The Small Detail In The Rings Of Power That May Have Huge Implications For Gil-Galad And Adar
The story thus far in "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" has taken viewers to every corner of the map. From Valinor far in the West to Harfoot travels in the East, to the frozen Forodwaith in the north and the Southlands in — well, the south — the story has jumped from one point on the map to the next — as Tolkien would say, quicker than Tom Bombadil could change his jacket.
In episode 6, we saw several storylines converge in the Southlands, where a small-scale war quickly turned into mass destruction on an epic scale. While the event saw several characters cross paths for the first time, apart from Galadriel the Elves and Dwarves in the north generally weren't involved. Celebrimbor, Elrond, Durin IV, and Gil-galad all remained off-site and none of them seemed to be particularly connected to the unfolding events, anyway — until now.
An observation made by a savvy Reddit user has drawn an interesting connection between none other than the Orcish leader Adar and the Elven High-king Gil-galad. After Adar was introduced in episode 4 of "The Rings of Power," Reddit user u/verymatisse popped onto the r/LOTR_on_Prime forum to point out that Gil-galad and Adar have the same flowing emblem etched onto or sewn into their clothing.
Gil-galad and Adar have the same apparel
Upon closer investigation, both Gil-galad and Adar sport the same image on their neck plates. The question is, what connects these two Elves who hail from completely different backgrounds and stories? Gil-galad's tale is fairly straightforward — at least in the Second Age. After a hazy early life in the First Age, he starts the Second Age as the High-king of the Noldor Elves, ruling the disjointed remnant of his people in Middle-earth from his realm in Lindon in the northwest of the continent.
In comparison, Adar (who is made up for the show) led his Orcs north with Sauron early in the Second Age, only for the twisted Elf to apparently murder the Dark Lord (don't hold your breath on that one) and then lead his Orcs on an epic march — practically from the top to the bottom of the Middle-earth map.
In both cases, we get very little information about their origin stories before the Second Age starts. However, Adar does reveal to Arondir that he's familiar with his homeland of Beleriand and he even mentions a river there that he traversed once upon a time. This is likely a reference to the River Sirion, a place that played an integral role in Gil-galad's younger life.
This connection led many in the Reddit feed to speculate about Adar's origin. Some thought the connection means he could be the Elves Maglor or Maeglin, both of whom play antagonistic roles in the First Age. Whether his identity is that specific or not, though, there's no doubt that Adar isn't just some random Elf. He has connections to the same past as Gil-galad, connections that just might impact "The Rings of Power" story in the future if the villain sticks around.