The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power finally introduced the mysterious figure dressed all in white, that first appeared in trailers for the series ahead of its debut. Played by Bridie Sisson, and confirmed not to be the Dark Lord Sauron by executive producer Lindsey Weber, viewers are wondering exactly who this strange person might be, along with the others dressed similarly beside them. Here, we delve into their possible identities, and what their appearance in the Amazon Prime Video show may mean.
Were the Easterlings from Rhûn introduced in Rings of Power episode 5?
After revealing that Sisson’s character was not Sauron, Weber went on to say in her chat with Time that the character “is traveling from far to the east—from the lands of Rhûn…” In the Second and Third Age, Rhûn was home to Easterlings, who had been enemies of the Free Peoples since the First Age. Moving into the timeline when Rings of Power takes place, they have been used as a vassal of Sauron, so while this figure is not Sauron himself, they may just be working under his influence, helping him gain power across Middle-earth.
The only other inhabitants of Rhûn are Dwarves and the Avari, the latter of which are a branch of the Elven race. Considering the height and ear shape that these strange beings have, it would be fair to assume that they are indeed Easterlings. Exactly what their end goal is remains to be seen, but judging by their history of serving the Dark Lord, it seems that they have villainy and corruption in mind.
What do they want with the Stranger?
After witnessing the meteor-like arrival of the Stranger in Middle-earth, it could be that the Easterlings are attempting to find the person who fell from the sky. Now that they have made it to the imprint left in the ground by his crash landing, they could pick up the trail of the man, along with the Harfoots, leading to potentially a lot of danger for everybody involved. After seeing the powers and abilities the Stranger is capable of, however, any battle they have would be a stunning one to watch take place.
It may be that showrunners for Rings of Power have decided to gender-flip the character Khamûl, who was originally a king of the Easterlings. In Tolkien’s original works, he would be gifted one of the nine Rings of Power, becoming a powerful sorcerer before being corrupted, and falling into a life of being a wraith, serving Sauron. If that is who has been introduced here, then the Stranger and the Harfoots had better pick up their pace.
