Warning: spoilers ahead for The Rings of Power episode 7. In case you missed the key moment, here's when Queen Regent Míriel goes blind in Númenor's Queen Regent Míriel has been blinded. Cynthia Addai-Robinson's character tentatively questions Elendil about when they'll through the gray smoke, despite their convoy already clearing Mordor's volcanic fumes a mile back.
Although Míriel loses her sight in The Rings of Power, it's easy to miss the moment she sustains this injury. When the Queen Regent first emerges in The Rings of Power episode 7, she clearly retains her ability to see. Not only is she directing soldiers where to go, but she also reassures the silent Isildur when Ontamo's corpse falls into view. At this point, Míriel's vision is fine. The injury occurs when Númenor's ruler leads her soldiers into a crumbling tavern to rescue those trapped within. As the smoldering roof gives way, a flurry of embers float into Míriel's face, and she immediately brings a hand to her eyes. The roof crumbles soon after, but this is the moment Queen Regent Míriel becomes blind in The Rings of Power.
Was Miriel Blind In Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings Books?
No but, then again, pretty much everything Queen Regent Míriel does in Amazon's The Rings of Power doesn't happen in the books. A very minor figure in J.R.R. Tolkien's lore, Míriel is written as the heir of Tar-Palantir, but gets forced into marrying her cousin, Ar-Pharazôn, who ultimately becomes King of Númenor. Míriel has little sway in her husband's tyrannical reign, and can only watch helplessly as Sauron's corruption poisons her homeland. Míriel tries valiantly to escape Númenor's destruction, but she falls victim to the great waves that lash the island in retaliation for its blasphemy. Just as The Rings of Power has reinvented Míriel as a ruler desperately trying to keep peace while knowing Númenor's doom is imminent, Amazon's continuity has added episode 7's eye injury all on its own. There is, however, a bitter irony considering her father's renown as the far-sighted King who sees what others do not.
What Miriel's Injury & Losses Mean For Numenor In The Rings Of Power
Despite the loss of her sight, Queen Regent Míriel wastes little time making her position on Númenor's future clear: she's heading back home to regroup, then the full force of Númenor will return to Middle-earth, re with the Elves, and rid the world of darkness for good, forcing those responsible for the Southlands' destruction (and her own life-altering injury) to regret their transgressions. Her fellow Númenóreans won't necessarily feel the same way.
Before departing, Míriel faced huge resistance to her Middle-earth expedition, with many Númenóreans feeling that following Elves into battle was a bad idea. By any measure, the Númenórean boats returning home with significantly fewer soldiers and an injured Queen Regent cannot be considered a success. While Míriel herself wishes to use her misfortune in the Southlands as motivation for future revenge, therefore, her opponents will likely point to the expedition's failure as proof the Queen Regent needs replacing, creating a power vacuum for the conniving Pharazôn to fill in The Rings of Power's future.
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The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power continues Thursday/Friday on Prime Video.