If you've been watching The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2, you might be asking yourself: what happened to Bronwyn? And it's certainly a fair question to ask!
In the first season of this The Lord of the Rings spin-off, Bronwyn was a human healer who lived in a village in the Southlands, a location which eventually turned out to be the former name of what LOTR fans better know as Mordor. The character had a son named Theo and a burgeoning romance with elf Arondir, and led her fellow villagers through an unsuccessful defense against orc raiders.
One of the major figures of the series, Bronwyn was played by the actress Nazanin Boniadi, who's also known for Homeland, Counterpart and Hotel Mumbai.
The third episode of The Rings of Power season 2 catches us up with Bronwyn's fellow villagers, including Arondir and Theo, in the wake of season 1's cataclysmic finale. However she's missing. So where did she go? Well there are two answers, and spoilers ensue, for those who are worried.
What was Bronwyn's fate?
Bronwyn doesn't appear once in The Rings of Power season 2, and we learn that she died some time between her last appearance in the first season, and Isildur arriving at the new settlement of Pelargir in episode 3 of season 2.
Her death is actually something we did witness though, in a way: in the sixth episode of the first season, she's shot by archers twice, and narrowly escapes death. It seems that she makes a full recovery.
However Arondir tells Isildur that this wasn't the case after all. Some time after the human refugees arrived at Pelargir, it was discovered that the arrows Bronwyn were struck with were poisoned with an orcish venom. This took her life, even though it seemed as though the danger was behind them.
If you've seen The Hobbit: The Battle of Two Armies, you'll be familiar with this concept, as a character called Kíli is shot by a similar poisoned arrow. With help from an elf, Kíli is healed, but Bronwyn clearly didn't have access to the important herb that saved the dwarf.
So that explains why Bronwyn isn't alive any more, but why did she abruptly get killed off between seasons? Well, that has another story.
Why isn't Nazanin Boniadi back?
It's not been officially confirmed why Nazanin Boniadi isn't in The Rings of Power any more, but it could very well be because she took a hiatus from acting in 2022, when production would have taken place on season 2.
According to the Hollywood Reporter Boniadi reportedly took an indefinite break from acting back in September 2022, though she returned for the upcoming A Mosquito in the Ear which is currently in post-production. It is also reported that Boniadi does a lot of activism work in her home country of Iran and the hiatus was done in order to spend more time on this.
Of course, a break from acting in 2022 would mean that Boniadi was unable to return to the role of Bronwyn, as The Rings of Power season 2 began production in October 2022 and continued until June 2023.
Given the finality of Bronwyn's fate, it's very unlikely that she'll return to The Rings of Power season 2, and judging by episode 3 her death will play an important part in Arondir and Theo's character arcs for the rest of the season.
