The Rings of Power: Season 2

While most people are familiar with J.R.R Tolkien’s masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, not many are acquainted with its new prequel television series The Rings of Power, about the forging of the rings: “Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky/ Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone/ Nine for Mortal Men, doomed to die,” Tolkien described. First premiered on 1^st September 2022 on Amazon Prime, the series just closed out its second season, with the finale airing on 3^rd October. This season, like the first, has been quite an unsettling journey, with underdeveloped characters and weak plot lines. Of course, it’s quite a task to please the original fanbase; that being said, the entire show was still genuinely enjoyable to watch with its fantasy elements linked to Tolkien’s original works, as well as its Hollywood-level cinematic excellence.

Since the show follows various, and at times confusing, narratives in different regions across Middle-earth during its Second Age (nearly five thousand years before the setting of The Lord of the Rings), here are some key takeaways from each section focusing on this season’s finale.

Numenor’s power struggle

While the entire Númenor plot line of this season seemed to focus on predictable power struggles between Elendil, Míriel, and Pharazôn, it is likely that Númenor will play a more significant role in the next season. To those unfamiliar with the lore, Númenor is quite significant: Sauron will certainly play a part in its future, and soon. For this season, the power dynamics seemed quite vague – the finale portrays Pharazôn using a random scroll to decry the Valar’s Faithful as Sauron’s allies and arrest them when Míriel had just swam with the Sea Worm to rise in power. Another source of confusion came perhaps from a lack of understanding of scale and how many Faithful (including Elendil) there were compared to the King’s Men (with Pharazôn). However, one of the most memorable scenes of the finale included the appearance of the Narsil sword given to Elendil by Míriel. Those who have watched the movies will realise that this sword, forged by the dwarf smith Telchar, becomes Aragorn’s sword Andrúil when it is reforged by the Elves millenia later. This scene drew many parallels to the scene in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King where Aragorn unsheaths Andrúil for the first time, evidently as fan service. This also makes sense considering that they are very much alike since Aragorn tries to redeem himself from Isildur’s failure and return to the glory of Elendil’s days. 

Meanwhile, Kemen – Pharazôn’s son – arrives in Pelargir. Pelargir is a Númenorean colony, in which Isildur – son of Elendil – sought refuge after everyone in Númenor thought he was dead. Kemen refers to the southlanders in Pelargir as “low men” and demands timber supply by saying that “they’re only trees”. This phrase hints at a reappearance of the Ents – one of the highlights of this season – in the next, which I personally favour.

The “Grand-elf” and the Harfoots

This story line, for me, was full of missed opportunities and did not live up to the expectations set by the original films. Even in the first season, I wasn’t a fan of the Harfoots since they lacked so much of what their descendants, the Hobbits, represented. We found out in the finale episode that the wizard, previously known as “The Stranger”, was indeed Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings. We see him making the connection and learning his name when referred to as “Grand-elf” from the Stoors after saving them from the Dark Wizard. Here, the show deviates from Tolkien’s books, as there Gandalf arrives around the first millennium of the Third Age, and this name is given to him by men in the north. Nevertheless, the viewers finally got to see him gain his powers and find his staff. 

The Dark Wizard initially tries to convince Gandalf to take over Sauron together and become his successors. He explains that they are part of the five Istari, or wizards, sent by the King of the Valar to Middle-earth to combat Sauron, and that Gandalf was the one who convinced him to reside in the wastelands of Rhûn. He reveals Nori and Poppy, who were captured by the Rhûnic nomads under his command, and even kills one of his own followers to try to convince Gandalf. This scene simply made me think that the Dark Wizard might end up being revealed as Saruman from The Lord of the Rings, which would be a shame. I say this because it would’ve been much cooler if The Stranger turned out to be Saruman, since he wasn’t always portrayed as evil before The Lord of the Rings. Furthermore, Nori’s sympathy towards the dead nomad was one of many instances where it felt considerably less impactful compared to those of the Hobbits. Indeed, one of the famous quotes from Gandalf’s conversation with Frodo in The Lord of the Rings was: “Many that live deserve death. Some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them, Frodo? Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. Even the very wise cannot see all ends.” All in all, Gandalf learns the importance of friendship over power, and finally parts ways with the halflings. 

Dwarves of Khazad-dum 

Meanwhile in Khazad-dûm, Prince Durin IV and his wife Disa are dealing with King Durin III, who is now heavily influenced by one of the Dwarven rings he bears. When Prince Durin tries to prepare to leave for Eregion after Elrond, his old Elven friend, pleads for aid, he is deterred by his father’s madness and obsession over digging further into the mines. King Durin III isn’t dissuaded by his son and eventually discovers a mine full of Mithril – a legendary and powerful metal used to make the rings in this show. This is where another one of the best scenes of the show comes into place: the Balrog! The appearance of this fiery demonic creature in the depths of Khazad-dûm was truly amazing, an impressive physical replica of the one in The Lord of the Rings. This appearance also marked the end of King Durin III’s era, as he finally takes off his ring before charging towards the monster and says, “Forgive me my son… King Durin.”

The end of the show, however, doesn’t foreshadow a smooth succession for Durin IV. It is mentioned that Durin’s brother has been gaining support to claim the throne, as well as some information that the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains wish to collect their rings in exchange for their vast tributes. 

Light and Darkness in Eregion

The culmination of the finale took place in Eregion – the Elven realm ruled by the legendary smith Celebrimbor, grandchild of Fëanor. At this stage, Sauron has taken control of the city disguised as Annatar (Lord of Gifts), manipulating Celebrimbor to forge the nine rings for men and leading the Elves to believe that Celebrimbor’s mind was lost. While there were some spectacular scenes from this episode, my personal favourite was the dynamics between Celebrimbor – played by Charles Edwards – and Annatar – played by Charlie Vickers. Just before his death after being tortured by Sauron, Celebrimbor tells him that the rings of power will end up being his downfall, referring to him as “Lord of the Rings”. Elves predicting the future before death is a common theme in the Tolkien lore, and Sauron seemed genuinely surprised by this notion of self-destruction. 

If it wasn’t clear to the viewers before, the finale finally portrays the death of Adar, betrayed by his own orcs whom he genuinely cared for. This was all part of Sauron’s orchestrated plan, of course, to get the orcs to join his side during their invasion of Eregion. It truly was unsettling to watch Adar get stabbed by his own “children” while Galadriel just stood there, neither helping nor running away, even after Adar promised her eternal peace by handing her the Elven ring. This leads us to the scene where Sauron faces off Galadriel; here, Sauron shape-shifts each into Halbrand, Galadriel, and Celebrimbor to get into Galadriel’s mind. The end of this duel results in Sauron stabbing her with the Morgul crown, seizing the nine rings from her possession. Galadriel then somehow thinks it’s a good idea to fall off the cliff with her ring, and Gil-galad – High King of the Elves – tries to save her soul from falling into the Shadow Realm. In The Lord of the Rings, there is a similar wound when Frodo gets stabbed by one of the Morgul-blades, which makes me wonder if the show will reveal that Sauron forged the Morgul-blades from the crown. Another interesting object is Fëanor’s hammer in the hands of Sauron after he defeats Galadriel, suggesting that he may use it to make the One Ring. Sauron’s ruthlessness without mercy was shown well in this episode as well, even killing the orc who betrayed Adar without particular reason. 

The show ends with Galadriel alongside Elrond, Arondir, and Gil-galad amongst dozens of defeated Elves in a sanctuary protected by the power of the Elven rings. The wide shot of this scene indicates that the sanctuary is evidently the Valley of Imladris, more commonly known as Rivendell. After all, as Celebrimbor says, “it is not strength that overcomes darkness but light. Armies may rise, hearts may fail, but still light endures.”