Weeks go by and ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ continues to generate controversy and receive quite a few sticks from a fandom that does not quite connect with its exploration of Tolkien’s universe. But, on the other side of the coin, there are people like this humble servant who awaits the arrival of each Friday to plunge back into Middle-earth and indulge in its many pleasures.
With its fifth episode, entitled ‘separations’the ambitious production of Amazon Prime Video exceeds the narrative halfway point of its first season, warming up the atmosphere and distributing the pieces on a board in which, sooner rather than later, it will begin to rain swords, arrows and liters of blood – preferably orcish.
Again, the director Wayne Che Yip is once again at the forefront of a chapter that does not neglect any of the open plots, that shines again especially in its enormous formal commitment and that has made me fall back in love with a Galadriel who has become on her own merits the great television heroine of the year. Queen!
The beautiful and hard migration
The episode starts with the great forgotten of ‘The great wave’. Some hairy that continue to brim with charm and that little by little they leave behind the kindness of their plot while they continue their migration. A process that the series has decided to speed up through a really beautiful montage sequence with breathtaking scenarios that scream ‘The Lord of the Rings’.
As the outsider continues to help the Brandipié family survive the exodus, some sinister characters with the look of few friends scrutinize the place where it crashed at the beginning of the season. A bad omen considering how the plot of the mysterious man from the stars has evolved this week.
After the hairy leader begins to entertain the idea of getting rid of the stranger, who continues to be seen as a threat by the town, the man saves Nori and her companions from an attack by direwolves, once again earning the trust of his companions. However, the joy is short-lived, as ends up accidentally injuring Nori with a spectacular display of power whose source, we hope, will be revealed shortly.
necessary betrayals
Much more interesting has been the development of the plot of Elrond and Durin. It was evident that something smelled singe in the elf’s visit to her old friend, and today we have discovered the secret behind it; closely related to mithrillthe precious metal that will mean glory and disaster for the dwarves of Khâzad-Dum and that is of vital importance to our prick-eared friends.
After a spectacular scene that explains the origin of the ore —and which has shown us a Balrog—, King Gil-galad explains to Elrond that the elves are on the verge of extinction in Middle-earth and that mithrill, believed to contain the light of the lost Silmaril, is the only solution feasible to ensure its survival.
after disappointment, Elrond is between a rock and a hard place, hesitating between whether to remain faithful to his friend Durin, to whom he swore not to reveal the secret of the mithrill, or to ask him to extract the precious good to ensure the future of his family. Of course the dwarf bet on friendshipbut things will not be as simple as they seem.
Trouble in the Southlands
Division reigns in ostirith watchtower. The redoubt of humans who have entrenched themselves to survive the invasion of the Southlands by the hosts of Adar begin to doubt their chances of survival if they don’t. kneel down and pay homage to the enemy; which leads to a good part of the survivors deciding to flee to ally themselves with the dark troops.
Meanwhile, in the building, Arondir and Bronwyn try to keep the few members of the resistance together – not without a doubt – but then Theo informs the elf of the existence of the strange hilt he found in the village. A device that Arondir believes to be a key to grant extraordinary power to the bearer who knows how to use it.
Under this scenario, and with the Adar army days, or even hours away from reaching their goal, the plot leaves us hanging suggesting that Ostirith, built by the human followers of Morgoth in the Elder Dayspossesses a strength coveted by the Dark Powers.
Galadriel (and everything else)
And, as could not be less, the episode closes with the plot of Númenor and with a tremendously epic scene that marks, finally, the great turning point that many of us were waiting for. But let’s go by parts, since what seemed like a piece of cake, which was the alliance between elves and humans to reconquer the Southlands, has unexpectedly twisted due to the division of opinions in Númenor.
Queen Míriel’s willingness to help Galadriel – which has left us a training scene that confirms again how great this version is badass of the character – continues to be firm despite the bad omen of his father, who assures him that You will only find darkness on your journey. But this, basically, is the least of it.
Despite the fact that Kemen seems to be convinced by Pharazôn’s explanations, that he only supports the cause in order to plunder Middle-earth, the boy decides to boycott the mission by blowing up one of the ships that should leave the next morning, which endangers an expedition that, if not supported by Halbrand, will be canceled for the queen
Luckily, Galadriel’s conversational skills manage to get the deserter to join the fight to recover his town, culminating in a scene in which our favorite elf climbs aboard one of the ships with a spectacular armor to captain Elendil, Isildur and company in the fight against Sauron. If this isn’t epic, I don’t know what is…