REVIEW: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power – Season 2, Episode 1, “Elven Kings Under the Sky”

Review: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power – Season 2, Episode 1, “Elven Kings Under the Sky”

***Disclaimer***

While reading this review, you will discover many interesting things in the story and also see a lot of anger.

season 2 rings of power The story begins in Forodweth at the beginning of the Second Age. In an ice fortress north of the Iron Hills, Sauron stands before a crowd of Orcs, among them Adar, giving a speech after the defeat of their lord, Morgoth, telling them that he will be their new ruler. Sauron tells the Orcs that they will have a better life and they will be free to go wherever they want in this new world he wants to create. He tells them that in the process, many of them will die and that “none will accept you, but I will,” and so Adar brings forth the iron-spiked crown. They all declare Sauron their lord and ruler and the former kneels to accept. Adar holds the crown for a few seconds, then suddenly turns it over and stabs Sauron in the back with it. Many Orcs attack him, killing him, and this creates a massive blast wave that is similar to the one shown in Peter Jackson's film. Fellowship of the Ring The prologue, where Isildur cuts off Sauron's fingers.

His body disappears, yet in its place is a thick, black goo that drips into the depths of the underground. “The Blob” Sauron begins eating random creatures, from mice to centipedes – yes, centipedes. The scene changes are pretty awesome, cutting to black to show the same scene which was probably done to show the passage of time. “The Blob” Sauron emerges from the mountains in a scene that one could see as a birth, or in this case, “rebirth”, but it also brings to mind the opening scene Two towers before it shows Gandalf fighting the Balrog. “The Blob” Sauron then sees a woman driving his cart down the road, and the wheel crushes her. He becomes attached to her, then eats the woman and becomes Helbrand.

Helbrand magically knows where all the orcs are and heads there, but on the way he finds a group of humans fleeing the orcs. He meets the “Platitude Man,” a Southern man who is quite kind to him. Then, suddenly, he's on a ship sailing away somewhere. This is the same ship that was attacked by the sea monster in Season 1, which Helbrand actually sees when he's thrown into the ocean but escapes unscathed. Miraculously, he finds the same raft on which some survivors have gathered and – guess what? The show reminds viewers that Helbrand and Galadriel met after her “little swim” in the middle of the ocean.

This would indicate that his thousand-year quest for Sauron was within that same time-frame, yet he Now! missed him.

Lindon is shown in another new scene in the present day. Galadriel is chasing Elrond, holding the pouch that contains the three rings, and yelling at him to give them to her. Many will remember a similar scene with Arwen the Fellowship of the Ring Where the Nazgul are pursuing her and Frodo, one of them moves viciously to capture Frodo. This scene goes on longer than necessary, and suddenly, Elrond disappears. Galadriel goes back to look for him, then is confronted by Elven guards who tell her that Elrond has asked them to take him to the king.

Good luck maintaining this timeline.

High King Gil-galad “rebukes” her for hiding the truth about Halbrand from the rest of the people. Of course, she dodges around the question, then randomly switches to a slurred Elvish, but the king answers in English. Elrond then reprimands her for being stupid enough to be fooled by Sauron, to which she replies, “I was deceived.” To this Elrond replies, “No, you were blinded. Blinded by your own pride.” Like thirst… for the Dark Lord himself. Giladriel spits at Elrond about his “failure” at Khazad-dûm, which… how she knows that when she wasn't even around is unclear, nor is it clear if she was even told beforehand.

Now, the king demands Elrond to give him the rings, but the latter refuses, saying that they might be corrupted. This is not at all in line with the actual lore, where the rings given to other races did not have any kind of corruption, yet they act as if these rings are the same as The One Ring.

Gil-galad demands the rings again, and Elrond responds in the same way as before. Guards gather around him, Galadriel speaks the slurred Elvish language again, and Elrond does the only thing he has left to do: Jumping off a cliff. Never mind that elves, even though entitled to long lives, can still die. It's written that they are just as susceptible to dying from a fall from a height, a stab in the stomach, or a fire blast as any human.

Into the next scene, and it's Mordor again. Helbrand is enslaved along with many other southerners who are being forced to swear allegiance to Adar and are being branded with a hot iron with the Mark of Sauron, which is a map to Mordor. Helbrand is brought before Adar and he attempts to make a deal with him, saying that he will help him find Sauron if he “lets his people go.” Helbrand goes on to say that he will create a weapon that will have the power to allow Sauron to use Adar's “children” in his army to defeat his enemies. Therefore, if he lets everyone go, he will tell Adar where “the wizard” is so he can destroy him. The answer to this plan is no, and that Adar will “make him wish he were already dead,” to which Helbrand says, “You cannot kill me.”

Now, back to “The Stranger”, or “Totally Not Gandalf”, even though there were no wizards in the Second Age. He is dreaming of a staff, which when he holds in the dream, shows him flashes of random scenes. Then it comes to the day when he and Nori (female Frodo) are wandering in the desert of Rhûn, although it was specifically stated that Gandalf never went there. Nori complains that they have run out of food and asks the Stranger if he can use his magic to make some for them. This forces him to stop, as the last time he did that, he was ostracized by the Harfoots, but in the end, he does something, which explodes one of the dead trees near them, causing a lot of worms to come out of it. At night, while they enjoy the creepy creatures, they suddenly realize they are being followed and decide to set a trap. Sounds familiar?

The scene then cuts back to Helbrand, where he is threatened by a Warg that if he doesn't tell the vagrant-looking guy who created the volcano that created Mordor at noon by turning the “key” of Sauron's sword in the first season where Sauron is. Helbrand speaks to the Warg in a language that sounds like the Black Speech, but honestly… sounds just as chopped up as the Elvish in this show. He then has full control of the Warg – and a new friend.

At the Grey Havens, we learn that Elrond has survived his fall. He seeks advice from Círdan the shipbuilder. In the next scene, it's back to Gil-galad who is writing to Celebrimbor to tell him that Helbrand is Sauron, a fact that Galadriel so willingly hid. The king continues to berate her for her actions, saying that he should imprison her for what she did, and when she asks why not, Gil-galad replies, “I am still considering.”

What else do you need to consider???

Then he suddenly realizes that Elrond will seek out someone who is older, wiser, and who has more respect for the king than “even for you.” They go to the Grey Havens, where Cirdan and Elrond are discussing the rings, which the old elf knows all about, even though he has just been told. The two plan to cast the rings into a bottomless pit in the ocean that was created during a war centuries ago – sounds vaguely familiar… casting rings into something…

Gil-galad and Galadriel then arrive, but the latter asks for “another chance to reason with my friend”. She enters the room in which Elrond is sitting and tells him she has come to “persuade” him [him] voluntarily, and if not, the King will remove [him] By force.” They also discuss the rings, about which Galadriel says she knows they are free from Sauron's influence, to which Elrond replies, “Did you know?”

Please give this man a medal. He knows what's going on.

Back to the stranger and Nori, who have captured their pursuer: Poppy. She has brought with her maps and a message that says one must remember “The Walking Song” to find the right direction.

Círdan is on the boat, and is about to drop the rings into the underwater pit when they fly back out. Then he decides to ditch the whole plan and keep the rings for himself. The sea is always right!

The rest of the episode consists of Halbrand making a deal with Adar, in which he says he can go to the elves because he has their trust, discover Sauron's new form, and return that information to him so Adar can attack them with his army, but he must leave Halbrand, who has sworn to “serve the Lord of Mordor”.

Back in Lindon, Gil-galad is singing with the other elves, declaring that the rings are gone and that they will return to their homeland when Círdan appears wearing one of the rings. He gives the king two rings, and Elrond screams. They fall, and one of the rings falls to Galadriel's feet. She picks it up and puts it on her finger. All three now wear rings, mirroring the scene in the Fellowship of the Ring Preface.

It ends with Helbrand arriving in Eregion, where Celebrimbor is standing with another Elf (assistant?), who asks if they should allow him in.

rings of power On the surface this show may look beautiful, especially for being one of the most expensive shows ever made, but overall, it's a very hard show to watch because it has no real stakes or interesting characters to keep anyone interested. Save your sanity and don't hate watch it.