What Viewers Should Know About the Newest Dwarf Prince in ‘The Rings of Power’
A new face has arrived in the halls of Khazad-dûm, and viewers are already asking about Thrain in ‘The Rings of Power’. The character is the brother of Durin IV and an exiled prince of the Dwarven kingdom. The third season premiered on Prime Video on November 11, which places his arrival at the center of the conversation just as the new episodes land.
The name will ring a bell for readers of Tolkien, though the series appears to be doing something different with it. What follows is a look at what has been confirmed about the character, the actor under the prosthetics, and the political situation he is walking into.
Thrain in ‘The Rings of Power’ and Where He Fits
Prime Video unveiled the first teaser for the season during its Hall H presentation at San Diego Comic-Con. That July panel revealed which characters several previously announced actors would play, and Eddie Marsan was named as Thrain, the older brother of Durin IV.
Durin IV is played by Owain Arthur. That makes the new arrival a family member of the sitting Dwarven king, which gives the character immediate weight in any story set inside the mountain.
The official description of the season sets a grim backdrop. It states that Middle-earth is at war, that five years have passed since the fall of Eregion, and that Sauron’s armies have marched across the whole of the world.
The first four episodes arrived on November 11, with episodes five and six due on November 18 and the final two on November 25. The season runs eight episodes in total, so viewers have only just reached the halfway point of what will be released.
Eddie Marsan Cast as Thrain
Marsan was born in London in 1968 and trained at the drama school Mountview before building a long career in British television and film. His casting brings a seasoned character actor into a franchise that has leaned on a large ensemble.
His credits include ‘Happy-Go-Lucky,’ ‘Tyrannosaur,’ and ‘The World’s End,’ along with Hollywood work in ‘Gangs of New York’ and ‘War Horse.’ Many viewers will know him best as Inspector Lestrade in the 2009 film ‘Sherlock Holmes,’ a role he reprised in the 2011 sequel.
More recently he appeared in the DC film ‘Clayface.’ For ‘The Rings of Power’ he will be wearing a mountain of prosthetics to join the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm.
Thrain and Durin IV in Khazad-dûm
The Dwarves are already navigating a Balrog, new Rings of Power, and an acute political crisis. At the end of the second season, a newly awakened Balrog terrorized the kingdom and killed King Durin III, and Durin IV had taken up the crown by the time the credits rolled.
TVLine reads the setup as a sign that the exiled older brother was planning a visit to the kingdom, potentially to spark a succession crisis. That is an interpretation of the story so far rather than a confirmed plot point, but it fits the pressure the Dwarven court is under.
The threat beneath the mountain is also changing shape. The Balrog will have dialogue this season, and Simon Pegg has been cast to voice the creature. A talking Balrog and a returning prince give Khazad-dûm two very different sources of tension.
Thrain’s Place in Tolkien’s Source Material
According to TVLine, there are multiple characters named Thráin in Tolkien’s writing, and they all lived much later in Middle-earth history. Many Dwarven characters in the show have been pulled out of context from that long timeline to fit the compressed Second Age storyline.
The best known figure with the name is Thráin II. He was born in the Lonely Mountain to his father, Thrór. Thrór’s ring was passed down to his son, who was later captured and tortured in Dol Guldur by Sauron until he gave it up.
He was imprisoned in Dol Guldur in 2845, where the last of the Dwarf Rings of Power was taken from him. The series has not tied its prince to that history, and it remains unclear whether he is meant to channel an original Tolkien character at all.
That uncertainty is part of what makes the character worth watching. With a rival claim to the throne, a Balrog in the depths, and a Dark Lord forging rings above ground, will the exiled prince of Khazad-dûm prove to be Durin IV’s ally or the greatest threat to his crown, and does the name he carries hint at a darker fate for the Dwarves?
