Isildur is famous in Tolkien’s story for cutting the One Ring off Sauron’s finger in the War of the Last Alliance, though he failed to destroy it when given the chance. The Rings of Power season 2 will keep nudging his story towards this ultimate conclusion, which will probably wrap up in the last season. Until then, the show has multiple elements of The Lord of the Rings timeline to place into its already compressed chronology, which has changed the order of some canon events to help ensure the right pacing for TV. This could have major implications as far as Estrid and Isildur are concerned.
Isildur Was Married With A Child Before The Fall Of Númenor
Isildur Really Did Have A Wife And Children In Lore
According to canon, Isildur got married and had a child called Elendur before the fall of Númenor, an event that the show will likely depict. J.R.R. Tolkien’s son, Christopher Tolkien, published a collection of his father’s writings posthumously called The Peoples of Middle-earth, as a part of The History of Middle-earth series. This publication confirmed that Isildur’s son, Elendur, was born in 3299. The Rings of Power season 2 may be setting up Isildur to get to this point in the legendarium’s story – a move that would have major ramifications for Estrid’s role.
The Rings of Power must adhere to the canonical detail of Isildur having children, because Aragorn is Isildur’s descendant. The show can’t break Isildur’s line, as Aragorn is too important, and the whole point of The Return of the King is his royal heritage. The downfall of Númenor came in 3319, 20 years after the birth of Isildur’s son. This event will involve a cataclysm destroying the island kingdom. This is too key in lore for the show to miss, and indeed Míriel already had a vision of this tsunami. The significance of these events has serious consequences for how The Rings of Power depicts Isildur and Estrid’s story.
The Rings Of Power Season 2 May Have To Compress The Fall Of Númenor Timeline
The Rings Of Power Has Already Sped Up Canon Events
The Rings of Power season 2 has a canonical 20 years between Isildur having Elendur and the fall of Númenor and must cover a lot of ground both before Elendur’s birth and after. Season 2 will have to show a rapidly evolving relationship between Isildur and Estrid if it wants to fit in their marriage and pregnancy before what could be a season 3 showing of the fall of Númenor. And yet, it must be convincing when they fall in love. This could potentially incur a time skip at some point between Isildur meeting Estrid and the fall of Númenor.
Likewise, the show may shorten the timeframe between Isildur’s relationship and pregnancy, and the fall of Númenor. Aragorn is descended from Isildur’s other son, Valandil, so disturbing the canonical timeline of this one son wouldn’t be the worst of directorial choices. The Rings of Power already sped up canon events. For instance, Sauron befriended the Noldor of Eregion as Annatar in 1500, whereas Elendil was born in 3119. A time skip may work best here, or else the show may be forced to retcon Isildur’s family life.
This Canonical Timeline Loophole Could Save Rings Of Power’s Timeline
The Magic In The Lord Of The Rings Allows For Timeline Loopholes
Númenóreans have long life and age slowly due to Elvish and Maiar blood in their heritage, which may alleviate aging and timing difficulties common for TV adaptations of stories set over long periods of time. This, of course, also goes for immortal Elves and Maiar such as Galadriel and Sauron, although Sauron can also shape-shift and build a new body after his old one has been killed. Perhaps The Rings of Power won’t even address the timespan relating to Isildur’s family life, under the assumption that he has been aging slowly the whole time.
Despite this, it could work well in the show to confront the issue of Númenóreans’ long life. After all, it will have to address their issue with mortality in coming seasons if it wants to correctly set up the fall of Númenor. Sauron’s meddling in the affairs of the Númenóreans in Tolkien’s work stirred up their discontentment with mortality, encouraging them to start a war that would see them completely demolished. The show could bring a personal touch to the mortality theme by portraying it through primary characters like Elendil and Isildur.
If the show tackles mortality sensitively, it can bring depth and pathos to Elendil’s family
In The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 1, Elendil revealed that Isildur’s mother drowned. If the show tackles mortality sensitively, it can bring depth and pathos to Elendil’s family. It can show the struggle of living without key family members as guides throughout centuries of life, which was a theme raised by Elrond in season 1. Elrond mentioned living in the shadow of his famous but absent father, Eärendil the mariner. Whether it ages characters or not, the show will have to portray the passage of time convincingly, including as it relates to Isildur and Estrid.
