The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power Rumor Details Another Significant Change From Tolkien’s Beloved And Established Lore

Michael Austin |

Jan 20, 2022

Trystan Gravelle as Baldwin Montclair - A Discovery of Witches _ Season 1, Episode 6 - Photo Credit: Adrian Rogers/SundanceNow/Shudder/Bad Wolf

A key character from J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Silmarillion” is rumored to appear in the upcoming Amazon Studios produced series “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” and it looks like he will be undergoing some significant changes.

On December 12th, the Fellowship of Fans Twitter account claimed that Welsh actor Trystan Gravelle would play Pharazôn.

Pharaôn, the last king of Númenor, plays a prominent role near the end of “The Silmarillion.”

At one point in the novel, Ar-Pharazôn and his Númenorian forces capture the dark lord Sauron following the latter’s surrender.

Over time, Sauron then beings to corrupt the men of Númenor. Chief among those corrupted is Ar-Pharazôn himself, who first begins to worship Melkor in private, but later in public.

Pharazôn’s corruption eventually leads to the downfall of Númenor.

Fellowship of Fans went on to reveal an alleged character description for the character that shows the character does indeed have some qualities that could be exploited by Sauron later on, namely his arrogance.

“Pharazôn is ‘Imperious, arrogant, not particularly likeable, but also very intelligent and the consumate politician,'” Fellowship of Fans tweeted.

They also added that he has a “greying beard, shoulder length hair and always seemed to be dressed in blue and gold, which are the colours of Numenor.”

Fellowship of Fans also made sure to note that, at the beginning of the series, Pharazôn is not yet known as Ar-, meaning he has yet to take up the Númenorian throne.

“In season 1 he will be Miriel’s chief advisor and will unexpectedly defer to Miriel’s seniority, but for the most part he acted like he was in charge- but NOT king,” the outlet claimed.

If this is true, it is another significant change from Tolkien’s lore. In “The Silmarillion,” Pharazôn marries his cousin Míriel against her will in order to usurp the Númenorian throne.

Tolkien writes, “And it came to pass that Tar-Palantir grew weary of grief and died. He had no son, but a daughter only, whom he named Míriel in the Eleven-tongue; and to her now by right and the laws of the Númenóreans came the sceptre.”

“But Pharazôn took her to wife against her will, doing evil in this and evil also in that the laws of Númenor did not permit the marriage, even in the royal house, of those more nearly akin than cousins in the second degree,” he continued.

And when they were wedded, he seized the sceptre into his own hand, taking the title of Ar-Pharazôn (Tar-Calion in the Elven-tongue); and the name of his queen he changed to Ar-Zimraphel,” Tolkien wrote.

On Wednesday, Amazon announced the title, plot details, and premiere date of the show.

The first episode will drop on Friday, Sept. 2, 2022. After that, subsequent episodes will debut on a weekly basis.

Set in the fabled Second Age of J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendarium, the show will follow various storylines.

“The Rings of Power unites all the major stories of Middle-earth’s Second Age: the forging of the rings, the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron, the epic tale of Numenor, and the Last Alliance of Elves and Men,” showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay said according to an official press release.

“Until now, audiences have only seen on-screen the story of the One Ring — but before there was one, there were many… and we’re excited to share the epic story of them all,” they added.

“The Silmarillion” is the most popular of Tolkien’s books yet to receive a live-action adaption.

Some fans may be excited at the notion of seeing portions of the book’s scene played out in “The Rings of Power.”

However, other fans are pessimistic, given that various confirmed details and persistent rumors indicate the series has already made several radical changes to Tolkien’s story and world.