The Lord of the Rings: Isildur – how Amazon turns a fool into a hero!

• In Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” films, Isildur is a little impetuous, but that’s about to change.
• From the king who failed to destroy the One Ring, Isildur is set to become a tragic hero in Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings series.
• Actor Maxim Baldry plays the role in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

On September 2, 2022, “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” will start streaming on Amazon Prime Video. The series takes place thousands of years before Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. However, some characters from the films will also appear in Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings series, including Isildur.

In The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Isildur appears in the prologue at the beginning of the film. The role is played by Harry Sinclair and comes across as pretty simple-minded. The King of Gondor is presented with an opportunity to destroy the One Ring once and for all, but backs away and keeps the golden jewel for himself.

Elrond comments this to Gandalf with the failure of human strength. Isildur is anything but a failure, as Tolkien describes in his books. This is exactly what should now be corrected in “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”.

Maxim Baldry plays a young Isildur who lives on the island of Númenor with his father Elendil and brother Anárion. But when Sauron comes to the island as a prisoner and seduces the king to commit crimes, the Númenóreans travel against Valinor, the land of the gods so to speak.

Enraged by the treachery of the humans, the Valar of Valinor send tidal waves and flood the island. The trio, Isildur, Elendil and Anárion flee and lead the survivors to Middle-earth. There Isildur, Elendil and Anárion establish the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor and ensure the survival of the Númenóreans.

In the further course, Isildur takes on an important role in the fight against Sauron by leading the last alliance of men and elves against the Dark Lord as an outstanding war strategist and being victorious. All his good deeds end up being balanced against his failure not to destroy the ring.

A fallen hero, a tragic character. Isildur is reminiscent of Boromir (Sean Bean), who was also one of the most heroic and virtuous characters, but could not resist the power of the ring.

Showrunner Patrick McKay previously told Vanity Fair magazine that they “want to expand Isildur’s story further than the original material so viewers see the ending as tragedy and not folly.”

So let’s hope we see Jackson’s film series and portrayal of Isildur differently after the Amazon series. We still have to wait until September 2022, when season 1 of the “Lord of the Rings” series will appear in the Amazon Prime Video news program.