The Season One finale of The Rings of Power begins . . .
ONE
Rain. Eryn Galen, the Greenwood. (Another map title, yay!) We’re with The Stranger. He holds Nori’s apple gift while, in voiceover, she proclaims that he’s not a peril.
A cloaked figure follows him. He gives chase, dropping his apple. The figure picks it up and reveals herself to be Nori. Her eyes change, though. It’s not Nori; it’s the Severe Witch.
The Stranger seems confused.
TWO
Severe Witch offers the apple while the other two Witches close on him like velociraptors.
THREE
One of them, in elvish, says they’ve come to serve him, Lord Sauron. They kneel to him while he looks baffled.
Roll credits.
FOUR
A beautiful traveling shot. Galadriel rides for the elvish city. Halbrand, collapsed over his horse’s pommel, follows.
In the city, Elrond confers with Celebrimbor. They only have the tiny piece of mithril that was Durin’s gift. The elves must prepare to abandon these shores. Galadriel, riding in with Halbrand, interrupts them. Healers in hoods tend to Halbrand.
Elrond and Galadriel step away to update each other. Elrond regrets advising her to go to the Undying Lands. Galadriel admits she leapt from the ship because she felt she wasn’t yet done with her task. They renew their friendship.
Celebrimbor in his workshop discovers Halbrand. He’s looking for Galadriel, but he’s overwhelmed by the elven forge, and he’s heard of the master. Celebrimbor shows him around. In a little box on one of the tables are three gems, the essence of Valinor. Halbrand also immediately notices the mithril piece and picks it up. In his ignorance and enthusiasm (or so it seems), Halbrand suggests that the ore’s qualities could be amplified with the right alloy. Celebrimbor is intrigued.
We’re in Númenor at the King’s sick bed in the tower. The Chancellor addresses a circle of builder apprentices, including Eärien. They will compete to fashion a tomb for the (not dead yet?) King.
Nope, not dead yet. As Eärien sketches the King, he moans. She attempts to wipe the corner of his mouth, and he grabs her, accusing her. He mistakes her for his daughter, the Queen Regent. Eärien dashes away to call for help. When she returns, the King is gone from his bed. Oh, dear. He unlocks the door to the palantir and sends her up. We see her pull the drape from the stone.
(Again, what is her motivation? If she’s there for her own reasons we won’t know them this season. The King wants to return to the old ways, to bring back the elvish. We know that she, for whatever mysterious reason, doesn’t agree. Oh, it bothers me to introduce a Pandora without giving her a character.)
Gil-galad meets with Celebrimbor in his workshop. Elrond and Galadriel also attend. The topic: the tiny piece of mithril they possess. Ah, they’re going to shape it into something that can be carried — a sword? a crown? (Yes, we know they’ll get to rings eventually.) Gil-galad objects to a crown, something that only invests power in one person. Also, since the volcano eruption, their sacred tree is dying faster. Time is running out for the elves. Celebrimbor is adamant. He’s so close, especially with the suggestion from “the Southlander”. He senses what he can craft: a power of the Unseen World. Galadriel watches him speak these words. Does she hearken back to Adar’s explanation of Sauron? We don’t know. Gil-galad orders them to disband.
But Galadriel stays behind with Celebrimbor and asks him where he heard the words he used. (Aha!) He stumbles an answer. He doesn’t really remember. Outside, Elrond chases after the High King and asks for more time.
He gets it, apparently. The next scene has swelling music and craftsmanship. Celebrimbor’s workshop bustles. He and Halbrand consult together while Galadriel watches with trepidation. She secretly sets the librarian the task of digging up records of the Southlands.
(Again, I kind of doubletake at the elvish men in the scene with no sign, besides Galadriel, of an elvish woman.)
Halbrand stops her in the courtyard to thank her for saving his life, for giving purpose to his life, almost. Galadriel’s unease, combined with our foreknowledge of the rings, makes us distrustful of Halbrand and his motivations, even though he sounds completely sincere. If he’s a good man, he’s honorably offering to champion her standing; if he’s a bad man, he’s threatening to arrange for her to take the blame.
The Three Witches sit around a campfire with The Stranger. (Production notes name these women: The Ascetic, The Nomad, and — the scary one — The Dweller. The show itself hasn’t revealed their names or motivations yet.) They want to help him, to take him to the place of the stars, the Hermit’s Hat. They speak in riddles and prophecies while The Stranger looks confused and worried. Wind blows, music swells, and the Witches name him: Lord Sauron. He moans, possibly in agony, and The Dweller blows dust in his face to knock him unconscious. Until he can control his powers, they’ll tie him up.
The four traveling Harfoots watch, hiding in the bushes. They plan to rescue The Stranger. While three untie him, Marigold discovers the real Stranger passed out on the ground. Fake Dweller Stranger grabs Sadoc and one of the other Witches throws a blade into his chest. Nori is surrounded. The Dweller uncloaks her disguise. The real Stranger comes in a swirl of wind while Nori escapes with the Harfoots. He and The Dweller battle. (I think. It’s so dark and muddy, I can hardly tell what’s happening.)
She appears to win, because the escaping Harfoots are pinned by the other Witches. Sadoc comes out of nowhere and stabs one in the foot. The Dweller is about to torture The Stranger when she’s pelted with pebbles thrown by Poppy. Holding fire in her hands, the Dweller sets the forest ablaze. During the distraction, Nori sneaks up to him with the Witches’ staff, offering it to The Stranger. He refuses, worried he’ll hurt Nori again. She reiterates that he’s good if he chooses to be. Meanwhile, the other three Harfoots are cornered by the Witches.
We see The Stranger’s hand reach for the staff. Just before The Dweller roasts the Harfoots alive, her fire and all the surrounding blaze go out. When the Witches approach him, The Stranger tells them to return to the shadow from whence they came. “He is not Sauron,” they say. “He is the other, the Istar.” “I’m good,” he proclaims, his staff lighting with a blue-white glow. The Witches become wraiths who dissolve and dissipate, the staff fading with them.
SWITCH
The women Harfoots hug; Sadoc, however, is mortally wounded. They sit with him while the sun rises and he’s gone.
(That’s the episode halfway point, and if ever a beat felt like a Switch, it’s this one. We’ve had a huge reveal with The Stranger. He’s not Sauron, he’s Gandalf — probably. The Witches, who always looked evil and have now revealed themselves to be evil, are removed. And the Harfoot tribe elder is dead. A lot of plotlines just rushed to a conclusion, which is good storytelling.
The element that disappoints me is The Witches. They ended up being, basically, Sauron’s midwives, although they failed at their duty — so far, at least. As magical beings they can still return and impact the story. What they succeeded at was their role in revealing The Stranger as a creature of good. The Enneagram arc of The Witches’ plotline has that moment as their Eight. It’s a good Eight! However, where are the other beats in their Enneagram? They need a mini Three and Six, a Switch, a Seven, spread over the course of the season. These tiny beats related to The Witches will make their presence more impactful, more connected to the main plot. Right now they’re scary-looking and are used like a kind of deus ex machina. That annoys me. Their scene is shot in low light and their motivations are just as murky. I much prefer clarity.
To be continued . . . )