Oh No, Everything Just Went Horribly Wrong on The Rings of Power

Remember how final week I stated it felt like we’d reached one thing of an emotional turning level in The Rings of Power, and that, in true Lord of the Rings fashion, our heroes had been challenged at their direst and had been due for some a lot wanted hope? Well… about that.

Last week’s episode of Rings of Power was about forging our heroes within the crucible of trauma and problem to emerge stronger out the opposite facet. This week’s ominously titled “Udûn”—which, effectively, in case you’re up in your Sindarin means hell, and is the Elven identify for somewhat land the place shadows lie—is about telling our heroes that they are often as solid in a crucible as they rattling effectively like, however generally issues are simply going to go actually unhealthy for them anyway. Sorry, Rings of Power people! You’re in a Lord of the Rings prequel and there’s actually hundreds of years of issues going fallacious for you earlier than they get higher. And not all of you’re even named Tolkien characters! Woof. Rough deal.

Much of Rings of Power thus far has been a couple of gradual burn look forward to an inevitable conflict, as Galadriel desperately rallied allies in Númenor to take the battle to the rising forces of Evil within the Southlands, “Udûn” is lastly about delivering on that inevitability. It’s an episode of grand motion, the grandest the present has achieved thus far. And, for probably the most half, it’s very Lord of the Rings. It’s one thing of Rings of Powers’ personal Helm’s Deep, as Adar’s forces—now bolstered by the people that deserted their fellow Southlands folks in despair—put together to assault Bronwyn, Arondir, and the remaining refugees in Ostirith.

But in a fair Rings-ier twist, Arondir has rigged Ostirith’s watchtower to break down, taking out a piece of Adar’s gathered armies whereas the refugees slink again to defend their village as a substitute of a tiny, unfamiliar Elven watchtower. Like seeing the folks of Rohan go up in opposition to the Uruk-Hai, it is a battle of unfamiliar troopers defending their homeland in opposition to an amazing, better-equipped enemy menace—and, for probably the most half, succeeding. The villagers, utilizing their inn as each a hub for these unable to battle and a rallying level for the volunteer troopers to battle alongside Bronwyn and Arondir, put up a heroic effort, the smallfolk of Middle-earth taking a stand in opposition to nice evil and overcoming it.

Then the whole lot goes to hell. The battle seemingly over, Arondir and the surviving villagers are horrified to find they’ve not simply battled orcs, however virtually fully their fellow Southlanders—and Adar and his orcs have been hiding in reserve, heralding their arrival on the scene with a devastating volley of arrows that just about wipes out a lot of the fighters left standing. Even Bronwyn takes some hits, necessitating a ugly, intense little bit of surgical procedure when Arondir and Theo convey the survivors into the inn, virtually ready for the inevitable slaughter. And whereas Adar does arrive, and other people start dying, it’s not fast: the scene comes gradual and tense, as Adar calls for the mysterious darkish blade that Arondir has hidden, threatening to kill increasingly more villagers till it’s in his palms. It’s threatening Bronwyn—which stays intense, provided that we don’t know her destiny as an unique character to the present—that makes Theo buckle, and even when Adar has what he needs, in an act of abject cruelty, he nonetheless calls for his orcs slaughter who’s left.

Except that is Lord of the Rings. This is a narrative of individuals huge and small, unusual folks and mythic legends coming collectively to beat the darkish. Ending this thread of the story in a horrific slaughter simply wouldn’t really feel proper. And so, simply in time—as soon as once more, fairly like Helm’s Deep—a cavalry cost involves their support. Having spent a lot of the episode crusing to Middle-earth, now Númenor rides to its rescue, sweeping by means of Adar’s forces as Galadriel leads the cost, ducking, weaving, slicing by means of the orcs. We don’t see a single Númenorean die—it’s barely a problem, even in just a few moments of almost-manufactured nervousness when it seems to be like Elendil is in a tough spot. They simply go by means of Adar’s forces. This is it, Rings of Power tells us: the would possibly of unity and goodness in opposition to divisive evil, gentle cleaving by means of the darkish.

If “Udûn” ended there—the day saved, a minimum of a few of our disparate heroes intertwined onto a singular path, good triumph—then this may be a reasonably stable episode of Rings of Power, even when, as soon as once more, it’s mainly the identical theme it’s each week besides this time the theme got here using in on horseback for some enjoyable fantasy motion. Hoo… ray? We solely stretch our hooray out ominously like that as a result of Rings of Power doesn’t finish there this week. It could be just too reduce and dry this early on to count on our heroes to have been suitably challenged. After all, we all know the tip of the Second Age is way off, and there are a lot turmoils to return on Arda for these folks to face. What is shocking is absolutely the curveball Rings of Power makes use of to rob Galadriel, Arondir, Bronwyn, Halbrand, and the forces of Númenor of savoring of their victory.

As Galadriel brushes in opposition to the identical darkness inside Adar interrogating him, Miriel dutifully leads Bronwyn and the Southlanders in hailing the arrival of their fated king. Meanwhile, Theo—trying to grapple together with his personal guilt about virtually dooming all of them to avoid wasting his mom—discovers that the mysterious blade Arondir thought he was hiding is nothing however a hammer: someway, Waldreg, the sauronic servant that had tempted Theo with darkness earlier than becoming a member of up with Adar, had managed to swipe the blade away within the chaos of the battle… and returns to Ostirith to make use of it to unlock a key hidden in a fountain devoted to the darkish lords of Melkor and Sauron.

Then the whole lot goes to hell. Again. In Rings of Power’s wildest scene but, gushing waters being held up by the dams round Ostirith start plunging into the Southlands. At first, you suppose it’s one final gasp of spite, that Waldreg’s actions will drown the Númenoreans and his fellow villagers. But as a substitute the water flows, down by means of the tunnels Adar has had his orcs and prisoners construct, into the earth itself… till it channels into the lava beneath a mountain. A mountain that then explodes, sending ash and lava and particles in all places, decimating the village and the folks in it. Theo’s lacking, Adar’s vanished, Galadriel is consumed by smoke: and we’ve simply witnessed the very delivery of Mount Doom itself.

This won’t be precisely the way it went down in Tolkien’s personal mythos, however ever since we knew that the Southlands had been conveniently within the a part of Middle-earth that will someday be Mordor, we’ve needed to surprise simply how (and the way tragically) Rings of Power would possibly lead this lush inexperienced land’s transformation into an evil hellscape. It seems giving us the origin story of Mount Doom and having the cliffhanger of your Massive Action Episode of Heroes Winning and Doing Cool Stuff be having them having their complete shit rocked by the volcanic eruption to finish all Middle-earth volcanic eruptions is one hell of a shocking method of doing it. And, in spite of everything, it does tie again to that theme Rings of Power is fascinated with: the necessity for unity and alliance between good folks, no matter background, to confront darkness. Our heroes thought that they’d discovered that lesson, and earned victory with it. Now the most important, baddest mountain in all of the land simply managed to show in any other case.

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