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The Rings of Power seasonseason 2,2, episodeepisode 33 recap:recap: LostLost inin adaptationadaptation
Welcome back, as we delve into the third instalment of the three-episode premiere, “The Eagle and the Sceptre”. A lot happens here, though, with not entirely promising portents for The Rings of Power (“TRoP”) future. And yet, as with any balanced analysis, we must first go straight to the source and seek to make our own sense of it or what little we can. As will become apparent, The Rings of Power S2 E3 was an impressively dull episode, even by this show’s standards.
Join me as we follow the more human plotlines of the series as they play out against the backdrop of a rising evil and an age of decline.
WARNING: Spoilers and heavy themes discussed below!
Characters discussed in order of first mention:
- Lloyd Owen plays Elendil
- Benjamin Walker plays Berek
- Maxim Baldry plays Isildur
- Ema Horvath plays Eärien
- Cynthia Addai-Robinson plays Miriel
- Trystan Gravelle plays Pharazôn
- Sam Hazeldine plays Adar
- Robert Strange plays Glüg
- Owain Arthur plays Durin IV
- Sophia Nomvete plays Disa
- Charles Edwards plays Celebrimbor
- Charlie Vickers plays Annatar, also known as Sauron
- Robert Aramayo plays Elrond
- Benjamin Walker plays Gil-galad
- Nia Towle plays Estrid
- Ismael Cruz Córdova plays Arondir
- Nazanin Boniadi plays Bronwyn
- Tyroe Muhafidin plays Theo
- Peter Mullan plays Durin III
- Morfydd Clark plays Galadriel
The Rings of Power S2 E3
The Return of Men
We meet Elendil as he attempts to take Berek home to Númenor, but his entreaties are to no avail. The loyal beast knows Isildur is alive and immediately takes off searching for his master. The brave horse ventures into a cave, finding Isildur, the captive of a Shelob-esque spider, after a brief run-in with a pack of Orcs. What follows is a genuinely horrifying action sequence as the two barely escape from the spider’s lair.
Returning to Númenor, we find the King dead and Elendil’s daughter Eärien resentful towards the wilful Miriel. Pharazôn moves against her, enlisting the nobles, before everyone present is stunned into silence by a woman who slaps Miriel across the face. Turning the situation to her advantage, Miriel embraces her in shared grief for all to see. Alas, this may not save her. She is not popular after her warmongering, and her enemies are moving in as her coronation looms.
We meet Adar and his Orc advisor Glüg as the latter argues for peace, in what must be described as the most shockingly lousy writing decision in the series thus far. Though I must admit the bar is relatively low.
It is soon revealed that this Orc has a wife and baby in situ, no doubt a poorly thought-out attempt by the writers to humanise the Orcs and elicit the audience’s sympathy. This scene is already infamous for all the wrong reasons. It had the opposite effect; the viewer is, if anything, left even more disgusted. Such a reveal breaks with Tolkien’s lore, as Orcs are originally corrupted elves (as Adar clearly symbolises), subsequently grown using dark magic. They cannot reproduce amongst themselves.
TRoP: Sauron’s Plan in Motion
Durin IV and Disa arrive in Eregion to hear out Celebrimbor’s offer of rings of power for the Dwarf-lords. This minor change to the lore expands on one version of Tolkien’s tale, in which Celebrimbor gives a ring to Durin IV as a special token of their friendship. Originally, all the rings were intended for men. Sauron just gives seven to the Dwarves as a last-ditch effort to recoup his losses.
No fool, Durin IV is immediately suspicious of this “Annatar”, who claims to know Elrond, his old friend. Nevertheless, sensing their imminent peril, Disa encourages him to accept the offer, though perhaps we could have done without the anachronistic mocking of the rings of power as “magic rings” or just “jewellery”, as the Dwarves of Tolkien’s world are no strangers to elven magic or powerful artefacts. Once again, these ancient civilisations are presented as jarringly modern for the sake of cheap humour and entertainment value.
Sauron further deceives Celebrimbor by telling him that Gil-galad has banned the forging of any more rings, especially for the “unworthy” Dwarves. Celebrimbor, sufficiently hoodwinked, lies to his high King to enable them to craft more rings; “this”, he tragically exclaims, “is my moment.”
TRoP: A Pointless Plot
Isildur, now on the move, meets a woman named Estrid on the road. The Orcs ambush the two, who are saved by the timely intervention of Arondir. It must be said that this constitutes the least interesting plotline of the episode and, indeed, the series moving forward. It principally suffers from aimless action and poor characterisation; why should we care about Isildur or Arondir?
We are unceremoniously informed that Bronwyn died off-screen from Orc weaponry poisoning, adding further insult to injury. Bronwyn’s arbitrary and unsatisfying end is matched by the meaningless tension between Arondir and the complete nonentity, Theo.
Meanwhile, as the Dwarves struggle to cope with supply and demand for food, Durin IV apologises to his father, Durin III, ending the feud in what I must say is the one emotionally compelling scene of the episode. This brings welcome relief after having sat through the droll developments surrounding Arondir and Isildur in the Southlands. Of even heavier emotional weight is Durin’s warning to his father against accepting the rings: “What if you were right?”
TRoP: The World of Men
To my dismay, we receive even more of the Southlander plot, which continues to fail to make us care about any of the characters. Theo spurns Arondir’s sympathetic advances and appears to turn to Isildur as his protector instead. It does little to pluck our heartstrings, even in the reveal that the two share a grief in having indirectly caused the death of their own mother. Isildur retrieves Berek from Adar’s Southlanders, and a mysterious and powerful entity takes Theo.
Back in Númenor, Miriel’s coronation soon goes awry; one crown member gives her the epithet “Queen of Lies!”, and just as her impassioned speech starts to win over the crowd, Eärien exposes her for using a Palantir, “this elf-stone is your queen!”
Using this to his advantage, Pharazôn threatens to destroy it, knowing Miriel must expose herself as its owner to save it. The ensuing riot is halted only by the arrival of a Great Eagle, which all present take as a sign of Pharazôn’s right to rule.
The final scene reveals that, against his son’s advice, Durin III has personally delivered mithril to the forges of Eregion. We watch with a sense of foreboding as the forging of the Rings of Power begins.
The Rings of Power S2 E3
Overall, The Rings of Power S2 E3 is the weakest of the season so far. Against the all-important developments in Eregion and the somewhat interesting dynamic between Galadriel and Elrond, we have very little reason to care about Arondir and Isildur and the men of the Southlands. The Dwarves, on balance, emerge as the standout stars of this episode, carrying the only emotional weight on offer here. Now that this trio of episodes is over, it remains to be seen whether the forthcoming episodes can keep us invested. I, for one, have doubts.
Episode four aired on Amazon Prime on Thursday, 5th September.
Feature image credit: Ben Rothstein/Prime Video. Other image credits: Ross Ferguson, Ben Rothstein and Prime Video.
