With The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power raising the stakes in its second season, fans expected deaths.

The show had to finesse the story in a bleak way to fit into a somewhat approximation of the J. R. R. Tolkien novels — especially the Second Age of Middle-earth. The Season 2 finale does bring bloodshed. Some deaths are surprising, but others were expected. With that in mind, here is how the story ends for a few key heroes and villains.

Rings of Power Season 2 Kills King Durin III

The Balrog Slices and Burns King Durin

The opening act of the finale finds King Durin III trying to crack the Mines of Moria to attain more mithril. His son, Durin IV (aka Prince Durin), confronts him. He hates that his father has been corrupted by the rings that Sauron sent the Dwarves. The king wears one, but it’s clear the other six have had an adverse effect on Durin III’s mental well-being. He ends up finding a cave where he shows his son a mithril stockade. However, the prince can’t justify this.

If they dig more for the ore, they’ll destabilize the place. He doesn’t want his father to give into greed anymore. Unfortunately, things take an even darker turn when the LOTR Balrog appears. It uses its flaming blade and whip, while the king finally gains clarity on protecting that which matters most: his heir. The monster kills the king as he leaps out with his ax. The shockwave causes an earthquake, and these rumblings seal the cave shut.

Rings of Power Season 2 Details

Rotten Tomatoes Score
Metacritic Score
IMDB Scores

85%
67
6.9/10

Prince Durin is left brokenhearted. He’s glad the danger is at bay, but he can sense it’s temporary. He knows the Balrog — a former enforcer of Morgoth — hiding down there isn’t a good thing. The prince is also left wondering about his purpose and duty. He can ascend the throne and try to right his father’s legacy. He is told by his wife, Disa, that other Dwarven lords expect rings and riches that the king promised them for their loyalty.

These lords may make a move for the crown. Plus, Narvi — the king’s trusted war commander — admits Durin has a brother who wants to lay claim. It gives the series another succession drama, as this season had a Númenor Game of Thrones play out. Prince Durin has the citizens here in Khazad-dûm to protect as well, which has fans wondering if he’ll don his father’s ring to do so.

Rings of Power Season 2 Murders Celebrimbor

Sauron Stabs Celebrimbor To Death

The season finale also brings closure to the Siege of Eregion. The fight there has Annatar — Sauron who’s in disguise — revealing his true intentions as he tortures the forger. He wants Celebrimbor to tell him where the Nine Rings meant for Men are. He doesn’t know Celebrimbor gave them to Galadriel for safe-keeping. Celebrimbor plays a dangerous game, but he holds steady. Sauron can’t breach his mind.

Celebrimbor is buying time as well, hoping the Elves outside the Forge defeat the Uruk-hai and flee with all the rings. He decides to gloat and prod at Sauron’s ego. He makes it clear Sauron will be a slave to the rings, especially the One Ring that the villain wants to make. Celebrimbor knows this from experience. He became obsessed with perfecting his craft, all to live up to the dynasty his grandfather, Fëanor, made in shaping relics.

Celebrimbor throws the ultimate insult, as he was deemed “the lord of the rings” by Annatar. He gives the title back, essentially calling Sauron a child who will have no identity and personality again. Tolkien fans, as well as those who saw the Lord of the Rings movies, know this is exactly what Sauron will become — a faceless wraith clad in black.

This frustration pushes Sauron to impale Celebrimbor with a staff and hold him up. It’s different from the books where Celebrimbor made the rings and Sauron invaded. There, Celebrimbor’s corpse was paraded around in celebration. In this series, however, Sauron doesn’t feel victorious at all as he stares at the dead forger. He’s left with Fëanor’s hammer and the drive to now mold his One Ring.

Rings of Power Season 2 Kills Off Adar

Glûg & The Orcs Stab Up Their ‘Father’

Adar was a character created for the show, just to give Sauron some conflict. He was the warped Elf who took the orcs and Morgoth’s movement from Sauron. They didn’t like how Sauron viewed the Uruk as slaves. They attempted to kill him, and have been doing so again in the current timeline, hence the reason they want to raid the Forge and murder Sauron for good. The problem is, Adar loses himself along the way and sacrifices orcs in the field of battle. This wasn’t how he should have treated his children.

Adar comes off as a hypocrite, which is why one of his lieutenants, Glûg, becomes disenchanted. Glûg meets Sauron and realizes maybe it’s better to hedge bets on this leader again. Glûg pretends to be wounded and is sent back to Adar. There, he stabs Adar as the leader presides over his damaged body. Glûg gets the other orcs to join in, nodding to how they stabbed Sauron centuries prior. Adar is left speechless over the betrayal. Glûg, in particular, is relentless as he placed so much trust in his father.

Sadly, this civil war ends with Adar’s death. It’s a shame, as Adar wanted to broker peace. He gave Galadriel her ring (Nenya) and hoped to use Morgoth’s crown to kill Sauron. The plan was to let bygones be bygones, and have the Uruk, Men, Dwarves and Elves co-exist. Glûg, however, changes that drastically with his sedition that a crushed Galadriel and a vain Sauron witness.

Rings of Power Season 2 Guts Glûg

Sauron Stabs Glûg in Annoyance

Glûg started off the show as a minor character, but plays a big role with Adar, as this gives Sauron the Uruk again. Shockingly, Sauron grows frustrated in the Rings of Power Season 2 ending after Galadriel refuses to take Nenya and join him. It builds on his offer from Season 1 to be his queen. Galadriel jumps off a cliff, making it clear she’d rather die than be part of Sauron’s vision of “healing” Middle-earth.

When Glûg approaches an exasperated Sauron, the dark lord stabs him dead in front of the other orcs, who retreat in panic. It confirms what Adar has always said: they would be pawns to Sauron. It has fans curious how Sauron will get them back under his thumb. They’re rudderless, desperate and need a father, so that can play in his favor.

There are orc babies and wives, too. This humanizes them, which means they could use Sauron for salvation and refuge, or Sauron may well use fear to corral them. In that sense, Glûg becomes even more important as a symbol of how disobedience and annoyance will be handled. Ultimately, had Glûg remained alive and loyal, there was a chance Galadriel and Adar might have stopped the rise of Sauron before the LOTR’s Third Age. It shows that the series does indeed have long-lasting consequences.