So it was indeed mithril: At the end of the second episode of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”, something shimmered promisingly in a chest in Khazad-dûm, in episode 4 the secret has now been revealed. It is chunks of a newly discovered ore that the dwarves found in the mountains of their homeland.
And Disa (Sophia Nomvete), Durin (Owain Arthur) and Durin’s father Durin III (Peter Mullan) don’t make such a big secret of what they’re digging for in the old mine under the Mirror Lake for nothing: Because “Lord of the Rings” fans already know that mithril is immensely valuable from Peter Jackson’s films, where Frodo (Elijah Wood) even survives an attack by a cave troll thanks to a mithril chainmail.
But that is by no means all that mithril is useful for in The Lord of the Rings stories – and we already see a first hint of it in episode 4, where Elrond (Robert Aramayo) is presented with a chunk of the valuable metal by Durin. To guess more, however, you have to watch the trailer for episode 5 afterwards.
I really loved Adar in Episode 4 of The Rings of Power.
They truly nailed the look of a fallen Elf Lord and what little we have seen of Joseph Mawle’s performance so far was truly captivating! Can’t wait to learn more about him. pic.twitter.com/ewaR7QjIyN
– The Sietch of Sci-Fi (@TSoS_) September 16, 2022
In fact, Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) seems to be holding the mithril chunk in his hand and says, “Nothing at all diminishes its light”. So the Elvesmith has apparently found the perfect material for his secret project, the reason Elrond was sent to Khazad-dûm in the first place.
CELEBRIMBOR FORGES THE RINGS OF POWER
What kind of project this is has not yet been revealed in the series, but there can only be one answer, as in J.R.R. Tolkien’s books. It may not initially be Celebrimbor’s plan, but something powerful is what he wants to create, and we know where that is going: Celebrimbor, with the help of Sauron disguised as Annatar, is forging the Rings of Power – the nine Rings of Men, the seven of the Dwarves and the three Rings of the Elves.
And the latter are particularly important here. Firstly, in the book, Celebrimbor forges them according to Sauron’s plans, but without his direct help, which is why they are not corrupted by him. And secondly, one of the three Elven rings is actually forged from mithril: Nenya, the Ring of Water, which is later worn by Galadriel (in the series: Morfydd Clark).
Nenya, the Ring of Mithril, in
Nenya has already been seen in Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” films. There, Galadriel (played here by Cate Blanchett) wears it on her finger, for example when Frodo looks into Galadriel’s mirror in Lothlorien (they also talk about it in the Extended Edition of “The Fellowship”).
However, it will probably be a while before the forging of the rings is shown in “The Rings of Power”. Our guess is that this extremely important event will not happen until the season finale of Season 1. That would be a strong final act, because with the forging of the rings Sauron will show his true face and new evil will befall Middle Earth…
But surely the mithril plays an important role before that. Episode 5 of “The Rings of Power” will be released on 23 September 2022 on Amazon Prime Video. You can also learn more about Celebrimbor, Mithril and the rings in the video embedded above or in the following article:
