The iconic battle for the rings in Eregion has come to an end along with the brilliant finale given to ‘The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power’ season 2. Ever since the inception of this Sophomore season, I’ve been constantly complaining about its directionless parallel stories and its breaking the conventional pathway of Tolkien lore but the finale episode puts the plot in the right direction.
The Rings of Power, which occurs thousands of years before the familiar Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogies, is set in the second age of Middle-Earth. Though it emulates the style of Peter Jackson’s successful film adaptations, the series operates in its own way and, based on far more sparse Tolkien material, has confidently created its own plots and characters. Now, after two seasons, The Rings of Power has spent a significant amount of time establishing those characters and the basics of the narrative, which was required to overcome all the bad seeds in this fantasy story.
The Amazon show’s improvised Sauron vs Orcs arc just didn’t sit well with me because the idea of elves teaming up with the dangerous creatures, who’ve always been on the wrong side of Middle-Earth, felt like going against Tolkien’s craft. But the season’s finale finally gives a solution to the subject fallen under the grey area. The Uruk drama meets conclusion with the tragic death of their Lord-father Adar, this means Sauron finally has an evil army and they will be only referred to as Orcs from here on, the disfigured and soulless soldiers who lack humanity.
At Khazad-dûm, the dwarves are mourning the death of Durin’s father all while dealing with the issues that the late King left behind. Making matters worse are the rumours that Prince Durin was not his father’s preferred heir, leading other dwarf-lords to advance their claim to the throne.
At Rhûn, the Stranger finally reveals himself to be the fan-favourite beloved wizard Gandalf and Númenor continues to remain in chaos under Ar-Pharazôn’s reign. The true queen Míriel has been branded a traitor, while Elendil moves on the pathway to reclaim his Lordship with a ‘White Flame’ sword under Míriel’s command.
Finally, the dwarves save the day at the battle of Eregion by jumping in at the last minute to overwhelm the orcs and save the survivors. The high-octane battle action races hearts, especially Sauron and Galadriel’s sword fight. Many elves die, some flee, Eregion falls, Sauron intercepts the nine rings from Galadriel and rages his new army across Eriador. All Middle-Earth is within his reach now, even Lindon.
But as Poppi rightly reminds us, “Some things can’t be fixed. Some things lost are lost forever. No matter how hard we fight, how much it hurts, or how much our heart yearns to put them together.”
“What’s broke is broke and won’t fix, and all anybody can do is try and build something new.” That’s exactly what the elves plan to do who are broken in both spirit and body. Because the sun yet shines in this visually impressive lore and they have chosen sword over shield.
ALSO READ| ‘The Rings of Power’ season 2 premiere review: A cinematic mockery of Middle-Earth & ‘Lord of the Rings’