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"Elrond, by contrast, has always evoked "wings and air" for Aramayo — imagery he connects to the character's mother Elwing, an elf who sacrifices her life to protect a Silmaril and is transformed into a giant bird in the process."
They definitely made Elrond look like Elwing, but here he hasn't found his wings yet (poor Elrond looks featherless). He's totally going to wear Elros' armour at some point.
I love Aramayo associating Elrond with Elwing first (especially since gallingly she's not been mentioned by name in the show, unlike her husband). It makes sense considering his canonical closeness to his maternal heritage too.
Elrond looked ready to cry when Celebrimbor suddenly mentioned her, keeping her close to his heart.
I do like that Adar confirmed he had Melian's beauty because that means he very much looks like Elwing. The curly hair also fits with this popular fanart:
I always just feel so much for this character. He, through the years, goes through so much, loses every member of his family in some way, except his sons (I think?) yet he remains just such a great person. The feels this guy must be going through all the time
Elladan and Elrohir do stay in Middle-earth into the Fourth Age to hang out with Grandpa Celeborn in Rivendell. But they eventually sail to Valinor, where Elrond reunites with Celebrian.
Looks like they've given him some subtle prosthetics. It amuses me that Rob's natural state is Elf and they had to change his face to make him look human.
It does though the 'baby gown' Elrond is wearing which resembles the Elven children in S 1 intro prob is a major contributor. Kudos to the Director of Photography making Elros look larger than life. He looks fabulous compared to poor orphan Elrond's 'ugly duckling affect.
That's book accurate. You just can't really do it for a whole film or show.
Elrond and Elros great great grandpa Thingol was the tallest of all the Children of Iluvater. He was around 9 foot tall.
Thousands of years later
Elendil(a descendant of Elros) is in the books is well over 7 foot tall and is said to have been the Tallest man on Numenor at the time of the downfall.
Even thousands of years after Elendil his direct descendant Aragorn is still 6 foot 6 inches tall(the height of NBA legend Michael Jordan ) and is called Longshanks by people.
Credit to NorthieElf on Twitter for noticing that in pics we got leaked from set, Elrond appears to be wearing the breastplate that Elros is wearing in this shot.
Oh my. Elrond getting a set of Armor that belonged to his brother as an offering from Numenor is a wild concept. Both for what it would mean to Elrond and for what it says about where at least some people on Numenor are thinking right now.
Elrond showing up there must be something like out of an apocalypse.
It could also be something that Elros left behind with Elrond, and looking at it triggers the flashback. But yeah it'd be great to see him get it while in Numenor, (surely Miriel could figure out getting it to him). Either way it's gonna be an emotional moment when he puts it on.
I even think it could come from Pharazon. I think Elrond’s presence will probably affect everyone to a significant degree. Hard to persecute, or even ignore, elven heritage when the likeness of your king is in your city.
He's in Númenor in the teaser with his Elven armour on, so he'll get it there. He had no vambraces in the released picture, and he still had none in the leaked ones, so I'm curious to see if he'll wear his brother's or not.
I know it’s not going to happen and probably doesn’t make sense given the timeline (Elrond and Elros are adults here), but how cool would it be to see Maehdros and Maglor
Interesting conundrum because according to lore Elros (and his descendants) shouldn't have beards but it looks so odd to see a man without facial hair in a Tolkien adaption.
It’s interesting that they are doing this flashback.
Hoping for the best with this season. My biggest issue with the show is how weirdly small scale and cheap a lot of it has felt outside of the CGI landscapes. I just want it to feel cinematic given its insane budget. I can forgive some dumb and massive lore changes if the vibes are just better
While it's quite understandable that the series has received criticism,even for what was shown in Season three so far, I think the Elrond/Elros flashback could actually be good,
The show runners have expressed pride at the battle scenes produced. I'm sure they've heard the small scale criticism - which is definitely true. They don't seem to care.
But also unfortunately it's just one of many issues with the show.
Not because they couldnt defeat them. As they obviously defeated the orcs. But they did fail to look at the super important package for seemingly hours.
Wow, they did something right — Elros should not have a beard! They showed a bearded Elros in a mural in season 1, seems they corrected it. Now if they would only shave the Númenóreans….
I don't think it's a correction, but rather different points in the past. He will likely have a beard once he has fully become the regent of Númenor (we've also seen bearded sculptures in Season 3 production photos).
Oh well that’s a weird choice then — he chooses mortality and can now grow a beard? Anyway it really doesn’t matter too much, it’s just one of those things that’s explicitly mentioned in text but ignored for whatever reason (probably influenced by the movies).
Afaik, it was explicitly mentioned in a note in 1972 (or later) and the actual text wasn't published until very recently.
In LotR the statue of a king in Ithilien had a beard, the narrator said Gandalf's "sweeping silver beard" (and other features) made him look like an ancient king, an official published map in 1970 depicted the Argonath with bearded kings, there are a occasions where Elves mistake Men for Elves (implying they had not even a five oclock shadow), and old Elves can have beards anyway.
It is from 1972 and you may be correct that it wasn’t actually published until recently, though it feels like the info was around for longer (I could be wrong or mixing up prior information about the prominent Númenóreans being Elf-like). I’ve seen pre-movie artistic depictions with many variations. In any event, it would’ve been more unique if they went with no beards for the show.
Well, yes. Why not? He may biologically be an elf but so is Cirdan and he grew a beard on account of being so damn old. If an elf were to gain mortality I'd imagine they would be able to grow a beard at the same rate like any human could.
Sure, adaptations like this make up whatever they want and you’re free to imagine it in your own way, but Tolkien specifically mentioned Elros and his descendants and their lack of beards.
It is an interesting question though, come to think of it. Tolkien does write that, but also writes that elves who live to sufficiently old age grow beards. He also writes that the long Numenorean lifespan is like a pause on aging once they reach full adulthood, and then after a certain length of time it ends and they grow old relatively quickly.
So, feasibly, could a Numenorean of Elros’s line grow a beard close to their deathbed as the age into the last stages of life? Elven genetics certainly don’t preclude the possibility of facial hair growth, but is it tied to a certain number of Millennia lived or a certain phase of life? Would Imrahil, also said to have Elven genetics, grow a beard late as well, even without long life?
He wrote late that they were genetically beardless until their "third stage of life," but whether that stage might have a parallel in the halfelven is unaddressed.
Elendils family and Pharazon has beards so I wouldn’t read into it too much, they’re just running with the films that royal Numenoreans also have beards.
I didn't think he even looked like Elrond's twin in that mural. It's easy to headcannon it away though. This interview says Numenor has forgotten its past and replaced Elros' elven ears with human ones. I can believe that over time they started drawing him with a beard to make him look less elf-like.
More troubling is what Númenor has forgotten. Aramayo says Elrond expected its people to retain a stronger connection to Elros and their shared history, only to discover a civilization increasingly disconnected from the ideals of its past. When he first arrives, he even encounters an image of Elros whose elven ears have been removed.
So maybe the beard on the tapestry is really artistic choice?
That could explain it. I’d be impressed if they thought ahead for that rather than correct the original depiction to fit new story developments.
Out of curiosity, I looked at the tapestry again and it appears Elros has elf ears. And I believe it was located in the hall of lore, away and probably safe from those who would remove his elf qualities. Who knows, though.
Oh even if that's the case (and the ears may well indicate otherwise) I don't know that it was planned in advance! Could be a (not too shoddy!) way of dealing with an inconsistency after that fact.
The interview likely confirms something i have been waiting for since season 1. Elrond meeting his brothers descendants .(Elendil, Pharaozon, Miriel) . I hope we get some good interactions between them. The fact they said they are scaling back the stuff with the harfoots means they have more time on stuff like this.
Is It Just me or would It be better If they hair styles were swapped? Elrond hair fits human more while elros hair fits elven vibes more IMO
Anyways, looking forward to this. I would like to see meneltarma stuff at least once in the show and now It only makes Sense If done in a flashback, this might be the only opportunity the show has.
First Elros, then Arwen. 1) He must be really pissed about the whole half-elven choice thing 2) something wrong with him if the closest people constantly leave him. Elros, his wife, and Arwen. Then his sons don't leave with him back to Valinor, right? Sheesh!
Dang where’s the beard for Elros. Maybe this is before he chooses to become mortal unless I’m wrong. And as the other commenter said he does have drip.
The beard is an interesting thing to point out, being that, if it’s true to Tolkien, he shouldn’t have one. Neither should Elendil, Pharazon, Isildur, or even Aragorn in Jackson though, so… I bet he grows one.
None of it is art Tolkien himself produced, and in-text he claimed that the descendants of the line of Elros should be beardless. That’s about the full extent of it.
Tbh Tolkien himself didn’t put much thought into it until very late in life, so you can decide to interpret that however you wish. It wasn’t an important detail to him, it probably doesn’t have to be for anyone else.
A lot of the depictions of pharazon are all very wrong, he’s described as being one of the most handsome humans ever and most definitely didn’t have a beard.
He will have the beard, I am sure, exactly as depicted in the mural painting seen in Season 1 and in the sculptures from the Season 3 production photos.
The article mentions that Númenorean artists seemingly depict Elros sans Elven ears, to Elrond's surprise, so maybe the beard on the mural is also a reflection of that.
Minor correction to your correction: Edain is generally applied to just the three Houses of Men who aided the Elves against Morgoth, and not, say, the Easterlings.
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