He may not seem like it right now, but Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) is probably the most important character in Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
The Elven ruler of Eregion makes a brief appearance at the end of The Rings of Power’s premiere, and only has a few scenes in the second episode. Nonetheless, the character’s plans for the future of Middle-earth are what lead Elrond (Robert Aramayo) to begin dealing with the dwarves of Khazad-dûm again, and J.R.R. Tolkien fans know that Celebrimbor’s role is only going to grow.
With that in mind, here’s what Rings of Power viewers should know about Charles Edwards’ legendary and ambitious Elven craftsman.
Celebrimbor’s life before The Rings of Power
Like Galadriel, Celebrimbor was born in the Undying Lands during the Years of the Trees. While little was written about Celebrimbor’s early life, it’s known that he followed many of his family members and his grandfather, Fëanor, out of Valinor in their vengeance-fueled journey to Middle-earth.
After arriving in Middle-earth, Celebrimbor followed in his grandfather’s footsteps and made a name for himself as a jewelsmith. He went on to survive many of the most devastating events of the First Age, and it’s said he fell in love with Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) in the Second Age.
It was during the Second Age that Celebrimbor also left the Elven kingdom of Lindon to build Eregion with some of his fellow elves. Following its construction, he became the Lord of Eregion and led the Gwaith-i-Mírdain, a guild of highly skilled Elven craftsmen.
All of this has presumably already happened by the time The Rings of Power begins, but there’s still plenty more that Celebrimbor has left to do.
Celebrimbor’s future in The Rings of Power
It’s worth noting that Episode 2 of The Rings of Power does a lot to set up Celebrimbor’s future actions. Elrond’s trip to Khazad-dûm, for instance, has opened the door for Celebrimbor’s relationship with that Dwarven kingdom to flourish and grow. He’s one of the few Elven rulers who was said to have a legitimately strong relationship with the Dwarves of Middle-earth.
Tolkien wrote that Celebrimbor even teamed up with a Dwarven craftsman named Narvi to create a location that should be very familiar to fans of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Given Celebrimbor’s fascination with the dwarves in Episode 2, it seems safe to assume the construction of said structure will likely occur before the Amazon series has wrapped up its first season.
Celebrimbor’s plan to build a new forge in Eregion will almost certainly end up tying into his biggest storyline in The Rings of Power as well. While we won’t spoil that for all the non-book readers out there, Episode 2 does a good job of laying the foundation for Celebrimbor’s future achievements... and mistakes.
The Inverse Analysis — While the first two episodes of The Rings of Power slightly undersell the importance of Celebrimbor’s role, he’s a character you should pay close attention to moving forward.
Fans will probably see a lot more of Celebrimbor from here on out, especially if one theory about The Rings of Power Season 2 is correct.
New episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power premiere Fridays on Prime Video.
