From the first time the audience meets Halbrand in the Rings of Power, there is a mystery to his character. The only clue to his hidden identity is the talisman he wears around his neck, which Galadriel questions to be the sigil of the king of his people. With the release of the latest episode, a clear path has emerged for Halbrand’s character, and it is very similar to that of a beloved protagonist in the Lord of the Rings trilogy: Aragorn.
Both Halbrand and Aragorn have a calling. Their goal is to claim their birthright as great leaders of their people, fix the mistakes that were made by their ancestors in the past, and bring about peace in their long troubled lands. The question is, can Halbrand succeed in reuniting the peoples of Middle Earth like Aragorn does thousands of years later?
This will clearly be an important theme of the show, as the third episode leaves the audience with the possibility of Halbrand and Galadriel teaming up to face the evil that they know to be growing in the mortal world. After their unusual first meeting on the wreckage of a ship in the middle of a dark ocean, Galadriel seems suspicious of this man, especially as he so readily abandoned his fellow cast-aways to the terrible fate of the serpent in order to save himself. But after he jumps in to rescue her from drowning, he begins to earn both her trust and her respect. Galadriel clearly believes that he is capable of greater things than he himself realizes, but is he capable of being great enough to defy the darkest evil known to history?
Halbrand’s story is all too familiar to fans of Peter Jackson’s movie adaptations. In the original trilogy, Aragorn is shown to be running from his past and his duty as the heir to Gondor. He is ashamed of his relation to Isildur, and afraid of repeating the mistakes of his forefathers. Subsequently, his people are suffering as the lands remain kingless. While Aragorn grapples with his conflict, his people are ruled by lesser men, including Denethor, the paranoid ruler who sits on the throne at the time of the war of the ring.
This clearly mirrors some aspects of Halbrand’s situation in Rings of Power. Like Aragorn, his people are also being oppressed and mistreated. In his situation, it is at the hands of the elves who still treat them as traitors and enemies, despite their ancestors having sided with Morgoth centuries ago. When Galadriel finds Halbrand in the jails of Numenor, having already gotten himself into trouble, she tries to remind him of this. She tries to lead him towards his duty and encourage him to lead his people:
“Many years ago, a man wearing that mark united the scattered tribes of the Southlands under one banner. The very banner that might unite them today, against the evil that seeks to claim their lands. Your lands, Halbrand. Your people have no king, for you are him.”
But Halbrand is clearly running from the past, just like Aragorn was. When Galadriel addresses him, he responds:
“Be careful elf. The heir to this mark is heir to more than just nobility. For it was his ancestor that swore a blood oath to Morgoth. I am not the hero you seek. For it was my family that lost the war.”
There are many echoes within these words of the fears of not being a good leader that arise in Aragorn thousands of years later. Like Halbrand, Aragorn also believes he is not the hero that the people of Gondor are looking for, and that his lineage will let him down: “the blood of Isildur runs in my veins.” However, the simple fact that Halbrand fears this shows that his heart is in the right place, that he is not prideful or power-hungry. It gives those around him hope that he will indeed rise up to be the ruler that the world needs at the time, and give the call to arms that his scattered people need to stand against the common enemy of Sauron.
Already, in saving Galadriel, Halbrand has shown that he has compassion and bravery, two of the traits he will need to become a great leader. It bodes well for his journey in the rest of the series. On the other hand, he has also already made some less than admirable choices, like choosing to steal the mark of the blacksmith rather than earn it honestly — this is what landed him in jail in the first place. It remains to be seen whether he will actually be strong enough in heart, and have the courage and the good intentions, to be the salvation of his world. Hopefully, with Galadriel by his side to help shape him and steer him, Halberd will find the right path back to his destiny, just as Aragorn does so many years later.