment that the show needs to help establish itself as an uncompromising teller of Tolkien’s tales. With or without the “banner” element, Celebrimbor’s death would ensure a faithful adaptation of Tolkien’s doomed Noldorin Elf.