The Rings of Power Season 2’s Biggest Death Yet Helps Explain Tolkien Lore We Know Little About

With Sauron’s grand transition into Annatar back in Eregion, the happenings over in Númenor have taken somewhat of a backseat in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. After all, those new rings are pretty shiny, and Sauron will need them all before turning his attention to the island kingdom of Númenor. However, between all the secret treachery at Celebrimbor’s forge, The Rings of Power season 2, episode 5 also featured a tragic death that may be a way for the show to connect events in Númenor to a future king from Tolkien’s Third Age lore. 

In one of The Rings of Power’s more effective moments, chaos erupts at Númenor’s oldest temple after Al-Pharazon’s son, Kemen, kicks out the locals so they can make room for another aqueduct. The problem: Elendil and Valandil are also there, and neither takes too kindly to Kemen’s request. It comes to blows, but Elendil orders Valandil to spare Kemen’s life. Valandil does, only for Kemen to forsake honor and stab him in the back. Brutal? Absolutely. Valandil is left to die in Elendil’s arms as Kemen walks off to undoubtedly commit more treachery in his father’s name. 

The Rings of Power, for all its faults, managed to deliver a tragic and somewhat shocking death scene. Previously, Valandil played a rather minimal role in the series, primarily acting as a side character for Isildur and Eärien to bounce off of. But as Isildur’s closest friend, news of the death is sure to devastate him, could it also inspire the name of his future son? After all, in J.R.R. Tolkien’s storied lore, the only Valandil, at least of royal importance, is Isildur’s youngest son. 

Valandil Is a King in Tolkien’s Lore 

As we know from Tolkien’s extensive writings about the history of Middle-earth, Isildur had four children with a wife Tolkien never actually got around to naming, one of which he called Valandil. Just a child during the War of the Last Alliance, Valandil stayed with his mother in the safety of Rivendell while his father was out fighting. If you’ve never read the books, Peter Jackson’s The Fellowship of the Ring adaptation quickly sums up this war, which concluded with Isildur cutting the One Ring from Sauron’s finger. What the movie doesn’t cover is Isildur’s (mostly) secret stint with the Ring. There was no big standoff over the fires of Mount Doom. Instead, Elrond and Círdan encouraged Isildur to destroy the Ring. He, of course, refused and returned to ruling Arnor and Gondor. 

However, he later had a change of heart on the page and agreed to take the One Ring to Elrond—a mission he wouldn’t return from. Orcs ambushed and killed Isildur and his three sons out in Gladden Fields. It was here that the One Ring slipped off Isildur’s finger and into the depths of the riverbed, where Sméagol would find it much later. With no other heirs, Valandil became the third High King of Arnor. 

Thanks to Elendil, he also inherited the Shards of Narsil and wielded the Sceptre of Annúminas, one of the few surviving relics of Númenor. While many other kings would possess these artifacts, they both ended up with Aragorn by the end of The Lord of the Rings. 

Technically, Valandil was also the rightful King of Gondor. However, his cousin Meneldil took up that position, and Valandil never opposed it for whatever reason never specified by Tolkien. Perhaps it was his laidback attitude that resulted in his peaceful 239-year reign during the Third Age?

Is Rings of Power Creating New Lore for Isildur’s Son? 

The Valandil we know from The Rings of Power is an original character created for the Amazon Prime Video series, but the showrunners and writers probably didn’t choose it by accident, as it created a connection to Tolkien lore from much later in Isildur’s life.

While Valandil was an honorable sea guard who managed to leave quite the impression despite his minimal role, it was his friendship with Isildur that truly served the plot. Without wandering too far into heavy spoiler territory, The Rings of Power is still in the early stages of Númenor’s downfall. In Tolkien’s writings, Isildur plays a critical role in helping the remaining Faithful (Númenóreans who stayed loyal to the Valar) flee the kingdom while also preserving a piece of the White Tree and the Stone of Erech. So, while Isildur is currently still wandering around with Arondir and company in Pelargir, his return to Númenor is imminent, if the show follows the lore. 

Discovering that Kemen (and Al-Pharazon by association) killed Valandil should strengthen Isildur’s devotion to the Faithful. Isildur will likely want justice, and maybe some of that doesn’t come until after the birth of his children. And, as the show seems to be implying with Valandil’s tragic death, Isildur could later decide to name his son after his best friend to honor his memory. That King Valandil goes on to have a long and peaceful rule, the very thing the power hungry Al-Pharazon never managed to do, does feel like its own kind of justice.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is streaming now on Prime Video.