Welcome back to the blog readers. Rings of Power has been frustrating so far this season for me. The first two episodes were an improvement over last season, but the next two were about the same as last season. Last week's episode was probably the best episode of the series thus far, and delivered everything I could have wanted from this series. Great performances, and the story is finally moving in the right direction. Would we continue this streak in this episode, titled "Where Is He?," written by Patrick Doble, and directed by 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.
I have been kind of worried about this series because I thought with the third and fourth episodes, we were starting to lose our way and the momentum the first two episodes maintained. You remember that I praised last week's episode as the best of the series thus far for its performances and advancement of the story. Well, turns out the moniker of best episode of the series needed only a week to be topped because this episode is fantastic. All of the performances this week were worth talking about, but not like the ones given by Owain Arthur, Lloyd Owen, and Charlie Vickers. Plus, the story is roaring on and getting interesting and we are finally headed towards the first big set piece of the series.
It is performance-praising time, and first up is the performance of Owain Arthur as Durin IV. Arthur is a familiar name amongst my reviews for this season of Rings of Power, but he takes his performance this week to a whole new level. I was completely shocked with how complex they have made this character, and the powerful performance of Arthur is a major reason why I love him so much. This episode, we see a season-long buildup to a moment involving Arthur's complex emotional range. Just seeing Durin open up and show that emotion and to be able to wear his heart on his sleeve is such a great character decision for this series, because we needed something like this after every character is being strong-manned in this season.
Next, I want to praise the performance of Lloyd Owen as Elendil. As you know, I believed the stuff with the Men has been the weakest portion of the series, and I could give two shits as to what happens with all of these characters, but damnit Owen made me give a shit about Elendil this week. Elendil has been going through it the last few episodes, and now we get to see Owen let loose with this character. He does a brilliant job of playing this despondent man who feels like everything he has fought for was for nothing. He also gets some of the best lines of the episode where he talks about dying with a full heart rather than living with a broken one. I really appreciate how he was able to show off his chops this week.
Next I want to praise the performance of Charles Edwards as Celebrimbor. Like Arthur, Edwards is a familiar name in my reviews for Rings of Power, and this week is a sort of culmination of what has been and may lead to something incredible in these final two episodes in regards to his performance. We see an Elf who is getting to be absolutely broken by the events he is going through, and we see another lapse in Celebrimbor's logic this week as Sauron's influence continues to haunt him. This week, he does an incredible job at walking that fragile line between sanity and insanity, and I am here for it. Justice for Celebrimbor!
This week, the story is getting to places that I like, and one in particular that will change everything about this series. The first story (stories) that I want to talk about involve the Stranger and the Harfoots. I will talk about them together since they don't get enough screen time to warrant separate paragraphs. The Stranger is talking to his new friend Tom Bombadil about his destiny, and Tom tells him that ne needs to decide on whether to save his friends of fulfill his destiny as an Istar by gaining his staff. This is in response to him having a vision of the Dark Wizard killing his Harfoot friends Nori and Poppy. Speaking of Nori and Poppy, they are in the Shoor city and Poppy kisses Nobody. This was the weakest bit of the story in this episode, and I hope there is some sort of resolution with every story this season. Episode 8 better be like an hour and a half or something.
Next, let us go to the island of Númenor and talk about what happens there. After Elendil is blamed for the violence that happened last episode, he is read his fate. He could go free as long as he acknowledges Ar-Pharazôn as the rightful king of Númenor. He refuses and is sent to trial by abyss. His daughter attempts to get him to acknowledge Ar-Pharazôn and swallow his pride for her sake, but he refuses. Miriel hears this and attempts to order him to swear fealty, but he also refuses. During the trial, Miriel steps up in Elendil's place, to which they hesitantly accept, and she is thrown into the sea to be judged by this giant monster known as the Sea Worm. She is judged to be innocent and is hailed as the "Queen of the Sea." While I do think this storyline is a bit influenced by House of the Dragon (2022-), everyone involved made me interested. Between this and the events of last week, we might be getting an opinion change on the storyline with the Men. At least the ones on Númenor. Let's not deal with the other ones again.
Next, we have to talk about the Dwarves on Khazad-dûm and their goings-on. Since putting on his Ring of Power, King Durin III has been getting greedier and digging for gold that will eventually wake up the Balrog that is nestled in the mountain. His son Durin IV tries one last attempt to get his father to take the Ring off by claiming it has control of him and not the other way around. He tries to take the Ring off, only to get pushed across the throne room for his troubles. The younger Durin laments this change in his father and his wife Disa tells him that they have to show the rest of Khazad-dûm that the Ring has made the elder Durin unfit to serve as king. Durin IV is upset and weeps because even though he is not acting like it, the elder Durin is still his father and he could not fathom the idea of public humiliation. He eventually relents and the two make a plan to protest any further mining by the Dwarves. I think we are setting ourselves up for a tragic story between the two Durins and one that will not be fun to watch.
Finally, we need to discuss the events in and around Eregion. Adar and his Orc forces have marched towards the city of Eregion with Galadriel as their captive, and Adar offers a temporary alliance to Galadiel. She seems to be on the same page about wanting to kill Sauron, but he shows his true colors when she accidentally reveals who has her Ring of Power (Elrond) and where he is going, so he decides to march on the city anyway. Galadriel tells Adar this is exactly what Sauron wants, and he ignores her. In Eregion, Celebrimbor is toiling away on forging the Rings of Power for Men but is struggling not only on the design, but in his own head. He winds up refusing to make the Rings as he hears the warning sirens, but Sauron as Annatar convinces him that everything is fine and "admits" that he was searching for him to make things right in Middle-earth. Annatar gives Celebrimbor what he says is mithril for the Rings as he successfully gets Celebrimbor back in his tower as he clears the illusion he made for him and the Orcs begin to fire on the city. We are definitely getting the Battle for Eregion next episode, and I expect big things from this episode. I kind of also want it to be an hour and a half for my own personal pleasure.
Rings of Power continues its upward trajectory by giving us stellar performances and a story that promises a major battle that you know I will be seated for. Thank you all for reading, and I will see you for the next post.
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