'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power': Why did Tar-Palantir tell Miriel to not go to the Southlands?
In the third episode of ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ we got to know that Tar-Palantir, the semi-retired king of Numenor, was an ally of the Elves and got together with them to defeat Morgoth. After the victory, Valar gave them an island and they started calling the kingdom of Numenor. As soon as Galadriel reached Numenor, she got to know that Palantir’s health is worsening, and has taken retirement. His daughter, Miriel, is now the Queen Regent of Numenor and is leading the kingdom with peace and prosperity. In the beginning, Miriel was adamant that the kingdom won’t help Galadriel in fighting Adar and his army of Orcs in the Southlands.
However, ‘The Great Wave’ gave us a better idea as to why Miriel is not interested in the war because she feels that it will be the doom of their kingdom. She decides to send Galadriel back to her kingdom and when she was about to leave, the Nimloth’s falling white petals made her believe that they need to help in the war.
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But things got a bit weird in Episode 5 when Miriel was talking to her father Tar-Palantir and she gave him the happy news of joining hands with the Elves for the war. Everyone expected him to be happy about the news, but what happened was exactly the opposite. As soon as Miriel told him about the war, Palantir warned, “Don't go to Middle-earth. All that awaits you there... darkness.” He also kept on muttering “kingdom is in danger” throughout the scene.
Now, if you are a fan of JRR Tolkien, you know Palantir was the last faithful king of Numenor and was known for his far-sightedness. It seems he has already foreshadowed Miriel’s death in the battle and wants her daughter to stay away from the war. Apart from Miriel, he also seems to make a point that the entire Numenor is in danger and the kingdom might be facing the wrath of going to war. It seems that the vision shown by the Palantir stone was actually misinterpreted by everyone and we believed Numenor should have just sent Galadriel back.
At the end of Episode 5, we saw Galadriel being called back to the kingdom and the Queen Regent was telling her people to help in the war. On the other hand, last week’s episode was all about the preparations for the war and Galadriel was teaching the young men and women of Numenor how to kill Orcs during the battle. Meanwhile, the people taking refuge at the High Tower are in danger because Adar and his army are slowly inching toward them and they don’t have enough warriors to defend themselves.
Let’s see how things turn out to be during the war and if the island kingdom of Numenor will lose everything they have earned through hard work.