Rings of Power’s Dune Ripoff Is Really a Season 1 Callback
Call it a Fish Dragon, you cowards.
Beware the sea worm! In The Rings of Power Season 2, the sixth episode finds things in Númenor getting even tenser than before. After seizing power, and murdering some innocent Númenorians in the last episode, the power-mad Pharazôn (Trystan Gravelle) and his conniving son, Kemen (Leon Wadham), now have decided it’s time to feed their enemies to a sea monster.
And so, Pharazôn decides that the true test for Elendil (Lloyd Owen) — and later Míriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) — will be for them to face the sea worm, which lives right out there in the sea beyond their island kingdom. If you think this sounds a bit like a sandworm from Dune, you’re not entirely wrong. Although there’s a tiny bit of Tolkien canon precedent for the recent sea worm in Rings of Power Season 2, the truth is, this creature is more of an Easter egg for Season 1 than anything in The Lord of the Rings books.
Spoilers for Rings of Power Season 2 Episode 6 ahead.
Míriel versus the Sea Worm
Míriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) is having a rough time with her own kingdom.
In accordance with old traditions, Elendil is sentenced to “face the judgment of the Valar” by being put into a little pool where a sea worm is lurking. But, at the last minute, dethroned Queen Míriel invokes her right to take his place, since he “acted in my name.” Because Pharazôn is playing along with these old traditions, he has to go along with this, which results in Míriel getting face-to-face with a massive sea worm, a monster that is probably better described as a cross between a massive shark with the tentacles of Cthulhu. Unquestionably, for sea monster lovers everywhere, The Rings of Power gives us a great sea monster in this moment, even if its appearance is tragically short.
Like Dune, the idea that someone facing a massive worm monster has semi-religious significance is the basic importance of this scene. In a sense, Queen Míriel facing the sea worm is a bit like taking the Water of Life and riding Shai-Hulud at the same time. This is all to say that this test doesn’t really come from J.R.R. Tolkien, and is very much an invention of the series. But do sea worms appear in Tolkien's text at all? The answer is kind of.
Tolkien’s “Fish Dragons”
Anybody see a Fish Dragon around here?
To be clear, there are no overt sea serpents or sea worms in the actual Lord of the Rings. Tolkien’s biggest references to such creatures come from The Lost Road and Other Writings, in which sea creatures of this kind were sometimes called “Fish Dragons.” This seems like a strange missed opportunity for The Rings of Power — imagine Pharazôn bellowing “Release the Fish Dragon!” Seems kind of perfect, right?
The point is, the sea worm of The Rings of Power is very much a creation for the show, and not specifically from Tolkien’s writings. Yes, we could squint and think of this creature as one of those Fish Dragons, but that wouldn’t really make it a worm, right?
The sea worm in Rings of Power Season 1
Interestingly, the main canon that Rings of Power is referencing in Season 2 comes from the beginning of Season 1. Although barely glimpsed in that season, Galadriel and Halbrand also faced a sea worm creature during their first meeting in the Sundering Seas. While barely glimpsed in Season 1, the tail and overall look of the creature in Season 2 make it seem like it’s clearly the same kind of animal.
Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) post-sea monster attack in Rings of Power Season 1.
By the end of Episode 6, Queen Míriel survives her ordeal with the sea worm, which means she’s been deemed innocent by the judgment of the Valar. Did the sea monster that Galadriel faced also deem her worthy? It would seem, that in The Rings of Power, not getting eaten by a sea monster is the best indication that destiny is on your side.
