Seven secrets we’ve spotted in LEGO Icons 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell

There’s so much to take in across LEGO Icons 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell that it’s easy to miss the details, so we’ve picked out seven secrets hiding among its 6,000 pieces.

With 6,167 pieces in the box and 15 minifigures to populate its breathtaking recreation of the elven kingdom, we probably can’t appreciate the full ambition of 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell until we’re able to assemble it for ourselves. But for the eagle-eyed, the official images do give us a glimpse of the extent to which the enormous model faithfully depicts Peter Jackson’s vision of Middle-earth. 

From a surprisingly scary alternate expression to the secret villain hiding among the set’s foundations, here are seven things you might not have spotted in 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell.

7 – A feast for the ages

Remember in The Two Towers and Return of the King, when Frodo and Sam rationed lembas as their only source of sustenance on the long journey to Mordor? And, earlier, when Pippin scoffed four of the things after Legolas told him that ‘one small bite is enough to fill the stomach of a grown man’? We’re sure Sam and Frodo never thought bitterly of that moment while trekking through Middle-earth.

Anyway, you too can recreate Pippin’s gluttony (and, if you like, Frodo and Sam’s presumed envy) with a tiny LEGO recreation of the elven bread in 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell. Pippin’s very appropriately clutching it in the official images, although he only has the one. Thankfully, tan 1×1 tiles are a little easier to come by than lembas.

6 – Hat, helmet or hair?

Gimli and Gandalf the Grey both come equipped with their respective headgear, but nobody can wear a hat or helmet around the clock. That’s presumably why the designers included separate hairpieces for both characters in 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell, so you can gift Gimli his flowing ginger locks, and Gandalf his equally-flowing grey mane.

It’s just another way in which 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell displays immaculate attention to detail: Rivendell is really the only place we see Gimli without his full armour, and it’s as jarring now as it was in 2001. But at least we can recreate it in LEGO now, too.

5 – You might want to sit down

Skim through the official images for 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell and you’re likely to overlook one of its most impressive feats: finding a solution to the age-old problem of inflexible short-legged minifigures. With only their traditional short leg pieces, Frodo and Bilbo would have been cursed to forever stand – not what you want after marching all the way to Mordor.

Thankfully, the designers have cleverly included brick-built legs that allow both characters to sit down, using a mix of headlight bricks and 1×1 plates. They’ve done the same for Gandalf and Elrond, whose skirt elements would otherwise have prevented them from taking their seats in the council ring. And you can’t have the Council of Elrond without the chief elf himself.

4 – An untethered uncle

Speaking of Bilbo: the LEGO Group hasn’t passed up the opportunity to recreate the Hobbit’s most iconic moment in the entire trilogy. Possessed by a desire to take the One Ring for himself, he puts on what you might call a frightening face for the franchise’s only jump scare.

Swivel his LEGO head round (don’t worry, neck pain isn’t a thing in LEGO Middle-earth) and you’ll find that expression artistically recreated. It’s one more reference that shows the care and attention to detail in 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell, but it’s not the last…

3 – One does not simply become a minifigure

This one’s really a nod to the lifestyle photographers responsible for showcasing the set to the masses, but we couldn’t let it pass by unnoticed. Check out the image of the Fellowship of the Ring assembled in the council ring above, and take a close look at Boromir. And in particular, Boromir’s hand. You know what we’re getting at here.

It’s not something necessarily built into the set beyond being facilitated by the full council ring, which is a high point of 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell anyway, but recreating Boromir’s iconic ‘one does not simply walk into Mordor’ line will doubtless be the first thing most of us do with the set in March.

2 – A tasty council meeting

10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell is packed to the brim with too many inventive uses of standard elements to list here, but the ones that have us licking our figurative lips are all located around the council ring. The pillars that sit behind it use cupcake cases for decorative detail, for instance, while the chairs pack in two different foodstuffs recoloured in nougat.

Spotted them yet? Here’s a hint: they’re not what you’d call two of your five-a-day. Each chair is backed by a LEGO lollipop piece, while the arms are built using hot dogs. Yum. 

1 – Eye see you

Whether it’s flags in cars or flags in cabins, LEGO designers are known for baking details into sets only for the builder’s enjoyment. But 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell includes a hidden reference that you’ll be able to revisit, simply by sliding the council ring away from the rest of the build (handy if you’ve only got room to show off that section, by the way, although it would be an expensive display).

Squirrelled away in the foundations of Rivendell is the Eye of Sauron, ready to spy on the forces that are conspiring against him. If he actually had this much access to the Council of Elrond in the books and movies, they’d probably have been over much quicker. But here’s hoping it’s a hint towards what might come next from LEGO The Lord of the Rings, because Rivendell is severely lacking in baddies to fight…

10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell launches on March 5, exclusively for VIP members, and comes with a free copy of 40630 Frodo & Gollum. It will then launch for everyone else at LEGO.com on March 8, but without said free BrickHeadz double-pack.

You can support the work that Brick Fanatics does – and take advantage of that early VIP access offer – by picking up your copy of 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell on March 5 using our affiliate links. Sign up to our newsletter for a reminder on the day.