Major spoilers follow immediately for The Rings of Power season 2 finale and The Lord of the Rings books.
The Rings of Power season 2’s finale may include our first glimpse at the humble beginnings of an iconic elven realm in The Lord of the Rings. Unfortunately, two of the Prime Video’s biggest stars can’t – or, rather, won’t – confirm if this is the case.
Speaking to me ahead of the last entry in the hit Amazon show’s second season, Robert Aramayo and Benjamin Walker, who play Elrond and Gil-galad, remained tight-lipped when I asked if, alongside Eregion’s elven refugees, we’ve just visited Rivendell for the first time.
In the source material, after Elrond’s elven army is routed by Sauron’s forces on route to Eregion, his remaining troops regroup at a location near the Bruinen river in eastern Eriador. There, Elrond establishes a stronghold, which was christened Imladris (the elvish name for Rivendell) and becomes a refuge for anyone fleeing Sauron’s army as it sweeps across Eriador during the centuries-long conflict known as The War of the Elves and Sauron.
Following Sauron’s eventual defeat in Eriador, Elrond is made Eriador’s vice-regent by High King Gil-galad. Upon being promoted, Elrond permanently settles in Imladris/Rivendell and turns it into one of the strongest elven outposts in Middle-earth. The city, which is later also known as The Last Homely House, is further strengthened by the protective power of Vilya, Gil-galad’s Ring of Power that he secretly bestows on Elrond after the kingdom’s founding.
Of course, many of these events are yet to play out in Prime Video’s TV adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s literary works. However, I suspect that, given how the Sauron/elven storyline ends in season 2, The Wars of the Elves and Sauron will take center stage in season 3, which The Rings of Power‘s showrunners say they’re “working on” as we speak.
But I digress. Season 2 episode 8, titled ‘Shadow and Flame’, sees Elrond, Gil-galad, Galadriel, Arondir, and Eregion’s remaining elves flee the decimated elven city and seek sanctuary in an idyllic, undisclosed location near a river. Based on everything I’ve mentioned so far, if this isn’t evidence that these survivors have stumbled upon the area that’ll become known as Imladris/Rivendell before one of the best Prime Video shows ends, I don’t know what is.
Still, convinced though as I am that we’ve just seen Elrond’s eventual seat of power for the first time in Amazon’s prequel series, Aramayo and Walker weren’t giving anything away when I proposed this theory to them. Indeed, after shuffling nervously in their seats, Walker suggested this might be the case without actually saying so, while Aramayo, who’s a self-confessed Lord of the Rings fanatic, somewhat dodged my question in favor of providing a brief history lesson on Imladris’ origins.
“It’s a sanctuary, initially, by function,” Walker said of the unnamed location. “And that [theorizing that it’s Rivendell/Imladris] is a very astute observation on your part. But, I don’t know that we can confirm anything. We know [what this location is], but we can’t tell you.”
“If it’s the location of Imladris,” Aramayo added, “It’s formed first out of necessity. Nobody arrived there and said ‘now I will form this’. It’s a defensive position that starts very practically, then becomes the Last Homely House, and then becomes Imladris. So, even if that is where they are, they don’t know what it’s going to become.”
You might think you’ve pulled the wool over my eyes, Messrs Aramayo and Walker, but I’m not backing down! I guess we’ll see if I’m right when The Rings of Power returns to our screens for its third chapter. In the meantime, read my season 2 ending explainer that answers your biggest questions about The Rings of Power‘s latest finale, including some input from the show’s cast. Keep an eye out for more exclusives from my chats with some of The Rings of Power‘s notable cast members over the next couple of days, too.
