He was the greatest craftsman of the Second Age. Honestly, probably the greatest smith to ever live if you don't count his grandfather, Fëanor. But in The Rings of Power, Celebrimbor isn't just a legendary name from a Tolkien appendix. He’s a warning. A walking, talking example of what happens when massive talent meets an even bigger ego.
People love a good downfall.
Watching Charles Edwards play the Lord of Eregion, you see this specific mix of kindness and blinding ambition. It’s painful. You know he’s being played. I know he’s being played. Yet, we watch because the show nails that specific, agonizing slow-motion car crash of a genius being outsmarted by a god. It’s not just about some jewelry. It's about how a man who wants to save the world ends up handing the keys to the guy trying to burn it down.
Why Rings of Power Celebrimbor is Different from the Books
If you grew up on The Silmarillion or the Unfinished Tales, the version of the character in the show might feel a bit... softer? In Tolkien’s writing, the timeline is stretched over centuries. The relationship between the Elven-smiths and "Annatar" (the Lord of Gifts) is a professional collaboration that turns into a nightmare.
In the show, things are tighter. More intimate.
The Rings of Power Celebrimbor we see on screen is older, perhaps more weary. He’s haunted by the legacy of Fëanor—the guy who made the Silmarils and basically started a world war over them. That’s a lot of baggage. He doesn't just want to make pretty things. He wants to create something that "bubbles over" with power to stop the decay of the Elven race in Middle-earth.
The Gwaith-i-Mírdain—that’s his guild of smiths—aren't just making rings; they are trying to cheat time.
One of the biggest gripes fans had in Season 1 was how "easily" he was fooled by Halbrand. But look closer. It wasn't about him being dumb. It was about his obsession with the craft. When Halbrand mentions "alloying" the mithril, it’s a spark. For a smith, that’s like a chef finding a missing ingredient. It’s a moment of intellectual vanity. He wanted the solution so badly he didn't care where it came from.
The Manipulation of Eregion
Season 2 takes this and turns the volume up to eleven.
Eregion is a beautiful place, right? It’s the peak of Elven civilization in the Second Age. But it becomes a gilded cage for Celebrimbor. The dynamic between him and Sauron—now appearing as the "angelic" Annatar—is the strongest part of the narrative. It’s basically a psychological thriller set in a forge.
Sauron doesn't use a sword to conquer Eregion. He uses gaslighting.
He isolates Celebrimbor. He makes him doubt his friends, his king, and eventually, his own eyes. There are scenes where the city of Ost-in-Edhil is literally under siege, stones are falling, people are dying, and Celebrimbor is stuck in a magical illusion where everything is fine and the sun is shining. It’s horrific. It turns the "master smith" into a tragic puppet.
What the show gets right here is the cost of creation.
To make the Nine Rings for Men, Celebrimbor has to pour more than just metal into the forge. He pours his spirit into them. By the time he realizes who Annatar really is, it’s too late. The master has become the servant. This isn't just "fantasy lore." It’s a story about how our desire to leave a legacy can be used against us by people who don't have our best interests at heart.
The Problem With Mithril
We have to talk about the mithril.
In the lore, mithril is just a super-cool, super-strong metal. In the show, it’s basically Elven life-support. This change is controversial, but it gives Rings of Power Celebrimbor a ticking clock. He isn't just making rings for fun. He’s trying to save his people from fading into nothingness.
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- The Three Rings (Elven) were made first in the show.
- They used the purest mithril.
- They were made without Sauron’s direct touch, which is why they aren't inherently evil, though they are still tied to the One.
But then things get messy. The Seven for the Dwarves and the Nine for Men.
The Nine are where the real tragedy happens. Celebrimbor knows Men are "frail," as he puts it. He knows giving them this much power is risky. But Annatar convinces him it’s the only way to bring "order" to Middle-earth. It’s the classic "greater good" trap. You can see the guilt eating him alive even before the rings are finished.
Charles Edwards and the Human Element
Can we just appreciate the acting for a second?
Charles Edwards brings a sort of "fumbling professor" energy to the role that makes the eventual torture and demise of the character so much harder to watch. He’s polite. He’s refined. He’s a bit of a snob, sure, but he genuinely loves his craft.
Compare that to the Celebrimbor from the Shadow of Mordor video games. That guy was a vengeful wraith. This guy? This guy is a victim of his own hope.
The chemistry between Edwards and Charlie Vickers (Sauron) is electric because it’s built on a lie. Every time Celebrimbor smiles because he’s solved a metallurgical problem, you want to scream at the TV. It’s rare for a high-budget fantasy show to spend so much time on two guys talking in a room about smithing, but it works because the stakes are the soul of the world.
Why His Death Hits So Hard
If you know the lore, you know where this ends. It’s not pretty.
The Fall of Eregion is one of the darkest chapters in Tolkien's history. Sauron doesn't just kill Celebrimbor; he uses him as a literal banner. He parades his body in front of the retreating Elven armies. It’s the ultimate act of cruelty.
Why? Because Celebrimbor was the only one who truly understood what Sauron was doing. He was the one who hid the Three. He defied the Dark Lord at the very end.
In The Rings of Power, this final stand is earned. We see a man who was broken and deceived finally finding his backbone. He realizes he’s been a fool, and he accepts the consequences. There’s a strange dignity in his final moments. He goes from a man obsessed with being "the best" to a man who just wants to do the right thing, even if it costs him everything.
What You Should Take Away From This
Celebrimbor’s story isn't just for Tolkien nerds. It’s a case study in "creators' blindness."
We often get so caught up in can we do something that we forget to ask if we should. Whether it's AI, new tech, or magical rings that control the fate of the world, the lesson is the same. Ambition without wisdom is just a fancy way to fail.
If you're watching the show and feeling frustrated with him, good. You’re supposed to. You’re seeing a reflection of the human (or Elven) tendency to believe we’re the hero of the story right up until the moment the curtains fall.
Next Steps for the Deep Dive
To fully grasp the tragedy of Eregion, look into the specific differences between the Seven Rings given to the Dwarves and the Nine given to Men. The corruptive influence works differently on each race, and Celebrimbor’s "design" is what allowed those differences to manifest.
Check out the "Council of Elrond" chapters in The Fellowship of the Ring for the long-term fallout of Celebrimbor's work. It puts the events of the show into a much grimmer perspective when you realize these artifacts were still causing misery thousands of years later.
Pay attention to the background characters in the Eregion smithy during Season 2; their reactions to Celebrimbor’s changing mood are the "canary in the coal mine" for the city's eventual destruction.
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Finally, keep an eye on the forge itself. The physical space of the forge changes as the season progresses—becoming darker, more claustrophobic, and more industrial. It’s a visual metaphor for how Sauron is literally reshaping Celebrimbor’s world into a prototype of Mordor.