Contains spoilers for “The Rings of Power” Season 2, Episode 5

As “The Rings of Power” Season 2 passes its midway point, Sauron (Charlie Vickers) is in Eregion, disguised as Annatar, and full-on forging Rings of Power with Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) and company. (We asked the actors to reveal their secrets about the ring-making process back in August, and it’s fascinating.)

By Episode 5, the Three Elven Rings and Seven Dwarven Rings are officially forged (even if this technically breaks the Tolkien timeline). The only ones left are the Nine for Mortal Men and the One to Rule Them All. As Annatar begins to pressure and gaslight Celebrimbor into making Rings for Men, the Elven craftsman pushes back, pointing to the weakness of Men as a reason they should never have access to corrupting power of that magnitude. In response, Annatar says, “Men are capable of great frailty. But when the darkness falls, there are always some who rise forth and shine. Ëarendil, Tuor, Beren, son of Barahir.” Building on this list, Sauron — er, Annatar says that they should find Men who are “the wisest, the most noble, the purest of heart, from Númenor to Rhûn.” He adds that they should be nine in number and hail from the greatest mortal kingdoms.

What a nice guy. Just trying to heal the hurts of the world, right there. The question is, who are these “shining heroes” that Annatar brings up to reinforce his argument? Are Ëarendil, Tuor, and Beren canon characters from J.R.R. Tolkien’s lore? Are they good guys? Do they shine out in the Middle-earth history books? The answers are yes, yes, and yes (big time). These are three of the biggest, best, and dare we say brightest mortal heroes you can find during the First Age of Middle-earth history (not long before the Second Age, when the show is set). Let’s take a closer look at this trio, shall we?

Beren, son of Barahir is one of the most iconic figures from J.R.R. Tolkien’s larger legendarium. “The Silmarillion” has an entire chapter dedicated to the tale of the mortal Man Beren and the half-Elven, half-Maiar (basically, angelic) Princess Lúthien. Tolkien personally associated the tragic and epic love story of Beren and Lúthien with himself and his wife. The characters’ names are even etched on the English couple’s graves.

As far as shining out is concerned, Beren is a lifelong hero. He starts fighting Morgoth’s minions from a young age as an outlaw. Once he meets and falls in love with Lúthien, the pair set out on a quest to claim one of the hallowed jewels called the Silmarils from Morgoth’s crown. Beren’s journey goes on through death and resurrection and death again. Throughout his life, he is an iconic rallying point in the resistance against Morgoth and, as Annatar says, shines out in some of the darkest days of Middle-earth’s history. Critically, Beren and Lúthien also have a son, named Dior, who has a daughter named Elwing — remember that name.

Next up, we have Tuor, son of Huor. Tuor is one of the great feel-good stories of J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendarium. As a young man, Tuor finds himself in thralldom before he escapes from Morgoth’s vassals and wanders in the wild. Eventually, this leads him to a face-to-face encounter with one of the Valar (the angelic guardians of the world) named Ulmo — think Neptune or Poseidon.

Ulmo sends Tuor to the hidden Elven city of Gondolin, where he warns them of their impending doom. They ignore his foreboding words, but welcome Tuor into the city, and he is warmly embraced as one of its people. Eventually, Gondolin is discovered and destroyed, and Tuor leads the survivors out and away to safety (along with some timely Balrog-slaying help from the Elven hero Glorfindel).

While in Gondolin, Tuor also falls in love with an Elven princess named Idril. This is another critical conjunction between mortal and immortal folk in Tolkien’s stories, and in this case, they have a son who is one of the most famous and recognizable names in all of Middle-earth lore: Ëarendil. (More on him in a second.)

In the end, Tuor grows weary and old, and he and Idril decide to sail into the West, despite the fact that mortals aren’t supposed to do that kind of thing. Don’t worry, though. Everything works out fine for Tuor — at least, that’s what the legends say. “The Silmarillion” recounts, “But in after days it was sung that Tuor alone of mortal Men was numbered among the elder race, and was joined with the Noldor, whom he loved; and his fate is sundered from the fate of Men.” Fun stuff. And it’s only going to get better. Now comes the part where Tuor’s and Beren’s lineages collide — and save Middle-earth in the process.

Beren and Tuor are both mighty heroes in their own right. But it isn’t until their offspring hook up that the heroic fireworks really get going. Tuor’s son Ëarendil and Beren’s granddaughter Elwing connect, get hitched, and start out their life together during the absolute darkest days of the First Age. Morgoth controls basically everything except for a small Elvish enclave on the watery northwestern borders of Middle-earth (in an area called Beleriand that eventually is sunk underneath the waters).

As things go from bad to worse, Ëarendil decides to confront the evil of the world — not through fighting, though. By sailing. The half-elven, half-human hero builds a ship and, along with his wife, follows his father into the West. But he doesn’t go as a form of retirement. He specifically asks the Valar for aid in overthrowing Morgoth. The guardians grant his request, but rather than let him return, they strap a glowing Silmaril jewel on his forehead and set the heroic Ëarendil and his ship to sail amongst the stars as a sign of hope to both Elves and Men. It’s in this capacity that Ëarendil comes down to join in the War of Wrath (the First Age-ending battle where Morgoth’s power is destroyed). During this battle, the half-elven hero shows his mettle by single-handedly killing Ancalagon the Black, the greatest Dragon to ever live.

As a final note, we’ll add that Ëarendil’s sons are Elrond and Elros. As we all know, the former becomes the greatest lore-master in Middle-earth and plays a key part in Sauron’s eventual downfall. Elrond’s brother is also important, though. He founds the island nation of Númenor, which eventually leads to the founding of the kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor, the kings of whom connect directly to Aragorn’s ancestry. That means all three members of Annatars’ all-star list of mortal heroes directly link to his own overthrow in “The Lord of the Rings” thousands of years after he uses them as an excuse (on the show at least) to forge the Nine Rings for Mortal Men.