Star Wars actor plays major role in Lord of the Rings spin-off

Amazon’s much-anticipated Lord of the Rings spin-off starred an actor from Star Wars universe, but chances are even the eagle-eyed fans missed his appearance.

The Rings of Power started off strong with Galadriel’s quest of Sauron after the death of her brother. Along with familiar names like Elrond and Celebrimbor, the show introduced a number of new characters to J.R.R. Tolkien’s iconic lore. Among them was a Silvan Elf warrior named Arondir, stationed in the Southlands of Middle-Earth to make sure the inhabitants do not revert back to siding with the evil.

The character of Arondir, who has a romantic connection with a village healer named Bronwyn, is played by actor Ismael Cruz Cordova of The Good Wife, Mary Queen of Scots fame. However, this wasn’t Cordova’s first outing with a major franchise.

Cordova previously appeared in Star Wars spin-off series The Mandalorian as an old foe of the protagonist Din Djarin. Named Qin, aka designated prisoner X-6-9-11, Cordova played the character of a Twi’lek male mercenary from Ryloth arrested by the New Republic along with his twin sister Xi’an.

Star Wars fans who also watch The Rings of Power might not have recognized the actor right away, and they have every reason to. During his appearance in The Mandalorian, Cordova had to wear a significant amount of prosthetics to match the purplish skin, lack of facial hair, and the trademark lekkus or head-tails coming out of their head.

Here’s a picture of Qin and Xi’an from The Mandalorian: 

In The Rings of Power, Cordova is seen in his natural, prosthetics-free face, except for the pointy ears that every elf in Tolkien’s universe dons.

At the end of the second episode of the show, Cordova’s Arondir is seen captured by an unseen, possibly evil force while pursuing the source of strange happenstances in a suddenly-evacuated village.