Potential spoilers for the show and major book spoilers ahead

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has no shortage of original characters. As the uber-expensive series is based on a series of notes, the writers opted to fill in the blanks with some characters of their own design, a move that hasn’t sat well with some sects of the fandom, but so far the original characters are fitting in. In episode 3, we got introduced Eärien, sister of Isildur and daughter Elendil and she’s an original character written for the show. She may seem a little irrelevant to the plot right now, but I have a feeling she’ll play a critical role later down the line.

To talk about Eärien properly though, I’m going to have to spoil the Númenorean plot line for this show. If you’ve read Tolkiens work or just know where the story is going, this won’t be an issue for you, but if you’re a casual fan of the Peter Jackson films only, say, who never read the books, then I’m going to straight up ruin an event that will likely come to pass in season four, if I had to guess.

So, in episode three of Rings of Power, Eärien mentions that she got accepted into the Builders Guild. It’s a seemingly throwaway line design to distract Elendil from Isildur, but the line is far more loaded if the theory proves true.

[Credit: Prime Video]

On Númenor, there are two groups and we’ve gotten hints at both of them already: the King’s Men, who will be heavily aligned with Ar-Pharazôn and the Faithful, loyal to Queen Regent Tar-Míriel. Sparks note version, but Ar-Pharazôn will usurp Míriel, his cousin, as the leader of the island. His fear of death would become so powerful and potent that Sauron, who willingly allows himself to get captured and brought to the island, is able to manipulate the King by feeding off this fear. He convinced Ar-Pharazôn that the only way to cheat death was to build a temple dedicated to Morgoth, where human sacrifice would be performed by way of burning. Of course, the temple was built and sacrifices were made, which ultimately led to the Fall of Númenor.

My guess is that Eärien will be one of the King’s Men and will participate in the building of Morgoth’s Temple. I don’t think she will see this as an evil thing either thanks to Sauron’s silver tongue. They’re simply ridding the island of evil, a.k.a The Faithful, cleansing it for a more “civilized” and “pure” island. It’s quite possible though, that upon seeing the horrors that are performed in the Great Temple, Eärien will regret her role in its making, thus paving the way for a possible redemption arc. Or perhaps the show will simply let the character make her bed and lay in it, accepting the consequences of her actions. Either way, the island will fall. If this theory turns out to be true (and we likely won’t know for years to come), I wonder how it will affect the other members of the family.

[Credit: Harper Collins]

But that’s it for the theory, for those who decided to read it, what do you think? Let me know in the comments, whether it be here on the site directly or on social media.