Diksha Sundriyal
Prime Video’s ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ takes the familiar story back by thousands of years, set in the Second Age when Sauron is still gathering his full strength and the rings have not been forged yet. For what is considered a time of peace by the elves, there is enough turmoil to go around in the Middle-Earth where orcs have started to rise again, and mysterious things are surfacing across the lands, sometimes in the form of strange men whose true origins are not yet known, and sometimes in the quiet whispers that some characters hear from distant lands.
The third episode of the first season introduces the audience to Isildur, whose fate in ‘The Lord of the Rings’ movies reminds the audience just how important a character he is to be in the impending fight against Sauron. He is still a young man with much to learn about the ways of the world, and a lot to survive before he and his family set up the kingdom of Gondor and Arnor. What’s curious about his introduction is that his name is revealed to the audience through strange whispering from an unknown source. The same thing repeats in the following episode, which makes us wonder what the whispering means for Isildur and who’s it from. Here’s what you need to know about it. SPOILERS AHEAD
Who is Whispering to Isildur?
Considering that a lot of things about ‘The Rings of Power’ are still being kept a secret from the audience, there is no concrete answer to the identity of the one who secretly whispers to Isildur. There are, however, a few theories that we can entertain while the story unfolds over the course of the following episodes and the secret is finally revealed to us.
Isildur hears his name being whispered when he is at sea, but the source seems to be the land at a distance. A striking thing about this place is the mountain in it and even though it hasn’t been identified in the show yet, it could be the Meneltarma, which translates to something along the lines of the Pillar of the Heavens. It is a sacred place in LOTR mythology, which relates to figures like Eru Ilúvatar and the Valar, the god equivalents in the world of ‘The Rings of Power’.
It is known that Numenor is eventually headed towards its downfall, and there have been several signs to prove that. Most notable is the vision of Queen Regent Miriel, which she later shares with Galadriel. The big flood is coming, and the island kingdom of Numenor is going to be destroyed. Still, it seems like the Valar, who gifted this land to the Numenoreans, are trying to warn them. We see the warning in the form of the falling leaves of the White Tree, which Miriel takes as a sign to accompany Galadriel to the Middle-Earth and fight against the rising powers of Sauron. It could be that apart from Miriel, the Valar are trying to warn other people who will later become important in the battle against Sauron, Isildur being one of them.
The link of the whispers to the Valar is also strengthened by the fact that they seem to bolster Isildur’s wishes to travel west. While the show keeps beating around the bush about it, it seems like Isildur’s brother, Anarion, has already gone west and aligned with the Faithful, the men who are still loyal to the Valar and the elves, as opposed to the Numenoreans who have banished the elves from their lands. The westernmost shores also lead to the Undying Lands, aka Valinor, home of the Valar, which is where Galadriel was initially headed.
Seeing how the Valar repeatedly factor into the story of Numenor, it seems rather likely that one of them is calling out to Isildur. However, there is another possibility as to who it could be. The introduction of Isildur and his family reveals that his mother has recently died. Her identity has not been clearly mentioned in the books, which means that the series has a scope to expand her role to the point where she could be whispering from beyond the grave to her son. It is, after all, the voice of a woman that Isildur hears, and considering how he and his family are still grieving her loss, it is a possibility that she could have a message for them. Or, it could simply be a Valar trying to communicate with Isildur in a familiar voice, the one that he can trust.
Read More: Does Isildur Become a Nazgul in Rings of Power? Explained
