The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is full of mystery men, as Halbrand is merely one of the mysterious figures the series has to offer because we don’t know anything about him aside from what he has been telling everyone else. Of course, Galadriel found out more about who Halbrand is when she learned of the meaning of his necklace, which became so important to her. So, what is Halbrand’s necklace, and why is it important to Galadriel?
Halbrand’s necklace is the symbol that he was the long-lost king of the Southlanders. The importance of the necklace lies in the fact that Galadriel wants to unite the people of the Southlands against Sauron. And the only way for her to do so is through Halbrand, who is the only one that could unite them.
In a way, The Rings of Power presents an Aragorn-like character in the form of Halbrand, who is also running away from his fate as a king that could unite his people against a common enemy. That is where things could get interesting moving forward because of how the series could show us parallels between Halbrand and Aragorn. Now, let’s look at what this necklace is and what it means.
What Is Halbrand’s Necklace?
The most common themes that we’ve seen so far in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power are the mystery men. We’ve seen a lot of mysterious figures in The Rings of Power, as the series presented new characters that we know nothing from JRR Tolkien’s writings. And it was through these mysterious characters that we get to wonder what will happen next, as we are given a chance to speculate, which is something that we weren’t able to have in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, which were both close adaptations of their book counterparts.
In that regard, one of the more mysterious persons in The Rings of Power is a Man named Halbrand. This mysterious person met Galadriel out in the open sea when the Elf wanted to return to Middle-Earth, and Halbrand was out there with a few other Men trying to get away from what was on Middle-Earth. Halbrand claimed that he was the victim of an attack by the Orcs on the Southlands, and that was the reason why he wanted to get away from Middle-Earth as far as he could.
Of course, in their first meeting, Galadriel was already able to notice the necklace that Halbrand was wearing, as the Man simply brushed things off by saying that his people had no king. The Elf, of course, focused more on the important thing that she had to do, which was to return to Middle-Earth to continue her quest to find and stop Sauron.
Galadriel, however, was taken to Númenor’s Hall of Lore by Elendil, as she was able to decipher what Sauron’s mark meant. She learned that the mark symbolized the Southlands and that the dark lord was looking to create a realm for the Orcs in that region of Middle-Earth. Galadriel also discovered the meaning of Halbrand’s necklace while she was in the Hall of Lore.
As a necklace with a pouch and a sigil on it, this trinket was actually the symbol of the kings of the Southlands. Galadriel was quick to confront Halbrand about this necklace because she found out about one of his secrets. In that regard, Halbrand was the descendant of the line of kings in the Southlands. And that meant that he was the rightful leader of the Southlander Men in Middle-Earth.
Of course, we still don’t know what that pouch contains and what it could be to Halbrand. All we know is that it seems to be dear to him that he held on to it even as he was escaping Middle-Earth to find refuge elsewhere. The fact that Halbrand still continued to carry and wear it meant that there was something more to that necklace.
Why Is Halbrand’s Necklace So Important To Galadriel?
While we don’t know the importance of the necklace to Halbrand, we certainly know why it is so important to Galadriel. And it all goes back to her one goal in life, which is to find Sauron and bring an end to his darkness.
When Galadriel arrived on Númenor after Elendil found her and Halbrand out at sea, the first thing that she had in mind was to find a way to return to Middle-Earth so that she could continue her quest to find Sauron. But things changed when Elendil brought her to the Hall of Lore, where she learned that Sauron meant to transform the Southlands into his own realm, which ultimately became Mordor.
Galadriel needed to convince Queen Regent Míriel to muster up a force that could help her in her fight against the Orcs in the Southlands. But Galadriel also needed a person that Míriel knew could make things easier for them in the Southlands because they understood that the Southlanders would not be so quick to accept help from the Númenoreans, who they used to be enemies with during the First Age. And that is where Halbrand and his necklace come in.
Galadriel wanted to use Halbrand as a way to convince the queen regent that they should march into the Southlands with Halbrand as the only person that could unite the Southlander Men to rally to his cause and fight the Orcs together with the Númenoreans. The importance of the necklace comes from the fact that it was the only proof of his identity as the long-lost king of the Southlands.
This is where the parallels between Halbrand and Aragorn become apparent. We all know that Aragorn, during the Third Age, spent his entire life running from the fact that he was the heir to the throne of Gondor because he comes from the long-lost line of Númenorean kings. People around him have tried to convince him to accept his fate, only for him to initially disregard the fact that he was the only person that could unite Gondor. Nevertheless, he eventually accepted his fate and the responsibility that came with it by rallying the people of Gondor to his side in their fight against Sauron’s forces.
In that regard, Halbrand seems to be in the same exact position as he, and his necklace could very well be the keys to uniting the people of the Southlands against Sauron. But the problem lies in the fact that The Rings of Power might not go the same path that The Lord of the Rings did in terms of how they want to handle the storyline of a long-lost heir.
That is why it is quite possible that Halbrand, as selfish as he is, would end up taking on a darker path in life. We all know that Sauron was able to corrupt nine kings of men that eventually became the Nazgul. The greatest of the Nazgul was the Witch-king of Angmar, whose identity could be Halbrand. As such, whether or not Halbrand takes on the Aragorn role is still up in the air, as he could very well be one of the Nine or even the greatest of them.
