Is Isildur Dead in The Rings of Power? What Happened to Him?

One of the characters that everyone knew was going to become important in the events of The Rings of Power because of his status as a historical figure in The Lord of the Rings is Isildur. Of course, we saw in episode 6 that Isildur and the Númenoreans were caught in the eruption of Orodruin. Then, in episode 7, Isildur helped a lot of people escape from danger but seemingly ended up losing his life as a result. So, is Isildur really dead in The Rings of Power?

It is unlikely that Isildur is dead because of how important he is in the history of Middle-Earth and how he was always the one that severed the One Ring from Sauron’s hand. On top of that, his character arc isn’t even at its peak yet. That means that it is more than likely that he survived the events of episode 7.

The fact that Isildur was always one of the most important historical figures in Middle-Earth is the reason why he won’t end up dying this early in The Rings of Power. He still has a long way to go in his own character development and arc, especially considering that he is one of the most iconic names in the world of Men. Now, in that regard, let’s talk more about what happened to Isildur.

What Happened To Isildur?

Episode 6 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power was able to allow us to see the creation of Mordor through the eruption of Orodruin, which we now know as the very same Mount Doom wherein the Ring of Power was created, and then destroyed in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. But we also saw in episode 6 that the Númenoreans were caught in the eruption and were in the middle of danger when the volcano erupted.

In that regard, episode 7 opened up with the different characters trying to find survivors in the town that used to be Tirharad. Isildur, of course, survived the events of the eruption but ended up losing Ontamo, one of his best friends. Together with Queen Regent Míriel and Valandil, Isildur helped some of the villagers that were trapped under a burning house, as it was the queen herself that rescued them. Meanwhile, Isildur was holding the burning wooden planks down to buy time for the queen to rescue the people inside.

But while Isildur was holding the planks down, an explosion within the house caused the entire structure to crumble down on him, as it appeared that Isildur actually perished in the flames and the weight of the house.

Elendil, meanwhile, was helping the survivors make their way to the Númenorean camp just outside the Southlands. That was when he saw Queen Míriel and Valandil as the two broke the news regarding what happened to Isildur. Elendil, of course, was emotional when this happened, but he still needed to make sure that he controlled his emotions because the people needed him more.

In that regard, the belief among the Númenoreans was that Isildur had perished right then and there due to the weight of the house that may have crushed him. On top of that, the house that may have crushed him was also burning, and that means that he experienced something that would have killed any other person. This explains why the standing belief was that he died at that moment.

Elendil himself, back in the Númenorean camp together with Queen Regent Míriel, could no longer hold his tears back when he realized that he was going back to Númenor without his son. And that meant that he really did believe that Isildur was now dead.

Nevertheless, we did see in the scene in the Númenorean camp that Isildur’s horse was seemingly restless. Not even Elendil, who could calm it down in the past, was able to control the horse, as the only thing they needed to do was to set it free. This could be a clue as to what happened to Isildur and whether or not he survived the events of episode 7.

Is Isildur Dead In The Rings Of Power?

At this point, the standing belief among the Númenoreans is that Isildur is dead, as no person could actually survive getting crushed by a burning house in the middle of a land that has become too uninhabitable and is now the home of the Orcs.

However, while it is easy to believe that Isildur is now dead, the thing is that it is unlikely that he died right then and there. And that’s because those who’ve seen The Lord of the Rings movies or have read the books would understand just how important Isildur is to the flow of the story and to the overall history of Middle-Earth.

In the book, Elendil and Isildur went on to lead the surviving Númenoreans from the Fall of Númenor to Middle-Earth, where the kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor were established. Elendil became king but ended up passing the title to Isildur at some point in time. But Isildur’s importance was highlighted during the events of the Last Alliance during the end of the Second Age.

After Elendil fell against Sauron in that battle, Isildur took up his father’s broken sword and severed the One Ring from the dark lord’s finger. As such, this weakened Sauron to the point that he struggled to take physical form and had to retreat back to Mordor to recover and bide his time long enough for him to hunt down the One Ring, which contained a huge portion of his power and malice.

However, instead of destroying the One Ring, Isildur kept it for himself, as Elrond himself said that he saw the strength of men failing when Isildur failed to throw the One Ring into the fires of Mount Doom. And it was this greed and lust for power that eventually consumed and killed Isildur, as the line of Númenorean kings weakened since then.

Isildur became a legendary figure not only because he was the one who severed the One Ring from Sauron’s hand but also because he became the very same reason why Aragorn was afraid to take up his rightful place as the king of Gondor. He feared that he had the same weakness that Isildur had, and that meant that he didn’t want to suffer the same fate that his predecessor suffered three thousand years ago.

In that regard, Isildur’s importance cannot be understated in the history of the Middle-Earth. He became both a heroic and a tragic figure due to the fact that he defeated Sauron but ended up dying due to the One Ring that he severed from the opponent’s hand.

Because Isildur is an incredibly important character in the history of the Men of Middle-Earth, there is no doubt that he survived the events of episode 7. It is still too early in the storyline to kill off one of the most important characters in the history of Middle-Earth. And if the showrunners did indeed decide to kill him, then that means that there will be a massive change in the events of history in The Rings of Power as it now departs from not only Peter Jackson’s movies but also Tolkien’s works.

As to how Isildur survives is still something that we don’t know. But his horse probably knows that he survived, and that was the reason why it was restless in the Númenorean camp. It probably tried to go back to its master and could be responsible for saving an injured Isildur, who somehow survived an entire house falling on him.