The Rings of Power: What happens to Ar-Pharazôn in the books?

In the latest episode of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, "Halls of Stone," Ar-Pharazôn is getting used to his new role as the king of Númenor, an island nation of long-lived human beings. (You have to qualify that they're humans on a show where there are elves and dwarves and hobbits running around.)

Pharazôn has a new vision for Númenor. He doesn't much like the Faithful, those Númenoreans who still follow the ways of the elves and the Valar, the gods of this world. He thinks it's time for Númenor to forge its own destiny, which is inspiring or worrying depending on how you look at it. Is Pharazôn going to take Númenor to new heights of splendor, or is he setting himself up for a big fall?

Happily, we know the answer, since the major events of Pharazôn's life are recorded in both the appendices to J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and in his book The Silmarillion. If you're okay with SPOILERS, we can talk about it below.

Here's what will happen to Pharazôn on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

We can't be sure that The Rings of Power will stick precisely to the source material, but I think we can assume it can adapt the broad strokes.

In Tolkien's books, after Pharazôn becomes king of Númenor, he marries Míriel, who is his main political rival in the show. I don't know how the series would handle that. I certainly can't see the two of them falling earnestly in love. Maybe Pharazôn forces the marriage through in order to consolidate his political power, since there are still a lot of Númenoreans who think she should be queen, rather than Pharazôn king. Or maybe Míriel agrees because she thinks it'll be a way for her to keep her hand on the steering wheel. Honestly, I could see the show cutting this element altogether. We'll have a better idea by the end of the season.

A major event I don't foresee them cutting is when the might of Númenor travels to Middle-earth and takes Sauron prisoner. Yes, Númenor helps defeat Sauron, which should be fun to see. But it backfires on them. Sauron is taken back to Númenor where he is held, but Sauron is a cunning manipulator and ends up praying on Pharazôn's pride and ambition, convincing the king that the elves are withholding immortality from him. Sauron actually convinces Pharazôn to take Númenor's great navy and sail to Valinor, the sacred land of the elves where dwell the Valar, which the Númenoreans had been explicitly banned from doing.

But the second the Númenoreans set foot on Valinor, Eru Ilúvatar — who is essentially god in this world — intervenes. He removes Valinor from the physical world, making the Earth round; thereafter, the only people capable of reaching Valinor are elves, many of whom do indeed sail west in search of their forever homeland. Eru also makes it so Númenor is flooded and sinks beneath the ocean, which is what Míriel sees when she peers into the Palantír in the first season of the show.

So yeah, Pharazôn's fate is to go mad with power, be corrupted by Sauron, sail against the gods and then drown and die, taking his entire kingdom with him. Oopsies. But that probably won't happen for a few seasons. The Rings of Power has a five-season plan, and Númenor getting destroyed sounds like something that won't happen until near the end.

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