The Rings of Power – Season 2 Episode 1 Recap & Review

Eleven Kings Under The Sky

Episode 1 of Rings of Power season 2 starts in the past, with Fordwaith Sauron deciding he’s going to be the new Orc master in Mordor. He’s going to use this power to enslave the peoples of Middle Earth to their will. Adar is here too, and he listens as the Orcs doubt the validity of Sauron’s words. That is, until Sauron kills one who defies him and takes the crown. Sauron bows his head for Adar who… plunges the crown into his skull and double-crosses him. The orcs all attack and fight Sauron, who’s eventually bested and killed. In his dying breath, he screams and turns into dust, blasting them all back.

Sauron’s blood is black as night and works the same way as the Venom symbiote, and it oozes through the cracks in the rocks and makes it way down into the depths of the caves. There, it lies in wait, manifesting into a humanoid creature and consuming anything that gets near. Eventually, Sauron crawls out from this pool toward the light.

Exiting the mountain, this mass just trudges across the wilderness until it gets caught up on a traveller’s wagon. It takes the form of a human, that being Halbrand. Halbrand is determined to get his revenge and after stumbling upon a bunch of other travellers leaving a desolate site of ruin, he decides to go with them.

Instead of chasing death, he makes his choice to head across the sea and make a new life for himself. Of course, this throws him into the wreckage, where Galadriel shows up after swimming across the ocean, encouraging Halbrand and basically orchestrating the downfall of Middle Earth.

Fast forward to the present and Galadriel chases Elrond but she’s eventually captured by the elf guard, who demands she go with them to see Gil-Galad. Gil-Galad is not happy when he finds out about the Rings and how Galadriel kept this information from them knowingly. She confirms that Halbrand is “no man” and is actually Sauron.

Galadriel tries to pass off as Elrond being just as bad with his problems with the mountain, until Gil-Galad speaks up. He wants to see the Rings and believes they should risk using them, despite how Sauron may well have corrupted them. Elrond refuses, and he jumps down into the water below with the Rings in his possession.

Meanwhile, over at Mordor, Sauron has himself captured as he prepares to face Adar. Before him, Sauron tries to bargain with the King of Orcs, threatening him with death if he doesn’t. Adar convinces the other Orcs that there’s no chance Sauron could return, as Halbrand/Sauron is locked up.

Elsewhere, not-Gandalf, the Stranger, follows a thread out into the wilderness, where he happens upon a staff that looks identical to Gandalf’s. This is a recurring dream he’s been having, as it turns out. He’s still with Nori and as they wander through the wilderness, it becomes apparent that they’re being stalked by someone.

The dialogue here is repurposed from The Two Towers, specifically that of Sam and Frodo scene from where they get lost navigating their way to Mordor. Anyway, The Stranger uses his power to manifest food.. but instead it results in him flying backwards after causing an explosion. Despite him losing control, a bunch of insects crawl out the hole, allowing them to eat.

It turns out that Poppy has been following Nori all this time from afar and she even has Sardoc’s map to help them navigate through. They use a Walking Song, and using the little cues from the tune, make their way through to the other side, across to the lands of Rhun.

Back in Mordor, Sauron is tortured while he remains in chains. Speaking the Black Tongue, he manages to calm the Warg to his charge.

Meanwhile, Elrond ends up at Lindon, in the Grey Havens. He’s all dried up now and doesn’t seem to be in any sort of pain, despite jumping off into the waterfall all those meters down. Cirdan lives and works here, and he knows Elrond is hiding out. He presents himself and admits he has nowhere else to go.

Gil-Galad sends word out that Halbrand is Sauron. He also expands the search to try and figure out where Elrond is. Galadriel believes he’s off with the Elder to turn the tides his way. Elrond though is determined to get rid of the Rings, even if it means the Age of Elves being over as a result of this.

Galadriel and Gil-Galad show up at Lindon, with the former going in first to talk to her old friend. However, he turns it back to her and demands to know exactly why she’s the voice of reason here given Galadriel has embraced madness. Yes, I too am repurposing words dear reader, as this show is notorious for doing the same thing with The Lord of the Rings! The Rings though, happen to be out in the sea, where Cirdan looks set to drop them into the water. However, he becomes entranced by the Rings and thinks better of it.

Adar shows up to see Sauron in Mordor and they come to an agreement. Adar will let him go, given he has the trust of the elves. In exchange, he can marshal his legions to destroy Sauron in whatever form he may be. Adar agrees and Sauron is let free.

With the final leaves gone from the tree, Gil-Galad rallies the troops and prepares to leave Middle Earth. That is, until Cirdan returns with the Rings. Galadriel picks one of them up, and our evil little madam decides to place it on her finger without hesitation. Gil-Galad does the same, while Ciran is the third. They all look like they’re going to be corrupted by Sauron’s evil magic, but it does work to illuminate the tree again.

Elrond is disgusted and walks away, while Celebrimbor continues to work in his new forge. He’s joined by his assistant, Mirdania, who confirms a messenger from the Southlands has arrived and wants to negotiate. This is, of course, Sauron.

The Episode Review

So somehow Rings of Power does the impossible and manages to make season 2 worse than the first. Although there’s less girl-bossing from Galadriel this time around, we instead we get long, repurposed scenes and a story that drags on endlessly.

I genuinely have no idea who asked for a “sympathetic orc” storyline but Hollywood’s obsession with trying to humanize pure evil speaks more to the morality of Hollywood than anything else. These beings are supposed to be pure evil, they’re not meant to have redemption arcs, but there we go.

Given this episode went on for 70 minutes, it really didn’t need that much time to lay out the foundations of what we’re trying to do here, and barely anything of significance was actually confirmed, except for the three rings being unveiled, how goo Sauron turned into Halbrand and how Galadriel set up the downfall of Middle Earth.

The dialogue is still woeful too and the costuming leaves a lot to be desired. Thankfully the music isn’t bad and with 2 more episodes released today, let’s crack on and see what else this show has in store for us.