Who Is The King That Was Promised? Is It Really Halbrand?

Episode 6 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power only served to make the entire plot more interesting because it allowed the Númenoreans and the Southlanders to finally meet and join forces to defeat the Orc army that was invading the Southlands. We know for a fact that Bronwyn, the simple healer from Tirharad, took a leadership role in defense of the Southlands, all while Arondir was aiding her. But even she did not want that burden as everyone in the Southlands was waiting for their promised king to finally return. So, who is the king that was promised?

Halbrand seems to be the true king that was promised to the Southlands. This became apparent to Galadriel when she recognized the symbol on his necklace in Númenor’s Hall of Lore, as she sought to bring him with her back to Middle-Earth to unite the people of the Southlands against Sauron.

While we do know that Halbrand is ready to take up his place as the true king of the Southlands, there are still a lot of things we don’t know about the character and his backstory, as much of his time before he met Galadriel is still unknown. In that regard, there are a lot of different theories related to his character and whether or not he is the true king of the Southlands. And that’s what we are here to talk about.

Who Is The King That Was Promised?

The Lord of the Rings has always focused on events that required even the most reluctant of people to step up to a leadership role or to a great responsibility that required them to sacrifice personal wants to eventually rise up for something greater than their own individual selves. 

We saw this in the form of a simple Hobbit named Frodo, who went on to become one of the heroes of the War of the Ring when he helped destroy the One Ring. Even Gandalf himself, in the writings of JRR Tolkien, was reluctant to go to Middle-Earth because he was afraid of Sauron. And Aragorn, the last heir to the line of Númenorean kings, stepped up and became king despite the fact that he originally never wanted to.

This was also a prevalent theme in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power when we met the Southlanders, who were seemingly living a simple yet directionless life in the Southlands, as they were only waiting for the arrival of their promised king, who they thought was going to lead them to a life of abundance. Nevertheless, the king didn’t come during the time that they needed him the most, as the Orcs were attacking Southland villages.

Bronwyn, upon proving that the threat of the Orcs still existed, went on to take on the leadership role that the villagers needed so that she could keep them safe from their attackers. With the help of Arondir, they were able to fight valiantly against the Orc army led by Adar, who wanted the sword hilt that Theo possessed so that he could use it as a key to recreating the world. But while Bronwyn was the leader that helped keep the Orcs at bay in time for the Númenoreans to arrive to save them, the Southlanders still lacked a true leader that would have helped them during a dire time. They needed the king that was promised to them.

The Númenoreans were their salvation in that battle as they celebrated the victory against Adar and the Uruk army that he led. Bronwyn earned praises from Queen Regent Míriel, who told her that she could help ease the burden of leadership that she never wanted. And that was when the Southlanders were introduced to Halbrand, who they were able to recognize as the king that was promised to them because of the sigil that can be found on his necklace.

Halbrand, despite his initial reluctance, accepted his role as the king that was promised to the Southlanders, as he and the people of the Southlands rejoiced and celebrated the arrival of their true leader. 

Is Halbrand Really The King That Was Promised?

One of the things that have remained a mystery throughout The Lord of the Ring: The Rings of Power is Halbrand. That’s because the introduction of the character was quite convenient and mysterious as far as the circumstances were concerned. We saw him meeting Galadriel out on the open sea while he was escaping from Middle-Earth after Orcs seemingly destroyed his home in the Southlands.

Of course, we learned from Galadriel’s research in the Hall of Lore in Númenor that Halbrand’s necklace bore the symbol of the long-lost line of Southlander kings. But the problem was that Halbrand never wanted this role at all, as he just wanted to escape the Southlands and stay in Númenor, where he felt like he could start life anew and give himself a fresh start. But Galadriel wanted him to come with her to Middle-Earth because he was the only one that could unite the Southlanders against a common threat in the form of the Orcs.

Initially, Halbrand didn’t want to sail back to Middle-Earth together with the Númenoreans but found the courage to do so. Eventually, after defeating the Orcs, he accepted the role of the king that was promised to the Southlands. But is Halbrand really the true king of the Southlanders?

A lot of things about Halbrand remain unknown as we don’t know anything about the life he lived before Galadriel found him out at sea. But what we do know is that he hates Adar for something that the Moriondor did to him before he left the Southlands. And that is where it gets interesting because Adar doesn’t even remember him at all.

During the time when Galadriel was interrogating Adar, he said that he “killed” Sauron, as the Elven commander was in disbelief that a simple Orc like him could be capable of killing the dark lord. And this leads us back to Halbrand, who wanted to kill Adar because of what he did to him a while back.

It is possible that Halbrand isn’t who he seems to be. That’s because all clues point to the possibility that he is Sauron in the form of a Man, as he had to take such form after Adar destroyed his original form. This explains why he is angry at Adar. But does that make him less of a king to the Southlanders?

The ending of episode 6 reveals Halbrand’s nature as a “king” when the eruption of the volcano basically transformed the entire landscape and turned it into hell on Middle-Earth. Of course, this is the origin story of the land called Mordor in The Lord of the Rings, as the volcano that erupted is Mount Doom. The land transformed into a dark and desolate realm that Orcs can call their own, and that’s where Sauron comes in as the “king” of Mordor.

So, if Halbrand really is Sauron, that means that he is still basically a king in the sense that he will eventually rule Mordor, which used to be the Southlands. While he may not be the king that the Southlanders wanted, he could still be the king of the Southlands and what it is to become.