Spoiler Review Of ‘The Rings Of Power’ Episode 1 And 2
Image Source: Vanity Fair
**Spoilers below for the first two episodes of The Rings of Power**
Amazon Prime’s long-awaited big-budget series, The Rings of Power, debuted last Thursday with two episodes. The show is the most expensive show ever made, with a budget of just over $200 million. New and old fans alike turned into the premiere episodes to ensure that J.R.R Tolkien’s work was respected. While you will never recreate the magic of the original movies, I think Amazon has done a good job with the show so far. As a huge fan of Lord of the Rings, I thought the first two episodes were fantastic.
The show takes place in the Second Age, and very few notes about this age were left by Tolkien. The first episode starts similarly to The Fellowship of the Ring, with Galadriel narrating. We get a quick recap of events about how the elvish people left their home in Valinor and headed to Middle Earth to fight Morgoth and his army. We get to see a quick glimpse of Sauron as well. We see a child Galadriel, who tries to make a boat float but is interrupted and bullied by some fellow children. Her brother, Finrod, comes to her rescue and tries to help her out. Her brother dies, and we find out that she is set on avenging her fallen brother. She is set on a mission to defeat Sauron, to finish what her brother started.
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Image Source: Amazon Prime Video
Galadriel meets with Elrond and the council of elves, where she wants to ask for help on her mission. Instead, she is granted passage back to Valinor and the Undying Lands. During the second episode, she changes her mind and jumps into the ocean. She swims upon a raft of survivors, who say they were running from orcs. This makes her happy, as it means she is going in the right direction Sauron. Unfortunately, a water creature comes and attacks them and destroys their raft. After a series of unfortunate events, she is rescued by the lone survivor, Halbrand.
We then meet the Harfoots. These folk could be considered the first hobbits. Nori Brandyfoot is the harfoot that sticks out. She innocently takes her siblings to gather berries until she senses something and rushes them back to their village. That night, she and her friend, Poppy Proudfellow, discover a man in the middle of a field. They take the man and hide him, so their village won’t find out. The stranger awakens and tries to communicate with Nori the best he can, with fireflies and weird symbols.
We meet the character of Arondir, who, with a team of other elves, keeps watch over the region. When peace is declared, the elves are able to go back home, yet Arondir has unfinished business with a woman named Bronwyn. Arondir and Bronwyn are tasked with warning the village of evil thanks to a local cow’s rotten utter. However, no one believes them. Bronwyn and her son get attacked by an orc. Bronwyn later presents the orc’s head to the barkeep who didn’t believe her.
We see a familiar face in Elrond. We first see him writing his father’s speech in a tree and then him reasoning with Galadriel to not ask his father about a new army for her fight. He is very optimistic and sees the positivity and idyllic of the world. He meets up with the elven blacksmith, Celembrimbor, who wants to create something of lasting beauty. Elrond brings him to Khazad-dûm, the dwarven city. He meets with Prince Durin, and they have a contest, which Elrond loses. He convinces Prince Durin to hear him out and has dinner with Durin, and his lovely wife, Disa. The prince hears out Elrond to help his father.
Image Source: Gamespot
The first two episodes were absolutely gorgeous and had a lot of world-building. I am so happy to be in Middle Earth again and exploring more of this magical place. Both episodes had a strong start and established a lot in their time. Lord of the Rings is a beloved series by many fans, so getting this show right is very important. So many questions are still to be answered, the biggest one being, who is the stranger that crash-landed? I cannot wait to see more of Galadriel’s story as well. I am excited to see where this series goes and cannot wait to see more.
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