The Rings of Power Explained: Who Is Pharazôn, Míriel’s Consul?

The latest The Rings of Power installment heavily focused on a character called Pharazôn.

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The first half of Season 1 is already in the books. After exploring the kingdom of Númenor, the story takes Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) and the others back to Middle-earth again. How does Pharazôn fit into that scenario? Let’s take a closer look at the character. There are heavy spoilers taken out of the history of the universe invented by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Who Is Pharazôn?

Pharazôn is a Númenorean character portrayed by Welsh actor Trystan Gravelle in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. He is the consul to the Queen Regent of Númenor, Míriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), in addition to being her cousin. The character made his first appearance in Episode 3 of the freshman season when he weighed on Galadriel’s and Halbrand’s (Charlie Vickers) permanence on the island. However, the subsequent Episode 4 explored more about his whys and hows, showing that he had a considerable influence on the Númenorean people. While he reluctantly agreed with Míriel’s decision to send Galadriel back to Middle-earth, he clearly wasn’t fond of the elves.

In the books, Pharazôn is the son of Gimilkhâd, the younger brother of the reigning Númenorean king, Tar-Palantir. Eager to acquire wealth and glory, Pharazôn often waged war with the Men of Middle-earth. In fact, he even led an army against Sauron himself once, but while the Númenoreans won the battle, the result wasn’t the one expected. Still, the wartime experience made Pharazôn a well-respected man in Númenor, someone people loved to be around. The fact that he was also generous with his wealth helped to maintain his popularity. At the same time, Pharazôn was also a proud man who liked to be praised and dreamt of cheating mortality.

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When Tar-Palantir died without a son, Pharazôn married Míriel even though she didn’t want to and usurped the throne. That’s where Sauron saw a chance to corrupt the king of Númenor. Pharazôn never was a fan of Elves and Valar but started worshipping Morgoth only after his encounter with Sauron. On top of that, Sauron convinced Pharazôn to build an immense fleet and attack Valinor, breaking the Ban of the Valar, who warned the Númenorean people not to sail westward. As a consequence of Pharazôn’s action, Eru Ilúvatar, the supreme deity of Arda, sank the Númenorean fleet, the island itself, and the Númenorean kingdom. The surviving Númenoreans were Aragorn’s ancestors who escaped to Middle-earth.

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