Rings of Power - Episode 4
I know you're not supposed to pick favorites but...
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SPOILER WARNING: the following contains heavy spoilers (+ some lore spoilers) for the Rings of Power series.
If you don’t want spoilers, just save this post and come back to join the conversation once you’ve watched up to Episode 4 of the series!
I can say with almost 100% certainty that my answer will change as Rings of Power continues but Episode 4 was my favorite so far.
Not only did they handle portraying deep lore onscreen well but the way in which they did it made it accessible for people getting introduced to it for the first time through this show.
As a Tolkien fan who is ALL about making his vast contributions to literature as accessible as possible, the show runners are proving over and over that they understand that as well.
“What lore are you talking about, Breanne?”
The vision of Númenor being swallowed by the tsunami wave (I have heavy lore spoilers about this but I’ll sit on them for now).
The Palantir and Galadriel being familiar with it (her uncle Fëanor being the one who created them).
Elrond sharing the story of what happened to his father Eärendil (more on that in a moment).
Getting more of Adar’s backstory (because contrary to what you may have been led to believe, the elves are capable of great evil and we’re finally getting to see it on screen).
The growing unrest in Númenor between those who stand with the elfkind and The Valar (The Faithful) and those whose pride is leading them to do otherwise.
It was all beautifully done to the level I’ve been hoping to see since I first heard about this show back in 2020.
We got more context on who (or what) Adar is without a full-blown reveal just yet. I know his character is dark and twisted but that’s exactly why the orcs exist in Middle-earth: because elves like Adar—if that’s what he is—were captured and tortured into servitude and perverted with dark magic to produce the orcs we’re familiar with today. In that sense, it was satisfying to see a representation of elves not only as a pious ethereal being because, just like every other race in Tolkien’s work, they’re more complicated than that.
Arondir’s continues to prove his character through loyalty, courage and tenderness. When he showed up to rescue Theo from his misadventure, I cheered. Arondir didn’t have to go back and help the “lowlife” Southlanders elves are so prejudiced against, but he did. I love that.
Speaking of the Southlanders, their storyline, as well as Bronwyn’s, is going to be the thread that pulls all of these storylines together. The Southlands are located on what we know as Mordor. With that in mind, you can imagine why the Southlanders are shaping up to be a boiling point in more ways than one.
Buckle up Númenóreans it’s about to get wild. The show is doing a brilliant job of portraying the simmering political tensions. The speech in the square about how elves (who don’t age or need sleep) could come and replace the economic stability they know in Númenor was a detail I’d never thought of but loved seeing written in. It presents a legitimate case for how Númenor heads in the direction it does in Tolkien’s work.
Halbrand. Halbrand. Halbrand. (⚠️ mini lore spoiler alert⚠️) The scene where he tells Galadriel: “In an instance like this, it seems to me that you’d do well to identify what it is your opponent most fears…Give them a means of mastering it so that you can master them.” had me nearly jumping out of my seat. Knowing how Sauron infiltrates the world of men and leads to um…disaster, this quote perfectly lines up with how that would come to pass. Now Halbrand might not be Sauron, but the way the show runners are using the lore to either give us a genius red herring or use it to weave an accurate character reveal of future-Sauron proves to me that they know their stuff and their using it well.
KHAZAD-DÛM. Can we get a whole season in this dwarf kingdom?! I can’t get enough of it. The grandeur and lore paired with the reliability of the characters is making my little fan heart so happy. Disa is an original character written only for Rings of Power and she feels like she’s been there all along. If that doesn’t help you put faith in these show runners I don’t know what will. Seeing her work as a resonator in the chamber after the passageway collapsed on those four dwarves gave me chills.
Sidenote: the actress who plays Disa, Sophia Nomvete, had just had a baby when they began filming. Her costumes were designed with the fact that she would need to breastfeed/pump to feed her new baby while working on set. This “real world” fact makes me love her even more.
The scene where Elrond (in his true diplomatic fashion) beseeches Price Durin to further communicate and mend the relationship with his father was a powerful one. It added depth to Elrond’s character that I haven’t felt before and thoroughly enjoyed seeing portrayed. And the fact that they wove in the story of his father, Eärendil for lore’s sake had me engaged in exactly the way I hope for with adaptations.
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This is usually the part in my review posts where I’d share 3 things I loved and 3 things I didn’t, but I honestly can’t come up with a list of things I didn’t like about this Episode! And since I already talked about everything I did love, I’ll end with…
A few questions for you:
What are your thoughts on Episode 4? Did it confirm or further any theories you’ve had so far? What’s something you like about it?
Consider the comment section your seat at table. Have a seat and tell me your thoughts below!
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This episode was a lot more suspenseful and fast paced for me, I do tend to find ep 4 the place where things starts to fall together and speed up. Theo’s whole escape from the orcs, I thought for sure he was gonna get captured.
Arondir is a great character, I like how he’s not swayed by his kin or the humans as to how he acts.
Adar’s gauntlet is giving Witch King and I am keen to see his character play out, I don’t think I know enough lore to accurately guess who he is but intrigued!
Khazad-Dûm is beautiful, I love the dynamics with Durin’s family and the way King Durin interacts with his son had me teary. I like how he doesn’t deter his friendship with Elrond but still asks questions about his friends behavior.
Númenor with the falling petals, the judgement, the choices- I was really glad they echoed what had been said throughout or I would have been a bit lost. Feisty Galadriel is also great, seeing her young and out in the general world is cool, rather than just the older version of her with the fellowship.
I don’t have anything from this episode that I didn’t like, maybe on another watch through I could pick something, but truly just enjoying the ride so far!
I did enjoy this episode. Episode 3 was one I didn't really like and was afraid the magic of it all was gone for me. But episode 4 has saved it for now. Elrond is hands down my favorite character and I can't wait to see more of him.
My big quibble is how the Numenoreans keep referring to the "gods". I know the Valar can be viewed that way in one sense, but these references seem more like they're the Numenoreans pantheon, when the Numenoreans worshipped Eru on their mountain. Then with that, the argument for Miriel to side with the elves was about it being right because it's what faithful Numenoreans did, rather than siding with the elves because that's siding with the Valar which is siding with Iluvatar. And I think because of this, the discussion between Galadriel and Miriel by the palantir, while over all was good and inspiring, was lacking something for me because it missed how deeply Christian some of these ideas were for Tolkien. Aside from that, I've been happy with choices the showrunners have made and have been pleasantly surprised at how they've thus far kept within Tolkien's moral universe, but these two things haven't sat quite as well with us. But unless it ends up featuring prominently it isn't a show-breaker for us.
I am catching more screen-writing that's a bit tacky (and my husband as a mariner thinks that "the sea is always right" is so cheesy), but it's not so much I'm not enjoying it.