The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power may be telling a different story, but there are still many clear influences from Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. The Prime Video series is set during Middle-earth’s Second Age, thousands of years before Frodo set out from the Shire with the One Ring. Still, this is the same land where the Hobbit had his adventures, and the overlap in characters allowed for many familiar sights and events. In some ways, Rings of Power season 2 is just repeating some of the best parts of Lord of the Rings.
Rings of Power season 1 spent eight episodes getting audiences familiar with the Second Age. A common complaint of the debut installment is that it didn’t feel like Lord of the Rings, which is entirely valid. However, with all that slow exposition out of the way, Rings of Power season 2 is free to run. There are a great many beloved features and dynamics added to the mix that allow the Prime Video series to finally feel like it is set in Tolkien’s world.
8The Stranger & Dark Wizard Repeat Lord Of The Rings’ Gandalf & Saruman Dynamic
This Wizard Dynamic Is Familiar
Going into The Rings of Power season 2, The Stranger is heading through Rhûn in search of answers regarding his role in Middle-earth. In episode 4, he comes across Tom Bombadil, who states that he will teach the Istar magic to confront Sauron and the Dark Wizard, who cannot be allowed to join forces. There’s still a lot to learn here, including the true identities of The Stranger and the Dark Wizard. However, the way it’s being set up feels a lot like another Istari relationship in The Lord of the Rings.
The idea that the Stranger must stop this evil wizard from joining Sauron is a repeat of Gandalf and Saruman’s dynamic in The Lord of the Rings—regardless of their true identities.
It has been heavily implied that The Stranger is Gandalf, and there is some indication that the Dark Wizard, who is running a cult in Rhûn, is one of the Blue Wizards sent to Middle-earth in the Second Age. However, the idea that the Stranger must stop this evil wizard from joining Sauron is a repeat of Gandalf and Saruman’s dynamic in The Lord of the Rings—regardless of their true identities.
7Poppy Following Nori Makes Her Even More Like Sam Gamgee
Nori & Poppy Are The New Frodo & Sam
Prime Video’s decision to feature halflings in the Second Age was controversial since Tolkien didn’t talk much about the Hobbit ancestors during this period in Middle-earth’s history. However, this has really begun to pay off in Rings of Power season 2. Nori’s relationship with the Stranger is one of the series’ emotional high points, and the Hobbits’ general nature makes the Second Age feel more cohesive with The Lord of the Rings.
A significant way that Rings of Power season 2 has pulled this off is through Poppy, who follows Nori and the Stranger to Rhûn despite initially hanging back. This loyalty brings to mind The Lord of the Rings‘s Sam, who stuck by Frodo through thick and thin despite his own initial fears and reservations. Since this kind of love is a staple of Tolkien’s work, Poppy and Nori’s relationship has made a massive difference in Rings of Power.
6The Rings Of Power Season 2 Adapts Fellowship Of The Ring’s Old Man Willow Scene
Tom Bombadil Saves Another Soul From A Mischievous Tree
When the Stranger finds Tom Bombadil’s home in Rings of Power season 2, episode 4, he quickly notices a tree whose branch looks perfect for a wizard’s staff. However, when the Stranger tries to break it off, the tree’s trunk begins to fold around him until he is entirely enveloped. Just as escape seemed hopeless, Tom Bombadil stepped in and cheerfully encouraged the tree to let the Istar go. While this had little to do with the plot of season 2, there’s a significant connection to The Lord of the Rings here.
The situation the Stranger finds himself in is nearly identical to the one faced by Frodo, Merry, Pippin, and Sam in the Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring book. Shortly after leaving the Shire, the Hobbits made their way through the Old Forest and were sucked up into the massive roots of a tree called Old Man Willow. Just like the Stranger, they were saved by Tom Bombadil.
5The Rings Of Power Season 2 Includes Fellowship Of The Ring’s Barrow-Wights
The Barrow-Wights From Fellowship Of The Ring Are Back
Rings of Power season 2 saw Galadriel, Elrond, and their team of elite Elves unable to carry on down the beaten path to Eregion. They were forced, instead, to head into the forest, where they came upon a clearing of ancient graves. One of the Elvish company identified this as the Barrow-downs, a place where Men once buried their kings and nobles. This is a location familiar to fans of the Lord of the Rings books. Of course, the same is true for the monsters that emerged from the graves.
The Barrow-wights were left out of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, but they were memorably frightening monsters in Tolkien’s Fellowship of the Ring book. Like with Old Man Willow, the Hobbits were saved from the wights by Tom Bombadil, whose singing sent the beasts away. The fact that Rings of Power had the Elves face the Barrow-wights while Rory Kinnear’s Bombadil was being debuted in Rhûn was highly fitting.
4Elrond Not Trusting The Elven Rings Recreates LOTR’s One Ring Dilemma
The Ring Dilemma Is A Tale As Old As Time
Very little attention was paid to the Three Elven Rings in The Lord of the Rings, which Elrond, Galadriel, and Gandalf wore. However, Rings of Power has begun to dive into the morally complicated process that it might have been for the Elves to initially use these rings. Elrond, in particular, is fearful of their effects and is adamant in Rings of Power season 2 that Galadriel’s Ring of Power is under Sauron’s influence. The big question seems to be, “Can something influenced by evil be used for good?“
As it is, that’s the same question that dominated the Council of Elrond in The Lord of the Rings. Boromir wanted to use Sauron’s One Ring to turn things around for Mordor, thus using the villain’s own weapon against him. However, it was rightly determined that this wouldn’t be possible since any action done with the Ring would be as evil as the object itself. Of course, this won’t ultimately be the conclusion for the Three Elven Rings since even Elrond is destined to bear one of them. Still, Rings of Power has repeated The Lord of the Rings’ overarching theme.
3Bronwyn’s Death Repeats The Old LOTR Elf & Human Romance Dilemma
Mortality Has Always Been A Problem In These Romances
Though The Rings of Power season 1 was dedicated mostly to establishing Prime Video’s version of the Second Age, some details were direct repeats of The Lord of the Rings. An example is the romance between Bronwyn and Arondir—a human and an elf. Such relationships are common throughout Tolkien’s works, with The Lord of the Rings‘ Aragorn and Arwen being the most familiar. However, while these two have their happy ending, the trilogy presents the painful dilemma associated with this dynamic.
This was the price that Aragorn and Arwen were so frightened to pay in Lord of the Rings and one that has been paid several times in Tolkien’s legendarium.
In Rings of Power season 2, it’s revealed that Bronwyn did not survive her injury from season 1. Arondir explains that the poison of Orc arrows is hard for humans to overcome, and Bronwyn ultimately succumbed. If she had the resilience of an elf, things might have gone differently. This was the price that Aragorn and Arwen were so frightened to pay in Lord of the Rings and one that has been paid several times in Tolkien’s legendarium.
2Tom Bombadil’s Debut Repeats His Interactions With LOTR’s Hobbits
Tom Bombadil Is The Same Even Thousands Of Years Earlier
Bombadil saving the Stranger from Rhûn’s version of Old Man Willow wasn’t the only way this character’s debut was a repeat of The Lord of the Rings. After bringing the Stranger into his home and helping him get freshened up, a great deal of Bombadil’s words and actions were direct repeats of his first interactions with the Hobbits. In fact, just about everything that happens through this sequence is an Easter egg to Bombadil’s time with the Hobbits in The Lord of the Rings.
The true nature of Tom Bombadil is unknown in Tolkien’s works, though Rings of Power hints that his role is to train the Istari in Middle-earth.
When the Stranger asked what Tom Bombadil was, the mysterious being said, “Don’t you know my name yet? That’s the only answer.” This was precisely what he said when Frodo asked the same question. Additionally, all the songs Bombadil is heard singing in Rings of Power are those written by Tolkien for the Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring book. Even the woman’s voice that the Stranger heard from his bath comes directly from Tolkien’s books since this is Goldberry, a river spirit and wife of Tom Bombadil.
1Theo Being Captured By The Ents Recreates Merry & Pippin’s Fanghorn Forest Experience
The Ents Are Back (& Taking More Prisoners)
After helping out Isildur in The Rings of Power season 2, Theo mysteriously disappeared, seemingly captured by some terrible monster. Arondir and Isildur went after the boy and ultimately discovered that it wasn’t a monster who had captured him—it was a couple of Ents. These tree shepherds had been snatching up anyone they found in the forest, hoping to stop them from continuing to harm the trees. Naturally, this brought to mind a similar moment from The Lord of the Rings.
Like Theo, Merry and Pippin were snatched up by Ents in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Similarly, Treebeard thought these hobbits were members of the Orc clans that had been destroying the forests. Once he realized this wasn’t the case (and ran into Gandalf the White), he called the Entmoot to help lay siege to Orthanc in Isengard. While the Ents in Rings of Power haven’t joined the fight against Adar and his Orcs, perhaps this is how the Prime Video can further model itself off Lord fo the Rings in the future.
