This article was originally published on SFFGazette.com - be sure to keep checking that site for the latest on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power!
The third episode of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power dropped on Prime Video yesterday, and even though this story takes place thousands of years before the movie trilogy, another link to those stories has now been spotted. This is a pretty big one, and chances are it will be pivotal to the journey these characters go on in the coming years.
After Galadriel and Halbrand are brought to Númenor by Elendil, they learn that they're to remain there while their request for passage back to Middle-earth is considered.
The Queen Regent Míriel then tasks Elendil with keeping an eye on Galadriel, and to help him with that, she presents him with a familiar sword in what proves to be a real blink and you'd miss it moment. That blade is Narsil, and it has a storied history in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings series.
During the Last Alliance of Men and Elves, which played out at the start of Peter Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring, the sword is still wielded by Elendil when he charges into battle against Sauron. Unfortunately, he was quickly killed and the weapon was broken in two. However, it was at this point his son, Isildur, picked it up and managed to cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand.
With that, the battle ended, and Isildur took the pieces of his father's sword and passed them down to his heirs. Thousands of years later, Narsil was reforged into a new weapon during the Third Age when the War of the Ring commenced. Renamed Andúril (or the "Flame of the West" and the "Sword that was Broke"), it was then Aragorn who then wielded it in battle.
He'd go on to carry it during his time reigning as King of Gondor, so yes, Narsil is incredibly important to The Lord of the Rings mythos. How much it will factor into this series remains to be seen, of course, though we'd be shocked if its eventual importance isn't referenced in some way here.
What did you think about the latest episode of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power?