The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is trying to set up Isildur’s eventual decision not to destroy the One Ring, but I’m not buying it. The Prime Video series presents a version of this character never before seen on screen, portraying him as a sympathetic, eager, and kindly future king. There is, of course, nothing wrong with this since Isildur was undoubtedly a good man before Sauron’s One Ring corrupted him. The whole point of Lord of the Rings was that no one was safe from Sauron’s influence. However, I’m not entirely thrilled with how Rings of Power is angling Isildur’s downfall.

Before Rings of Power, Isildur was most known for the character’s brief appearance in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings, when he cut the One Ring off Sauron’s hand with his father’s broken sword. He then took the Ring for himself, and rather than casting it into the Fires of Mount Doom as Elrond urged, Isildur took the weapon back to Gondor and attempted to use it for the betterment of his kingdom. This has always been a frustrating detail of the story since it was because of this decision that misfortune befell Gondor (and Middle-earth) for centuries to come. Now, Rings of Power is attempting to justify that choice.

How The Rings Of Power Tries To Explain Why Isildur Doesn’t Destroy The One Ring

Isildur’s Past Makes Him Want To Prove Himself

In The Rings of Power season 2, episode 3, Isildur reveals that his mother gave her life to save him from drowning when he was a child. It was a tragedy that caused him to feel extreme guilt for his entire life and, in his own words, made him feel “bound to try and do something singular, something special… to try and earn what she did.” Of course, we, the audience, know that Isildur is doomed to go down in infamy—not a reputation his mother would be thrilled with.
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It seems as if Rings of Power is trying to say that Isildur chooses to keep the One Ring as a way to achieve that “singular” something that would earn his mother’s sacrifice. Tolkien’s works were full of tragic irony, so this would certainly lean into the sorts of themes the author was known for. Additionally, it’s fair that Rings of Power would look to add some nuance to Isildur’s motivations since his story was only ever told from an outside perspective. Still, I have a tough time buying what Prime Video is trying to sell here.

New episodes of Rings of Power release weekly on Prime Video.

Why Isildur’s Reason For Keeping The One Ring Doesn’t Work

Isildur’s “Good” Reason Only Makes Things Worse

If Isildur keeps the One Ring because he hopes to use it to earn his mother’s sacrifice, then it is a pretty horrible decision. After all, he takes the Ring just after single-handedly destroying the Dark Lord Sauron. Cutting off the Dark Lord’s finger as a mortal would have been quite a feat, and Isildur is still considered a hero for this even after essentially driving Gondor into the ground. Surely, this would count as something singular. After all, if Isildur’s mother hadn’t sacrificed her life for her son, the Last Alliance of Elves and Men might have ended much differently.

After all, he takes the Ring just after single-handedly destroying the Dark Lord Sauron… Surely, this would count as something singular.

It just doesn’t make sense to me that Isilsur would still feel the need to take things further after such a fantastic act of heroism. Ultimately, there doesn’t need to be too detailed of a reason that he would keep the One Ring. The weapon would have immediately begun to work on Isildur from the moment he touched it, and we know that no one could willingly throw the thing into the fires of Mount Doom anyway. In all, this added motivation for Isildur is just a bit needless. As an icebreaker with Estrid, Isildur’s anecdote about his mother in Rings of Power season 2 was effective—but the implication here just doesn’t work.