The Silmarillion, Tom Bombadil and Sauron's backstory: The Rings of Power season 2 will reportedly be insane
By Daniel Roman
Tom Bombadil you have to stop. Your jacket too blue, your boots too yellow, your wife too bad, and your lyrics too whimsical. They’ll kill you Tom Bombadil. pic.twitter.com/AZbSBMXMUV
— House ⚔️ gf haver (@mrmatthouse) January 18, 2024
Rumor: Tom Bombadil will appear in The Rings of Power season 2...as Morgoth?!
Okay, so here's where things get really weird. You remember Tom Bombadil, the forest spirit man who Frodo and Sam encounter on their way out of the Shire in The Fellowship of the Ring? Of course you do. Tom Bombadil is a strange, somewhat ridiculous part of The Lord of the Rings books; when Peter Jackson made his movies, he left out poor Tom, and we've never had a chance to see him in Middle-earth movies or shows since.
Seeing as how he's an immortal woodland spirit guy, Tom Bombadil is presumably around somewhere during the events of The Rings of Power. According to the leak, there will be an entire episode of The Rings of Power season 2 which will feature his romance with the River-Daughter, Goldberry:
"Tom Bombadil and Goldberry are in an episode. They are played by the same actor and actress as Melkor/Morgoth and Ungoliant. The show will confirm the long-held fan theory that Tom and Goldberry are Melkor and Ungoliant serving out their punishment bestowed on them by Mandos."
A lot to unpack here. First, I don't know what fan theory is being referred to here and neither does TOR. This is literally the first time I've ever heard anyone suggest that Tom Bombadil is in fact the Dark Lord Morgoth, Sauron's predecessor and the one who started all the evil drama on Middle-earth in the first place. The idea that Tom Bombadil and Goldberry are actually Morgoth and Ungoliant — that's the giant spider that was an ally of Morgoth during the First Age and the mother of Shelob, the spider which attacks Frodo and Sam on their way to Mordor — is so unhinged that I want to dismiss it outright. If there's anything that I hope doesn't pan out from this report in particular, it's this.
That's not to say I wouldn't enjoy hanging out with Tom Bombadil in The Rings of Power; the guy knows how to have a good time and it'd probably be fun. But mixing lore for major characters like Morgoth and Ungoliant with Tom Bombadil and Goldberry would certainly be a Choice.
Let's wrap things up with a few smaller bombshells for season 2:
