The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 continues to flesh out its Numenor storylines as political matters heat up on the once-great island. After their terrible defeat at the hands of Adar and his Orcs in Middle-earth, the Númenóreans sail back home with their tail between their legs, where they face their most difficult adversary yet: themselves. After suffering heavy losses as a result of Queen Miriel’s orders, Ar-Pharazôn organizes a peaceful coup that removes her from the throne and places himself as the new protector of Numenor. However, his resistance to anything Elvish and growing fear of death will eventually result in the island’s destruction in a great flood that Miriel has foreseen, dooming Numenor and most of its inhabitants.
Recent episodes of The Rings of Power have turned Pharazôn’s son Kemer into a more important character as the Prime Video series continues to build up to Numenor’s doom. Played by Leon Wadham, Kemer is a sly political pundit who does his father’s bidding without question. In Episode 5 of the most recent season, entitled “Halls of Stone,” he even murders Valandil in cold blood. As Kemen continues to evolve into a bitter villain, fans have begun to wonder if he could eventually become one of the nine kings of Men to obtain a ring of power from Sauron. This would inevitably lead to a devastating fate for Kemen in which he and the other eight kings become the Nazgul seen during the Lord of the Rings trilogy. However, a fate even more terrifying than that of a Nazgul could be awaiting Kemen.
Kemen Won’t Be A Nazgul In The Rings Of Power
The identities of the Nazgul are never explored in detail in J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendarium, leaving The Rings of Power plenty of freedom when deciding which characters will suffer such a horrific fate. All that Tolkien reveals is that the Nazgul were once rulers of Men in Middle-earth or the surrounding lands who joined forces with Sauron after they were corrupted by the rings of power forged by the dark lord and Celebrimbor at Eregion. Three of these men were lords from the island of Numenor, lending some credence to the theory that Kemen will indeed become a member of the nine.
While making Kemen a Nazgul by the end of The Rings of Power would be an interesting way to end his arc, a different Lord of the Rings villain more closely matches his personality. The Nazgul are terrifying villains in appearance, but their characteristics have mostly faded by the War of the Ring. In becoming a Nazgul, Kemen would be mostly lost to the power of the ring, making his comeuppance somewhat unsatisfying. Rather than showing that he became a Nazgul, The Rings of Power could reveal that Kemen is the future villain known as the Mouth of Sauron.
Kemen Could Become The Mouth of Sauron
The Mouth of Sauron is a henchman of the dark lord whom Aragorn meets outside the Black Gate just before the final battle in Return of the King. The villainous servant of Sauron emerges from the gate of Mordor to taunt the armies that had come to lay siege to his final host. Revealing Frodo’s Mithril shirt, the Mouth of Sauron claims that the Hobbit is dead, hoping to fill Aragorn and his army’s hearts with dread and hopelessness. However, Aragorn instead slays the Mouth of Sauron and leads his army into war anyway, successfully buying Frodo and Sam enough time to ascend Mount Doom and destroy the One Ring, defeating Sauron for good.
Making Kemen the Mouth of Sauron fits his personality much better than turning him into a Nazgul. Kemen is pompous, proud, and prideful, all perfect personality traits to lay the groundwork for his becoming the Mouth of Sauron. The son of a politician, Kemen is no warrior but would need no skill with a blade to become Sauron’s mouthpiece and could instead use his arrogant words to help the Enemy. This would also make for a far better comeuppance for Kemen than transforming into a Nazgul, as he would be forced to use his skills of speech and debate for the benefit of someone else other than himself for the rest of his long, miserable life.
Very Little Is Know About The Mouth of Sauron
The Mouth of Sauron may be one of the most despicable Lord of the Rings villains, but very little is ever revealed about the mysterious antagonist. In “The Black Gate Opens,” a chapter from Return of the King, J.R.R. Tolkien suggests that he is a living man, in contrast to the Ring-wraiths, who have been granted immortality by Sauron. This is one detail that would have to be retconned if Kemen were to be The Rings of Power’s Mouth of Sauron. Though he is a Númenórean with a prolonged lifespan, Kemen would not be alive three thousand years after the fall of Numenor without some supernatural assistance. The chapter also suggests that the Mouth of Sauron had become so entwined with the Enemy that his name was forgotten by all Men, including himself. This devastating detail would lend itself perfectly to Kemen becoming the Mouth of Sauron, as the character does not appear in Tolkien’s histories.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power may be building up to Kemen becoming one of the nine Nazgul, but a far darker fate could await him. Becoming the Mouth of Sauron is a far more appropriate fate for the arrogant son of Numenor’s new leader, dooming him to a thousand lifetimes of serving someone who would steal his entire identity.
