LOTR: Rings of Power

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power may have wrapped up its second season, but conversations around many of the Amazon Prime show’s characters will undoubtedly continue for quite some time. The series’ showrunners, J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, have recently unraveled that they wanted to ‘break’ Elrond’s usual optimistic approach in a bid to take him on a journey of loss throughout the show’s exploration into Middle-earth.

Even though The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power introduced its audience to a host of new characters like Rory Kinnear as Tom Bombadil and Tanya Moodie, who played Gundabale Earthauler, it was the show’s mysterious cloak-and-dagger approach to the Dark Wizard’s identity, played by Ciarán Hinds, that continued to confuse viewers. The most popular fan theory suggested that the Dark Wizard could be Saruman, who was originally played by the late Christopher Lee in The Lord of the Rings movies. However, McKay and Payne have previously debunked this assumption by stating that it would be “highly improbable”, leaving fans to rack their brains over whom this cryptic character could be. One character who viewers might be still wondering about is Elrond, and how he went from an upbeat half-elf to a downtrodden one, sparking a dramatic change in character development.

LOTR: Rings of Power Showrunners Wanted to ‘Break’ Elrond’s Character

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Talking with Corey Olsen and Maggie Parke from Rings and Realms, the Rings of Power showrunners discussed how they wanted to take Elrond to breaking point to give his character development a more miserable and pessimistic approach. Patrick McKay states that they cast Robert Aramayo, who plays Elrond, to play the most optimistic character in the show so that they could “take him on a journey to then completely break him” and his positive outlook, something that the half-elf had pretty much held throughout season one of Rings of Power. Of course, the end result of this dampened version of Elrond is what viewers see in the Third Age in the J.R.R. Tolkien book and in the Lord of the Rings movies, so what the showrunners are doing with the character makes sense regarding Elrond’s true story.

“We’re going to take him on a journey and we’re going to break him because that’s the story of Elron. He’s like this incredible force for good who loses everything and is possibly the most tragic character in the entire third age.”

In Rings of Power season two episode seven, Elrond sought out help from Prince Durin IV in the war against Adar and Sauron but as the epic battle began to take a traumatic turn, Elrond looked to the hills for his friend in the strong belief that he would come to the rescue. Unfortunately, Durin couldn’t make it, thus leaving Elrond with doubt and a feeling of helplessness. This scene certainly planted more than a few doubts in Elrond’s mind, slowly lifting his usual rose-colored glasses off the world he lives in.

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It will be interesting to see Elrond’s transformation when Rings of Power season three takes hold again and what the show’s writers will include to make Elrond’s journey of loneliness and sadness greater. It will also be intriguing to see if Elrond’s wife, Celebrían, will make an appearance in season three as this could provide a major factor in Elrond’s tragic narrative. As for now, all fingers are crossed that Rings of Power‘s next season will see more backstories into characters, as well as offer viewers less frenetic plotlines and more intricately woven narratives.