What Is The City On Top Of Elrond's Golden Rod In Amazon's Rings Of Power? - Exclusive
There are few characters as integral to J.R.R. Tolkien's stories as Elrond. The half-Elven character is a crossing of ways. He symbolizes the coming together of the races of Middle-earth and is directly related to Elves, Men, and the angelic race of the Maiar. He has multiple heroes in his family tree, including iconic Tolkienian characters like Beren, Lúthien, and even Aragorn.
In addition, Elrond's life spans multiple ages of Middle-earth history. He's born at the end of the First Age and is a mover and shaker during the events of the Second Age. He also serves as a wise Elven counselor (and occasional badass) throughout the lengthy Third Age before he leaves Middle-earth for the Blessed Realm after the "Lord of the Rings" story.
There's no doubt that Elrond has a complex and important part to play throughout Tolkien's writings. When Prime Video's "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" story starts, though, most of that lifespan is still ahead of him. Elrond is young (for an immortal Elf) and still learning. He also is sorting through a lot of his past. It's a subject that Elrond actor Robert Aramayo touched on when we interviewed him about his character back in August.
Elrond is still in a moment of 'Who am I?'
According to Robert Aramayo, when the show begins, Elrond is still young and wrestling with his past. "Right now, he's definitely in a moment of 'Who am I?' He's closer to being an orphan than he is to being a Lord, but he's trying so hard to be the Herald of Gil-galad. He still believes the things that he's been taught about the Elven way and all that stuff."
The actor continued on this issue of figuring out his identity as a half-Elven individual with a dash of god-like Maiar thrown into the family tree. "Right now, he's still unresolved, with his dad, and his mom, and his past, and his brother." At another point in the interview, he also touched on the struggle of being "counted amongst the immortals" and having Elvish blood but also relating to mortal Men.
The fascinating subject of Elrond's inner identity led to an interesting question about one of his possessions during the show.
Elrond possesses items significant to his past
Early in 2022, one of the first major marketing pushes by Prime Video took place when the studio released a series of character posters. These were bust shots without heads, but eventually, one of them was officially linked to Elrond. The picture shows the character holding a golden rod — presumably connected to his role as the Herald of his king, Gil-galad. However, the accoutrement is capped with a distinct carving of a city.
When we asked Robert Aramayo about the importance of the statue, along with the ring that he's wearing (which isn't his Elven Ring yet — he gets that later), the actor simply responded, "They are significant to him, to his past, to his character. That city is very important to his past." This begs the question, what city could it be? Since Rivendell hasn't been founded yet, the most likely candidate is the famous Elvish city of Gondolin, where his grandparents, Tuor and Idril, were members of the royal family. If that's the case, it would be a tragic reminder, since the glorious citadel is destroyed toward the end of the First Age.
The first two episodes of "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" are now available on Prime Video. Look for the following six episodes of Season 1 to drop weekly.