Rings of Power season 3 finally brings Elros, Elrond’s overlooked twin brother, into the story. Robert Aramayo plays both brothers in a flashback that explores the choice separating their destinies.
Elrond’s family history is among the most extraordinary in J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendarium. His mother, Elwing, became a great white bird, while his twin brother Elros chose mortality and went on to establish Númenor. Elros’s bloodline later produced Elendil, Isildur and Aragorn. Their father, Eärendil, is associated with the North Star.
The series previously hinted at Elros through a tapestry seen in Númenor during season 1. Season 3 now gives the character a direct role, showing the moment he tells Elrond that he will accept the fate of Men.
The flashback takes place before Elrond travels to Númenor in the present-day storyline to seek assistance in the war against Sauron. Aramayo portrays Elros as physically identical to his brother, including the contrast between Elros’s rounded human ears and Elrond’s elven identity.
Why Elros matters to Elrond’s season 3 journey
Elros’s decision becomes especially important once Elrond is sent towards Númenor. Sauron is recruiting Men who may eventually become Nazgûl, but he has not yet forged the One Ring. As Elrond prepares for his mission, memories of his brother return.
Showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay viewed Elros’s introduction as essential because Númenor is not merely an unfamiliar kingdom to Elrond. It is the civilisation his brother chose to lead and build. Elrond is therefore confronting both a political crisis and the legacy of the person closest to him.
That relationship has remained painful for Elrond for centuries. Elros’s choice guaranteed that the brothers would eventually be separated by death, while Elrond continued living as an immortal elf. His visit to Númenor allows him to experience the world Elros created, almost a thousand years after Elros’s death.
Robert Aramayo separates the two brothers
Aramayo approached Elros and Elrond as opposing expressions of the same family. For Elros, he studied Númenor, its people and Tolkien’s mortal heroes, looking for a sense of grounded humanity. Elrond, by contrast, suggested air and wings to him, an image connected to their mother Elwing.
The distinction is not only a practical way to identify which brother is on screen. It reflects the central decision of their lives: Elrond embraces elven immortality, while Elros accepts the mortal fate of Men.
Aramayo sees Elros as deeply connected to the people he leads. The Men who fought Morgoth were rewarded with Númenor, which the Valar brought out of the sea. In Aramayo’s interpretation, Elros chose to lead them because he believed he was the right person to do so, even while knowing he would share their mortality.
The flashback shows Elrond at a younger age than viewers have previously seen him. His parents, Eärendil and Elwing, were already gone, having sacrificed themselves to a higher purpose. Elros’s decision becomes another profound loss in a life already marked by separation.
That pattern of loss helps explain Elrond’s later character. Rather than making him only mournful, it gives him a strong instinct to preserve and protect.
Elros, Arwen and the mystery of mortality
Elros’s decision also anticipates the choice faced by his descendant Arwen in The Lord of the Rings. Thousands of years after Elros accepts mortality, Elrond’s daughter makes the same broad choice so she can be with Aragorn, a very distant relative.
Aramayo cautions that Elros may not be the first memory Elrond connects to Arwen’s decision. Too much time and too many further losses separate the events. Even so, Elros’s choice appears to remain unresolved within Elrond.
Tolkien’s idea of death as the “Gift of Men” adds another layer of uncertainty. Elves who die remain connected to Arda and go to the Halls of Mandos, but the ultimate destination of Men lies beyond the world and is unknown even to the Elves.
That mystery can make mortality seem frightening or strangely liberating. It also helps explain the later history of Númenor, where fear of death becomes one of the forces that damages the kingdom founded by Elros.
Númenor is Elros’s legacy
Elrond’s relationship with Númenor mirrors his relationship with Rivendell. Elros built a kingdom intended to outlast him, while Elrond eventually creates a refuge that reflects his own desire for preservation.
Rivendell appears during this season as an expression of Elrond’s protective nature. His familiarity with human mortality also contributes to his ability to understand people unlike himself, including his friendship with the dwarf king Durin.
When Elrond reaches Númenor, he finds a kingdom divided and increasingly hostile towards Elves. Its people recognise his resemblance to their first king, and images of Elros appear throughout the civilisation.
That recognition is uncomfortable rather than simply flattering. Elrond is accustomed to standing alongside figures such as Galadriel and Gil-galad, not being treated as a legend himself. He also discovers that Númenor has lost much of its connection to Elros’s ideals and history.
One image of Elros has even had its elven ears removed, suggesting how thoroughly the kingdom has reshaped its understanding of its founder. Elrond expected to find stronger memories of his brother and instead encounters a society increasingly detached from its past.
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A legacy that cannot last forever
Elros chose a mortal life, yet the kingdom he founded was designed to endure. Elrond chose immortality and created Rivendell, a sanctuary that survived even after the Elves departed and nature reclaimed it.
Season 3’s Elros storyline therefore gives Elrond’s journey a more personal centre. Númenor is not simply an ally he needs against Sauron; it is the living remains of his brother’s decision. Seeing its divisions and decline forces Elrond to face an uncomfortable truth: even a legacy built to outlast its founder cannot remain unchanged forever.
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