The Aftermath and the Dawn of the Second Age

Morgoth’s defeat came at immense cost. Arda was forever changed—the silmarils were lost forever, and much of Beleriand was completely destroyed, sunk into the seas. What remained became Middle-earth as we know it in the books and films, just a fraction of Beleriand’s remaining landmass. The Valar’s host was nearly destroyed by the arrival of the dragons, and much of the Edain were likewise wiped out in the fighting. What remained of Elfkind was ordered by the Maia Ëonwë to return to their ancestral home in the west, and many Elves chose to do so, beginning the long path of their race exiting the larger world—even if some holdout kingdoms would remain for thousands more years before journeying westwards. For their role in the War of Wrath, the surviving Edain were given the Isle of Númenor by Ëonwë, uplifting them to become a prominent force in Middle-Earth.

And, of course, some of Morgoth’s forces still lingered. Many Balrogs and dragons were slain, but the survivors went into hiding, and while much of Morgoth’s orcish hordes were wiped out, the remnants rallied around the hidden former lieutenant of the Dark Lord, Sauron, who had been in hiding during the War of Wrath following a prior defeat at the hands of the Elves. Sauron quietly amassed power and planned his ascendancy as the new Dark Lord as one Age ended and another began… much of which, no doubt, we’ll begin to see some semblance of when The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power begins on Prime Video September 2.

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