Welcome back to the blog readers. Rings of Power has been somewhat better than it was last season, especially in the first two episodes, but the last two episodes have kind of lost the magic for me a little bit. I found myself pretty disappointed in those two and am hoping for an episode that can right the ship. The last thing I want is for this series is for it to sink like a ship. Would we be able to course correct in this episode, titled "Halls of Stone," written by Nicholas Adams, and directed by Louise Hooper and Sanaa Hamri? Stick around to find out.
NOTE: I will be using spoilers for my thoughts, so DO NOT read ahead if you have not seen the episode.
As was stated in the introduction, Rings of Power started off strong and has been on a weaker stretch due to its increased focus on the weakest aspect of the show: the Men and their goings on around Middle-earth. So I was hoping that we would start to get back into the vibe of the first two episodes rather than the vibe of the last two. And I am here to tell you that not only did we get the former, we got possibly the best episode of the series thus far. No hyperbole, no joke. Aside from the situation with the Men (who actually got me invested this time around), we got two branches of one connected story with the Dwarves and Elves, and the performances of Owain Arthur, Charles Edwards, and Peter Mullan all deserve praise (in a change from last week).
The first performance I want to praise is that of Owain Arthur as Durin IV. I previously heaped praise on him in the third episode when his character showed just the complexity that he has in everything he does, especially in the conflict with his father. In this episode though, we see Arthur pull off something I did not previously see from him. And that thing is fear. Durin IV is fearful of the influence of the Rings on his father, and Arthur portrays this new emotion in a fantastic way. Just the conversations with his father are so damn meaty and tragic. I will talk more on the story of the Dwarves and where I think it will lead later but he was the true standout of the episode.
Speaking of Durin III, the next performance I want to talk about is that of Peter Mullan. I have not sung his praises at all this season, but I have been enjoying the hell of the very little we have seen him so far. But he is the real focus of this episode right here, and we see him take command of the screen whenever he is on it for the first time in the series. The power that Mullan possesses to make himself seem completely menacing but also extremely tragic at the same time is mesmerizing to watch. Just take his final appearance in this episode when he is with Owain Arthur's Durin IV. Just the conviction that is displayed by Mullan is fucking infectious to watch, and it makes me want more of it. I just hope that we don't have to wait until the finale to see him again.
The final performance that I want to talk about is that of Charles Edwards as Celebrimbor. I previously praised Edwards' performance in the third episode, but we see a man who this time is worn down and starts to question what he has been doing this whole time, especially when Annatar has been feeding him all this bullshit. Edwards does a brilliant job of making you believe Celebrimbor feels wronged and a bit lost amongst the corruption he is facing in front of him. I hope they really play on the emotions of the audience as we get ready to face what will be the biggest conflict in the show thus far.
Now we get to story, and damn we (mostly) got a good one this time around. I will start with the weaker aspect of the episode, but by no means was it bad this week. The stuff with the Men on Númenor has been boring as all shit, with it feeling like a Game of Thrones (2011-19) ripoff. But we get some juicy stuff this week. Since the people chose Ar-Pharazôn to be King of Númenor, he has been fucking everything up, including prosecuting and expelling anyone loyal to Miriel (who was supposed to be anointed Queen). He sends his son Kemen to interrupt a ritual service and once he destroys a statue that meant something to the worshippers, a riot breaks out that leaves Valandil killed and Elendil arrested and blamed for the riot. Even though it is a Game of Thrones ripoff, it feels more like House of the Dragon (2022-) this week, and I liked it much more than I have.
Now we get to the one main story and begin with the events in Eregion. Since forging the Rings of Power for the Dwarves, Celebrimbor has started to question what his true purpose is, especially when he learns that the Dwarven Rings are corrupting instead of helping. Annatar (Sauron in disguise) convinces Celebrimbor that the Rings were corrupted because he lied to Gil-galad about closing down the forge. After Annatar brings up forging Rings for Men, he refuses due to the fact that it is easier for Men to be corrupted. When a young woman sees through and realizes that Annatar is Sauron, he convinces her that she saw Celebrimbor, and convinces him to forge the Rings for Men to redeem himself for the Rings for Dwarves. I feel so damn bad for Celebrimbor and the fact that we are eventually going to see him crash out and possibly kill himself when he realizes what he has done. I also am curious to see when Sauron is going to wind up forging the One Ring.
Finally, we must go into the Misty Mountains and talk about the events that happen at Khazad-dûm with the Dwarves. Since Durin III offered Sauron and Celebrimbor the mithril necessary to forge the seven Dwarven Rings of Power, the elder Durin wears the ring and winds up being corrupted by it. It initially helps the people when it guides him on where to dig so they can get sunlight after the eruption of Mount Doom messed everything up. Durin III thanks his son for giving his people the answer to their prayers, but Durin and Disa are skeptical of these rings. Those fears are exacerbated when Durin III convinces the other Dwarven kingdoms to dig deeper into the mine to gain more riches and give them to him in exchange for the Rings, and give his son his title of nobility back. Disa makes her husband swear he will never put a Ring on, to which he swears and the two embrace. Like I said I felt bad for Celebrimbor, I also feel bad for Durin IV and Disa because they are unwitting pawns in Sauron's game. I hope there is a happy ending for the three of them.
One last nugget, and this involves the end of the episode in which we see the Orcs marching on Eregion with Galadriel as their prisoner, after she surrendered herself to Adar and them. Elrond makes it back to Lindon and warns Gil-galad that they need to send their army to Eregion to protect Celebrimbor, but Gil-galad fears that they canot defeat Adar and Sauron alone. Adar confesses to Galadriel that she is not their prisoner, but a potential ally in their fight against Sauron. I think this is going to be very interesting, and do not think that she will accept this truce against Sauron. I do believe a lot of people (and Orcs) are going to die at Eregion.
Rings of Power absolutely gets us back on the right track with a stellar episode that (almost) does everything right: from characters to story to performances. Thank you all for reading, and I will see you for the next post.
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