Warning: spoilers ahead for The Rings of Power episode 7.We knew Tar-Palantir’s prophecy was ominous, but The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power surpasses all expectations when the full meaning of his prediction comes to light. Before Queen Regent Míriel departed for Middle-earth in Amazon’s The Rings of Power, she informed her father of this quest, expecting him to be delighted about the islanders rebuilding bridges with Elves. Instead, Tar-Palantir warned, “Don’t go to Middle-earth. All that awaits you there is… darkness.” Initially, this seemed to foreshadow a bad outcome – perhaps Númenor’s loss, or even the Queen Regent herself dying on the battlefield.
In hindsight, Tar-Palantir’s prophecy was frighteningly literal. The King’s warning referred directly to “you” as in Míriel herself, not the Númenórean forces as a whole. The Rings of Power episode 7 then shows Míriel attempting to rescue Southlanders from a burning building after Mount Doom’s eruption. Though she succeeds, her eyes are hit with red-hot embers from the falling roof, and the Queen Regent later reveals to Elendil that she can no longer see. When Tar-Palantir warned her about darkness, therefore, he really did mean darkness, as Míriel’s sight has been stolen away by a gray veil. Just like her father foretold, darkness awaited Míriel in Middle-earth.
Tar-Palantir’s Prediction Has A Double Meaning In Rings Of Power
The Rings of Power episode 7 leaves little doubt that Tar-Palantir’s prediction was referring predominantly to his daughter being blinded in Middle-earth, but the warning carries a secondary meaning also. Adar’s chief motivation in activating Mount Doom was blanketing the sky in smoke and ash, thereby giving his Orc children a place to live away from the sunlight that sears their skin. Thanks to Waldreg, he succeeded, and the soon-to-be-renamed Southlands is now covered in a permanent blackness. Tar-Palantir’s “all that awaits you there is darkness” line could be interpreted as an allusion to how Adar blots out the sun. Perhaps if her old man wasn’t so vague all the time, Míriel would’ve known exactly what her enemy was plotting.
How Does Tar-Palantir Know The Future?
Númenor’s Tar-Palantir clearly has a good grasp of divination, but how is he able to predict the future in The Rings of Power? The answer varies slightly between the Amazon TV series and J.R.R. Tolkien’s books. The Rings of Power‘s King of Númenor possesses a palantír seeing stone, allowing him and others to glimpse potential futures. In the source-material, Tar-Palantir is described as “far-sighted both in eye and in mind, and even those that hated him feared his words as those of a true-seer.” Tolkien leaves the nature of Tar-Palantir’s gift slightly ambiguous. His foresight could be interpreted as a mixture of great wisdom, awareness and intelligence.
Other clues in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings mythology suggest various Númenóreans and their descendants in Middle-earth possessed a magical power for seeing events to come. Aragorn’s mother, Gilraen, for instance, is described as inheriting “in a measure the foresight of her people.” Such passages imply that foresight among Men was a rare – albeit very real – trait that appeared to varying degrees in a lucky few. Regardless of whether foresight is borne of wisdom or magic in The Lord of the Rings, there’s no doubt Tar-Palantir was among the most renowned for this skill, as his royal name even translates to “far-sighted.” It’s also possible Tolkien’s Tar-Palantir would’ve also used a palantír seeing stone, since several were on Númenor during his reign. That could mean The Rings of Power‘s Tar-Palantir possesses powers beyond just his crystal ball…
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The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power continues Thursday/Friday on Prime Video.