The Rings of Power Season 2: Grave Fiends explained – these creatures were actually supposed to appear in “The Lord of the Rings”

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER

07 September 2024 at 19:00

In “The Rings of Power” Season 2, Galadriel and Elrond are attacked by grave fiends. These mysterious ghost creatures have already appeared in the “Lord of the Rings” books! This is what you need to know about them.

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On their way to Eregion in episode 4 of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” season 2, Elrond, Galadriel and their group have a very unpleasant encounter. The Axa Bridge, which they actually wanted to take, was destroyed by Sauron. Now they have the choice of going north and taking two weeks longer to get to Eregion, or south over the hills of Tyrn Gorthad, which would be much shorter.

Galadriel’s Ring Nenya lashes out at the mention of Tyrn Gorthad. She has a premonition that evil awaits her in the hills. And she is proven right, because despite her warning, Elrond decides to take the shorter route to Eregion and they promptly run into big problems.

There they find the body of the envoy who had been sent to Eregion weeks ago to warn Celebrimbor about Sauron. The message never arrived because the elf was killed by the Barrow-wights lurking in Tyrn Gorthad. And now Galadriel, Elrond and Co. must face the chain-rattling ghosts.

What are grave fiends?

The Burial Wights are ghostly creatures that live in Tyrn Gorthad, also known as the Barrow Downs. Kings and lords were buried there in ancient times. Now their spirits lurk in the hills, attacking unwitting travelers while singing their eerie song.

Let your hands, heart and bones be cold,
Cold sleep under the stone:
Never get up from bed,
Before the sun and moon’s course ends,
The stars shatter in the black wind,
And fall down and lie here blind,
Until the dark ruler raises his hand
Over dead sea and parched land.

The Song of the Burial Wights from “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”

The grave wights are unassailable until Elrond discovers that they can only be destroyed with their own weapons, the same ones they were buried with. Sauron seems to be the reason that the wights have suddenly reawakened thousands of years after their burial.

The grave fiends have already appeared in “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”!

The whole scene with the grave fiends is a reference for fans of the books. The ghosts already appeared in “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”, but never made it into Peter Jackson’s film trilogy because the scenes with Tom Bombadil were cut from the film adaptation.

Originally, it was the hobbits around Frodo Baggins who encountered the grave fiends. They were surprised by a sudden fog while taking a nap in the Barrow Downs and were captured by the grave fiends.

Tom Bombadil is able to free them from the grave. He casts a spell on the ghosts of the barrow and they disappear. To prevent the ghosts from returning, Tom places the treasures from the grave on the grave so that any friendly creature can help themselves to them.

So “The Rings of Power” in season 2 not only finally manages to introduce Tom Bombadil (albeit only in Rhun), but also the grave fiends that never appeared in the films!

The next episode of the “Lord of the Rings” series will be available on Amazon Prime Video on September 12, 2024. The series makers will surely hide one or two Easter eggs from Middle Earth in episode 5!