On Rings of Power, the Night Is Darkest Before the Dawn

If final week’s Hail Mary love-in between Miriel and Galadriel made you assume The Rings of Power was accomplished telling you good issues occur when individuals belief in one another and work collectively, nicely, I’ve obtained good and unhealthy information for you: that’s it, that’s the present.

That is likely to be a bit glib, however “Partings” arguably delivers a few of the darkest conflicts but in The Rings of Power, juking simply if you thought it was about to essentially begin transferring. On the floor, every part we get this episode is certainly constructing off final week’s allegorical love-ins, and hammering residence the significance of individuals happening courageous new journeys not alone, however along with associates and allies. With Poppy the Harfoot’s rather-unsubtle journey track lifting “Not all who wander are lost” from Tolkien’s personal work, the episode is about discovering the energy to take that step ahead into the unknown, and doing it with individuals you belief by your facet.

But nothing’s ever really easy in a sequence that can also be very methodically paced in taking that step into the unknown, so earlier than everybody realizes this once more—or has doubts—Rings of Power challenges our myriad pockets of characters to essentially examine in the event that they’ve discovered this by placing everybody within the direst situations conceivable. With the Harfoots, the group wavers on letting the Brandyfoots keep, even after the Stranger defends Nori, Poppy, and one of many elders who would slightly see them minimize off from a wolf assault. He additional shows a grasp for magic that raises much more questions on his identification when he manages to freeze each his arm and Nori’s hand to heal their wounds (scaring Nori along with his energy). Over in Númenor, lingering doubts among the many populace about Miriel’s resolution to ally with Galadriel and search the favor of the Elves as soon as extra performs instantly into Pharazôn’s needs to make use of the alliance to push Númenorean affect into Middle-earth—and maybe acquire allies of their very own keen to oust the Elves again to the facet of the Valar.

Over in the Southlands, everything is arguably going the worst. As Bronwyn and Arondir attempt to rally the refugees to fight against the arrival of Adar and his orcs, the Sauron-worshipping oldie who tried to get Theo to side with him last week manages to get half of them to go with him and pledge fealty—almost utterly breaking Bronwyn’s resolve, and bringing the secrets behind the blade Theo found to light. And then there’s Lindon, where Gil-Galad’s hosting of Durin reveals the lingering divides between Elf and Dwarf—and Elrond discovers that the plight of the Eldar might be much, much more dire than he could ever have known.

Suffice to say, everything’s a bit shit-hitting-the-fan across Arda. Elrond discovers that Gil-Galad and Celebrimbor lied to him, and they in fact know about Mithril’s existence already: an Elven fable tells of a battle between an Eldar and a Balrog in the first war that combined their light and dark into a powerful ore, one that could help the waning Elves fight back a corruption that is heralding the diminishing of their race. Even worse, he’s tasked with breaking his newly renewed friendship with Durin in order to reveal Mithril’s secrets to the High King, chasing the shadow of his father’s willingness to sacrifice himself to earn the aid of Valinor in the war so long ago. Galadriel is likewise haunted by the shadows of her past, when doubts begin to fray Miriel’s clarity on taking the fight to the Southlands—especially after Pharazôn’s son, in defiance of his father’s own scheming long game, blows up two of the five ships Númenor intended to send to Middle-earth. Relying on promising that Halbrand, taking his right as the Southland’s king, will back them up, she’s hiding the fact that Halbrand doesn’t exactly want to do anything for her, perhaps rightly sick that this Elf who won’t tell him anything keeps preaching a destiny he’s desperately trying to run away from at him.

It’s not like people haven’t learned the lessons they endured in the series so far—“Partings” is more about people challenging themselves to take those lessons to heart, and in doing so open themselves up to a chance to heal. A tense argument between Halbrand and Galadriel the night before the fleet is set to depart Númenor reveals the true pain of her unyielding war against Sauron—a desire not just to vanquish that evil, but to prove to her people and the people she loves most that she has not lost herself to darkness in her quest—as Halbrand alike struggles to deal with his own dark past. Elrond, buffeted by the twofold revelation of the Eldar’s decline and Celebrimbor’s personal view of his father’s sacrifice, has to weigh up being honest with Durin or watching his entire species fade.

And yet, it’s these two friendships that potentially turn the tide from dark to light. Halbrand and Galadriel come together on their own terms, instead of at the latter’s behest, and he chooses to fight alongside the Númenoreans. Durin and Elrond’s friendship, although only recently healed, is strong enough that they trust each other’s honesty and the former decides to work with Elrond to get the Mithril to the rest of the Elves (if they can convince the elder Durin, that is). And even in the Southlands, as Adar’s forces are bolstered by the faltering hearts of humankind, Arondir and Bronwyn prepare to find away to survive the seemingly impossible odds they face together, using Theo’s purloined blade not as the legacy of Humanity’s thrall under Morgoth and his lieutenant before, but as part of an unknown plan for the Watchtower to even those odds.

It might essentially be hammering home things Rings of Power has constantly been saying so far this season, but in challenging those messages with the direst stakes for our heroes so far, the series is setting the stage for things to really pop off—and as battle lines are drawn, to get out of it alive our heroes are really going to prove they’ve taken these lessons to heart.

Want extra io9 information? Check out when to anticipate the newest Marvel and Star Wars releases, what’s subsequent for the DC Universe on movie and TV, and every part it’s essential learn about House of the Dragon and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.