TV Show Review: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Season 1, Episodes 5-6 [Prime Video]

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Partings and Udûn

Prime Video‘s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Season 1, Episode 5: Partings and Episode 6: Udûn TV Show Review.

These two episodes primarily concern the initial events in Middle-Earth, and likely move the center of the action there. In terms of exposition, several plot points are clarified, two of them significant.

Partings

Actually, ‘Divisions’ might be closer in describing most of the events in this episode, since the conflicts are simple and keen. The four major subplots are addressed.

The Harfoots continue their journey, through bogs, meadows, misty forests, and even what looks like a river delta. The Brandyfoots are still just shy of being shunned by the rest of the community for Nori bringing the grey ‘Stranger’ into their midst. Their caravan trails behind as punishment, a few still in favor of leaving them behind. The breach may be sealed, however, when the Stranger summons a force — evidently by instinct — that sends an attacking pack of Wargs packing.

Arondir brings Adar’s ultimatum back to Bronwyn to leave their land without a fuss and save themselves. When she passes this message on to the rest of the villagers, she insists that they stay and fight even though they are likely outmatched. Some stand by Bronwyn, while Waldreg leads others to Adar’s camp for his protection, informing his new master of the others’ defiance, and that Theo has the broken sword in his possession. Adar musters for battle.

In Númenor preparations begin for the journey across the sea to seek the enemy threatening Middle-Earth — presumably Sauron — and cast him down. Galadriel proves her battle-worthiness by fending off several soldiers, often all of them at once. She demonstrates the intricate swordplay with such agility that it is almost a dance, all without cracking a sweat. She departs as planned for the shores of Middle-Earth with Elendil and his son Isildur, Halbrand — and Míriel. Meanwhile, Míriel’s uncle, Pharazôn, plans to depose his brother Tar-Palantir and take his place. At this point the plot diverges from that in the book, in which Míriel stays in Númenor, and Pharazôn usurps her rightful authority as ruler by coercing her into marriage.

Mithril is at the crux of the conflict between Durin and Elrond. The actors manage to convey a feeling of deep affection through the banter. The Elven King Gil-galad, however, is in no mood for levity. He feels, correctly, that the Dwarves are holding back and shrewdly deduces the reason. He reveals to Elrond that the precious metal (‘the Light of Valar’) is the only object that can save Elves from extinction and Middle-Earth in the process. Celebrimbor agrees, and thus Elrond breaks his oath to Durin never to mention its discovery and confirms his king’s suspicion. Elrond confesses this to Durin, who understands well enough, but cannot promise the same from his father, King Durin III.

Udûn

This episode is all about the conflict between Adar and Bronwyn, with Arondir’s aid, and the aftermath. There are two parts to the battle. The fighting is fierce, but the Ostirith villagers are prepared for the battle. And though they prevail in the first foray, they are unprepared what they discover when they identify their opponents — shocked to find their own kin who had defected, and whom Adar sent in first to weaken their defenses.

During the second rout, Adar’s Orcs eventually overcome the villagers and force the survivors to retreat into a fort-like stronghold. Adar soon appears and gets the only thing he’s after: the broken sword — or some sort of ‘key,’ according to Arondir, he’s not exactly sure —  when Theo surrenders it to save lives. These fights are nothing panoramic; they are close-quartered and savage, and the close proximity to the action makes it great fun to watch.

At this point the Númenorean cavalry begins to arrive, and the tables are turned. Their gilded armor and stylized helmets puts us in mind of the soldiers of Minas Tirith in the Third Age. In short order Adar gives the sword to Waldreg, charging him with a ‘task.’ Adar escapes on horseback, pursued by Galadriel, brought down by Halbrand, and captured. During Galadriel’s interrogation, Adar confirms her suspicion that he belongs to a group of Elves that Morgoth had corrupted (Treebeard called them ‘counterfeits’) as the first generation of Orcs known as Uruks. Adar had in turn ‘fathered’ the Orcs of his army. He also claimed to have killed Sauron, which Galadriel does not believe.

Waldreg’s ‘task’ wraps up the episode, literally with a bang. Indeed, the sword is not broken, and it is a key, with a fiery blade he inserts into a vault-like lock in the ground, setting off a seismic event that blasts off the top of a nearby mountain, firestorms, lava bombs, pyroclastic cloud and all. Considering the magnitude of destruction, this presumably creates Orodruin, or Mount Doom, and by extension, the very foundation of Mordor itself. A terrific cliffhanger.

Conclusion

This evolving rendition of Tolkien’s legendarium continues to settle in quite a satisfying way, despite some departures from the source work, with a lot of surprises as a result. The battle scenes pack quite a punch. The next episode previews show Galadriel surviving the catastrophe, but we don’t hold out much hope for Míriel, who was doomed anyway, along with the rest of her people. The production values remain quite high, not surprisingly, and some of the scenes evoke Maxfield Parrish as much as Jackson’s trilogy had. The dialog holds steady, bolstered by good delivery. The soundtrack by McCreary is still appropriately epic, and the song “This Wandering Day,” featuring Megan Richards, is especially lovely.

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