Editor's Note: The following article contains spoilers for The Rings of Power Episodes 1-3.Episode 3 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power finally introduced audiences to the island kingdom of Númenor: a place that, like so much else in Tolkien’s invented world, has a rich and layered story of art, artifact, and history. Of the many new characters strewn throughout the episode, some of the more obscure were the multiple references to the Númenorean noble known as “Elros," referenced by Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) and Elendil (Lloyd Owen). So who is this Elros?

The first and perhaps most important note about Elros is that he is the twin brother of Elrond (Robert Aramayo). This fact was mentioned in an offhand way in the episode, but was easy to miss otherwise. As such, though, his history is bound up with Elrond’s, but his fate ultimately ended up being much different.

The Origin of Elrond and Elros' Names

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Image via Amazon Studios

Elrond and Elros were born near the end of the First Age, the twin sons of Eӓrendil the Mariner and an elf princess named Elwing. While the ending of the First Age featured some of the most climactic battles in all the history of Middle-earth, the twins did not play much of a role in them, with one notable exception: when they were only six years old, Elrond and Elros were captured and imprisoned by Maedhros and Maglor (two of the sons of Fëanor) during the Third Kinslaying.

They were kept in a cave behind a waterfall, but eventually, Maglor came to pity them and freed them. According to at least one version of the story, it is from this imprisonment that both of them actually took their names. Elendil mentions in Episode 3 that his name means “star-lover”, and the root of the name is actually the same for the twins: Elrond means “star-dome” as a reference to the prison cavern, and Elros means “star foam” because he was found playing in the waterfall outside the cave.

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Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) in the Fellowship of the Ring
Image via New Line Cinema

Their parentage, however, put both Elrond and Elros in a unique position: as mentioned in Episode 1 of the series, in the Second Age there had only ever been two successful pairings of elves and mortals. What made the twins unique is that they were descended from both of those marriages between men and elves. Their great-grandparents on Elwing’s side were the mortal Beren and the elf Luthien, while the grandparents on their father’s side were Tuor and Idril, another example of a mortal man married to an elf princess.

The unprecedented situation that resulted created one of the strangest and most dramatic separations in the history of Middle-earth. As a result of the complications of being descendants of marriages between mortals and immortals, Elrond and Elros were given the choice of their own fates: to remain immortal with the elves or to take the “gift of men” and live a long but mortal life. Elrond chose to be counted among the elves and became immortal, but Elros made a remarkable choice and decided on mortality instead.

Incidentally, if the series ever decides to explore this relationship, there is a great deal of potential for a dramatic and even tragic story to be told about the two: a twin who remains unchanging while his brother slowly ages and dies could make for a remarkably powerful story. The painting of the two brothers parting from each other in Episode 3 hints at this sundering, as Elrond takes up with his company of elves while Elros goes off with a group of mortals.

Elros Chose Humanity and Remained as a King of Númenor

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It is likely this choice on the part of Elros that made him the perfect candidate to become the first King of Númenor. The great drama (and eventual destruction) of Númenor centered on the issue of the mortality of the Númenoreans, and the treatment of Galadriel in the third episode reflects that: as Númenor progressed, despite the fact that Númenoreans had much longer life spans than other mortals, they grew to resent the immortality of the elves and destructively sought to extend their own lifespans. While his people eventually ended up rejecting his ways (and destroying Númenor as a result), he set a precedent for his kingdom with respect toward mortality that held for generations.

Númenor was originally given to mortals as a reward for their loyalty in the war against Morgoth in the First Age, and Elros’ family had a hand both in the downfall of Morgoth and the finding of Númenor in the first place. Elros’ father, Eӓrendil, brought the people of Valinor back into the fight against the Dark Lord in the War of Wrath by sailing across the Sundering Seas, carrying with him the only Silmaril to be successfully recovered. After the war was over, Eӓrendil was set in his flying ship to sail the night sky with the Silmaril on his brow, and he thus became the Evening Star that can still be seen in the night sky.

Even from that starry distance, though, Eӓrendil still provided assistance to his sons. When Elros first set sail to find (and found) Númenor, he was led to the island by following the path of his father across the sky. One of Númenor’s many names was actually taken from this event: one name of the island was “Elenna”, meaning “starwards”.

Elros also ended up being the longest-reigning king of Númenor, ruling for 410 years before taking the “gift of men” and passing on. His descendants became the future kings and queens of Númenor, but a branch of his descendants also became the line of Elendil, through which his lineage survived the downfall of Númenor. As another part of the dramatic story that must have been the relationship between Elrond and Elros, Elrond ended up acting as a foster-father in Rivendell to many of his brother’s descendants, from Valandil the son of Isildur (Maxim Baldry) all the way down to Aragorn himself in the Third Age. Of course, the depth of this story is only hinted at in the series, but it has the potential to be an extremely moving and potent tale if they decide to explore the backstory of Elrond and his mortal brother.