Elrond’s Biggest Regret Happened Long Before The Lord of the Rings — and It Could’ve Changed Middle-earth’s Fate Forever

"I was there the day the strength of Men failed," says Elrond (Hugo Weaving) in The Fellowship of the Ring. At the heart of Mount Doom, where the fate of Middle-earth could have been forever sealed, one of the most pivotal moments in Tolkien’s legendarium unfolded unexpectedly — not with a sword or a battle cry, but in silence. Elrond, witness to millennia of strife, stood beside Isildur (Harry Sinclair) as the chance to destroy the One Ring went into shambles.