Fans have been patiently, (or, let’s face it, impatiently), awaiting the release of the new series Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power since Amazon bought the TV rights to the franchise for $250 million back in 2017. In the past couple of months, we’ve finally been rewarded for our patience with a couple of promotional breadcrumbs, like a highly-anticipated Super Bowl trailer, as well as first looks at the characters via Vanity Fair.
The show, which is coming to Prime on September 2, 2022, is set thousands of years before The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings in Middle-earth’s Second Age, and promises to fabricate a fantastical backstory to the franchise we know and love. With that comes a cast of brand new characters, as well as some of our favorite familiar faces. Here’s your definitive, comprehensive breakdown on all of the show’s characters that we know of so far, plus who’s playing them.
Elrond (Robert Aramayo)
Robert Aramayo as Elrond (Ben Rothstein/Amazon Studios)
Even if you’re not a Lord of the Rings aficionado, chances are you know who Elrond is. This half-Elven warrior was first seen in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings (2001). Played by Hugo Weaving, he fought with the Last Alliance of Elves and Men in the Second Age. Throughout the franchise, he has played many different roles: from the Lord of Middle Earth Elf Sanctuary Rivendell, to a reformer of the Fellowship of the Ring, and foster father to Aragorn, the heir of Isildur.
Based on the promotional images for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, it looks like the show is going to be starting with a younger, more spritely Elrond, and in turn we will bear witness to his origin story. In the Amazon series, Elrond is played by Robert Aramayo, a British actor who is best known for his appearance as Eddard Stark in Season 6 of Game of Thrones. Aramayo fit right in to that medieval fantasy world, so we’re safe to assume that he’s going to be a more than suitable Elrond.
Galadriel (Morfydd Clark)
Morfydd Clark as Galadriel (Matt Grace/Amazon Studios)
Another character returning from the Lord of the Rings franchise is Galadriel, a royal Elf from the Noldor and the Teleri, who was played by Cate Blanchett in Peter Jackson’s adaptations. Galadriel helped lead the Noldor rebellion, and ruled Middle-earth’s Lothlórien with her husband, Celeborn. She is often celebrated for her beauty and strength, with Tolkein describing her as “the mightiest and fairest of all the Elves that remained in Middle-earth” in Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age.
While she will remain a central character, it looks like The Rings of the Power is going to be taking a different approach to Galadriel. In promotional images, she is scorched and disheveled from battle, and looks more like a warrior than the enchanted elf that we came to know in the books and their film adaptations. This new interpretation is both nerve-wracking and exciting, and hints that we’re going to get to see Galadriel’s transformation into a commander.
This new Galadriel is played by Welsh actress Morfydd Clark, who recently impressed audiences and earned many accolades for her impressively dark performance as a devout Christian in Saint Maud.
