“The Rings of Power” Glimmer in Season Two Premiere
The beauty remains and some objections are addressed
Overall, non-spoiler thoughts for the first three episodes
Unlike a J.R.R. Tolkien novel, The Rings of Power has picked up the pace for season two. That’s not a knock on Tolkien, by the way, part of what makes his adventures so enjoyable is that they luxuriate in moments and meander through scenes. We know why Frodo and Sam want to save the Shire because we’ve spent time there and with the people.
The first season of The Rings of Power felt like those times in Tolkien. We spent time in places and with characters, maybe too much time for some viewers. But now with those established, season two can quickly build off that foundation.
If you are a Tolkien lore expert, you will once again find some things that deviate from the text that you may want to change. But that has been the case since the first Tolkien lore expert—Tolkien himself. Contrary to Lewis, Tolkien spent years honing and perfecting his stories, even after they were published. In general, the show goes deep into the Tolkien legendarium, while also fleshing out characters and stories with few details in the written text.
The show remains stunning. With the expansive use of practical effects and locations, The Rings of Power may be the most beautiful show on television. If you’re going to make Middle-earth, it should seem gorgeous and harrowing. Through three episodes, numerous scenes take your breath away.
While I enjoyed the first season, the second season seems set up to do even more. We aren’t caught up in the mystery box idea anymore, with Sauron’s identity revealed. Obviously, some mysteries remain, but they’re centered more on inherent narrative tension than a show-contrived one. Instead of drawing you to ask “Who is Sauron?” they’re causing you to yell at the characters on the screen, “Don’t you know that is Sauron!” Through three episodes, I’m thrilled to be back in Middle-earth.
Spoiler-filled review for each individual episode below.
“Elven Kings Under the Sky” — Episode 1
As the episode title draws from the rhyme about the rings of power and the one ring itself, Rings of Power season two will focus not only on the creation of those rings but on the one driving the project. In an ensemble show, Galadriel was the primary character of the first season, but this season will focus on Sauron. That switch is made obvious by the opening flashback inverting last season’s.
Season one opens in Valinor with a young Galadriel. The first words we hear are her voice in narration: “Nothing is evil in the beginning.” But there is already conflict between her and the other elf children.
Season two begins in Forodwaith with Sauron in a different form. “Always after a defeat, the shadow takes shape and grows again,” he says as he attempts to take command. But there is already conflict between him and the orc “children” of Adar.
Adar holds the crown over Sauron’s head. The visual looking through the circle of the crown down onto Sauron evokes a trap. Not only is Sauron betrayed in this moment, but his lust for power constantly ensnares him and leads to his downfall. Pretending to crown him as their new ruler, Adar inverts the spiked crown and jams it into Sauron. This is not the first or most straightforward biblical or messianic allusion in the first three episodes.
Blood from Sauron seeps down, reconstituting itself into a black tar form that slinks and slurps its way out from under the mountain, devouring small insects and animals as it climbs. Eventually, it makes its way to the road, where it attacks a traveling woman and takes the form of Halbrand from season one.
He meets a group of humans fleeing from orc attacks and an older man encourages him to come with them to start a new life. Halbrand goes with them but instead of starting a new life and choosing good, he leaves the man to die in the sea monster attack and takes his pouch with the sigil of the Southland kings. In the wreckage of the attack, he meets Galadriel as “the tides of fate are flowing.”
Some moments, like when Sauron was in his black ooze form, drug a little, especially when compared with the fast pace of most of the rest of the episode. But this was a necessary beginning to give us some missing backstory on Sauron and to establish the comparison and contrast with Galadriel in season one.
Jumping out of the flashback, Elrond is racing to Lindon and High King Gil-galad carrying the rings with Galadriel close behind. Elrond wants the rings destroyed, fearing they are corrupted. Galadriel says they are the only hope to save Lindon. Before he will discuss the rings, however, Gil-galad forces Galadriel to reveal that Halbrand is Sauron in disguise.
This is where the contradiction behind some of the season one criticism becomes obvious. The depiction of Galadriel was said to be too much of a “girl boss warrior.” But the warrior aspect is consistent with Tolkien’s description of her during this time and she quite clearly has flaws. The backlash against the “strong female lead” often comes when those leads are seen as infallible, while the men around them bumble their way along. Instead, Galadriel while a strong leader is deceived and deceives others. She is not perfect but she is given a character arc and story to help her grow into the queen from The Lord of the Rings.
Not wanting the king to fall under the spell of Sauron or the rings, Elrond jumps off the cliff into the water below. He goes to Círdan, “the oldest and wisest” elf, who attempts to drop the rings in the deepest part of the ocean. Instead, a wave knocks the rings inside the boat.
Gil-galad sends word to warn Celebrimbor that Halbrand is Sauron. But thinking all hope is lost, the high king sings of the end of days for the elves in Middle-earth. Then, Círdan returns with the three rings. He wears one, Gil-galad takes another, and one falls to Galadriel. Elrond pleads, but as they put the rings on the dying tree is instantly healed with a shining light reminiscent of the tree in Valinor before it was corrupted.
Meanwhile, Nori and the Stranger wander lost in Rhûn. He still can’t control his powers and has been having dreams that end with him grabbing a staff. Poppy followed them and helps them find their way after realizing her walking song is actually a spoken map to follow.
While this is the other slower part of the episode, the Stranger has some of the best lines. “Panic is the fool’s meal, Nori. We would be wiser to sup on patience,” and “Strange how that which is left behind can be the heaviest burden to carry.”
Also, there is an intentional mirroring of his description of home—“A longing for a feeling I can’t remember or even name. But I know it’s real. Just beyond the sunset.”—with Círdan looking out at the sunset beyond the sea. They are both serving the Creator in Middle-earth but long to return home.
In the Southlands-turned-Mordor, Adar and the orcs (and Waldreg) rule over the men, demanding all capturing people swear allegiance to Adar or be killed. Halbrand turns himself in to negotiate. “Let my people go,” he tells Adar, “or yours will die.” You see the biblical allusions coupled with the evil threat. Sauron mimics the role of Moses but also sets himself up as the god who will punish.
Halbrand tells Adar that Galadriel is working with “an ancient sorcerer” to forge a new weapon. He will tell him all he knows of Sauron’s new work if Adar frees the people of the Southlands. Instead, Adar has Waldreg, of all people, torture Halbrand for the information.
Eventually, Adar gives in, and frees the people. Halbrand then convinces Adar to send him to the elves to find Sauron and allow Adar to destroy him. Before leaving, Halbrand swears allegiance to “the Lord of Mordor, to the end of my days and his.”1
In Eregion, Celebrimbor has created an even better forge and is waiting to hear news about the rings. Instead, Halbrand appears, and just as he did with Adar, sends word that he wants to negotiate.
With the first episode, we see the structure of the season. As Halbrand, Sauron is going to use Adar to wage war against the elves. Coming to Eregioin, he will convince Celebrimbor to create more rings, proving to Adar that Sauron is there. As both of his enemies fight each other, Sauron will grow stronger. That’s a great dramatic hook for the season, which grows stronger in the next two episodes.
As both episode two and three move quicker, I’ll quicken the reviews of each.
“Where the Stars Are Strange” — Episode 2
Opening with the dwarves, particularly Prince Durin IV and Disa, ensures the second episode will reach new heights. Khazad-dûm and the dynamics of the dwarven kingdom were a highlight of season one. As the husband and wife discuss their new circumstances with Durin no longer being the crown prince, an earthquake strikes, destroying a bridge and the shafts that redirected sunlight into their underground city. They try everything but they can’t restore the light. “The hand of darkness has closed around Khazad-dûm,” King Durin says.
Celebrimbor initially refuses to talk with Halbrand, but he never gets word from Lindon. The messengers have been killed on the way. Eventually, he goes to speak with Halbrand, who convinces him that Galadriel and Gil-galad have taken all the credit and forgotten about him.
Halbrand reveals himself to be more than he has let on. But in an image out of a Renaissance painting of Jesus descending from the clouds, he says he is Annatar, a messenger sent from the Valar to help stop the darkness. He tells Celebrimbor that if he completes this task, he would be revered as “The Lord of the Rings.”
Galadriel rightly worries that Sauron is at work in Eregion, but both Gil-galad and Elrond worry that she is susceptible to Sauron because she has been deceived already. “It is said that once the Deceiver obtains a being’s trust, he gains the ability to sculpt their very thoughts. To deceive not only their heart and mind but their eyes and ears. To alter their very reality.” There is some heavy foreshadowing there and also a potent description of Satan’s work in temptation.
Elrond remains opposed to using the rings, but Círdan tells him, “You are wise to fear this power, Elrond. But do not let that fear blind you to the ways it can be used for good. For it is not your enemy, that bears these Rings but your most trusted friends.”
Their conversation also works as a discussion about good art created by fallen people. “Judge the work, and leave judgment concerning those who wrought it to the judge who sees all things, Círdan says. Elrond says it seems impossible, to which, Círdan replies, “It is called humility, and it is difficult for most. But it is the truest form of sight.”
Gil-galad decides to send a party to Eregion, but Galadriel will not lead it. Elrond will be in charge.
A dark wizard is keeping tabs on both Sauron’s work and the Stranger, sending out the moth cult leader from last season (who thankfully looks less like Slim Shady this season) and some men from the area who have a “curse” on their flesh.
While the Stranger and this new wizard gives obvious vibes of Gandalf and Saruman, I don’t believe that’s who they are. I think the connections are intentional to help us quickly identify with the characters and their motivations, but I believe these are the two “blue wizards” Tolkien wrote about going into the East and South of Middle-earth.
He gave contradictory accounts at different points. In one account, they fall into evil and form “magic” cults. In another, they go into the East and help hinder Sauron’s efforts there, contributing to his defeat in both the Second and Third Age (the time of The Rings of Power and The Lord of the Rings). The Rings of Power seems like it will be combining both of those accounts, with one wizard turning evil and the other remaining good. This way, they serve to foreshadow the eventual Gandalf/Saruman conflict.
In attempting to protect Nori and Poppy from the men sent by the dark wizard, the Stranger summons a whirlwind that he can’t control because he doesn’t have the proper staff. Both of the Harfoots are caught up in the storm and carried away from the Stranger.
As things grow more dim (literally and figuratively) in Khazad-dûm, Durin receives an invitation from Celebrimbor to come to Eregion.
“The Eagle and the Sceptre” — Episode 3
The final of the three-episode premiere brings back the characters and locations from season one that haven’t appeared yet in season two—the Númenóreans, Arondir, and the Southlanders who escaped. Everyone believed Isildur was dead—everyone except his horse Berek and those of us who have read or seen The Lord of the Rings. We all knew he still had some finger-cutting to do.
Berek finds Isildur in the lair of a much smaller Shelob, and they escape the spider before running into a young woman hiding from orcs. They’re saved from an ambush by Arondir, who is staying with other survivors at Pelargir. Later, we discover the woman has taken the mark of a servant of Adar, but she uses a hot knife to re-scar her neck.
Bronwyn died off-screen from the poison of the orc arrow. Arondir tries to guide Theo, who replies with the most Middle-earth way of saying, “You’re not my dad!” He asks Arondir, “All those years you were watching us, d’you ever know my father?” “No. I did not,” Arondir replies. “Neither did I,” Theo says. “But I know this much, he wasn’t you.” Ouch.
Revisiting the orcs in Mordor gives us more of the difficult task The Rings of Power have accomplished. With the practical effects and the on-screen terror they’ve caused, the orcs have been presented as a stronger foe than in The Lord of the Rings films. But they’ve also been humanized. Not simply through Adar’s words and care for them, but we’re shown an orc family with a father, mother, and baby. I never imagined seeing a baby orc.
Prince Durin and Disa visit Eregion and sit through Celebrimbor’s time-share pitch to provide some mithril for their own rings of power that can heal their mountain. Durin is rightfully distrustful of Annatar, but he takes the proposal to his father, giving us their dwarven stubborn restoration.
Annatar subtly convinces Celebrimbor to lie to Gil-galad and say that he is closing the forge. “This is my moment,” Celebrimbor says. “Now, he will not take it away.” Substitute “moment” with “precious” and we can see the effect of the rings and Sauron working already.
Over in Númenor, Elendil mourns his son but not enough apparently for Eärien his daughter, who wants to blame everything on Queen-Regent Míriel. She’s not alone. Many are ready to turn against the queen-regent, and Pharazôn seems ready to give them the push they need. But others remain faithful to her and the old ways with deeper connections to the elves and the rest of Middle-earth.
At Míriel’s would-be coronation, Eärien reveals she stole the Palantir and says the queen has been using it to make decisions. Pharazôn and his co-conspirators capitalize on the appearance of an eagle to claim it favors Pharazôn as the ruler.
Trying to digest and write about three episodes makes it difficult, but I understand why they released these three together. We are reintroduced to all of the major characters and the general direction of the season arc is established.
Many of the conflicts carried over from season one that could’ve been drawn out are resolved or brought out differently in season two. Additionally, despite releasing numerous trailers and footage from this season, most of what was released has already figured into the first three episodes. We still haven’t seen the large battle scenes, some moments with the Ents who are barely introduced in this episode, and the barrow-wights attacking the elves.
In this opening, Sauron is wreaking havoc across Middle-earth in the various realms and establishing himself as the one with the solution. Halbrand told Galadriel this was his strategy in season one: Identify what your opponent most fears and give them a means to master it, so that you can master them.
Because he doesn’t have his own army yet, he is sowing division within his enemies and causing them to fight each other. He might not be an all-seeing eye in a tower yet, but this Sauron has his evil fingers stretched across Middle-earth. We’re certainly going to need someone to cut off one of those fingers.
We also have to bid farewell to Waldreg, as Halbrand promised to kill him the moment he was released. When Waldreg went into where Halbrand was being held, a freed warg attacked him.
Great insights about the mirroring of the prologues revealing the shift in focus from Galadriel to Sauron and the way you can substitute precious for moment in Celebrimbor's mini-rant (it stood out to me just how many times he focused on himself there: "*I* have spent an age preparing for this. *I* have apprenticed, *I* have studied, *I* have reached the very height of *my* craft. This...this...this is is my moment.")
I like your Blue Wizards theory better than the Saruman or Gandalf ones. I've always hoped that The Stranger is a Blue Wizard, but hadn't considered that the Dark Wizard could be a way for them to establish a Gandalf/Saruman dynamic by sorta combining Tolkien's two versions of their backstory.