Our list of the best quotes from Amazon Prime’s fantasy adventure TV series based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel The Lord of the Rings. Set thousands of years before the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, The Rings of Power follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.
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1. A Shadow of the Past
'If we didn't do everything we weren't supposed to, we'd hardly do anything at all.' - Nori Brandyfoot (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Galadriel: Nothing is evil in the beginning. And there was a time when the world was so young, there had not yet been a sunrise. But even then there was light.
Finrod: Do you know why a ship floats and a stone cannot? Because the stone sees only downward. The darkness of the water is vast and irresistible. The ship feels the darkness as well, striving moment by moment to master her and pull her under. But the ship has a secret. For unlike the stone, her gaze is not downward but up. Fixed upon the light that guides her, whispering of grander things than darkness ever knew.
'How am I to know which lights to follow?' - Young Galadriel, 'Sometimes we cannot know until we have touched the darkness.' - Finrod (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Young Galadriel: But that seems so simple.
Finrod: The most important truths often are. But you must learn to discern them for yourself. I won’t always be here to speak them to you.
Young Galadriel: You won’t?
'We are but ripples in a long, long stream. Our paths set by the passing seasons. Nobody goes off trail and nobody walks alone. We have each other. We're safe. That is how we survive.' - Marigold Brandyfoot (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Galadriel: We had no word for death. For we thought our joys would be unending. We thought our light would never dim. So when the Great Foe, Morgoth, destroyed the very light of our home, we resisted. And a legion of Elves went to war. We left Valinor, our home, and journeyed to a distant realm. One filled with untold perils and strange creatures beyond count. A place known as Middle-earth.
'Evil does not sleep. It waits. And in the moment of our complacency, it blinds us.' - Galadriel (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Galadriel: They said it would be over quickly, but the war left Middle-earth in ruin. And would last centuries. Now, we learned many words for death. In the end, Morgoth would be defeated. But not before much sorrow. For his Orcs had spread to every corner of Middle-earth, multiplying ever greater under the command of his most devoted servant, a cruel and cunning sorcerer. They called him Sauron.
'The past is with us all, whether we like it or not.' - Arondir (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Galadriel: My brother vowed to seek him out and destroy him. But Sauron found him first and marked his flesh with a symbol. One whose meaning even our wisest could not discern. And there, in the darkness, his vow became mine. And so, we hunted. To the ends of the Earth we hunted Sauron. But the trail grew thin.
'Beauty has great power to heal the soul.' - Arondir (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Galadriel: Year gave way to year. Century gave way to century. And for many Elves, the pain of those days passed out of thought and mind. More and more of our kind began to believe that Sauron was but a memory. And the threat, at last, was ended. I wish I could be one of them.
'The same wind that seeks to blow out a fire may also cause its spread.' - High King Gil-galad (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Galadriel: This place is so evil, our torches give off no warmth.
2. Adrift'There can be no trust between hammer and rock. Eventually one or the other must surely break.' - King Durin III (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Nori Brandyfoot: We can’t leave him like this, or the wolves will get him.
Poppy Proudfellow: So?
Nori Brandyfoot: So, that’s not who we are.
Poppy Proudfellow: That’s not who you are.
'True creation requires sacrifice.' - Lord Celebrimbor (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Nori Brandyfoot: He’s not a troll!
Poppy Proudfellow: Alright, smart-foot. Then what is he?
Nori Brandyfoot: Maybe he’s big folk.
Poppy Proudfellow: Human? No way. He’d be squished.
Nori Brandyfoot: Elf, maybe?
Poppy Proudfellow: Wrong ears. And he’s not handsome. Not to mention, Elves don’t fall from the sky. Nobody does. As far as I know.
Nori Brandyfoot: He did.
'I admire all who can see into the mystery of things, who can divine from the plainness of what is, the beauty of what could be.' - Lord Celebrimbor (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Nori Brandyfoot: In the morning, we’ll pack him up some food and send him on his way.
Poppy Proudfellow: What way?
Nori Brandyfoot: That’s a tomorrow problem.
Nori Brandyfoot: I didn’t go looking for this.
Poppy Proudfellow: But you’re not turning away.
Nori Brandyfoot: Because I can’t.
Poppy Proudfellow: Because you won’t! This stranger isn’t a Man, or an Elf, or some baby eagle with a broken wing.
Nori Brandyfoot: That was one time.
Poppy Proudfellow: He’s something else! Maybe he’s something dangerous.
'Where there is love, it is never truly dark.' - Elrond (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Nori Brandyfoot: He could’ve landed anywhere, and he landed here. I know it sounds strange, but somehow I just know he’s important. It’s like there’s a reason this happened. Like I was supposed to find him. Me. I can’t walk away from that. Not till I know he’s safe.
3. Adar
'The past is dead. We either move forward or we die with it.' - Captain Elendil (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Captain Elendil: One of the Eldar. On board my ship? Strange tides indeed.
Galadriel: What vessel is this?
Captain Elendil: Be at ease. I’m obliged to deliver you safely to my betters. They will answer your questions, not I.
Galadriel: To what port do we sail?
Captain Elendil: See for yourself. We’re nearly there.
Halbrand: Nearly where?
Captain Elendil: Home.
'An avalanche can start with one stone.' - Pharazôn (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Halbrand: What is this place?
Galadriel: There is only one place it can be. The Land of the Star. The westernmost of all mortal realms. The Island Kingdom of Númenor.
'It is unwise to live one's life guessing after signs and portents.' - Captain Elendil (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Halbrand: Since when did Men like me build kingdoms such as this?
Galadriel: These Men are not like you. In the Great War, your ancestors stood with Morgoth. These Men stood with the Elves. As a reward, the Valar granted them this island, which has changed much since then.
Halbrand: Do I detect a note of envy?
Galadriel: Not envy. Sorrow. Once, Elves came and went freely from these shores. Our people were as kin. Sharing gifts, knowledge.
Halbrand: What happened?
Galadriel: Númenor began to turn away our ships. In time, they broke off all contact.
Halbrand: Why?
Galadriel: We may be about to find out.
'There's head-sense, Poppy, and there's heart-sense.' - Nori Brandyfoot, 'There's common sense and nonsense. And if you're all out of the first, then you can borrow some of mine.' - Poppy Proudfellow (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Halbrand: [whispers to Galadriel] Kneel.
Queen Regent Míriel: No one kneels in Númenor.
Halbrand: [whispers to Galadriel] Sorry.
'We don't need friends. We need to survive.' - Vilma, 'Without friends, what are we surviving for?' - Nori Brandyfoot (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Pharazôn: A Man and an Elf, together?
Halbrand: Circumstances arose that…
Galadriel: We are companions by chance. Met on the open sea. Your captain, here, delivered us from certain death. All we ask is that Númenor continue his mercy and grant us ship’s passage to Middle-earth.
4. The Great Wave'Faith may bind one heart. But it is too fine a thread from which to hang a kingdom.' - Queen Regent Míriel (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Pharazôn: Statecraft is the art of attending to small matters as diligently as grand ones. I should like to think you’d learned that by now.
Kemen: I was only trying to be clever.
Pharazôn: Cleverness is for men of small ambition. I’d much rather it if you were wise, my son.
'You have been told many lies. Some run so deep, even the rocks and roots now believe them. To untangle it all, would all but require the creation of a new world.' - Adar (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Pharazôn: [referring to Galadriel] My friends, trust in me. For by the calluses on my hands, I swear that Elven hands will never take Númenor’s helm. She will remain, as always, a kingdom of Men.
'There is no secret worth concealing with deception.' - Elrond (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Kemen: [referring to Pharazôn] Isn’t a name in this city he doesn’t know, a crowd he can’t turn, a favor he isn’t owed.
Eärien: It’s impressive.
Kemen: I was going to say infuriating.
'You'd do well to identify what it is that your opponent most fears. Give them a means of mastering it. So that you can master them.' - Halbrand (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Galadriel: Sauron was once your people’s enemy, as much as mine. I call on you to finish the task left undone. To reforge the alliance between Númenor and Elves, and fight with me, to save the men of the Southlands before Sauron claims their lands for his own.
Queen Regent Míriel: In this court we hear many proposals. I dare say yours is the most surprising and ambitious I’ve heard in weeks. Nevertheless, Númenor has chosen another path.
Galadriel: Not all Númenor.
Queen Regent Míriel: King or carpenter, the Southlander will face judgment. This audience is ended.
'Intuition's a powerful tonic.' - King Durin III (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Queen Regent Míriel: And with what authority do you speak, Elf? That of your people? Or are you a castaway, grasping for a handhold in a tempest?
Galadriel: There is a tempest in me! It swept me to this island for a reason. And it will not be quelled by you, Regent.
'Cleverness is for men of small ambition.' - Pharazôn (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Halbrand: [as Galadriel is placed in the prison cell] Don’t tell me. Tavern brawl?
Galadriel: Sedition.
5. Partings
'Hope is never mere, even when it is meager. When all other senses sleep, the eye of hope is first to awaken, last to shut.' - High King Gil-galad (The Rings of Power) (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Nori Brandyfoot: [referring to their migration] Of course, the only trouble is there’s a hundred perils between here and there.
The Stranger: “Perils”?
Nori Brandyfoot: Like a danger. You know, big folk, wolves, fog, rain, hill-trolls, cave-trolls, anything that’ll kill you.
'It's folly to kick against the current. You see, the tide may rise and drown a man, or fall and sweep him out to sea. The trick of mastering the current is to know which way it will turn next.' - Pharazôn (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
The Stranger: I’m peril.
Nori Brandyfoot: No. No, no, you’re not.
The Stranger: No. Fireflies.
Nori Brandyfoot: That was just an accident. You’re not a peril. You’re good.
The Stranger: I’m good?
Nori Brandyfoot: You’re good. Because you’re here to help.
'Loyalty to a friend ought to be expected. Regardless of his race.' - Elrond (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Marigold Brandyfoot: Poke me with that crutch again, I’ll pluck the hair off your toes in your sleep.
Largo Brandyfoot: And I’ll pluck off my ears while you’re at it. It’d save me listening to your snoring.
Marigold Brandyfoot: Oh, stuff. I do not snore.
Nori, Poppy: Yes, you do.
'A kingdom should be led. Not dragged.' - Pharazôn (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Bronwyn: I know I’m not the king you have awaited. But if you choose to stand with me and fight, this tower will no longer be a reminder of our frailty, but a symbol of our strength. Who will stand with me? Who among you will stand and fight?
'A burden shared may either be halved or doubled. Depending on the heart that receives it.' - Elrond (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Waldreg: Stand and fight? Stand and fight? You will die. I say it’d be better to take our chances bowing to the supposed enemy.
Arondir: I have looked that enemy in the eye. He’s not your deliverance.
Waldreg: You think you are? Elf? I’ll say this for our ancestors. They lived!
Bronwyn: Together, we can survive this.
Waldreg: Follow me, and together, we will!
'Sometimes to find the light, we must first touch the darkness.' - Galadriel (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Isildur: Why wasn’t I chosen for the expedition?
Captain Elendil: I thought you were going west.
Isildur: Not anymore. Not till I’ve done something worthy of Númenor.
Captain Elendil: And what is that? In your words.
Isildur: I don’t have words for it. That’s why I’m trying so hard to find it. Why I’m asking for your help.
'Give me the meat, and give it to me raw.' - Prince Durin IV (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Captain Elendil: While you were feigning fidelity to the traditions of this isle, these men were living them. Finding ways to contribute. To serve. Something of which you evidently care little.
Isildur: I care. I’m ready to serve.
Captain Elendil: Nothing would make me prouder. But you had your chance. And you made your choice.
6. Udûn'In the end, this shadow is but a small and passing thing. There is light and high beauty forever beyond its reach. Find the light, and the shadow will not find you.' - Bronwyn (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Adar: [to the Orcs] Our enemy may be weak, their numbers meager, yet before this night is through, some of us will fall. But for the first time, you do so not as unnamed slaves in far-away lands, but as brothers. As brothers and sisters in our home! This is the night we reach out the iron hand of the Uruk and close our fist around these lands.
Waldreg: [to Adar] Meaning no offense, Lord-father, but where is he? What happened to Sauron?
'Despise not the labor which humbles the heart. Humility has saved entire kingdoms the proud have all but led to ruin.' - Galadriel (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Galadriel: [referring to the lands] It’ll be visible to your eyes in a few moments.
Isildur: Is it visible to yours already?
Galadriel: Has been for nearly an hour.
Isildur: Keen are the eyes of the Elves.
Galadriel: What is your rank?
Isildur: Stable sweep.
Galadriel: Despise not the labor which humbles the heart. Humility has saved entire kingdoms the proud have all but led to ruin.
Isildur: I did not join this expedition to be humbled, Commander.
Galadriel: Then for what did you join, soldier?
Isildur: I was just trying to get away. As far as I could from that place.
7. The Eye
'It darkens the heart, to call dark deeds good. It gives place for evil to thrive inside us.' - Galadriel (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Poppy Proudfellow: Mr. Burrows. What happened?
Sadoc Burrows: My great-grand used to speak of mountains to the south that could spit fire-rock. He said they go to sleep. Sometimes for hundreds of years. Only to wake again when a new evil is rising.
'What cannot be known hollows the mind. Fill it not with guesswork.' - Galadriel (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Malva: [referring to the stranger] What’s he muttering?
Sadoc Burrows: Likely little words, so the tree will understand.
Malva: Sadoc, trees don’t talk.
Sadoc Burrows: Some do.
'Every war is fought both without and within. Of that, every soldier must be mindful.' - Galadriel (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
King Durin III: Tell me, why should we trust any Elf?
Elrond: You should not. But you can trust me. For I am no common Elf, but Elrond Half-elven. And I see in Elves that which they cannot see in themselves. That is why I stand before you now, alone. Pleading. For you to save my people. Please, noble King. Help us.
'I gave power to the enemy. So that makes me responsible.' - Theo, 'Some say that is the way of things. But I believe the wise also look upon what is in our hearts.' - Galadriel (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
King Durin III: It is said that when Aulë created our people, he crafted us of two elements. Fire and rock. The rock that lives within us hungers for the eternal, resisting the pull of time. But the fire embraces truth. That all things must one day be consumed and fade away to ash. We do not dig in earth that cannot support it. Delving into depths beyond the darkness. Tempting shadow, rock, and mine to bury us all beneath the mountain.
'There are powers beyond darkness at work in this world. Perhaps on days such as this, we've little choice but to trust to their designs. And surrender our own.' - Galadriel (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
King Durin III: I will not risk Dwarven lives to help the Elves cheat death.
Prince Durin IV: Cheat death? Father! My friend is drowning, reaching for me to pull him to shore. You expect me to swat his hand away because you’re afraid of a bloody rock fall?
King Durin III: The fate of the Elves was decided many Ages ago. By minds much wiser, much farther-seeing than our own. Defy their will, and this entire kingdom might fall. Perhaps the entire Middle-earth. I am sorry, my son. But their time has come.
'The iron that must bear the most heavy of burdens must also endure the most rigorous tempering.' - King Durin III (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Princess Disa: [referring to King Durin] Lice-bearded, uncaring, old fool!
Prince Durin IV: What if he’s right?
Princess Disa: You’re not thinking of letting this happen!
Prince Durin IV: What choice do we have?
'We stay true to each other. No matter how the path winds, or how steep it gets, we face it, with our hearts even bigger than our feet. And we just keep walking.' - Largo Brandyfoot (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Prince Durin IV: He’s more than just my father, Disa. He’s our king. What kind of father would I be if I teach our children the will of a king should be counted as dross to be cast to the wind?
'What's the good of living if we aren't living good?' - Malva (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Princess Disa: I shouldn’t have said he had lice in his beard. Or called him a fool.
Prince Durin IV: Yeah.
Princess Disa: No. No. I detest it when you heap slag on my mother.
Prince Durin IV: Well, in your mother’s case, she actually does have lice in her… I’m joking. I’m joking.
8. Alloyed'Only you can show what you are. You choose by what you do.' - Nori Brandyfoot (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Lord Celebrimbor: If only there was some way of doing more with less. The Sun itself began as something no bigger than the palm of my hand.
Elrond: And how could we possibly match the powers that wrought the Sun? We’re out of time, Celebrimbor. We must inform the High King of our failure. Then the Elves must prepare to abandon these shores. Forever.
'Sometimes the perilous path is the only path.' - Galadriel (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Elrond: I should never have set you on that ship. I should have trusted you. It is a mistake I will not make again.
Galadriel: I leapt from that ship, because I believed in my heart I was not yet worthy of it. I knew that, somehow, my task here was not yet complete. And when I surfaced, all I could do was swim, and pray I had chosen wisely. I did not cross that bitter ocean only to drown now. And nor will I let you.
'Constraint can be the very progenitor of invention.' - Elrond (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Elrond: I have missed you. What are we to do?
Galadriel: The only thing we can do. Swim.
'The way of The Faithful is committing to pay the price, even if the cost cannot be known. And trusting that, in the end, it will be worth it' - Queen Regent Míriel (The Rings of Power) Click To Tweet
Halbrand: [referring to the mithril] This is a peculiar ore. What is it?
Lord Celebrimbor: Not enough.
Halbrand: Enough for what?
'Betimes, our paths are laid before us by powers greater than our own. In those moments, it's our task to make our feet go where our hearts wish not to tread. No matter the perils awaiting us on the way.' - The Stranger Click To Tweet
Halbrand: Might there not be some alloy to amplify the qualities of your ore?
Lord Celebrimbor: Well, that is an intriguing suggestion.
Halbrand: Call it a gift.
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