The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
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Surely theres nothing new to learn in episode two, right?
It turns out we have more people to meet and more storylines to kick off.
He would seem to be no ordinary man.
Whats going on here?
Still, its an ominous development.
There are no dead or wounded, but there is some kind of underground passageway.
After telling Bronwyn to warn her townspeople, Arondir investigates for himself.
Bronwyns mission goes poorly, too.
Back in the village, no one wants to hear about ruined villages and underground passages.
For Bronwyn, the problem will soon hit close to home, in the most literal way possible.
Theo hears strange noises he believes to be mice, but hes wrong.
Instead, its the sound of an orc emerging from a tunnel beneath the house.
(Maybe another branch of the one Arondir was exploring?)
(Hows that for an I told you so?)
That gets their attention.
Her suggestion to any who want to live is to make for the elven tower at first light.
(Thiscouldbe foreshadowing.)
Celebrimbor has a plan: to devise something of great beauty and power.
But first hell need to build a tower big enough to create the greatest forge Middle-earth has ever seen.
And he needs it finished by spring.
This will require alotof manual labor.
Perhaps Elrond has some ideas?
Thats easier said than done.
He reunites with Durin only to discover that Durin ispissed.
Elrond wasnt at his wedding.
Elronds never met his kids.
Humbled by Durins outburst, Elrond asks his forgiveness.
They patch things up, helped by Durins charming wife, Vilma (Maxine Cunliffe).
But theres something not quite right about the visit anyway, even if Elrond doesnt pick up on it.
Elsewhere on the map, Noris trying to get to know the stranger, but its hard.
He doesnt seem to speak any language she understands, but hedoesmake weird noises that summon whirlwinds.
They form a tentative bond, however.
Nori brings him food, and he draws a series of runes she cant decipher.
But theres more going on.
Whats going on here?
Any harm seems to be unintentional, however, born of a need to communicate with his new friends.
In the ocean, Galadriel makes the acquaintance of a handful of shipwreck survivors surviving on some flotsam.
But, for most of them at least, the acquaintance will prove short lived.
Its a sea monster that wrecked their ship, and the monster soon returns.
Galadriel swims away and is soon rescued by the one survivor with the wiles to survive the second attack.
Shes annoyed but also intrigued once Halbrand mentions his grievance against orcs.
She knows how that feels!
And when he reveals hes from the Southlands, a plan starts to fall into place.
Storms have a way of disrupting even elven plans, however.
Galadriel and Halbrand survive, but only barely.
Looks like were not done meeting new people yet, even now.
Mithril Links
This episode was written by Gennifer Hutchison, a veteran ofBreaking BadandBetter Call Saul.
Its a strong outing, too.
Yet by the end of the episodeThe Rings of Powerhas started to pick up a real sense of momentum.
We saw orcs by the score in JacksonsHobbitfilms.
This episode serves as a reminder of how scary they can be one-on-one.
The intruder Bronwyn and Theo fight off is pretty horrifying!
With this episode we get the full opening-credits sequence, and its pretty cool.
Rings and trees all done in grains of sand.
Update: an earlier version of this recap misidentified an actor.
It has been corrected.
