‘The Rings of Power’ Recap: LOTR Has Its ‘Heat’ Moment
The following story contains spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2, episode 6.
MIDDLE-EARTH IS SAURON'S world. Everyone else is just suffering in it.
The sixth episode of The Rings of Power season 2 sees Sauron and his rings ripple like violent waves from Eregion to Khazad-dûm. The show's titular relics, the Rings of Power, are now poisoning its wearers, like vain smith Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) and dwarf king Durin III (Peter Mullan), devolving them from proud individuals to paranoid slaves beholden to their influence. Even Adar (Sam Hazeldine) plays right into Sauron's hand, launching the first attack that will more than likely end with Adar's defeat and the Uruk army under Sauron's control.
Credit is due where credit is due: The Rings of Power has been on fire like the inside of Celebrimbor's forge lately. It just feels like the show is going places, if only plot-wise. One by one the rings are being made, each of them chipping away at the souls who wear them and the safety and innocence of Middle-earth along with it. You just feel that everyone is significantly more vulnerable every week. The only one who has any power at all remains Sauron, still in disguise as Annatar, the enigmatic Lord of Gifts.
This week's episode–written by Justin Doble and directed by Sanaa Hamri–sees nearly every major storyline advance their narratives. Some take bigger steps than others; Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova) gets just one scene, for example. But there is nevertheless plenty of story packed into a dense 50-plus minutes of TV, and by the end, we're left on a forked road, uncertain where it's all going next. We've known from the start what The Rings of Power is all about. But just because we know how it ends doesn't mean we can guess how we get there.
Things are heating up on The Rings of Power and we've not a moment to cool down. So let's run down what went down this week.
"Where Is He?"
Celebrimbor is straight up not having a good time.
High in his forge in Eregion, Celebrimbor struggles to forge the Nine Rings for mortal men. He didn't want to forge them in the first place, but now here he is, struggling to get the job done and going stark raving mad in the process. He rants to a tiny piece of ore and to an audience of concerned apprentices, their shared looks towards each other telling of Celebrimbor's terrifying metamorphosis. When Celebrimbor brain farts the name of his main apprentice Mirdania (Amelia Kenworthy), it's cause for alarm.
Unsurprisingly, Annatar/Sauron knows how to capitalize on other people's vulnerabilities and angles himself into a position of authority to speak on behalf of Celebrimbor. While the master smith isolates himself from his own pupils and obsesses over the Nine Rings, all business falls to Annatar. Exceptionally good timing on his part, as Mirdania informs him that a dead soldier has washed ashore with "Where Is He?" written on his body in Khuzdûl–the language of Dwarves. Only Sauron knows who the message is from and who it's in reference to (himself), and now he has the power to quite literally bury such problematic things. Like a too-big-to-fail politician with their skeletons neatly packed and organized in the closet.
When Adar launches his attack on Eregion, a locked-in Sauron/Annatar–who also paid a visit to the dwarves in Khazad-dûm earlier in the episode–obscures from Celebrimbor the mass panic outside his door. In place of death and destruction, Sauron fools him with an illusion of afternoon serenity. The spell convinces Celebrimbor back to work, after Sauron presents him with more mithril and a lavish gift of a new smithing hammer. Annatar appeals to Celebrimbor's vanity one more time to seal the deal: "When the history of this age is written, the Silmarils, well, they will merit little more than a whisper. And your rings, the Rings of Power, they will be deemed the most precious creations in all Middle-earth."
Sauron's parting shot of a high vantage point in Celebrimbor's tower is an explicit visual metaphor that says, as of this moment, he has the high ground.
A Table for Two
In what is essentially The Rings of Power's own Heat moment, sworn enemies Adar and Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) meet like Pacino and De Niro for dinner and conversation. Never mind that Galadriel is his prisoner and they're not in a cool Los Angeles diner, but the vibes are still there.
After getting the small end of the stick in last week's episode, Adar and Galadriel get significantly more screen time this week, though it still feels like Galadriel has been demoted to a supporting character in season 2. The two essentially compare notes on their up-close experiences with Sauron, coming to a mutual understanding of the Dark Lord's capacity for deep psychological damage. "For a while he even makes you believe his power must become yours," Adar observes, to which Galadriel squirms for she knows what he means. She's clearly still haunted by Sauron's temptations in their epic stare down from the season 1 finale.
As Adar shows off Morgoth's crown, he proposes an alliance with Galadriel to get rid of Sauron. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and all that. Between Morgoth's crown that Adar used to "kill" Sauron originally and the elves's Rings of Power, Adar believes they can "destroy Sauron forever." That's also when Adar shows his cards by telling Galadriel he knows Sauron hides in Eregion, and that Sauron was in disguise as Halbrand, the alleged king of the southlands. He knows this because, well, it was he who sent Halbrand to Eregion. He appeals to Galadriel's heroic side by insisting that only she can save Eregion–she only needs to cooperate.
Later in the episode, Galadriel confirms Adar's theories but argues that they have a tactical advantage in waiting. But their alliance is on shaky ground, characterized by their own suspicions towards one another and inability to agree on terms of peace. Adar shows off to Galadriel the mighty orc army under his command, but Galadriel fears he's falling into Sauron's trap. "He wants you to attack Eregion," Galadriel warns, believing that Sauron will take control of the Uruk. But Adar refuses to listen, making his first attack to ignite war potentially his last.
Judgment of the Valar
Back in Númenor, Elendil stands trial for "his" attempt to incite rebellion against King Pharazôn (Trystan Gravelle). Since Elendil is no coward, he refuses to repent for crimes he never committed. Nor does he recognize Pharazôn as Númenor's "true king." It is decided Elendil must face judgment before the Valar, in which the accused live or die by facing a monstrous sea worm. His daughter Eärien (Ema Horvath) calls it "trial by abyss," which is the most heavy metal thing anyone has said in this show.
Fearing that dear old daddy is going to die and that it would be her fault, Eärien secretly arranges for Elendil to meet with Miriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), who instructs Elendil to stand down on the basis of Númenor's fate resting on Pharazôn maintaining power. But through an impassioned speech, Elendil refuses based on his own moral principles. Just before his sentencing, Miriel steps in his place thanks to an ancient loophole that allows her to do just that. Over an elaborate sequence, Miriel is dragged into the deep blue and stares into the Valar's sea monster with blind eyes. After a suspenseful pause, Miriel is thrown back out to shore, effectively rendering hers and Elendil's judgment "innocent." Thus speak the Valar.
Whether the Valar actually deem Miriel innocent or the summoned sea monster just wasn't hungry, what really matters is that Miriel has won groundswell support among some Númenoreans. Civil war brews in Númenor, a kingdom now torn between Pharazôn and Miriel.
It should be noted that in Tolkien's lore, Númenor doesn't fall because of any infighting but instead Númenoreans violating the Ban of the Valar and Sauron influencing Ar-Pharazôn to challenge the gods and seize the Undying Lands. Perhaps this still might happen in The Rings of Power. Shortly after Miriel's judgment, a desperate Pharazôn sees a new vision in Palantir – one dark and ominous, with Halbrand (Sauron) staring back at him. However Númenor falls in The Rings of Power, know it is destined to. Doomed souls crowd these busy streets.
As For the Rest…
This was an absolutely jam-packed episode, with other story threads getting just a scene or two this week. In the spirit of that brevity, let's take an aerial view of this episode's other minor but no less important subplots:
The Durins: When Annatar/Sauron comes to Khazad-dûm to ask for mithril on behalf of Celebrimbor, he is denied by King Durin III who has grown greedy over Moria's riches. He's also obsessed with his ring, which he clings to tighter than his own beard. After throwing his own son Durin IV (Owain Arthur) across the room, the younger Durin tearfully resigns to stop his father for the good of all dwarves. As for Annator, he's got other ways of getting what he wants. Don't forget, the Balrog–soon to be named Durin's Bane–still resides deep in Moria.
The Harfoots: When her pleas to run away from the Dark Wizard are ignored, Nori (Markella Kavenagh) learns the importance of settling in a permanent home from Gundabale (Tanya Moodie). We know Harfoots and Stoors are some day meant to settle in the Shire and become happy Hobbits. But where the Shire is is still unknown to them, and still so far away. They will have to endure incredible struggle before they can earn that peace. At least things are going well between Poppy (Megan Richards) and Merimac, aka "Nobody" (Gavi Singh Chera).
Tom Bombadil and The Stranger: "Old" Tom Bombadil (Rory Kinnear) brings The Stranger (Daniel Weyman) one step closer to his destiny as–well, a figure of some importance. Bombadil leaves The Stranger alone to find his own staff among a swath of desert trees, but not before telling him that he stands on the cusp of his destiny changing forever. The Rings of Power is still being very coy if Weyman's character is actually Gandalf or just a wizard. (Maybe a blue one?) Yet another hint at the form is heard between Tom and The Stranger, when Tom lectures The Stranger on the significance of life and death. "Who are you to give it to them?" Tom asks, in the same manner Gandalf asks Frodo the same in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.
Arondir: A man of few words this week, Arondir kicks off the episode by eliminating wandering orcs in his usual stylish way before finding a critical piece of intel: a map to Eregion, where Adar has been mobilizing the Uruk. When we last saw Arondir, he had just reunited with Theo and met the Ents Snaggleroot and Winterbloom. It appears he's now broken off on his own to maintain pursuit of Adar.
Second Breakfast
A phenomenal performance this week from Owain Arthur as Durin IV. His weepy resolution to stop his corrupted father is a very stirring moment of television.
I'm uncertain if Eärien can earn a proper redemption arc, at least one that feels resonant and not at all expedited.
Sauron's illusion outside Celebrimbor's door is hilarious. Kids flying kites, artists painting, even a random-ass white horse just hanging out–the Dark Lord has a very funny idea of what a chill afternoon looks like.
Speaking of Sauron: The appearance of Durin's Bane in a lit flame is a neat bit of VFX.
I hope we haven't seen the last of Rory Kinnear's Tom Bombadil. But if it is, vanishing like Batman is a very Tom Bombadil thing to do.
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