Why did Númenor come to the Southlands? In Rings of Power episode 6, audiences saw Queen Míriel and her Númenórean armies to leave their shores and set sail for Middle-earth.
The army arrived, thankfully just in time to rescue the Southlands and its inhabitants from Adar and his warband of Orcs. Together with the Southlanders, and led in battle by Galadriel and Halbrand, the Númenóreans fought off the Orcs, taking them and Adar captive.
However, that wasn’t the end of the story. Waldreg took Theo’s broken sword and used it as a key to unlock the floodgates, and cause a volcanic eruption that will create Mordor and Mount Doom itself. This undoubtedly leaves the Númenóreans in a sticky situation. But, why did Númenór come to the Southlands in the first place?
Why did Númenor come to the Southlands?
Luckily for Arondir, Bronwyn, and frankly everyone in the Southlands, the Númenóreans arrived at precisely the right moment to destroy the threat from the orcs. But what were the circumstances that led them there? There are two major factors in the Númenóreans arriving at Middle-earth to defend the Southlands.
The first is that Galadriel had been convincing Queen Míriel and the Númenóreans that they needed to go to Middle-earth to help stop the rise of Sauron and defeat the growing evil. This was a hard task because the Númenóreans were distrustful of Galadriel and Halbrand and were unsure about helping them.
The reason they were going to the Southlands specifically was because Galadriel knew that’s where Sauron might be hiding, and using as his base.
The second factor, and the reason that Galadriel needed the Númenóreans specifically is that the Elves had refused to help. Assistance from the Númenóreans became especially necessary after Galadriel’s hunt for Sauron was shut down by the rest of the Elves in Lindon, and they refused to help her any longer.
So, the Númenóreans went to the Southlands because Galadriel convinced them they needed to help defeat Sauron, and because the Elven armies were no longer going to help her. That’s pretty clear.
What’s less clear is how the Númenóreans knew that Bronwyn’s village was under attack. They weren’t there to help those Southlanders specifically, and Galadriel did not know that Adar and his orcs were mounting an attack there.
The episode seemed to make it clear that the Númenóreans were ready to help and defend the village as soon as they arrived, but this was quite quickly brushed over. It could be to do with Queen Miriel’s foresight, and use of the Palantir, and that she used this to help her see where the danger was. But, still, we hope that this is cleared up as Rings of Power continues. At the moment, it’s been left pretty vague.