The Rings of Power Season 2, Episode 2 Recap: Better off with the Books?

And so, I welcome you all back for this, the second instalment of my review of the three-episode premiere of season two’s The Rings of Power (“TRoP”). This second episode, ‘Where the Stars are Strange’, reunites us with characters whose absence from the first episode was noticeable and thrusts us further into Tolkien’s lore.

One feels this episode, in many ways, encapsulates the paradox of this series in its struggle to adapt a foundational work of fantasy while maintaining its own identity. And so, without further ado, let’s explore just why this episode rang so hollow.

WARNING: Spoilers and heavy themes discussed below!

The Rings of Power: Fall of the Dwarves

The episode opens with a startling image, tendrils of darkness, symbolising Mount Doom’s eruption, slithering out across the map of Middle Earth, reaching as far as Khazad-dûm. This dwarvish utopia, which uses precious stones to reflect sunlight to feed lush vegetation sprawling over cavernous surfaces, like some fantastical version of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, suffers a major blow. The windows cave in as Durin IV (Owain Arthur) and Disa (Sophia Nomvete) reflect on their fall from favour. Their love is the only thing to endure the devastation of this scene.

Troubled by her past mistakes, a war council meeting goes awry as Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) perceives a danger to Celebrimbor’s (Charles Edwards) life. Struggling to breathe, we cannot help but be impressed by Morfydd Clark as she conveys the abject horror Galadriel feels at watching her friend and associate fall prey to Sauron’s (Charlie Vickers) evil, an evil she herself set in motion. It is a tragic and poetic scene which manages to capture the biblically sad and horrifying fate of this all-important character.

TRoP: Things that have not yet come to pass

In a further welcome departure from this show’s usual form, effort is made to tie the lore of the show version of the rings of the power to that of the books. Correctly predicting Sauron’s plan and warning Gil-galad (Benjamin Walker) of the threat the former poses to the realm of Eregion, Galadriel confides in him that her ring has enhanced her innate ability to perceive what is yet to come. Gil-galad shares this newfound skill but attempts to dissuade Galadriel from acting rashly, fearing as he does that she may be susceptible to Sauron’s deception a second time. And yet, it is for precisely this reason that she is steadfastly determined to hunt him down herself.

Marred as it is by somewhat clunky dialogue (Galadriel: ‘Halbrand isn’t… Gil-galad: Sauron!’), which doesn’t ring true with the language and style employed by the elves which we are used to from the books and films, this scene still works well in tying the rings and the power they afford to Tolkien’s work and themes. However, this problem of the simplification and colloquialisation of the elves will rear its ugly head later in the episode.

TRoP: Where are we going?

Next, we are introduced to a strange, dark wizard (Ciarán Hinds) who seems intent on capturing or otherwise thwarting the ‘istar’, our mysterious man (Daniel Weyman), in his journey of self-discovery. Alas, there is little threatening or interesting to be found here; generic fantasy magic involving blood and CGI butterflies and the subsequent return of the bizarre and unpopular ‘Dweller’ (Bridie Sisson) from season one coalesce into a scene completely devoid of any suspense.

This aimless and meandering plotline is only perpetuated by the continued wanderings of the strange man and the Harfoots (Markella Kavenagh, Megan Richards), whose journey and development as characters appear to have lost severe momentum after the dramatic events of season one’s finale.

Back in Khazad-dûm, Disa and her fellow’ stone singers’ attempt to solve the problem posed by the cave-in but only succeed in making it worse. The following scene between Disa and Durin III (Peter Mullan) is only marginally more engaging, where she works tirelessly to heal the breach between father and son. It is in her characterisation as a strong-willed wife determined to do what’s best for her husband and kingdom that Disa holds our attention.

TRoP: To use the rings or not?

Meanwhile, Elrond, working for Círdan, is tentatively approached by Galadriel for aid in her mission to save Celebrimbor and Eregion. Stubborn in his resolve, Elrond tells her she was ‘played’ by Sauron and labels her his ‘collaborator’ for wearing one of his rings. This bitter, sulky Elrond creates a bit of a contradiction within his character; it is no hero who disagrees with his friend’s actions and, therefore, decides to abandon them to their fate and isolate himself from worldly affairs.

Of more immediate interest is the following scene, where we gain additional context for Círdan (Ben Daniels), who comes across as not only wise and noble but philosophical, even religious, in his desire to help Elrond see the power these rings offer. The abilities of these rings are made more literal than in the book; the three elven rings are never described as having the dominating power over another’s will that the other sixteen possess. Regardless, thankfully, Círdan tells Elrond to guide his friends if he believes them to be mistaken or deceived.

In this surprisingly well-written scene, we are treated to a quote from Círdan, which captures some of Tolkien’s message: ‘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 wears these rings, but your most trusted friends.’

TRoP: The Great Deceiver

In Eregion, Celebrimbor takes pity on Halbrand and falls prey to the latter’s manipulation. What loyalty should he owe to a king who takes his greatest achievements, uses them for himself, and sends no word of thanks or congratulation? It is this resentment, fostered by Sauron, that will have such disastrous ramifications for Middle Earth. Thanks in part to their prior partnership, the two become close, building enough trust that Sauron feels he can venture to ask this elven smith to forge rings for men. Celebrimbor is aghast; men are ‘covetous’, he warns.

Alas, even this pivotal scene, adapting one of the most important moments in Tolkien’s lore, is marred by poor dialogue. In response to Sauron’s warning of an unspecified threat to the dwarves, the wise, ancient elf Celebrimbor utters the clunky and colloquial question, ‘What dilemma? What are you talking about, Halbrand?’ These simply do not feel like the words of an elven lord so old and powerful that Sauron feels he must enslave him to his will, but rather a confused and naïve old man.

This, unfortunately, reflects a broader problem with how the elves are written in this series. Far from the angelic, reserved, authoritative figures from Tolkien’s work and Peter Jackson’s films, the elves in this series are made needlessly immature and impotent. Celebrimbor particularly suffers: no legendary figure who commands respect, led astray by the dark arts of a menacingly diabolical evil, he has instead been reduced to a bumbling, unsure persona, naïve to the point of stupidity.

TRoP: More episodic twists?

Twisting events, Sauron masquerades as an ‘envoy’ from the Valar. He dramatically foretells of a disaster, one which only the rings of power can prevent. Revealing his ‘true’ form as Annatar, Lord of Gifts, he plays on Celebrimbor’s pride; ‘never again will the world overlook you as the mere scion of Fëanor’, but instead as ‘the Lord of the Rings’.

In a hasty postscript to the episode, Galadriel is humiliated by Gil-galad’s decision to give leadership of her mission to Eregion to Elrond, now back in the fold, which only heightens the tension between these two old friends. At the same time, Durin IV receives a fateful invitation from Celebrimbor.

TRoP: Off to a poor start?

And so it only remains for me to express my severe misgivings about this season thus far. There is no doubt about it. This series lacks soul. Even the all-important sight of Sauron deceiving Celebrimbor in the form of Annatar, a moment of incalculable significance to the story of Middle-Earth, rang hollow.

As a character, Sauron elicits no fear or veneration from the audience, and Celebrimbor is duped so easily that all dramatic tension in the scene is lost. It all feels too easy, too inevitable. It is no coincidence that the only compelling and thought-provoking scenes are those which take their cue directly from Tolkien himself, and even then, these are a mere husk, an ephemeral copy of his written word.

Join me next time as we close out this three-episode premiere. Episode four aired on Amazon Prime on Thursday the 5th of September.