THE RINGS OF POWER ushers in a new age of Middle-earth with great success
Developed by J. D. Payne & Patrick McKay
1.01 “A Shadow of the Past” & 1.02 “Adrift”
Written by J. D. Payne & Patrick McKay (1.01) & Gennifer Hutchison (1.02)
Directed by J. A. Bayona
Starring Morfydd Clark, Will Fletcher, Lenny Henry, Benjamin Walker
New episodes streaming Fridays on Amazon Prime
by Megan Bailey, Staff Writer
In this post-Game of Thrones world, Amazon is finally releasing its most expensive series to date. And I’m excited about it! Let me preface this by explaining how I’m approaching this series, given that everyone has opinions. My general position is that this show’s existence doesn’t take anything away from The Lord of the Rings books or films. Those things still exist for me to go back to anytime. Because the show is playing in a different sandbox, specifically The Second Age, it’s something that hasn’t been brought to screen before.
It’s also important to mention that Middle-Earth lore is complicated by how often Tolkien wrote, and then rewrote, his own stories. This is a man who rewrote the “Riddles in the Dark” chapter of The Hobbit after it’d been published, to change how Bilbo got the ring from Gollum and to better set up Lord of the Rings, okay? With that on top of the show only having the rights to use Rings, and its appendices, as source material, it’s understandable that the show is going to have to create some new stuff to fill in the gaps. They can’t just make a Silmarillion adaptation, and it’s silly to ask for that.
Also, I think it’s great that the cast includes actors of color, and I find it embarrassing that so many racist “fans” think it’d be better off with only white actors. I can only hope the whiners will fall by the wayside as the show goes on.
1.01 “A Shadow of the Past”
This episode has a 17-minute prologue, starting with Galadriel’s voice over a black screen, reminiscent of the start of Jackson’s Fellowship. It’s slow, in typical Tolkien fashion, and grounds us in the world. We see Galadriel as a child with her older brother, who tells her a secret about how to discern darkness from light.
While I’ve seen criticism online about the short-haired elves, Finrod (Will Fletcher) is the only elf whose hairstyle I think is too modern. It’s a bit too fuckboy for me to be able to see past, but he’s not in the episode that much, so I’ll survive.
Morgoth, his second-in-command Sauron, and their attacks force the elves to leave Valinor and go to Middle-Earth. After her brother dies fighting, Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) takes up his dagger and spends a long time hunting down evil. She’s convinced Sauron is still out there and puts her team at considerable risk. So much so that the soldiers she commands, convinced that they’ve vanquished him, throw down their swords.
When the group returns to Lindon, Galadriel asks Elrond (Robert Aramaya) for an audience with Gil-Galad (Benjamin Walker), in order to request more soldiers. But Elrond reminds her that it wasn’t her team that disobeyed orders; it was her. (Sidenote: Elrond is much kinder than we saw in the movies. This is a bit closer to his characterization in the books, so I’m excited to see his journey in the show.) Gil-Galad insists that days of war are over and honors the troop by granting them access to the Grey Havens. But Galadriel isn’t ready for peace.
Aboard the ship, Galadriel and her soldiers shed their armor, preparing to cross over. But Galadriel has a hard time giving up her brother’s dagger and jumps into the water. She cannot go to Valinor when there’s still evil in Middle-Earth.
I want to mention that this the map illustrations between scene transitions are a really neat way of establishing place. While it’s not particularly groundbreaking, it does evoke the original maps in the novels, and it feels very grand.
In Rhovanion, the Harfoots hide in plain sight, blending in with nature: trees, tall grass, and rocks. Their reveal is a very charming scene, and each time we see a comically big item in the hands of a Harfoot to establish their smaller stature, I’m delighted. We meet Nori (Markella Kavenagh), who is very curious about the world outside, and Poppy (Megan Richards), who follows her reluctantly. The Harfoots are a cautious, nomadic community and, like the hobbits we’ve seen in the films, prefer not to be troubled by outsiders.
We’re taken to The Southlands next, where two Silvan elves walk through Tirharad. We find out that the elves are tasked with patrolling here because the men in the area supported Morgoth in the First Age. Beside the well in town, a woman, Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi), and Arondir (Ismael Cruz Cordova) have a little moment. I can’t wait to see where this goes; I love a forbidden romance! Plus, Arondir’s patrol mate specifically mentions that there have only been two elf/human romances, both ending in tragedy. (Pour one out for Beren and Lúthien. Y’all know that those characters’ names are on J.R.R. and his wife’s gravestone, right? Time to cry.)
Arondir later finds out that their forces have been called back. His commander insists that he should be grateful to never see the townsfolk again, but of course, he wants to see Bronwyn again. Swoon! He goes to tell her that he’s leaving, but they’re interrupted and have to investigate a nearby town. When Arondir and Bronwyn reach it, they see that it’s been attacked in some way, fires still burning.
A meteor crosses through the sky. There’s a quick shot of some ents in this sequence, which really thrilled me! The episode ends with Nori at the landing site of the meteor, where a man (Daniel Weyman) lies. Okay, Stardust!
1.02 “Adrift
We see the opening credits in this episode. They’re fine, I guess. I know what they’re going for: Eru created the world with music, and the sand/gold moves around into different shapes along with the changes in the music. But after the incredible title reveal sequence released a few months ago, these are kind of a let-down in comparison, at least for me. Though I’m glad Howard Shore came back to do the theme, I can think of several shows that have way more interesting opening credits.
Galadriel is stranded in the middle of the sea with an endless swim ahead of her in order to get back to land. After she encounters a raft of survivors, all but one are left for dead against a sea creature, when Halbrand (Charlie Vickers) cuts apart a section of the raft. Yikes!
Halbrand is reluctant to tell Galadriel much about himself. What she does find out: Orcs drove him from his home in the Southlands, which means that Sauron’s forces haven’t all been defeated. Looks like it’s good that she didn’t go to the Grey Havens! Halbrand doesn’t want her help reclaiming his homeland, though. The next day, they make landfall somewhere, presumably Numenor, but more on that in the next episode!
Nori spends most of the episode trying to help the stranger, even though Poppy doesn’t think she should. He’s a little creepy and a little mysterious. Who is this stranger? When Nori tries to tell him that she can’t help anymore, he uses the fireflies to depict a constellation, not one currently in the sky where they are, but one he’s seen before. The fireflies are beautiful, but they die after he’s used them for his purposes, which is a bit spooky.
Arondir and Bronwyn are investigating the destruction of Hordern, where everything’s burned or ruined. Arondir tells Bronwyn to go back to Tirharad and warn the others, while he goes down to explore a tunnel and then is grabbed by mysterious hands.
Back in Tirharad, Theo is hiding from an orc that emerged from beneath the house! When Bronwyn gets home, she sees everything in disarray, but she’s able to take down the intruder with her son’s help. Bronwyn convinces everyone in town to leave for their safety. As they prepare for the journey, Theo fiddles with the sword bearing Sauron’s sigil that he stole in the pilot. That can’t be good, especially given Tirharad’s history of helping Morgoth.
Gil-Galad asked Elrond to work with Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) in the previous episode, and after a discussion about the Silmarils, we find out just what he’s hoping to build—a giant forge. There’s some excellent foreshadowing here with Celebrimbor and his ambitions… more on that in later episodes, I’m sure. If you know your lore or can guess what a smith with a powerful forge could perhaps get up to, you know.
Elrond suggests that the dwarves, including his friend Prince Durin (Owain Arthur), could help build the forge, so he goes to Khazad-dûm. Keen-eyed viewers will notice that they don’t use the “Speak friend and enter” door seen in Fellowship, so we’ll hopefully get to see that get created! Here, we visit Moria in its heyday, which is a treat, given that we’ve only seen it orc-filled and in disarray. It’s gorgeous, with a waterfall, gardens where the sun shines through the mountainside, and incredible stone walkways. I do wish there were some beards on the dwarvish women, at least in the background, but I’m willing to let it go given how incredible Moria looks on screen.
Durin explains that he’s angry with Elrond because 20 years have passed with no word from his elvish bestie. Elrond missed several big life events—including his wedding. We meet Disa (Sophia Nomvete), his wife, who is delightful. She and Elrond are fast friends. By the end of dinner, Elrond is able to talk about the proposal for Celebrimbor’s forge.
Durin tells his father about the proposition, but the king is more concerned with if the elves have discovered their secret. He looks at something in a mysterious box, but we don’t know what. Intrigue! This conversation makes it seem like the dwarves are hiding some kind of treasure, but knowing what Durin’s Bane is (ahem, Balrog), I can’t imagine it will end well.
Overall, I do think there’s a lot of heart in this show. I care about all of the characters and where their storylines are headed. There’s danger, whimsy, adventure, and the power of friendship, just like the original books. It feels like Middle-Earth, which is really what I wanted for this show. From a visual standpoint, the costuming and cinematography are beautiful. The armor for the Silvan elves is especially gorgeous, with the tree-trunk-inspired chest plates. The practical effects for the orcs are also great, given how plasticky much of The Hobbit films looked. It’s wonderful to see Middle-Earth at this caliber again!
Considering how much room there is to play in this world, there’s a lot of ground to cover, and I’m curious to see just how much will happen in the remaining six episodes of this season. Mark me down as an excited viewer! While there are a few minor issues, I’m having a good time.