Well merry doll, this is a rumor I was not expecting to write. According to TORn, Tom Bombadil rumored to be in The Rings of Power Season 2. Now, if true this is big news, and slightly worrying as I will explain below. However first off, there are going to be a lot of fans of The Lord of the Rings movies that never read the books, and you’re likely wondering who the hell Tom Bombadil is? Well, that’s kinda the problem, how do I possibly answer a question that Tolkien himself refused to answer in his lifetime?

First off though, let’s start with the rumor itself. In the video below, timestamp around 01:12:00 the hosts talk about a character named Tom on set. Here is the exchange if you don’t want to watch the video itself.

“Tom? Hmm. Do you think that’s a possible Tom Bombadil coming to visit the show?”

“It’s 100% Tom Bombadil. That’s what they’re (source) saying. Tom Bombadil has been cast and will show up in Season 2.”

Then, one of the TORn Discord mods posted this on social media, indicating this is the codename for Tom in Season 2.

#tropspoilers #TheRingsOfPower #TheRingsOfPowerS2

"Errol Pram" = Tom Bombadil https://t.co/ZWR4D4zFOc

— DrNosy (@DrNosy10) January 4, 2023

Okay, so if this was coming from Fellowship of Fans, I’d be more sure it was correct. However for now, let’s just treat this as a rumor and see where it goes. There’s always the chance some wires have been crossed. Though I could honestly see Amazon doing this, so I’m not that skeptical.

Ding a ling dong, will Ol’ Tom give us a song?

Tom Bombadil is an enigma wrapped in a puzzle. His origins, and nature have been debated endlessly by Tolkien fans for half a century or more and we still don’t have any real answers. If you’ve read the books, then you know who Tom is. If you’ve only watched the movies, then you may have no idea?

Tom is tricky to pull off. As such, director Peter Jackson chose to just cut the Tom section out of The Fellowship of the Ring completely. Basically, in between leaving the Shire and arriving at Bree, the Hobbits have an incident in the Old Forest where they are imprisoned by a tree. You’ve actually seen this in the movie version of The Two Towers. Merry and Pippin are attacked by a tree and Treebeard the Ent saves them. However in the books that never happened. Instead, it was a character called Tom Bombadil who rescued the Hobbits, took them home, fed them, kept them safe and then sent them on their way again, refreshed and rested.

I have to be careful I don’t get into this too far, because you could write a weighty tome on Bombadil theories and analysis. Ultimately Tom is very curious because we fans don’t know who or what he is? Is he a Maia like Gandalf’s true form and Sauron are? Is he something even beyond that? There are no real answers, the only thing Tolkien ever clarified is that Bombadil did not represent himself inside the story. Some claim Tom is actually the creator Eru himself (not for me), some that Tom is a spirit even older than some of the Maia (Angels). We really have no idea?

RELATED: The Rings Of Power Season 2 Sets New Directors Plus More Casting News

However, Tom is curious. For a start, the One Ring has no influence on Tom. He holds it, flips it and gives it straight back to Frodo. Even if you’ve watched the movies you’ll know that’s unusual for any character, even Gandalf fears to touch it. Elrond and Gandalf even discuss if Tom could be trusted to look after the Ring and keep it hidden from Sauron? However Gandalf rejects this idea because he says Tom would not understand the importance of it. He’d go on with his own business in the forest and forget about it or misplace it, putting everyone in danger. Plus the fact that once Sauron has control of the rest of Middle-earth, Tom won’t be able to resist the Dark Lord even in his own little corner of the Old Forest.

The Enigma

I won’t get into any more detail here. If this idea intrigues you, simply search for debates on the nature of Tom Bombadil and you will find hours of reading material on the subject. In fact it’s one of the most common questions new fans have once they get into the series and there is no succinct answer experienced fans can give them. Tolkien liked the idea of Tom being an enigma. Therefore he refused to clarify anything about him.

The point is this. Adding in a character that is such an enigma might seem like a great idea, however it’s filled with danger. There is no way the Tolkien Estate lets Amazon define who or what Tom is in canon. Therefore, why bother other than fan service? This is a character cut from the movies because he was such a complication. Is it therefore a good idea to bring him into an original fan fiction story? I’ve already been rolling my eyes at a few story decisions changed from the lore in Season 1. Therefore to me this just seems needlessly dangerous, yet somewhat typical of this show. Very intriguing, and worrying at the same time, if this turns out to be legit.

What do you think as Tom Bombadil rumored to be in The Rings of Power Season 2? Are you hearing the name for the first time reading this? Or, are you burdened with knowledge like I am and worried about this possibility? As always, leave any thoughts below.

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