Celebrimbor sips his morning elf tea and appears out over the realm of Eregion (really the capital metropolis of Ost-in-Edhil, however we’re fairly positive the present doesn’t have the rights to the title, which is why you by no means hear anybody say it), peaceable underneath a rising solar. It’s a lie, after all; as is all the pieces he sees and hears for many of this episode. We see a montage of him casting the 9 rings, utilizing the mysterious stash of mithril Annatar gave him final episode. As soon as he has accomplished forging them, he notices {that a} gem is lacking from Feanor’s hammer and catches a glimpse of his true state in a fleeting reflection. Annatar is available in and instantly smooths the phantasm over, not simply with magic, however with the charming flattery of an abuser. He tells the jewel smith that he will probably be unhappy when the mission is full and they’ll not be spending time collectively. “A pity, is it not?” As soon as exterior, he drops the phantasm to disclose that town is being bombarded. He tells a frantic Mirdania and town guard that Celebrimbor has forbidden a counter assault as a result of he believes that the river will shield them from an invasion. After they protest, he informs them that he’s taking cost of town’s defenses. He tells Mirdania that the Lord of Eregion has misplaced his thoughts; a basic abuser strategy of separating his sufferer from any allies and telling them that he’s not reliable. “We’re alone,” he tells her. “Not alone,” the silly (and doomed) elf lady responds. Inside, Celebrimbor notices the glitch in Annatar’s phantasm matrix and marks a candle to substantiate his suspicions
Adar halts his bombardment of town and has his troopers level their siege engines on the mountains lining the river. They hearth projectiles at them till the mountains begin crumbling. It’s a powerful sequence, hearkening again to the eruption of Mount Doom final season, however we’re undecided we solely purchase which you can break mountains by throwing rocks at them. However, the river is dammed and a muddy battlefield opens up in entrance of town.
In Khazad-dûm, King Durin tells Narvi to proceed digging, despite the fact that his son and daughter-in-law are mounting a two-dwarf protest to stop that from occurring. “Each hour that we delay prices us unthinkable wealth” the obsessed king tells his grasp craftsman. This storyline simply feels goofy to us. Prince Durin and Disa are in no place to maintain the digging from occurring and it typically seems like there’s a little bit bit an excessive amount of household battle taking part in out in a few of these tales. Númenor, Khazad-dûm and even the orc military are all going by means of it due to daddy points, which is a limiting means of taking a look at massive, earth-shaking occasions. Narvi and his males throw down their axes and announce their help for the prince as a result of his father has misplaced his thoughts. Disa says they must get the ring off of him. Narvi responds that theirs will not be the one kingdom in peril and that Prince Durin has a customer. “There’s an elf exterior. Needs your ear.” We didn’t even notice we have been lacking Durin and Elrond collectively, however they’ve a candy completely happy friendship and rapport and it made for a pleasant second in all of the darkness of this episode. Durin asks him to make it fast as a result of he’s about to overthrow his personal father. Elrond pleas along with his good friend for support on behalf of the besieged Eregion.
Celebrimbor confronts Annatar in regards to the glitches in his matrix. “You sought peace,” he replies chillingly. “I gave it to you.” Probably the greatest issues in regards to the scripting this season is how they’ve forged Sauron as a basic abuser, gaslighting and complicated his sufferer always. “You welcomed my instruction. You virtually begged for it,” he continues. Celebrimbor nonetheless has some backbone, nonetheless. “No emissary of the Valar would do that. Who’re you? Really?” Sauron lets the veil sleep and angrily calls for the 9 rings. Celebrimbor throws Fëanor’s hammer at him, breaking the window and subsequently, the phantasm. Bloodied and filthy, he weeps for his devastated metropolis. He knocks over the container of mithril and thick black liquid oozes out. “I’ve discovered a lot from you,” Annatar says as he reveals the knife wound on his hand that equipped the blood that went into the 9 rings. “You’re He,” a now terrified Celebrimbor questions. “Are you not?” “I’ve many names,” Sauron replies, though that doesn’t precisely slender it down, since everybody and all the pieces on this world has a number of names. Celebrimbor escapes his studio and finds Mirdania on town wall. He tries to inform her all the pieces, however he sounds insane to her. Annatar exhibits as much as do some extra gaslighting and with a flick of his wrist, flips Mirdania over the wall to her loss of life, making it seem like Celebrimbor’s fault. He tells Celebrimbor that if he finishes the 9, he’ll spare town. When Celebrimbor asks what he plans on doing with the rings, Sauron solutions “Make an ideal and eternal peace.”
Elrond and Gil-galad arrive with a military of elves and storm the battlefield. Adar unveils Galadriel in her cage and Elrond halts the corporate and agrees to parley. In his tent, Adar asks Elrond to indicate him the ring. Elrond claims it might be a silly act for him to deliver it on the battlefield and Adar notes that he’s extra suited to wielding a scroll than a sword. “You’ve by no means seen me wield both,” Elrond replies. Adar tries to argue that Sauron is their widespread enemy and that he ought to hand over the ring to permit Galadriel to stay. Elrond factors out the absurdity of asking for his assist invading the Elven realm of Eregion and Adar counters that “Eregion has fallen into shadow,” echoing a Galadriel line from The Fellowship of the Ring. Elrond, sensible herald that he’s, asks Adar in entrance of his troopers if he’s prepared to spend all of their lives. Adar provides him yet one more likelihood to save lots of Galadriel’s life and, after fairly overtly eradicating one thing from his brooch in entrance of your entire tent of orcs, turns down the supply and asks for the chance to say goodbye to her earlier than they kill her. Then, that factor occurred. And we groaned. Simply when the present felt prefer it was righting itself and confidently shifting ahead, they go and have Elrond and Galadriel kiss. Sure, it virtually actually isn’t meant to be seen as a romantic kiss, however one undertaken to cover the passing of the lock choose to her. Even so, it struck us because the present giving into its worst impulses. “Everybody is aware of Elrond and Galadriel. Let’s make them kiss!” And sure, they know full nicely that she is his mother-in-law. They’re relying on the sort of outrage that second will encourage among the many purists. We’re simply going to fake it by no means occurred.
Exterior the tent (however in entrance of a complete bunch of orcs), Elrond informs his lieutenant that the dwarves are set be a part of the battle and that he’s to go meet them and information their route. In Khazad-dûm, Prince Durin is rallying a large crowd of dwarves by revealing all the pieces that’s been occurring: that Sauron is in Eregion making the rings that may enslave all of Center Earth. Owain Arthur does an amazing job delivering the speech, however we do not know why they’re all following the Prince as a substitute of the King.
On the battlefield, we get to see Elrond be a badass, which is rarely a waste of time. Adar’s lieutenant Glug (the orc with the spouse and child who’s been having emotions all season) pleads with him to finish the battle as a result of Elrond’s forces are overwhelming them. He gained’t concede, prompting Glug to ask him, in Black Speech no much less, if he loves him. We’ve been intrigued by the present’s concept that the orcs aren’t a monolith, and we by no means had an issue with them depicting orcwives and children as a result of there must be some type of baby rearing to ensure that orcs to succeed in maturity. The general thought of the orcs being probably redeemable is one thing Tolkien wrestled with in his letters many occasions. However “Daddy you stated you liked us” is the place we draw the road, we’re afraid. It’s simply too goofy. Adar responds that he loves them an excessive amount of to allow them to change into Sauron’s slaves, which might naturally immediate the query of why he walked all of them proper as much as Sauron’s entrance door, we suppose. It looks like the present is saying that anybody who claims Sauron as their enemy is already able to monumental self-delusion.
Galadriel escapes her chains and kills her captors earlier than Adar discovers it. She tries to stay incognito as she makes her means out of the camp and we discovered ourselves asking the identical query we all the time ponder when Sam and Frodo are making their means by means of Mordor in orc armor: Why not rub mud throughout your face? There’s actually no scarcity of it in Center Earth. Whereas undercover (underneath a blanket extra prefer it) Galadriel is shocked not solely to see that the orcs have burial rites, however that Adar weeps for his lifeless kids. She properly doesn’t keep too lengthy to absorb the spectacle, however a number of orcs spot her leaving. Simply as they’re about to overhaul her, Arondir’s arrows fly out and we virtually cheered once we noticed him. He and Galadriel have a beautiful scene collectively, the place he makes it clear he locations no worth on his personal life anymore and she or he urges him to remain within the gentle and stay a hero. They’ve an amazing rapport, as two very totally different elves who don’t know one another, however nonetheless have deep and large respect for one another. It’s additionally simply good to see a man on this present not yelling at her or making an attempt to seduce her. As we famous final season, Galadriel is just like the Beyonce of elves. She must be handled like a famous person by all of them, which is why a number of the stuff earlier within the season with grumpy Gil-galad and pissy Elrond simply didn’t scan for us.
In Khazad-dûm, the troops are rallied and Prince Durin is armored up and able to head out when a bloodied Narvi exhibits up and tells him that his father has gone much more insane and is outwardly super-powered now, as a result of he took out a complete firm of dwarves in his obsession to dig even additional. That is additionally beginning to sound a little bit goofy, as if one dwarf obsessively digging with a pickaxe goes to set the Balrog free. Narvi tells him that he has to recall your entire standing military to maintain this enterprise along with his father, which additionally doesn’t make a lot sense to us. Why not ship the troops to Eregion however preserve one or two firms again to take care of a mad king?
In Celebrimbor’s forge, he’s chained to his work desk in very fancy Elven handcuffs whereas he places the ending touches on the 9 rings. Sauron tells him to not be afraid and that when that is throughout, their struggling may have been value it. A ravaged Celebrimbor scoffs on the suggestion that Sauron suffered and in basic abuser mode, he relays a tragic story of abuse by his personal “daddy” Morgoth and makes use of to excuse the abuse he inflicts on others. He goes even additional and tells Celebrimbor that he selected the abuse himself. “You pressured me to torment you to deliver them into being, I’m however a sufferer of your obstinance.” “You actually are the Nice Deceiver,” a nothing-left-to-lose Celebrimbor taunts. “You may deceive even your self.” Daddy points and delusions all the best way down.
Celebrimbor tries to destroy the rings with hearth, however that was by no means going to work, what with them being magic elven rings tainted with the black blood of an evil immortal spirit and all. Whereas we discover it a little bit bit laborious to imagine that the best elven craftsman of all time can’t open a pair of handcuffs with a complete workshop of instruments at his disposal, the scene of him chopping off his thumb was extremely highly effective. You need to determine that he knew his life was over at that time, which gave him the power to destroy the one factor meaning essentially the most to him as an artisan and craftsman, his arms. He escapes the forge and the dumbass metropolis guardsman try to arrest him when a completely livid – and rightly so – Galadriel exhibits up. Lastly we see a bunch of elves deal with her just like the high-ranking bitch she is they usually all instantly again down. She is shocked on the state of her good friend and much more shocked to listen to that he’s carrying 9 extra rings for males. Do the elves exterior Eregion even know in regards to the Dwarven rings? He provides her the rings and tells her to get them out of town whereas he distracts Sauron. His metropolis guardsman promise to guard him, which reminds us of one other recurring drawback with the storytelling on this present. It all the time hinges on largely anonymous social teams altering their minds and switching allegiances continuously. We see this taking part in out in Eregion, Khazad-dûm, Númenor, and even among the many halfling clans. It tends to make the entire stakes really feel significantly decrease and cut back everybody to gamers on a board. Talking of which, Sauron kills all of them with a flick of his wrists. Poor battered, bloodied Celebrimbor is left alone along with his abuser as soon as once more.
On the battlefield, everybody stopped to look at one courageous elf hearth an important arrow. Once more, just a bit goofy in its staging. Nonetheless, many of the battle scenes have been actually nice and issues bought much more enjoyable when Arondir and the Damrod the hill troll confirmed up. Glug is mad at daddy for letting an orc-killing mad troll on the free and we’re beginning to assume Sauron goes to realize their loyalty not by means of magic and deception, however as a result of the orcs all rebelled towards their father determine. Like he did with Galadriel and Celebrimbor, he’s going to make them wish to serve his wants. Gil-galad, Arondir, and Celebrimbor execute a triple play to take out Damrod in a reasonably cool sequence however the partitions of town are breached. Because the elves threaten to change into overwhelmed, the solar rises and Elrond calls out that the dwarves are coming. We have now to say, we completely beloved that they upended this Tolkienian trope, one which the Jackson movies repeatedly used. No military crested the hill with the dawn to save lots of them. No eucatastrophe occurred to vary the tide. Arondir faces Adar on the battlefield and it doesn’t go nicely for him in any respect. We actually hope they don’t kill one of the best character on the present, however we have now to confess, it occurred to us how few deaths there have been to this point.
The Dwarves by no means come, Eregion falls, and Adar takes the ring from Elrond, who apparently was silly sufficient to take it into battle. For anybody who isn’t Sauron, issues went very badly this episode they usually’re about to get a lot worse.
