Today, we get our first look at the characters of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
in the form of 23 official posters.
While none show character faces, there are a great number of clues - some obvious, some
well hidden.
I’m going to give you my thoughts, theories, as well as some translations from the new
posters.
There’s a lot to cover, so let's get to it!
First up, we’re going to start with the one I personally received from Amazon about
10 minutes before their official release.
In what was a pretty cool fan engagement marketing strategy, they gave a bunch of folks from
YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter early access to be the first in the world to see
and share the images.
Now, initially, I thought this might be an image of a Numenorean - possibly Isildur.
The armies of Numenor are famous for their bows and it is said their arrows would block
out the sun in war, so the arrow really drew my attention.
However, the chestplate is incredibly unique and for me, doesn’t give off a Numenorean
vibe.
Instead, I think what we are seeing here is a man of either Minhiriath or Enedhwaith - two
lands of Middle-earth that would experience deforestation by the Numenoreans so the latter
may build their ships.
Here on the chest plate, which features leaves and a treebark texture, we see a face.
I’m theorizing that this could be the image of an Ent.
Perhaps it is treebeard himself - or some other ent.
It makes total sense that the men of these regions would know of and even perhaps look
up to or worship ents - as the forest of Fangorn takes up a much larger portion of Middle-earth
in the early Second Age.
Another possibility is this could be one of the wood elves.
An arrow certainly wouldn’t be out of character for a race that many see as synonymous with
great archery.
There’s also at the very top of the image a hint of a broach - this calls to mind those
the fellowship receive when they travel through Lorien.
Next up, we have what I think may be one of my personal favorite Second Age characters
- Elrond.
This attire just screams elven lord to me and seems like something Elrond might wear
in Rivendell (though it won’t be around quite yet when season 1 likely takes place).
Thanks to TolkienGuide, we believe the text here to read “Armenelos - view from the
South”.
Meaning this is likely a map or picture of the capital of Numenor - and we know that
of the elves in Middle-earth, the elves of Lindon have the most contact with the island
realm.
My only pause here is that Elrond in the second age is likely not the wise elder of his people
like we see in the films.
So I could see this being another elven lord.
As I was recording this video, I got a scoop from Fellowship of Fans that they are reporting
this to actually be Celebrimbor - the lord of Eregion and the craftsman of the Rings
of Power.
They’ll actually be revealing more scoops of characters believed to be confirmed in
a stream on their channel tomorrow!
Now some of these images are pretty obscure and I don’t have a lot of guesses as to
what they may be.
I go back and forth between this one being an image of one person with a cloak on one
side, or of two separate people.
The sickle in the right hand and the brown leather give off more of a farming or peasant
vibe, whereas the blue garment with the golden belt gives off much less of a farmer feel.
Let me know in the comments whether you think this is one person or two.
Next up is a pretty simple one, a pair of hands covered with a fair amount of grime
holding an apple.
The first thing I thought of when seeing the woven fabric was of Gandalf’s scarf we saw
in the hobbit films - though undoubtedly much thicker material.
Another point is the brownish-grayish beard we see at the top of the frame.
If we are guessing big name characters, I tend to look at this being one of the blue
wizards.
Another great theory we got in our live reaction stream this morning was that this could be
none other than Tom Bombadil himself.
A truly interesting thought and a major story if it turns out to be true.
Next up we have what is no doubt one of our beloved Dwarves.
In our first glimpse of Durin’s Folk of the second age, we also get our first of what
will pop up in a handful of these posters - Gold residue on the hands.
Does this indicate which characters are dwarves?
Having crafted things of gold?
Or is there some other connection at play here?
Thanks to my friend the Dwarrow Scholar, we now know the translation likely reads “awake
sleeping stone”.
Once again, we have a character with even more gold residue on their fingers.
While I’m not the greatest at guessing actors and who they are portraying - my initial thought
was that this MIGHT be Sophia Nomvete’s character - whoever that may be.
We see more golden attire - including some impressive bracelets that could indicate a
fair number of civilizations in Middle-earth, so while this character could be from Khazad-dum,
Numenor and Harad also immediately come to mind.
Here’s another with very few clues that has me a bit stumped.
I hypothesized in my stream that this might be a pregnant woman, but the chat mostly disagreed.
I’m really curious to see the comments in the chat about this one.
In one of the most intriguing images, we have what appears to be a man holding a broken
sword.
My initial thought was this looked not only broken but water damaged - no doubt calling
to mind the realm of Numenor.
While there could be an outside chance that this is actually gold residue like we saw
in earlier images, it still looks mostly like a hilt taken from the sea.
It has a much more sinister feel to it and some have theorized there may be a black speech
rune on the blade itself.
The only black blade we hear of in Tolkien’s world is Anglachel and its twin Anguirel,
which you may remember from my Turin Turambar video.
It is never mentioned after the events of The Children of Hurin.
Turin reforged the sword and named it Gurthang, and as he falls on it to his doom - the sword
breaks.
Could this be that very sword - the very sword forged from a meteorite and was said to be
sentient?
Talking to TolkienGuide, he had a great theory that the sea damage could in fact be damage
from the acidic blood of Glaurung the dragon.
I really only have a single theory for this next one.
This appears to be someone holding a scepter and the most notable scepter in all Middle-earth
is that belonging to the ruler of Numenor.
If that is the case, I think we could be looking at Tar-Palantir, who is basically the last
good king of Numenor before it descends into darkness and chaos.
This image is another of my absolute favorites and I’m about 90% sure I know exactly who
this is.
While the chainmail and armor don’t give much away, its the dagger that is incredibly
notable here.
The handle appears to show the two trees of Valinor the golden Telperion and the silver
Laurelin.
These trees are most significant to the elves who once saw them in all their glory, which
is why I believe this to be none other than Morfydd Clark’s Galadriel.
Gold, gold, and more gold.
Initially, I was convinced this was Ar-Pharazon.
His title in the books afterall is Ar-Pharazon the golden.
However, the word online from folks comparing actors hands is that Ar-pharazon is one of
the later posters in this list.
If that’s the case, I think this could be a lord of of the elves.
Glad in gold, he’s bound to be someone important, so perhaps Celebrimbor or Gil-galad would
fit the bill.
Here we have a poster of someone holding what I initially thought could be a letter.
However, on second thought, I think it more likely this could be a map of some kind.
We also note the drawings on the scroll.
They are very clearly no known writings of elves, dwarves or men, and the use of glyphs
could indicate a lesser-developed civilization.
This combined with the possible nod to how we saw Frodo bearing a ring around his neck
all those years ago, leads me to wonder if this could be one of the hobbits rumored to
be in the show.
In one of the biggest surprises of the day, here we have what is unquestionably a poster
meant to remind us of the Rohirrim.
While their tales are not told until the Third Age, it would make sense if these people were
to exist in the second as their ancestors - the Northmen.
A specific group of these Northmen come to be known as the Eotheod and it is then, as
they settle in the upper vales of Anduin, that they become famous for their horses.
No doubt we will be seeing the Eotheod long before their days in Rohan.
This could also mean we see a much wider area of Middle-earth being affected by the evils
of Sauron - this of course would also open the door for one of these horsemen to become
one of the Nazgul.
Next up we have a cloaked figure holding what appears to be a crooked short staff.
There’s some kind of talon attached, which seems far too small to belong to a dragon
or a great eagle - so my guess would be it is a claw of a warg.
While its a shorter staff than I would expect, I can’t help but think this could be one
of the blue wizards.
Next we have someone holding three large acorns.
They certainly seem to be in more ragged clothes than many of the characters, so I wouldn’t
expect this to be one of the high elves or royalty going purely off this single image.
My initial thought was that these acorns could be of the Mallorn trees that are famous for
growing in what will one day be called Lorien.
Next we have a really intriguing picture of someone holding red fruit of some kind.
While we know Isildur steals a fruit from the White Tree of Numenor, I have a feeling
this is not what we are seeing here - in part because of an upcoming image.
Also of note is that it seems this person’s bag has a strap made from a braid of hair.
Many of the same folks who earlier guessed Tom Bombadil on a poster believe this to be
none other than his wife, Goldberry.
I’m still uncertain on this one.
Next we have a character portrait that just screams regal.
And this is the character that the rumor mill is suggesting to be Ar-Pharazon, the one who
would drive Numenor to its ruin.
This fits my initial reaction that this seemed to be a Numenorean lord and while I was entertaining
the idea of elven royalty, I totally buy that this is Pharazon.
Here we have a woman holding what appears to be a book.
The black book on the red dress is a striking image that doesn’t give us a whole lot to
go off of.
However, the design on the front of the book seems like waves to my eyes - with possibly
a fish of some sort near the top.
I wonder if this could be some book chronicling the history of Numenor.
I wonder if this may end up being the sister of Isildur that has been rumored as an original
character for the show.
Next we have a man dressed in green holding a rope.
Again, there’s not a whole lot to go off of here, though the leather accessories again
seem to suggest either a more working class character or at the very least a character
in a work-like setting.
A couple ideas put forth in the stream were a sailor of Numenor, a wood elf, or even another
of the Eotheod working with their horses.
Here is yet another that I think we can pretty firmly guess the exact character.
They are almost certainly Numenorean, with the white flower a very strong sign of the
White Tree of Numenor.
We see another set of golden bracelets, an unclear ring on the right index finger, and
attire that has somewhat of a fish scale design to it.
I feel pretty confident that we may be seeing Tar-Miriel, the daughter of Tar-Palantir - who
I believe will be king of Numenor when the show begins.
No doubt Miriel and her relationship and likely rivalry with Ar-Pharazon will be a major storyline
of the show.
Next we have one of the most intriguing images in this collection, as I have two very distinct
and very strong theories on who this may be.
We have another ringed character - though again without any jewel, with Gold and green
attire.
Again, the green seems like it may have a similar fish scale design like we saw in the
previous image, but the main feature here is the sun - there are three that appear in
this single image.
A large one on the chest plate, one on the hilt of the sword, and another at the base
of the blade.
Initially, the sheer brilliance of this image made me think of fan favorite elf lord Glorfindel.
However, it was pointed out in our stream today that the translation for the name Anarion,
who is Isildur’s brother, is literally “Son of the Sun”.
That combined with the subtle green scales makes me lean toward Anarion.
But let me know in the comments what you think - Glorfindel, Anarion, or someone else!
Next we have probably the image that gives us the least amount of clues.
Some have thought this could be a child, others guessing an adult female character.
Either way, there’s not much to note here except there are orange sleeves, some gold
accents, and a pattern of stars and circles or wheels on the attire.
Finally, we have what is undoubtedly our most clear-cut villanous character of the entire
collection.
A black gauntlet with a wide black sword in hand.
While initially I and many believed this to be Sauron, I have since firmly changed my
mind.
To my eyes, this gauntlet doesn’t seem large enough or imposing enough to belong to the
dark lord himself.
I believe what we are seeing here is actually one of the Nazgul - and perhaps specifically
the Witch King.
It’s easy to miss, but there also appears to be the same golden residue on the gauntlet
- or could it be the sea-like damage hinted at in the earlier dark sword image?
The blades themselves seem like they might have some similar design elements, but I think
we can easily conclude they are in fact different swords.
Either way, I’m firmly on team Nazgul with this one.
So which of these posters is your favorite?
What theories or observations do you have after seeing them?
I’m still holding out hope that my prediction from last year that we would see a Super Bowl
teaser will come true.
And if it does, I’ll have a livestream that very night so we can all react to it together,
so be sure you’re subscribed and have your notifications turned on so you don’t miss
it!
After I started editing this video, I heard from Fellowship of Fans that they are reporting
this image to actually be Isildur.
I’m guessing this would be him as he is serving on a ship in the Numenorean military.
They’re planning some more character reveals in a livestream tomorrow, so check that out
on their channel