The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has been barreling impressively through Tolkien’s Second Age in its first and second seasons, but not without some major changes to Tolkien’s canon. The Rings of Power season 1 finale confirmed that the original character Halbrand had been Sauron all along, exemplifying the show’s approach to writing. The mystery box of Sauron’s identity was paralleled in season 2, with the season 2 finale confirming that the Stranger had been Gandalf all along. Nonetheless, much of the show’s original material has remained just that.

With original characters of major importance and some of lesser significance, The Rings of Power season 2 has continued to defy the exact timeline and narrative of The Lord of the Rings books. It is basing its story on the Second Age outlined in The Lord of the Rings’ appendices and fleshing it out with the detail contained in The Silmarillion. Some of its changes worked better than others, but original material was always inevitable in an adaptation like this, with so little dialogue in The Silmarillion. All in all, season 2’s changes to canon have presented a surprising and often thrilling journey.

The Rings Of Power Orc Coup After The War Of Wrath

Original Character Adar Assassinated Sauron

Original character Adar assassinated Sauron in the show’s invented fortress of Forodwaith, just after the canonically existent War of Wrath. The War of Wrath ended the First Age, leaving Morgoth cast into the void. The show offers a fascinating interpretation of what happened next for Morgoth’s forces. Lacking strong leadership and alignment, the show posits a coup as its idea of history on Morgoth’s side in the early Second Age.

This created a backstory for the slow rebuilding of Sauron’s power throughout the Second Age. Sauron’s motives, even at the start of the Second Age, still had the foundations of good intentions, according to Tolkien himself, giving weight to The Rings of Power’s conflicted Sauron. Dying at Adar’s hands led Sauron to rebuild his body slowly and reevaluate his place in Middle-earth.

The Rings Of Power’s Tom Bombadil Living In Rhûn

Tom Bombadil Lived In The Old Forest In Lord Of The Rings

The Rings of Power season 2’s Tom Bombadil lived in Rhûn, but he lived in the Old Forest in The Lord of the Rings. In The Lord of the Rings, Tom wasn’t keen to leave his realm. However, Gandalf suggested he hadn’t always been that way, talking about his reluctance to travel as being the way he was “now.” There was no reason for Tom Bombadil not to be in Rhûn, as such.

Tolkienian Age
Event Marking The Start
Years
Total Length In Solar Years

Before time
Indeterminate

Indeterminate
Indeterminate

Days before Days
The Ainur entered Eä
1 – 3,500 Valian Years
33,537

Pre-First Age Years of the Trees (Y.T.)
Yavanna created the Two Trees
Y.T. 1 – 1050
10,061

First Age (F.A.)
Elves awoke in Cuiviénen
Y.T. 1050 – Y.T. 1500, F.A. 1 – 590
4,902

Second Age (S.A.)
The War of Wrath ended
S.A. 1 – 3441
3,441

Third Age (T.A.)
The Last Alliance defeated Sauron
T.A. 1 – 3021
3,021

However, Tom Bombadil did say in The Lord of the Rings that his knowledge failed out east. In The Rings of Power’s logic, perhaps this future Tom was being modest or otherwise simply comparative. Tom’s power was at its height in his own territory. In Rhûn, Tom couldn’t have been in his element in the same way. Tom’s activities in the Second Age of Middle-earth weren’t described in the books.

Sauron Having Two Fair Forms

Halbrand Was An Original Character

Sauron had two fair forms in The Rings of Power season 2 – three if you count his Jack Lowden form – and season 3 could present even more. Sauron’s fair form was well documented in The Lord of the Rings’ appendices, which The Rings of Power has the rights to, and it was detailed further in The Silmarillion. Sauron’s fair form, in the books, carried the name Annatar.

Annatar was portrayed quite faithfully in The Rings of Power season 2, bearing in mind the fact that Tolkien never drilled down into minute detail like the length or color of his hair. It was a pleasant surprise that the show used Annatar’s name, bearing in mind they would have had to secure one-off rights for this. However, as Galadriel confirmed, Sauron had another fair form in the show – Halbrand. Halbrand was an invention of the show.

Sauron’s Blood Going Into The Nine Rings

The Rings’ Forging Wasn’t Detailed In Lore

The exact process of the forging of the 20 Rings of Power wasn’t detailed in Tolkien’s books, but The Rings of Power delighted in demonstrating a dark secret of the Nine. Inventing the morbid story itself, the show suggested that Sauron’s blood went into the nine Rings of Men. This made sense in the framework of Tolkien’s story because Sauron really did have a supreme level of control over the wearers of the Nine.

Elven-ring
Name
Gem
First Owner
Last Owner

Vilya
The Ring of Air
Sapphire
Gil-galad
Elrond

Narya
The Ring of Fire
Ruby
Círdan
Gandalf

Nenya
The Ring of Water
Adamant
Galadriel
Galadriel

Sauron had more control over the wearers of the Nine than he did over the Dwarves and the Elves that wore Rings of Power. There were, of course, ample reasons for this in The Silmarillion, but The Rings of Power’s forging technicality fit right in. It also fit into the show’s idea that only blood could bind, as stated by Adar in season 1. This was supported by Adar’s “blood-red” wine, drunk to magically turn him from an Elf into an Orc.

Durin III Unearthing Then Burying A Balrog

The Balrog Didn’t Arise Until The Third Age In Lore

In J.R.R. Tolkien’s appendices to The Lord of the Rings, it was revealed how the Dwarves of Moria unearthed a Balrog in the Third Age. However, The Rings of Power showed this Balrog in the Second Age. The Balrog was teased in season 1, leading many to believe that the show was about to compress the Moria timeline and have the Balrog ruin Moria long before the Third Age.

While it isn’t exactly clear what The Rings of Power season 3 holds for Durin IV, Disa, and their subjects, it does seem as if Durin III’s sacrifice will hold the Balrog down for at least a few more years. Durin III impressively managed to get a hold of himself before the end of season 2, removing his ring, realizing his folly, and throwing himself at the Balrog to make it thrash itself into a huge rockslide that buried them both. The show invented this storyline.

The Reason Behind The Siege Of Eregion

Adar Struck Eregion On Sauron’s Behalf In Rings Of Power

The original character Adar was behind a lot of The Rings of Power’s plot in season 2, and he offered an original story as to how Tolkien’s Eregion came to be besieged by Sauron’s forces. In The Silmarillion, Sauron had finished forging the Rings of Power with Celebrimbor and forged the One Ring before the Elves realized that they had been deceived. Sauron then demanded the rings, but the Elves resisted.

From this point on, “war never ceased between Sauron and the Elves” (The Silmarillion). It was an odyssey of filmmaking to let the Siege of Eregion play out on England’s mucky sets, evoking a real sense of the battlefield in Tolkien’s Euro-centric Middle-earth. But in lore, Sauron led the siege himself, rather than manipulating a general into doing it for him. Adar was actually attacking Sauron in the show, making the reasons for the siege in the show very different from those in the books.

Galadriel Liking Sauron Even Knowing Who He Is

Galadriel Is Still Obsessed Underneath Her Hatred

The Rings of Power teased a non-canonical Galadriel-Sauron romance from early on in season 1, and season 2 didn’t really let go of this either, despite Sauron’s identity being out in the open. Galadriel and Halbrand’s romance was subtextual but director Charlotte Brändström confirmed to Nerdist​​​​​​ that “Galadriel obviously was in love with Halbrand. She was very attracted to him.” Not only was Galadriel in love with Halbrand in season 1, but she clearly couldn’t stop thinking about him in season 2, judging from her flashbacks and the way she spoke about Sauron as Halbrand, having to be corrected by Gil-galad.

Tellingly, Galadriel’s most honest confession of her feelings was to Adar, who understood completely, having been taken in by Sauron’s promises long before. Describing Sauron’s impact on them both, Galadriel finished Adar’s sentence, concluding that the world after Sauron’s promise was removed was nothing but a “dull gray.” Sauron’s own annoyance with the breakdown of their relationship was genuine too, according to Brändström: “Sauron was almost disappointed in the end, because I think he would have liked to have Galadriel as his queen.”

A Second Age Gandalf Traveling With Harfoots In Rhûn

Gandalf Arrived In The Third Age And Never Went To Rhûn

Gandalf arrived in Middle-earth on a boat around 1000 years into the Third Age in lore and was never discussed in Rhûn, but the show’s Gandalf fell to Middle-earth like an angel in the Second Age and went traveling. Tolkien played with the idea of Wizards coming to Middle-earth in the Second Age in one draft he never published while alive. However, The Lord of the Rings made its timeline clear, despite Gandalf’s confusing “300 lives of Men” timing offered in the Peter Jackson movie.

Gandalf wasn’t clear on his past in the show, just as he wasn’t in the books. But the books never mentioned him being found by a pre-Hobbit called Nori and taken traveling in the eastern land of Rhûn to find himself. In fact, the books never named any pre-Hobbits at all, only mentioning that Harfoots, Stoors, and Fallohides existed before Hobbits.

Sauron Fighting Galadriel For The Nine Rings Of Men

Sauron Only Fought Celebrimbor In The Books

Sauron fought Galadriel for possession of the Nine and Nenya, but Sauron only explicitly confronted Celebrimbor in lore, with a general fight against the Elves proceeding. There was nothing to say that Sauron did not confront Galadriel, but having Celebrimbor give the rings to Galadriel and having Sauron pursue her was still a fairly large invention. In Unfinished Tales, Galadriel did meet Sauron in Eregion, lending support to the show’s content. However, Sauron interrogated only Celebrimbor for the rings in The Silmarillion. Sauron did interrogate Celebrimbor in the show, which was laudable, ending in Celebrimbor’s Unfinished Tales death scene.

Having to present Celebrimbor’s death one way or another likely lent weight to the show’s argument to the Tolkien Estate that it should use the gruesome details presented in Unfinished Tales, although it didn’t have the rights. In this sense, Sauron’s pursuit of Galadriel was more of an addition to lore than an outright change, but the show’s Sauron-Galadriel relationship was always a big shift from the books. Galadriel was a beacon of purity in the books and may never have entertained even a well-disguised Sauron, while Sauron hated Elves.

Tom Bombadil Training Wizards In The Rings Of Power

Tom Bombadil Was Less Involved In War In Lord Of The Rings

The Rings of Power positioned its Tom Bombadil in Rhûn, far from the Old Forest, but also had him training both the Dark Wizard and Gandalf, to a certain extent. Tom Bombadil was something of a pacifist in The Lord of the Rings, with Tolkien clarifying that Tom carried this symbolism in one of his letters. Therefore, having Tom get involved in the war against Sauron was a big swing.

Tom would not have gone to the Council of Elrond had he been invited, as Gandalf made clear in The Lord of the Rings. Despite this, Tom did rescue the Hobbits on multiple occasions, and he even armed them against the dangers to come. Therefore, Tom was a complex character, leaving room for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’s interpretation.