Month: September 2022

The sixth episode of Rings of Power has merely made us wait even longer for the resolution to what I have come to call The Parting (from the lore). However, it has given us a very fun episode, and much more information as to Adar’s identity.

This time we really only have two stories this episode, and they are quite connected now. Arondir and Bronwyn made a plan to defeat the orcs at Ostirith, and slay the survivors at the village. We see Arondir pull some Legolas-style, physics-defying moves, and we see the splendour of Numenor finally come to the Southlands, or as it has come to be in many minds, Beforedor.

Udûn, the episode’s title, was a bit exciting. Udûn is Sindarin for hell, and means a) Morgoth’s dwelling beneath Utumno, or a region of Mordor. I was hoping we would get a bit more about Finrod, who died a terrible death in the depths of Udûn, but the episode seems to focus on the region of Mordor.

As most of it was the Southlands story, I really cannot compare it to the lore very much, as almost the whole thing is made up. But I wish to address the conversation between Galadriel and Adar. My Sindarin is quite limited, but I don’t believe the term ‘Moriondor’ and the translation ‘Sons of the Dark’ fit together. ‘Mor’ is dark, or darkness, yes, and ‘ion’ is son, but ‘dor’ is land, or region, such as Gondor, Land of Stone, Numenor, Land of the West, or even Mordor, the Dark Land. I may be wrong, but Moriondor seems to translate to ‘Land of the Dark Sons’, ‘Land of the Sons of the Dark’, or ‘Sons of the Dark Land’.

But this whole conversation, for Galadriel’s part, is completely canon. As for Adar, he is either lying, gravely mistaken, or the show has gone completely haywire. Obviously he didn’t kill Sauron, and he shouldn’t believe it; no mortal can kill a Maia, unless he has taken an incarnate form, (like Melian and the Istari), and Sauron had not taken his final form yet at this point.

Adar’s character is fleshed out to care for his army, which seems to me as Amazon is trying to ruin the ‘All Orcs are monsters’ idea. This is worrisome, as all orcs are monsters. Aragorn killed every last one of them at the end of LotR, and that was a fair thing. Like killing Sauron and Morgoth was fair, the orcs are all monsters, made to serve evil. So this is worrisome.

Finally, we get to see Orodruin become to volcano we all know it to be. I believe this eruption will cause one of the lines from the Wandering Days song to come true: ‘Past eyes of pale fire, black sand for my bed…” The black sand could very well refer to signs of volcanic activity. But I don’t think the hobbits (sorry, Harfoots!) will be sleeping anywhere near Orodruin for a while yet.

This episode was quite fun, but did not do anything for my fears for the rest of the show. I think I’ve warmed up to Arondir and Bronwyn. I mainly feared them because I thought they would take the Tauriel and Kili route, but I now see they’ve chosen to follow the Aegnor and Andreth route, another romance from the First Age that didn’t end well. Overall this episode gets 8?10, and puts the series count at a 5/10. But we shall see how the mithril problem is solved.

I was sitting in bed, listening to some random LotR podcast, when something they said about the Second Age sent my mind reeling. The discovery of mithril was one of the turning points in the Second Age, and it was shared with the Elves, and the two races together forged the Rings of Power (Amazon had nothing to do with it), under the instruction of Annatar (AKA Sauron).

Is it possible that Amazon is, just like sending Galadriel to Valinor, using this ‘Elves need mithril‘ just to make the dwarves give it to them, starting the forging of the Great Rings? If it is, it will not fully heal the scar this decision has left, but it may alleviate some of the pain. Or maybe the elf-lords are conspiring to get their hands on mithril, and lying to Elrond to achieve this goal, though that isn’t something the book Gil-galad would do. Though, if this one thinks he has the right to decide who goes to Valinor…

Only time will tell

This episode was called Partings. I’m not sure if that signifies parting from the lore, or parting from common sense.

So far, I’ve been impressed with how long this show has lasted. It was decently canon, and I was even warming up to Arondir and Bronwyn. But something has happened (in the most canon storyline so far) that has made me reconsider my entire view of this series.

The Elrond/Durin/Celebrimbor/Gil-galad story was the one to cause the downfall. When Gil-galad brought up the Roots of Hithaeglir, I’m like, ok. As long as you make it very obvious that this a mere myth, completely fake, I’m fine. But a Silmaril? In a tree? Maedhros and Maglor wouldn’t like that story at all. Yes, you wanted an origin story for mithril, but this is… ugh.

But that was all right. It didn’t change the core of the original, and, as I said, it’s myth. My greatest problem was much worse: What in the name of Ulmo is this, ‘Elves need mithril before next spring or they’re all going to die?’ Like, excuse me? I’m really hoping that Annatar (AKA Sauron) is already in Gil-galad’s counsels and has plotted some heresy in his thoughts. Not even a hint of this was written, and there is no way this could have happened in Middle-Earth. I’m shocked at this sudden turn of events, and all I can say is, they’ve written themselves into a tight spot; I’m interested to see if they can get out.

As for Nori’s story, I’m just as perplexed. They’ve done what I’ve been waiting for: succeeded in making an epic song by which to remember at least Nori’s story: The Wandering Days is beautiful. Meteor Man is still a mystery, but we shall see. If they make him a wizard I’ll be mad, but so far, so good.

The Galadriel story continues as previously, though Pharazon’s attitude toward Miriel’s plans is somewhat enlightening, as we may get to see the dark side of Numenor.

Now, for Arondir. This new sword-hilt discovery is interesting. I don’t really know what to make of it. But as for Waldreg going off and bowing to Adar, I have something to say. First, to clear up anyone who says ‘Adar isn’t Sauron ’cause he yelled at Waldreg for calling him that’, among other reasons, ‘Sauron’ means ‘The Abhorred’ in Quenya, so he’d do that to anyone who calls him that even if he was Sauron. Sauron goes by Tar Maeron, King Excellent. I’d like to see where this goes.

Overall, I am very disappointed in this episode. They’ve written themselves into a tight spot, and I’ll be curious to see how they get out. The series before this episdode: 7.5/10. This episode: 2/10. The series after this episode: 3.75/10. Very scared.