“The Rings of Power” Shines Brightly in Finale
Episode 8 “Shadow and Flame” showcase Tolkien ideals
Spoiler-free thoughts on “Shadow and Flame,” episode 8 of The Rings of Power season 2
“Shadow and Flame,” The Rings of Power season finale, perfectly encapsulates the show as a standard bearer in fantasy television. When it works, no show matches its heights. From acting to writing to cinematography to visual effects, The Rings of Power is stellar. Minor misses, be they in show construction or adaptation choices, sometimes limit those heights, but they never overwhelm.
For better or worse, The Rings of Power is not a one-to-one direct adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s words, but it is a faithful rendering of Tolkien’s world. Viewers see the timeless truths of Middle-earth lived out in complex and volatile times. In a world that can seem bleak and filled with cynicism, The Rings of Power doesn’t attempt to ignore the darkness but instead reminds us of the light of hope. As Tolkien himself wrote, “Dawn is ever the hope of men.”
Make no mistake, “Shadow and Flame” spends time in those darkest moments of night. Heartbreak, betrayal, and despair smother and suffocate but hope still arrives. When light breaks through, “darkness must flee.”
The ends of seasons always make me think more thematically, so the spoiler section is more broad reflection on the second season with the finale as a jumping-off point than a beat-by-beat recap of the episode.
I’m also working on a piece about how the show treats Galadriel and Sauron and the line from the opening episode about understanding light by touching darkness. Better understanding this potentially troubling line is helping me see the show more clearly.
Spoilers for “Shadow and Flame,” episode 8 of The Rings of Power season 2
The fundamental question of Tolkien’s Middle-earth legendarium is, “How do you defeat overwhelming evil?” The opposing answers to that question form the conflicts that make his stories so compelling.
In The Lord of the Rings, the fellowship must defeat Sauron, but they also must decide how to do so. Will it be the way of amassing more strength and power, or does the path to victory lead through a valley of suffering and sacrifice? “Shadow and Flame” reminds us of Tolkien’s answer.
For most of the season, King Durin, Adar, and Celebrimbor have sought greed, power, and prestige. Each would claim their goal was worthy, but they treated others as tools for their own ambition. They may argue that they wanted to defeat Sauron or stop evil in Middle-earth, but the real motivation was personal and selfish. The tragedy is that each only realized too late that their chosen path was a dead end.
Durin’s greed
Durin’s ring-driven greed led him first to exploit others for what he asserted was the good of his kingdom. He ignored the elves’ call for help because they weren’t dwarves. He manipulated the other dwarf kings because they weren’t his people. Finally, he over-taxed, overworked, and eventually killed his people to satiate his thirst for more. The inevitable end of a focus on “my kind” is a singular focus on myself.
He only realized his mistake after he woke a demonic Balrog from the mountain depths. Even an emotional speech from his son couldn’t rouse him. Finally, when faced with the personification of what he unleashed on his people, on his family, Durin was able to take off his ring and ask for forgiveness before leaping to his sacrificial death, stopping the Balrog (for now).1
Adar’s power
Adar believes he is on the precipice of all he’s wanted. His orc army has broken through the walls of Eregion, where Sauron has been. He has all but defeated the elf army and captured their leaders. He now has Galadriel’s ring to accompany Morgoth’s crown, the two items he felt could help him completely destroy Sauron. But what has it cost to reach this point? Countless deaths of those he called his children.
When he sees Galadriel again, after having worn her ring, Adar says, “It would seem, even wounds that have endured an age can sometimes yet be healed.” He wants to defeat Sauron and then live a peaceful life with the orcs in Mordor, “never to make war on Middle-earth again.” He even offers Galadriel forgiveness for having “slain more of your children than any elf alive.”
But Glug, the orc who has been questioning his methods in the war and his obsession with Sauron, betrays him just as Adar did to Sauron. The orcs circle around him, stabbing and slashing at him, even as he weakly calls out to his “children.”
Celebrimbor’s prestige
The “greatest of elven smiths” has felt himself overshadowed by Fëanor, his grandfather who created the Silmarils. Since the beginning of the last season, he has wanted to craft something to rival those legendary jewels. At the start of this season, he’s still waiting to hear if the three rings he made for the elves have saved their kingdom. Sauron appears first as the king of Southland Halbrand and later as the angelic Annatar to stir those dreams of grandeur.
As Celebrimbor admits to Galadriel in episode 7, part of him knew from the beginning. But because he wanted what Sauron offered, he blinded himself. Now Celebrimbor has finally taken off his self-imposed blinders, as well as those conjured by Sauron. He sits bloodied and broken in his forge, being tortured by Sauron. Yet, in his weakened state, he finally shows true strength.
He reminds Sauron of the glories that await him and all those who follow goodness, but the Great Deceiver can never follow Celebrimbor to that place. Dying, the elf lord declares that Sauron will one day be defeated by his own treachery. He is a prisoner to the rings, Celebrimbor says, and one of them “shall prove your utter ruin.” Hanging above Sauron with his side pierced, Celebrimbor pities the one who has killed him.
It is pity. It is grace. It is forgiveness. It is friendship and love. It is light that defeats darkness. Because even while the light shines in the darkness, the darkness cannot comprehend the light.2 Pride goes before a fall because it trips over humility. You can’t look down to see the lowly with your nose in the air and your gaze only on your advancement. In that way, the victory for light is inevitable.
Salvation for others
As those three met their expected but heartbreaking demise, others find redemption and salvation. Galadriel faces Sauron alone, not through hubris but by circumstance. And she resists his temptation and closes her mind to his probing. Again, not through strength and will but by sacrifice. She, following in the footsteps of Elrond in the opening episode, throws herself off a cliff to keep Sauron from getting her ring.
Gil-galad, Elrond, Arondir, and the few surviving elves in Eregion are saved by the dwarven army that finally arrives. Prince Durin is mourning but still sends the army to help his friend. Eregion still falls but the surviving elves make it to a hidden and protected valley.3
The Stranger chooses to go save Nori and Poppy instead of seeking answers and power for himself.4 The Dark Wizard says he is the Stranger’s friend and wants to help him discover his name and his staff.5 The men of Rhûn have the halflings at knifepoint and demand the wizard give them what was promised. Instead, he blasts the leader against the wall, killing him.
Nori, Poppy, and Stoors doubt his goodness because of how he responded. “You pity him whose blade was at your throat?” he asks. “Yes,” Nori says. “Pity will not defeat Sauron,” he retorts. But that’s just it, pity is all that can defeat Sauron. As Gandalf, who we now know was the Stranger, tells Frodo, “The pity of Bilbo [in not killing Gollum] may rule the fate of many—yours not least.” It is only because Gollum is alive and present at Mount Doom that the One Ring and Sauron are destroyed.
The Rings of Power, following Tolkien, makes it clear that a thirst for more power beyond what rightfully belongs to you will result in tragedy. Durin, Adar, and Celebrimbor realized this but only too late. Currently, Pharazôn and the King’s Men of Númenor, the Dark Wizard, and Sauron himself are still seeking illegitimate power and attacking those who oppose them. Their eventual fate is secure, but that does not mean their fate is immediate.
Sometimes, we see evil prosper, and sometimes good suffers loss. As they’re digging out from the destruction of the Dark Wizard, Nori quotes Sadoc Burrows:
“Some things can’t be fixed. Some things lost are lost forever. No matter how hard we fight, how much it hurts, or how much our hearts yearn to put them back together, ‘cause this world’s so much bigger than any of us. And sometimes the winds blowin’ against us are just too strong. At those times, we’ve just got to accept it. What’s broke is broke and won’t fix. And all anybody can do is try and build something new.”
Loss is real. The wounded and battered elves gather to regroup and decide their next steps. “The few who survived are all but broken. In body or spirit,” Elrond says. “They have little strength left with which to fight. They barely had strength to flee.” That is true, but Galadriel draws from Celebrimbor’s words and says, “It is not strength that overcomes darkness, but light. And the sun yet shines.”
In concluding The Rings of Power season two, “Shadow and Flame” reminds us of the existence of both. The shadow is real. Suffering does come, even (especially) to those who seek good. And flames can burn, but they also generate light. Even within itself, the enemies of goodness ensure their own destruction. Light will always overcome darkness, even if suffering must come first.
This opening scene wrecked me. I was weeping before the opening credits.
John 1:4-5
Spoiler: This will become Elrond’s home of Rivendell.
This choice happened offscreen, which was one of my small nitpicks with this episode
While I would’ve preferred the Stranger to be someone other than Gandalf, they made that inevitable this season. But it played as well as I could’ve hoped. He still played the role of Blue Wizard and the Dark Wizard confirmed the existence of the two Blue Wizards. A bigger worry was that the Dark Wizard would be Saruman. Several interviews I’ve read from the showrunners indicate that will not be the case, so I’m thankful for that at least.