Who Is Eärien in The Rings of Power? Meet Ema Horvath’s Character?

There are a lot of different characters that The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power explore because of the fact that this is a series that will span for at least five seasons and should tell a truly captivating and enormous tale of the Second Age. Of course, one such character that we saw in episodes 3 and 4 was Eärien, who seems to be an important character. So, who is Eärien in The Rings of Power?

Eärien is the daughter of Elendil and the sister of Isildur and Anárion. While Isildur and Anárion both have their own stories to tell in The Rings of Power and have their own paths to take, Eärien worked her way up to become part of the Builder’s Guild in Númenor when she was accepted as an apprentice.

It is worth mentioning that Eärien was never in JRR Tolkien’s writings as she is an original character created solely for The Rings of Power. Nevertheless, her addition to the series is an interesting one because of how it allows us to see a different storyline told from the eyes of a character that was never in the books. Now, with that said, let’s talk more about what we know about Eärien.

Who Is Eärien In The Rings of Power?

We already knew beforehand that The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power was supposed to tell the story of the Second Age, which was the time when Sauron increased his influence and eventually forged the One Ring to rule all of the Rings of Power. Now, of course, we already knew that prominent characters from the Second Age were going to appear in The Rings of Power.

Galadriel, of course, was a given, as she was the central character announced beforehand. We did see her playing a central role through the first four episodes of The Rings of Power, even until she got to Númenor. It was in Númenor, however, where we met some of the other important characters that have bigger parts to play in the larger narrative of The Rings of Power.

In episode 3, we met Elendil, who was the ship captain that saved Galadriel and Halbrand from the sea and was also a lord that came from a noble line of Númenoreans. After that, we got to meet his son, Isildur. While those who have a basic background of JRR Tolkien’s writings would be familiar with those names, the one name that doesn’t ring a bell is Eärien, who was also introduced during the same scene when Isildur was introduced. So, who is Eärien in The Rings of Power?

Played by Ema Horvath, Eärien is a character that was created for The Rings of Power, and that means that she doesn’t exist in any of JRR Tolkien’s writings. In that regard, everything about her was originally created by the show’s writers, but she still has a connection to the other important characters of the series.

She is introduced in the same scene as Isildur because she is his sister. That means that she is the only daughter of Elendil, who already has two sons. While we have met Isildur, we are yet to meet Anárion, who is said to be estranged from the rest of his family because he ended up living on the Western shores of Númenor.

Going back to Eärien, she was introduced as a caring brother to Isildur and a daughter that was also concerned about what Elendil has been doing in his life as a ship captain working under Queen Regent Míriel. A good part of Eärien’s introduction focused on Isildur, but we also got to see that she has her own part to play in the series, as she isn’t just a woman that’s meant to further the storylines of her brothers and her father.

In episode 3, it was revealed that Eärien was able to work her way up to become an apprentice with the Builder’s Guild of Númenor. As you probably already know by now, the people of Númenor work in different guilds, depending on where they specialize. Eärien seemed to specialize in drafting designs for buildings because it was hinted in her introduction that she spent a lot of time sketching. Then, in episode 4, it was also shown that she spent a good time drawing and drafting designs as she was seen carrying her scrolls wherever she went.

It was also in episode 4 where it was shown that she was forming a budding relationship with Kemen, who is Ar-Pharazôn’s son. Kemen was seemingly interested in Eärien when he first met her during one of Ar-Pharazôn’s public speeches to make himself more popular with the people. And in the latter parts of the episodes, Kemen actually asked Eärien out to dinner.

What Is Eärien’s Role In The Rings of Power?

At this point, it is really tough to tell what Eärien’s role in The Rings of Power could be because we don’t know anything about her future. And that is what makes her a special character when it comes to the grander scheme of things.

We know for a fact that characters like Elendil, Isildur, and Anárion have stories that were already fleshed out by JRR Tolkien’s writings. Even though there are some slight differences in the way their stories are told in The Rings of Power as compared to the books, we still know for sure what the future holds for them because Elendil ends up leading the survivors of Númenor in Middle-Earth while Isildur becomes the man who slices the One Ring off of Sauron’s fingers and becomes the king of Gondor.

But the thing about Eärien is that, since she is an original character, we don’t know what the future holds for her and how her story will affect the futures of the central characters that we just mentioned. 

In that regard, we are possibly looking at Eärien as the character that will allow us to see a different side to Númenor’s story. We already know a lot about the Númenoreans and their fate but having Eärien in the story gives us a different perspective because she is a fresh character whose story is yet to be told. And by having Eärien in The Rings of Power, we may see how much the series is willing to tell us about the “other” Númenoreans and what their roles are in the greater narrative.

As such, we believe that Eärien will eventually have an important role to play in the future of The Rings of Power. The only thing we are not certain of is what role she will eventually play in the progression of the storyline or how her own story will affect the lives of her father and her brothers.