Welcome back to the blog readers. John Campea coined this phrase so I will be borrowing from it: I have never seen a show have as well of a turnaround from one season to another like this show has had. I was very disappointed with the first season of this show and compared it unfavorably to the other high fantasy show that was on at the same time: House of the Dragon (2022-) (which I love). We reached the peak of all peaks with last week's episode in which I called it the best episode of television all year. Would we continue to keep up the momentum with the second season finale, titled "Shadow and Flame," written by J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, and directed by Charlotte Brändström? 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 actually found myself excited at the concept of watching this episode, which is something I have never said about this series before. And I hope it continues into the final (hopefully) three seasons of this show. With this being the season finale, and with last week's episode being so insanely good, I was kind of nervous that the crew would not be able to stick the landing with this finale. While it was not anything that could be considered must-watch television by any means, this was a very serviceable (and enjoyable) season finale that sees all of the major storylines beginning ever so slightly to converge on each other.
There are a few performances I do want to single out and praise, and the first is of Charlie Vickers as Annatar/Sauron. I have noted praise for his performance in the past (second episode) but I think he gives his best performance of the series in this finale. For the last seven episodes, he has had to have a certain restraint about him to play the "Lord of Gifts" Annatar, but there were no holds barred for Vickers in this episode. We see Sauron do some truly despicable things in this episode, and the anger and rage that Vickers brings to this role is infectious to watch. I personally do not think we will see this type of brutality from Vickers until later in the third season, but I am looking forward to seeing it.
The next performance I want to praise is that of Morfydd Clark as Galadriel. Clark is someone I possibly could have given flowers to in this season's first episode (my memory sucks so play nice!), but there is a new dynamic to her performance in this episode that had me glued to my seat. She has done such a great job of displaying the grief and sorrow that Galadriel faces over the first seven episodes of this season, but Galadriel having to face that grief in this finale is so fucking mesmerizing. Clark is brilliant, especially in her scenes with Vickers as Sauron in channeling that grief and sorrow into anger. I cannot wait to see what goods Clark gets to bring next season.
I first want to talk about the events that occur at Khazad-dûm to open the episode. After Durin IV was forced to recall his army from assisting Elrond at the Battle of Eregion, he learns his father, Durin III, has attacked his wife to be able to mine more mithril. He is successfully able to get into a major deposit of mithril but awakens the Balrog that has been dormant under the mountain. Durin III comes to his senses and takes off his Ring of Power that had been corrupting him, names his son king of Khazad-dûm, and sacrifices his life to keep the Balrog at bay as the mine collapses. Durin IV after this has to contend with the mistakes his father had made and face a challenge to the throne by his brother (who we have not seen yet). I love how we got a sort of redemption arc for Durin III and are possibly setting us up for his son to face the same corruption that his father did.
Next, we go to the events that occur at Númenor. After the events of the sixth episode, we see that Ar-Pharazôn is using the Elven palantir to look at the future and he realizes that Sauron was masquerading as Halbrand, and somehow comes to the conclusion that Sauron (who hasn't even been in the city at all) is working with Miriel to overt the new king. This opens the door for Ar-Pharazôn to arrest and imprison anyone loyal to Miriel as a last-ditch effort to quell anyone who does not support him. Elendil is promptly targeted but is able to escape with the help of his daughter (who makes amends with him). He goes to Miriel and gets her to escape, but she declines and chooses to face this trial she is about to. She gives him the sword Narsil and convinces him to reclaim his lordship in the west.
Meanwhile, Elendil's son Isildur and Estrid admit their feelings for each other, but the township they are in, Pelargir, is taken as a military outpost. Isildur is summoned to return to Númenor but he is not allowed to bring Estrid with him, which pisses him off as he winds up saying goodbye to her and Theo and leaves for Númenor all upset. Going back to the previous paragraph, I am not sure what they are setting up with Ar-Pharazôn (maybe a bit of corruption action, but I will talk about later), but I do know what they are setting up with Isildur and where he will be by the end of the series. I have really enjoyed Cynthia Addai-Robinson as Miriel and I hope she gets a bold ending in seasons to come, same with Lloyd Owen as Elendil.
Now we go east to see what the Stranger and the "halflings" are up to. After wandering through the desert looking for his staff, he stumbles across the Stoor settlement that has been visited by the Dark Wizard. He tries to force the Stranger to join him to defeat and usurp Sauron, but the Stranger refuses and the Dark Wizard attempts to kill the Stoors, which the Stranger is able to save. The Stoors call him "Grand Elf" and he decides to part ways with Nori and Poppy to get the Stoors a new home. The Stranger goes to Tom Bombadil who confesses that he will come to be known as Gandalf. I could have told you this last season, and I do not even think I was the only person who thought this. Now that we have figured out the "Who is the Stranger" mystery, we can get this interpretation of Gandalf closer to Sir Ian McKellen's.
Finally, we go to Eregion to continue and conclude the Siege of Eregion. After the events of last week's episode, the Orcs have breached the city of Eregion and have killed everyone in sight. Sauron has Celebrimbor alone in his forge, and he tortures and kills him after he calls him "the Lord of the Rings." Elrond, Gil-galad, and a not dead Arondir are captured by the Orcs, who burn all of Celebrimbor's work for them all to see. As the trio are about to be killed, Durin IV arrives just in time for the surviving Elves to escape the ruined city. Sauron is able to successfully turn the Orcs against Adar after he gives Galadriel's Ring of Power back to her. Adar is killed as Galadriel battles Sauron in a highly-contested fight in which he shifts his appearance to look like Celebrimbor and her. He is able to wound Galadriel and steal the nine Rings of Power for Men as Galadriel falls off a cliff before he gets hers. Elrond and Gil-galad find her on the brink of death and Elrond finally puts on her Ring to save her. They retreat to a village that is hidden from Middle-earth and vow to defeat Sauron and his army that are marching across the continent as this episode and this season ends. The stuff in Eregion continued to be the most interesting stuff that happened in this episode because there was so much rich character and story that you could not take your eyes off it.
Rings of Power may not go off on the highest note, but this season finale was everything I could have hoped for for a show that turned their shit around so well. Thank you all for reading, and I will see you for the next post.
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