Warning: This post contains spoilers for “The Rings of Power” Season 3, Episode 4. Proceed accordingly.
In “The Rings of Power” Season 3, Episode 4, “Gundabad,” Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova), and Marnûkh (Adam Young) head to the Orc fortress of Gundabad in an attempt to rescue an Elven smith. The Frodo, Sam, and Gollum vibes are strong as the trio travels to the fortress, with Galadriel focused on her quest and Arondir and Marnûkh at odds every step of the way. But this Second Age adventure takes a much darker turn. In the end, the Elven smith they’re trying to reach is dead. Then, as the episode draws to a close, horror of horrors, Sauron appears on the scene, Marnûkh is lost, and Arondir is killed by a Nazgnagôl at the Dark Lord’s orders.
The Elf’s death is even more impactful because his killer is revealed to be none other than Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin). The youngster is the son of Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi), a mortal whom Arondir fell in love with back in Season 1. By the finale of Season 2, the Númenóreans have turned Theo’s outpost into a military base. After the five-year time jump (and soft reboot) heading into Season 3, we find Theo chopping wood in thraldom, a fate that pushes him to jump at the opportunity to get one of Sauron’s fancy Rings of Power. That leads straight to the rooftop of Gundabad, where Theo (now a ring-bearing Nazgnagôl, an early form of the Nazgûl) kills the very Elf who was looking out for him for so long.
Arondir has had a huge impact on the Rings of Power story
Arondir is a Silvan Elf and an original character created by J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay. The showrunners have had to fill in a lot of gaps in Tolkien’sat process through two and a half seasons. In Season 1, he helps Bronwyn organize the humans of the Southlands as they try to resist the Orc invasion led by Adar (played by Joseph Mawle in Season 1 and Sam Hazeldine in Season 2)
Arondir stays heavily involved in the Season 1 action. He is captured by and escapes from Adar’s Orcs, leads a militia, fights more powerful foes in single combat, and even collapses an entire watchtower on Adar’s army.
Arondir is also at the center of a complicated romance with the human Bronwyn. The question of what happens when a mortal and an immortal fall in love is a Tolkien staple, most famously exemplified by Aragorn and Arwen. Peter Jackson added a non-canon version to “The Hobbit” trilogy through the romantic tension between Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly) and Kíli (Aidan Turner). Payne and McKay brought a similar romance to their Second Age story, but it took a tragic turn with Bronwyn’s death early in Season 2. Arondir’s role is smaller in that season, but he does save Isildur and Estrid (Nia Towle) and continues to protect Theo, especially from some angry Ents.
Why does Theo kill Arondir so suddenly?
Arondir’s death feels abrupt, partly because of the speed with which Theo kills his former friend and protector. The Nine Rings’ corrupting influence helps explain Theo’s actions, although how much control Sauron has over him at this stage remains unclear.
In “The Silmarillion,” Tolkien describes Sauron’s power over Ring-bearers this way: “While he wore the One Ring [Sauron] could perceive all the things that were done by means of the lesser rings, and he could see and govern the very thoughts of those that wore them.” Of course, this passage refers to the One Ring, which Sauron hasn’t forged yet in the show. In J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay’s adaptation, however, some of that power appears to be inherent in the Nine Rings. Even before Sauron forges the One Ring, Theo is already susceptible to his influence.
Although Arondir’s death comes as a shock, actor Ismael Cruz Córdova thought the setting was fitting, at least. Here’s what he said in an interview with TV Insider: “In a pure Tolkien fan-girling moment, [in] my death there’s Nazgnagôl, there’s Sauron, there’s Galadriel, there’s Celeborn, and there’s this freaking beast of an eagle…and this incredible Orc. I have such a Tolkien ending.”
The first four episodes of “The Rings of Power” Season 3 premiered on November 11 on Prime Video.
