Summary
In what must be one ofthe biggest TV trailer reveals at SDCC, Amazon’s new look atThe Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Poweroffers more insight into season 2’s Tom Bombadil appearance.Screen RantattendedThe Rings of Powerpanel atSan Diego Comic-Con, and I’m pleased to say that the show promises a goldmine of J.R.R. Tolkien lore in its second season. Tom Bombadil will make an appearance, and he certainly qualifies as a classic Tolkien character. However,The Rings of Powerseason 2 trailer makes me wonder if the show will miss the point of Tom.
I don’t believe adaptations need to be faithful to the letter, and if anything, they often can’t be. But they do need to be true to the spirit of the source material, using their TV or movie format to tell what is essentially the same story from a different perspective. Judging by interviews they’ve done, I thinkThe Rings of Power’sshowrunners understand Tom Bombadil as well as they need to— but I hope that they don’t waste his introduction for cheap thrills inThe Rings of Powerseason 2.
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The Rings Of Power Season 2’s Trailer Confirms Tom Bombadil Gets Heavily Involved
Tom Bombadil Gives The Stranger Advice
The Rings of Powerseason 2 trailershows Tom Bombadil giving the Stranger advice, and it looks like this may be a key point in the narrative. The storytelling starts with Nori explaining her sacrifices to help the Stranger “find his destiny… one the fate of the world may depend on.” So,the Stranger is important. That’s hardly surprising, considering the well-founded internet theories thatthe Stranger is actually Gandalf. This sets up Tom’s meeting with the Stranger as potentially cataclysmic. WatchThe Rings of Power’s SDCC trailer below:
Notice the Stranger asking, “Is it my task to stop the fire? Is it my task to face Sauron?“Soon after, the trailer cuts to Tom asking the Stranger, “Every soul in Middle-earth is in peril. Will you abandon them to their doom?” It’s probably best to see how this pans out rather than taking it out of context. However,I see Tom playing a pivotal role in defeating Sauron. It certainly seems like Tom is siding with the Stranger in the coming war. Teaming Gandalf with Bombadil has commercial appeal, but I hope it doesn’t change Tom’s character too much.
The Rings Of Power Is Changing The Point Of Tom Bombadil’s Character
Tolkien Described Tom Bombadil As A Pacifist
Lord of the Rings’Tom Bombadilis a pacifist, andthis is something I’m not sureThe Rings of Powerseason 2 will capture. Tom is many things in Tolkien’s source material: an enigma, a protector of nature, and a jolly and colorful spark of levity in a dark world. But one significant and notable element of his character is his inaction during the War of the Ring and every conflict with Sauron that the books' heroes face. Gandalf comments that if he and Elrond had called Tom to their council, “He would not have come.”
One significant and notable element of his character is his inaction during the War of the Ring and every conflict with Sauron that the books' heroes face.
The One Ring, which Gandalf, Galadriel, and Aragorn would all have succumbed to, has no effect whatsoever on Tom.Tom Bombadil has devastating power, and it’s no coincidence that he refuses to fight a war with it. Had Tom been given the ring for safekeeping, Gandalf believes “he would soon forget it, or most likely throw it away.“Tom is not the answer to Middle-earth’s problems— that’s Frodo. Tolkien’s books don’t present pacifism as a perfect solution, but they view it as a necessary presence. If Tom takes sides inRings of Power, this meaning will be siphoned away.
Why Tom Bombadil Is A Character The Rings Of Power Needs To Get Right
Tom Bombadil Is Quintessential Tolkien
Tom Bombadil’s unique symbolismis key to the themes and values ofLord of the Rings.If you take that away, you have a very different story. As a soldier in WWI,Tolkien wroteThe Lord of the Ringspartly as an escapist fantasy and partly as a war epicthat explores morality. In keeping with Tolkien’s decision to fight in a war he perceived as important, Tolkien’s heroes fight for their rights in his story. But you get the impression from a letter he wrote that he would have felt remiss to ignore pacifism in his book:
Tom Bombadil… has some importance as a ‘comment’… and he represents something that I feel important, though I would not be prepared to analyze the feeling precisely… It is a natural pacifist view, which always arises in the mind when there is a war… the view of Rivendell seems to be that it is an excellent thing to have represented, but that there are in fact things with which it cannot cope; and upon which its existence nonetheless depends. Ultimately only the victory of the West will allow Bombadil to continue, or even to survive.
Dealing with war and the resultant deaths of his friends led Tolkien to the profound rumination about what it means to die that ended up beingLord of the Rings. The One Ring represents the danger of power and eternal life. Tolkien’s epic makes peace with death and accepts it as a beautiful part of nature. In Tolkien’s world, death is essential, fighting the good fight is essential, and peace is essential.Bombadil’s character is vital in acknowledging the need for pacifismin the subtle balance of opposing forces.
I do care about the source material, but as long as Tom doesn’t end up saving Middle-earth, I thinkThe Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Powercan get away with him giving a little bit of advice, depending on the way it’s delivered. Tom should remain an enigma, a protector of nature, and a pacifist in the show, but I know this could take different forms. After all, Tom Bombadil is allowed to care about threats to life — that’s his whole thing. I hope his dialogue manages to walk this fine line and ease my biggest fears.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Powerseason 2 will premiere on Prime Video on July 27, 2025.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Cast
Set in the Second Age of Middle-earth, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power explores the forging of the iconic rings, the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron, and the epic events leading up to the stories in J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic novels. The series chronicles the creation of legendary characters and the historic alliances and rivalries that shape the fate of Middle-earth.
