The closing of the Rings of Power series brought about the end of many journeys, and the start of many new ones, including the Stranger and Nori’s journey to the Eastern land of Rhun. The resolution of the final episode came when Nori the harfoot made the brave decision to leave the safety of her family and their colony behind her. Now, she's going with the Stranger (who is now known to be Gandalf) to help him with the next dangerous part of his mission.

The two heroes have nothing but the constellation to guide them, and the few snippets of information that they got from the three sorcerers when they mistakenly believed the stranger was Sauron. They have no idea why they must head to this desolate land, or why their path lies in that direction. So what awaits them in Rhun?

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Very little is actually written about or discussed in great depth within Tolkien’s original lore about the landscape far to the east. This is intriguing, because there is very little source material to justify why the Stranger and Nori would be heading there. However, it also presents an exciting opportunity for the writers of Rings of Power Season 2 to start filling in the gaps, and building upon what already exists. As a part of this shaping of new concepts, sets, and events for Middle Earth, will the writers stick with Peter Jackson’s vision for Rhun? Will they depict it as he did, as a sandy desert full of jagged land formations and vast dunes of hopeless, empty space? Or will they take the landscape in a different direction to make it more habitable for the people who are known to have dwelled there, who later took Sauron’s side during the War of the Ring?

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Little is known about Rhun itself, what the land looks like, or what the important events of its establishment were. However, several important groups of people have passed through the lands at some point or another during the First and Second Ages of the world. Most notable are the elves, the very earliest Children of Illuvatar, who first woke up in a Cuivienen. These were Eru’s first creations of Middle Earth, after the Ainar who he kept in Valinor with him. They split into several factions across the First Age: those who went back to Valinor, those who chose to travel across the lands of Rhun to Middle Earth where they eventually settled, and those who were misled by Morgoth and corrupted into the Moriondor.

There have also been recordings of dwarves in Rhun across several of Tolkien’s tales. It is thought to be the place where the seven kings of Dwarves first woke too, after they were created by Aule and tucked away until the world was ready for them. There were at least four dwarven kingdoms in Rhun during the Second Age, who are thought to have had dealings with the dwarves of the Iron Hills, and with Thorin’s ancestors in the Lonely Mountains.

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By the time the Third Age of Middle Earth came about, there were no elves or dwarves left in Rhun. The only ones there were a band of people known as the Easterlings, who sided with Sauron during the War of the Ring and battled fiercely as enemies of Gondor and Rohan. But how does this relate to Nori and the Stranger's journey to this eastern place?

The peoples of the east and the south were thought to be the key to Sauron’s army, because their numbers could tip the balance in the dark lord’s favor. So when Sauron escaped to Rhun to regain his strength after the Battle of the Last Alliance, the two blue wizards also went across the eastern lands, to try to prevent the people there from siding with him. It is a place of much magic and sorcery. It was in Rhun that the blue wizards practiced the arts of elemental control and healing to help them achieve their Istari mission of guiding the races to the good cause of Manwe, rather than letting them succumb to the evil of Morgoth.

Easterlings from Rhun

In this sense, the stranger and Nori may be heading to this ethereal mystical land in order for the Stranger to get back in touch with himself and who he is. He has lost not only his memories, but also his control over his powers, and his connection to the Valar who sent him to help in the first place. Every time he attempted to use his magic during Rings of Power, something went wrong or something dangerous happened, putting the harfoots in danger. Perhaps what lies in wait in Rhun is the key to his elemental abilities, and his memories combined. The series may also choose to add in the two blue wizards at this point in the story, or even Saruman the White, who was thought to have dwelled in the eastern land for a time. After all, the wizards came across to Middle Earth together. If Gandalf is here, then the others can’t be far behind him.

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