When we last checked in with Middle-earth, things were pretty much falling apart everywhere. As the season finale opens, that hasn’t changed. The potential catastrophes include the Khazad-dûm situation that kept Durin IV from delivering the army he promised to Elrond. Making matters even worse, especially for Durin IV and Disa: Durin III is at the heart of the crisis. Driven mad by his ring of power, he’s plunging deeper and deeper into his cavernous kingdom in search of treasure, and though his son threatens to take extreme measures to stop him from awakening the dead creature at the heart of Khazad-dûm, he immediately admits he can’t follow through on the promise of cutting off his dad’s hand. (Though, if any situation called for cutting off a father’s hand, it’s this one.) Instead, he tries to get what he wants by tugging on Durin III’s heartstrings with a story from his childhood. That, too, proves ineffective.
Yet when Durin III breaks through to the other side, even Durin IV is impressed. The feeling doesn’t last long, however. The rumbling of the Balrog down below tends to draw attention away from everything else. When it surfaces, Durin III knows his time is up. To save his kingdom, he does what he has to do: remove the ring and take a battle-ax to the Balrog the hard way, delivering it himself at the cost of his own life.
That’s a lot of action before the credits have even rolled! So maybe it’s apt that the episode should shift gears to depict the Stranger — okay, if you’ve seen the episode, you know his name, but let’s wait until we get there to use it — in the midst of a pensive moment as he approaches the stoors’ village in search of his friends. He finds it empty, or at least it seems empty. He’s soon greeted by the Dark Wizard, who not only claims to know the Stranger but to have once been in a wizard gang with the Stranger and three others, and it was the Stranger who came up with the idea of leaving the comfort of the Far West to fight Sauron in Middle-earth.
It all sounds credible enough, but the Stranger has heard rumors that the Dark Wizard is actually into Sauron. Also, where are his harfoot friends? That answer arrives soon enough when Nori and Poppy show up as hostages of one of the masked riders. And though the Dark Wizard puts their captor down without a hint of remorse, the Stranger remains skeptical. When the other stoors show up, Gundabale sets the Dark Wizard off by calling him “Dark Wizard,†a name he really does not like. The Dark Wizard — if he doesn’t want to be called that, maybe he should supply a name — then suggests that, together, they could take Sauron’s place. Instead, their potential team-up becomes a short-lived face-off that ends when the Dark Wizard exits. He would have taken out Nori, Poppy and the stoors in the process were it not for the Stranger’s intervention.
Things appear to be peaceful in Numenor, but because it’s Numenor, that’s destined not to last. Eärien disturbs the peace by ringing a bell that summons the pro-Miriel contingent to a meeting with Pharazôn. Who’s decided he’s figured out why Miriel could “bewitch the sea†(i.e., not get eaten by the giant sea creature as he’d hoped). It turns out she’s in league with Sauron! She’s not, of course, but Pharazôn subscribes to the Big Lie school of political power and uses the story as an excuse to seize those faithful to Miriel.
This gross power play finally (finally) proves to be a step too far for Eärien, who flees to warn her father, Elendil, and covers for him as he slips away. Elendil’s first instinct is to whisk Miriel away to safety, but Miriel’s not having it. She’s going to stay, she tells him, but offers a consolation prize in the form of a gleaming sword named Narsil. (Or, as he calls it, “the White Flame.â€)
Eregion could use a sword like that right about now but, unfortunately, Elendil is miles away and, frankly, it looks like it might be beyond saving as the action shifts there. Buildings are crumbling! Fires are everywhere! Orcs run amok! Real-estate values tumble before the elves’ eyes! Galadriel leads a group to safety via a secret tunnel, only to discover that it’s not so secret after all. A group of orcs awaits them. Fortunately for everyone but Galadriel, she has a contingency plan and gives herself up as a hostage, sweetening the pot by telling her captors she has the nine rings of power intended for human hands.
Inside Celebrimbor’s workshop, Sauron has decided to use the smith for target practice. Sauron promises his captive a swift death in return for information about the rings, but that’s not an appealing enough offer for Celebrimbor, who tells Sauron that he’ll never get the rings and that he should consider pounding sand (but in much more flowery terms). Then he goads Sauron into killing him with a string of insults he concludes by saying the rings will be Sauron’s ruin and mockingly calling him the “Lord of the Rings.†(That’s a catchy title. Someone should use it.) When the orcs arrive he’s crying, though it’s not clear whether Celebrimobr’s insults hit home or if he genuinely feels bad about killing him. He quickly puts emotions aside, however, and sets about charming the orcs he wants to bring to his side.
It’s been a while since we checked in on Isildur and Theo, who have a reflective moment bonding over their shared trauma as Isildur prepares to depart for Numenor (which, he assumes, he’ll find much the same as he left it). From the first episode of the series Theo has seemed like an impressionable character who might be lured to the side of darkness, a risk compounded by the loss of his mother. But as this second season winds down, that danger seems to have passed thanks to the positive influence — and rescue efforts — of Isildur and Arondir. Whether their influence will remain a guiding force remains a matter for subsequent seasons to settle.
Of more immediate concern is the relationship between Isildur and Estrid. He’s on his way out, planning to leave the old Numenor colony of Pelargir for home in Numenor. She plans to stay and stick with her betrothed, Hagen. And yet there’s a lot of clearly evident unresolved tension between the two as Estrid visits him. She speaks of feeling “ill†when Hagen expresses his love for her, which doesn’t bode well for their future, and gives Isildur an opening to kiss her and ask her to join him in Numenor.
What Isildur doesn’t yet realize is that Numenor, the new Numenor, has instead come to him in the form of Kemen. Kemen begins walking around the dock like he owns the place, and technically he does. (Or Numenor does, anyway.) As Kemen makes plans to improve the place, Isildur shows up, and though they hug, the good spirits soon fade away. First, Isildur tells Kemen that Estrid will be going with them, which turns out to be news to Hagen, who’s understandably displeased. In turn, Kemen informs him (a) there’s no room for “Low Men†on the ship and (b) Kemen’s dad is running the place, which means Isildur’s status has diminished considerably (and, making matters worse, Elendil is now a wanted man).
If Isildur didn’t know his old acquaintance had become an a-hole, he knows now. Soon, the rest of Pelargir knows it too, as Kemen declares the town will become a fortress under his command and starts making demands they bring him timber if they want to eat. (This sounds like it will raise some ent issues next season.)
It’s not as if all of season two’s issues have been resolved yet, either. As the dust settles outside Eregion, Galadriel agrees to Adar’s terms: she’ll join him in the fight against Sauron. But that, it seems at first, was yesterday’s offer. Thanks to nabbing a ring of power, Adar is looking better than ever. But rather than live as a handsome elf, he wants to stay true to the creature he’s become. After returning the ring to Galadriel, he reverts to his more familiar form, and it looks like they have a deal: They’ll defeat Sauron. Adar and the orcs will return to Mordor. And he’ll overlook all the “children†of his that Galadriel has killed. It sounds like a good deal, both for Adar and Galadriel and Middle-earth on the whole. Orcs and elves will fight no more!
This lasts only as long as it takes for a bunch of orcs to show up, trick Adar into thinking they haven’t been lured into Sauron’s service, then take him down like he was Julius Caesar and this was the Ides of March. This turn of events allows Sauron to claim the Crown of Morgoth he last saw being placed on his head as Adar betrayed him in the season-opening flashback and give Galadriel a look that makes clear how much trouble he intends to make for her. The orcs are his and their first job is to reduce Eregion to cinders (but bring the leaders to Sauron). They’re more than happy to do this and don’t mind taking out the collected writings of the late Celebrimbor in the process. Despite Elrond’s protests, all he can do is look on in horror while they burn. Speaking of bad, Eregion’s in rough shape. But not, it turns out, as rough a shape as it could be thanks to the arrival, at last, of some fighting dwarves. But not Durin III. Elrond is told he’s “in mourning.â€
Galadriel’s not going to give up easily. She engages Sauron in a swordfight, one in which he changes form several times, first reverting to the Halbrand persona that won her over in the previous season, then taking the form of Galadriel herself, then assuming the appearance of Celebrimbor, then returning to the silky-haired Annatar look used for his time in Eregion. (He seems to like that one best.) It’s in this guise that he stabs her with Morgoth’s crown and then tells her she should have been his queen. Galadriel survives, of course, but not before losing control of the nine rings of power. This could be really bad! But it would be even worse if Sauron also seized Galadriel’s ring. To prevent this, she takes a dive off a cliff. She survives, but she’s in bad shape when Elrond, Arondir, and the High King find her, thanks less to the fall than the evil delivered by Sauron’s blows. Elrond senses she’s not beyond saving, but she’ll need some help from the rings if they want her to live.
Back in the East, Nori considers the ruins of the stoor village as Poppy, again playing the Samwise Gamgee role, launches into a monologue waxing philosophical about the state of things. Specifically, Poppy focuses on loss, as a montage unfolds that doubles as a catalog for the devastation wrought by recent events: in Khazad-dûm, Durin IV and Disa lead the dwarves in mourning the loss of their king, Elrond gazes at the ruins of Eregion, Theo looks on as Pelargir falls under military command and Isildur sails back to Númenor (leading Hagen to clasp an-unsure-looking Estrid’s hand), Miriel stands before Pharazôn and listens to whatever lies he hurls at her, and Elendil gazes back at Numenor as he rides away. “What’s broke is broke, and won’t fix,†she says. “And all anyone can do is try and build something new.†Those last words accompanying an image of Sauron making plans seem rather ominous.
As the episode draws to a close, it becomes clear that Nori and the Stranger are on separate paths, at least for now. She (and Poppy) will be accompanying the stoors as they learn how to survive while wandering rather than staying in one place. After their sad goodbye, a lot starts to fall in place for the Stranger. On the ground, he finds the staff he first saw in his dreams. And that name the stoors have been calling him, “Grand Elf,†maybe there’s something to that. As if forgetting that Tom Bombadil never gives him a straight answer about anything, the Stranger returns to his home. “It was all a test,†the Stranger tells his host. He could only find the staff if he went in search of his friends instead of seeking power. True to form, Tom Bombadil will neither confirm nor deny this nor the Stranger’s realization that he’ll be known as “Gandalf,†which rolls off the tongue a little more easily than “Grand Elf.†To celebrate, he and Tom Bombadil begin singing.
We’ve reached the season’s end now, or almost its end. Before cutting to black, The Rings of Power sows some seeds for future seasons to reap. The Dark Wizard? He’s still around. And though Durin IV is eager to help Eregion’s refugees, some of the other dwarf leaders would like to retrieve the money his dad owes them. One other problem: Durin IV might not have been who Durin III had in mind to take his place. Those are the rumors floating around Khazad-dûm anyway, and some of the other dwarf lords and Durin’s brother (?!?) seem to believe them.
That’s bad news for the dwarves and the elves have their own share of bad news. Galadriel revives to find a world in which Sauron seems to hold all the cards when it comes to Middle-earth’s fate. The elves face a choice: they can attack him with depleted (and deflated) forces or fall back and regroup. Asked what she’d advise, she recalls the words of Celebrimbor: “It is not strength that overcomes darkness, but light. And the sun yet signs.†Has she been taking Tom Bombadil’s classes on leading via vagueness? It seemingly doesn’t matter. The High King lifts his sword to the sky, the elves cheer, and we’re done with another season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
So where does that leave everyone? And where does it leave the series? To answer the second question first, this was a pretty good season, albeit one with some tough-to-overcome issues, none of them related to the visuals and production design, which remain remarkable. The season dispersed action all across Middle-earth and it quickly became clear that some parts of the continent are more compelling than others. That doesn’t mean a third season can’t or won’t account for this. Apart from Poppy and Nori, no one from the harfoots made it to season two. (That’s not to say that their storyline was a dud, just that Rings of Power seems willing to discard whole narrative strands if deemed necessary.) As for the other issue, the long shadow cast by both the Peter Jackson films and the more fully fleshed-out Middle-earth stories of Tolkien’s original novel, season two did not seem too worried about this, opting instead just to run with it. The masked riders played much the same role as the Black Riders. Nori and Poppy played pretty much the same roles as Frodo and Samwise. The Dark Wizard slots easily into the Saruman role (and probably is Saruman).
As for where season two ends, plot-wise, I’m curious to know what’s going to happen next on most fronts. Rings of Power faces the problem faced by all prequels. We know what’s coming in the broad strokes but not the particulars. So it’s not a question of whether Sauron will ultimately triumph but how and what will happen to the characters we’ve gotten to know leading up to that moment. Season two leaves most of them in transitional positions. Are Nori and Poppy honorary stoors now? Where does the Stranger … sorry … Where does Gandalf go next? Will Kemen become an even bigger a-hole? These are compelling questions, compelling enough to make a third feel like it will be worth the wait.
Mirthril Links
• That said, the “Grand Elfâ€/“Gandalf†reveal may rival the origin of Han Solo’s name for silliness. In the end, maybe it would have been better off just having him be Gandalf all along.
• RIP Adar. He may not have been a nice guy, but he emerged as one of The Rings of Power’s most complicated characters. Would his deal with Galadriel have worked out? We’ll never know.
• You kind of have to feel bad for Hagen, don’t you?