Wyatt Pokorny

Welcome, Unhappy RoP watchers… ones who have seen THE EYE!

The latest episode of RoP is a disappointment to rival that of episode 5, Partings. We get the continuation of the Elrond and Durin storyline with the mithril, but all doubt is now erased that the ‘magic’ metal can heal the darkness that is supposedly spreading into the Elves, and that it takes the form of tree roots, clearly reminiscent of the Roots of Hithaeglir, which may not be so legendary after all. The storyline did give us some of the coolest scenes yet, including the ‘deprinceification’ of Durin IV, as well as the true story behind the rite of sigin-tarag with Durin and Elrond, but I cannot focus on the good parts, when they are so closely connected with the worst part yet. They have one episode left this season; the only way I can figure it out is that the mithril can cure the tree, but as there is nothing wrong with the Elves themselves, that can rest uncured.

As for the storyline in what has gone from Beforedor to flat-out Mordor, I cannot say much. I don’t like Miriel’s reference to Ar-Inziladun, as she should refer to him by his Quenya name, Tar-Palantir, but I don’t mind that much. Otherwise a good story so far. I especially like the reference to Pelargir, just as a nice easter egg to us book maniacs.

Finally, the Harfoots. We got a big part of them this time, likely as an apology for the severe lack of them last time. As previously stated, the Stranger is the only thing I can really look at from a lore perspective. He and the mystics still puzzle me. I don’t think it’s Eärendil, but the Istari is a big possibility, and one that I don’t like. My best theory is lost Maiar of some sort, but still, that would be in the text, wouldn’t it…?

Overall it was an OK episode, actually pretty good if you were to just have said, ‘the Tree is sick’ to Elrond, and have him lie to the dwarves about the fate of the Elves, or even lie to Elrond (which could still be the case). Overall it keeps the series at a solid 5.0/10, but on its own I’d give it a 6.5. Which is very generous.

Adar and Galadriel had a nice chat last episode, and, to get ready for the episode today, those of you who haven’t watched it, I’ll give you a review of Adar’s truth, lies, and hidden meanings.

Number One: Each of them has a name, and a heart. LIE. I expressed this in the episode review. Orcs are monsters, and no, they do not all have names, or hearts. The Moriondor may be said to be more living, because they are the earliest orcs, still part elf, but the rest of them are grotesque monsters with no humanity whatsoever.

Number Two: I cut him open. I killed Sauron. I think we all know the answer to that one. The question is, is it a lie, or a mistake? He may think that he killed Sauron, but we all know he is very much alive. I believe personally that Sauron is already in Eregion as Annatar, because it’s one of the only ways to solve the mithril problem, and because, based on the lore, he shouldn’t be anywhere else.

Number Three: Maybe your search for Sauron’s successor should’ve ended in your own mirror. Hidden Meaning. Galadriel did show a bit of her dark side this episode, but obviously she isn’t Morgoth’s successor. Adar meant that she was overly murderous, and I agree with him in the way of, ‘Amazon hasn’t really portrayed her correctly’. Don’t get me wrong, this warrior-Galadriel is canon and awesome, but I don’t like the crazy woman who would torture the orcs and kill Adar right after she told Halbrand not to, or even threaten to commit genocide, just as a form of torture and sport.

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