What do The Rings of Power‘s character posters tell us about Amazon’s upcoming The Lord of the Rings TV series? Gathering its forces behind Amazon’s gates since 2017, the big-budget Lord of the Rings TV show has been an awful long time coming, but substantial details are finally starting to surface. Now officially titled The Rings of Power, the narrative falls within Middle-earth’s Second Age, although an early marketing image also foreshadows scenes from Tolkien’s First Age and earlier. As the title implies, The Rings of Power will revolve around the creation of Sauron’s fabled One Ring and its magical siblings, which forever altered the fate of all species within Middle-earth.
In terms of characters, The Rings of Power is keeping its secrets. An army of up-and-coming actors has been announced, but very few are formally attached to fictional counterparts, with Morfydd Clark’s Galadriel the only safe bet. The “Rings of Power” title indicates Sauron is certain to feature in some capacity, and the sheer size of the cast promises a smorgasbord of fictional races from Tolkien’s mythology will be represented, but the rest is a mystery.
Amazon has now unleashed a wave of promotional character posters ahead of The Rings of Power‘s September 2 premiere. Though all annoyingly focus on hands rather than faces, a few clues poke through the ambiguity. Here are all the characters, species, and places teased by The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power‘s new marketing posters.
The Rings Of Power’s First Look At Sauron
Easily the standout among The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power‘s character posters is the one figure wearing spiky black armor. Almost certainly, this shadowy torso belongs to Sauron in his traditional Dark Lord guise. As the mastermind behind the Rings of Power, Sauron will play a major role in Amazon’s TV series, and he still retains a physical form in the Second Age, rather than the fiery, non-corporeal eye from The Lord of the Rings. Without seeing his head, a crumb of doubt remains over this villain’s identity. Should Rings of Power dip into the First Age, this black gauntlet could belong to Morgoth, Sauron’s master and the original Dark Lord of Middle-earth. The hand could also attach to a Nazgûl on its way toward being corrupted. In all probability, however, this poster represents The Rings of Power‘s first true glimpse of Sauron.
Callbacks To The Rings Of Power’s First Official Image
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is chiefly a Second Age series, so everyone was rather confused when the first official image showed the Two Trees of Valinor, which were destroyed by Morgoth and Ungoliant long before. This The Rings of Power poster also teases the Two Trees, with the intertwining gold and silver representing Laurelin and Telperion, respectively. The character holding the blade is perhaps a Ñoldor elf, or a Númenorean.
Which City Is On The Rod?
This The Rings of Power character poster depicts an ornate rod decorated with the miniature model of a grand citadel, and the sculpture’s skyline looks very much like the city shown in The Rings of Power‘s first official image. Given its proximity to the Two Trees of Valinor, that city could’ve been Tirion upon Túna, and someone carrying a rod celebrating Tirion would surely be an important figure among the Ñoldor. The only distinguishable scepter in Tolkien’s world (that this image could correlate to) is the Sceptre of Númenor, but you’d expect a Númenorean king to afford better robes, surely?
Who Are The Rings Of Power’s Sun Sigil Characters?
Two characters in the Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power posters come bearing a sun sigil – the figure dressed in royal blue robes, and the knight holding a broadsword. This symbol isn’t instantly familiar within Tolkien’s lore, but the fashion and stature of those wearing it suggests menfolk rather than Elves. Númenoreans are a definite possibility, but the sun sigil more likely belongs to a house of one of the nine kings who later become Nazgûl. Tolkien left much unsaid about the Ringwraiths’ histories, so The Rings of Power has room to craft origins for those who will ultimately be corrupted by Sauron’s Rings.
Connections To Fëanor
Two Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power posters contain a star motif – one embroidered on a set of robes, the other a series of golden adornments on regal golden robes. This symbol is surely the star of House Fëanor, meaning one of these characters (most likely the better-dressed one) could be Celebrimbor, who crafted the Rings of Power.
A First Glimpse Of Elrond?
Could this mysterious scroll-reader be none other than Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power‘s Elrond? Given Galadriel’s presence and the Second Age setting, Elrond will feature in The Rings of Power as sure as we still jump every time Bilbo Baggins does that scary face in The Fellowship of the Ring. This mystery character’s ruby red robes are similar to those worn by Hugo Weaving in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings movies, and the language on the scroll looks suspiciously like Sindarin, which is the main Elven tongue in Middle-earth.
Rings Of Power Could Feature The Valar
We already know The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will explore Valinor to some extent, but several of Amazon’s character posters hint toward the Valar themselves making an appearance. Dressed in white and holding a brilliantly pure flower, could this be Yavanna, the “mother nature” of Tolkien’s world? After the Two Trees of Valinor were destroyed, Yavanna saved one fruit from Laurelin and one flower from Telperion, which could explain this image.
Is The Rope-Carrier Círdan The Shipwright?
Even in Middle-earth, walking around with a rope curled around one’s shoulder is odd… but perhaps not for a shipwright. This Rings of Power character poster could give a first glimpse at Amazon’s Círdan – one of the oldest Elves still alive after Frodo’s adventures in The Lord of the Rings. Largely keeping to himself, Círdan did one thing and did it well – build ships. Before passing it to Gandalf the Grey, Círdan also held Narya, one of the three Elven Rings of Power, though his gift didn’t bear much resemblance to the ring worn in this image.
Hobbits Could Play A Major Role In Rings Of Power
Though it’s impossible to be certain without any indication of size or foot hairiness, several The Rings of Power character posters potentially contain Hobbits. The figures wearing moth-eaten clothing, with dirt-covered hands holding items connected to nature (fruit, acorns, etc.) all evoke imagery of your typical rural Shire-folk. Sure enough, Hobbits have been confirmed for The Rings of Power by Lenny Henry, who revealed he’ll be portraying one of the Harfoot clan. As far Tolkien mythology goes, early Hobbits are more or less absent during the Second Age, giving The Rings of Power leeway to tell origin stories without breaking canon.
What Could The Black Broken Sword Be?
One of the biggest questions posed by The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power‘s character posters is the black broken blade. Whenever shattered swords are mentioned in a Middle-earth context, thoughts naturally turn toward Narsil, which Isildur used to cut the One Ring from Sauron’s finger. Unless The Rings of Power is skipping straight to the end of the Second Age, Narsil won’t be broken just yet. A better contender is Gurthang – the black sword wielded by Túrin Turambar, which broke when used to take its master’s life. The remnants of Gurthang are supposed to be buried alongside Túrin, but it’s not unfeasible someone might’ve retrieved them…
Dwarves In LOTR: The Rings Of Power
Elves were always going to play a starring role in any Second Age Lord of the Rings TV story, but at least one poster introduces a Dwarven face to The Rings of Power‘s cast. The most obvious is the chap with a long red beard and a hammer covered in Dwarf runes, with the golden fingers perhaps speaking to the greed of the Dwarves. One of the rings in this poster has a fair chance of being from the seven Rings of Power Sauron gifted the Dwarven kings.
