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After much anticipation, Prime Video's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has arrived. The series features a globetrotting adventure set in Arda's Second Age, thousands of years before the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. As promised in its early marketing, The Rings of Power spotlights various characters and locations, including "the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains" and "the majestic forests of the Elf-capital of Lindon." However, perhaps the most important of these fantastical locations is the island kingdom of Númenor.

Númenor is not mentioned in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, and for a good reason. The island's dramatic rise and fall condemned the once-thriving kingdom to a fate similar to the fictional lost city of Atlantis. Nonetheless, Númenor played an essential role during the Second Age. And without it, some of the great kingdoms of Men would not exist.

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The Rise and Fall of Númenor

An image of the city, Numenor, from Rings of Power

Located on an island in the Great Sea, Númenor was brought up out of the water by the Valar as a gift to Men. Númenor rose to greatness under its first king, Elros son of Eärendil. Thanks to Elros, Men became a powerful race with increased lifespans. Soon, the first ships sailed from the island to Middle-earth, despite being forbidden by the Valar to travel westward.

As the Dark Lord Sauron forged the One Ring, a struggle ensued between the Elves and Sauron. Númenor also took up forces against the Dark Lord and aided the Elves. Despite this, the Númenóreans later rebelled against the Valar's authority, hoping to obtain the everlasting life they believed they deserved. As a result, they moved eastward, colonizing sections of Middle-earth along the way. The Númenóreans' peaceful takeovers soon turned tyrannical, which ultimately resulted in their downfall, although a small portion of the population -- known as the Faithful -- remained loyal to the Valar and allies with the Elves.

With Sauron returning, it wasn't long before the final King of Númenor, Ar-Pharazôn, was corrupted by the Dark Lord, who promised the Númenóreans eternal life if they worshiped Morgoth. With his poisoned mind, Ar-Pharazôn erected a temple for Morgoth, where he offered human sacrifices. Ar-Pharazôn marched against the Valar in an attempt to seize the Undying Lands. The king was eventually trapped by the supreme deity of Arda and the single creator above the Valar, Ilúvatar, who changed the world's shape from flat to round and ultimately sunk the island of Númenor, killing all of its people. This also included the body of Sauron, which prevented the Dark Lord from shape-shifting into this body or other charming forms again.

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Númenor's Connection to The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Lord of the Rings - The White Tree of Gondor

Before the fall of Númenor, Elendil, son of the leader of the Faithful during Ar-Pharazôn's tyrannical reign, was warned of the disaster said to strike the island. Elendil and his followers set sail before Númenor sunk and took refuge on Middle-earth. There, they founded the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor. Elendil, of course, was also the father of Isildur, the man responsible for cutting the One Ring from Sauron's finger during the War of the Last Alliance. Isildur's refusal to destroy the Ring allowed Sauron's spirit to persist, kickstarting the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

As such, the White Tree of Gondor also stems back to Númenor. During Ar-Pharazôn's alliance with Sauron, the White Tree of Númenor was said to be tied to the kings' line and was subsequently cut down and burned. Isildur, also a distant relative of Aragorn, rescued a fruit from the tree, which he later planted in Gondor. J.R.R. Tolkien also stated that three of the Nazgûl were Númenóreans, which Sauron easily corrupted by targeting their desire for knowledge and power.

Thus, while The Rings of Power's introduction of Númenor is exciting for fans, it's also a reminder of the tragedy to come. Númenor's drastic decline is a cautionary tale that Tolkien used to exemplify Sauron's power and Men's struggle with temptation. The kingdom's descent into the sea is certainly sad, but without it, Sauron's treachery may have grown and some of Men's greatest kingdoms would never have existed.

To see what befalls Númenor, The Rings of Power streams Fridays on Prime Video.