The Rings of Power Episode Eight Review: Shadow and Flame

 

Yesterday it was decided that, rather than waiting another week (when it might interfere with other plans) we would go ahead and get together to watch the last episode of The Rings of Power Season 2. I face the task of reviewing it with a measure of weariness and disgust; now that the season is done, I would like to just drop it for (about) another year or more. But for completeness’ sake I feel I must. The summation below is from Wikipedia once more; my annotations will be in [square brackets]. As usual it was hard to keep track of events, as things did not often follow a logical progression.

Episode 8: Shadow and Flame

Durin III [who is being driven by his Ring to dig for mithril] is attacked by the Balrog that lives below the mithril mine. He names Durin IV king before fighting back [lots of callbacks to Gandalf’ sacrificial fight with the Balrog] as the cavern collapses [does this seal the Balrog back up for a while? Or do the Dwarves have to abandon the Mines already?]. The Stranger confronts the Dark Wizard [whose turn of phrasing and revelations strongly hint that he is Saruman … though the possibility remains he might be one of the Blue Wizards] and rejects his offer to supplant Sauron [echoing Saruman’s later suggestion that he and Gandalf can replace Sauron as ruler of Middle-earth]. The Dark Wizard destroys the canyon, forcing the Stoors to migrate; Nori and Poppy join them. The Stranger finds a staff in the canyon {“The staff finds the wizard,” says Tom Bombadil, who has obviously been watching Harry Potter; also his test of friendship vs. power seems to be an echo of Yoda and Luke going off to save his friends rather than finishing his training] and believes he will come to be known as "Gandalf" [this suggestion that the name comes from the Stoors calling him a ‘Grand-Elf’ is a groanworthy etymology that would have Tolkien turning in his grave, if he’s not already spinning from the whole series]. Ar-Pharazôn learns from the palantír [?I didn’t pick this up from the show] that Halbrand is [?was] actually Sauron and accuses Míriel of aligning herself with him, discrediting the results of her trial. All of the Faithful are arrested except Elendil, who escapes to the west of the island with the sword Narsil. Kemen [travels to Middle-earth and] claims Pelargir as a military outpost. Isildur asks Estrid to return to Númenor with him, but Kemen does not allow this and Isildur leaves Estrid with Hagen. In Eregion, Sauron tortures and kills Celebrimbor and takes the nine rings from Galadriel [who has gone willingly to barter with Adar, who has been healed by Nenya back into his Elvish form] while Adar is killed by disillusioned Orcs [thus fulfilling John’s prediction that Glug would betray Adar in a Wormtongue/Saruman parallel; perhaps the Orcs just can’t stand the idea of an Elvish leader].

(I didn't even see the Ent there when I chose the picture)

[Galadriel jumps off a enormously high cliff to avoid Sauron getting her Ring, and lands in ... water? Earth? I only know the next we see of her is lying in what appears to be an impact crater a la Wile E. Coyote, not noticeably smooshed.] Durin IV [leader for now, though apparently he may have some trouble later with his brother] sends his army to aid the Elves, allowing the survivors to escape to a valley north of the city [Rivendell = a riven + dale] where they resolve to stand against Sauron [accompanied by a rising blare of music, that I suppose is meant to be inspired and heroic, but is just loud] .

Also, we find that Arondir, whom we thought was killed last episode but somehow got better, is still hopping around at full speed. We found that … inexplicable. I guess it was his plot armor saving him.

Of course, we found the entire episode riddled with ‘microaggressions’ against both the Lore and the English language, fleeting by too quickly to remember them all, stuff I’m sure Tom Shippey could have schooled them on if they had not got him and his scholarship out of the way.

Well, as I said, that is that, at least for a while. I can shake it off and put it out of mind. At least, I do not have to write about it anymore. Not until Season Three. Then … what fresh hell awaits?