“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” is a fantastic adaptation of Tolkien’s Legendarium, one that expands on what’s on the page, capturing the brutality of war in the way that Tolkien portrayed it, and also incorporating the specific brand of silliness and whimsy that Tolkien infused into his world. (Season 2 doubles down on this by finally bringing Tom Bombadill to the screen.)

One big problem the series can’t really shake is that it simply has too many characters and storylines. There is the story of Celebrimbor and Annatar working on the rings, Durin IV dealing with the corruption of the dwarves’ rings, Galadriel trying to find Sauron, the political maneuvering in Númenor, Arondir and Isildur dealing with orcs and Entwives, and even The Stranger and the Harfoots on Rhûn.

That last subplot can often feel disconnected from the rest of the show, starting with the fact that it isn’t explicitly based on anything Tolkien wrote. Given it is not about rings or Sauron at all (at least not yet), at times it can feel like the show just needed Hobbit-esque characters because they are associated with “The Lord of the Rings.” Granted, there’s nothing wrong with this, and every time the Harfoots pop up on screen, it lights up with joy; the walking song sequence from season 1 remains one of the best scenes in the whole show.

At least, that’s how it was until this season, when it became clear that the Harfoots’ story has a clear endgame, one that ties to arguably the most important location in “The Lord of the Rings.”

The Harfoots are searching for their forever home
Prime Video
In episode 4 this season, Harfoots Nori and Dori are separated from The Stranger and reach a settlement where they meet the Stoors, a different breed of halfling. Turns out, the Harfoots themselves originate from a stoor who left his home in search of a better place for his people to live than the cruel deserts of Rhûn — an almost prophesied promised land where halflings can live in peace, in holes in the ground. Unfortunately, that stoor apparently never found that location, and the Harfoots have been nomads ever since, traveling alongside the Anduin river and losing people with every migration.

It is clear through that episode’s imagery, and then again in episode 6 when Nori tells Gundabel that the stoors should leave Rhûn and find a new home (as Bear McCreary’s score evokes Howard Shore’s Hobbits theme), that this story is going to end with the Harfoots founding The Shire.

The books don’t really include specifics about the origins of the Hobbits (as opposed to the detailed origins of Elves, Dwarves, and Men), but we do know that halflings lived around the Anduin River in the Second Age, east of the Misty Mountains and around the area between Rohan and Mordor (which is why Hobbit-speech has similarities with Rohirric). Eventually, the halflings cross the Misty Mountains, presumably escaping from Sauron’s growing power in the nearby forest later known as Mirkwood. In the books, it isn’t until the Third Age that the land that becomes The Shire is granted to the Hobbits by the king of Arthedain.

Having the Harfoots’ story tie into the founding of The Shire is the perfect way of making this storyline feel significant to the larger history of Middle-earth, and also connecting it to “Lord of the Rings.” That’s because that story, especially as adapted in the Peter Jackson movies, makes it clear that The Shire is the very raison d’etre for Frodo and Sam embarking on their quest.

The Stranger’s role in the Harfoots’ story
Prime Video
For Tolkien, The Shire was a hugely important location, one inspired by memories of his childhood in rural England, a place that represents the countryside and small towns that were untouched by world wars — the places soldiers went off to war to protect. Throughout Jackson’s trilogy we hear that the hobbits are embarking on this probably suicidal mission in order to protect The Shire and keep it unspoiled by Sauron’s darkness. And yet, it is also a location that ends up being ravaged by war during The Scouring of the Shire, as Tolkien argued that war changes everyone involved, no matter how far away they are from the frontlines.

Given how much “The Rings of Power” has included things from the books that were deleted by Peter Jackson’s trilogy, it is very possible that we might see a proto-Shire be attacked, and the Harfoots forced to realize that their quiet little lives away from the big folk problems can’t remain hidden and perfectly safe forever.

As for what this storyline means for the future of the show, it seems very likely that we will end the series with the Harfoots founding The Shire, bringing all three Hobbit clans together. What still remains to be seen is if The Stranger actually is Gandalf – and if he is, what better way of establishing his relationship with hobbits than having him literally lead the Harfoots to their permanent home?