Sauron and Galadriel's paths cross, but with one major Second Age character standing between them this time. Her husband. Cue major lore drops, canon-bending stretches of the imagination, and unforgettable visuals. Buckle up, The Rings of Power has arrived.
The Last Alliance brews
Thráin (Eddie Marsan) and Durin (Owain Arthur) are arguing. Thráin and various Dwarf lords argue for the rings, while Durin, who has seen what they did to his father, rejects them wholesale. In the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, Durin’s folk say their ring was given to Durin III by the Elven-smiths themselves. It passed down the generations to Thráin II, father of Thorin from The Hobbit, so we know it stays in Durin’s line. That makes it hard to see why Thráin’s bid for the throne matters.
Ultimately, though, all this is careening towards the battle of the Last Alliance, which will conclude this series. Elrond (Robert Aramayo) starts advocating an alliance of Elves and Men in this episode, setting that in motion. Durin’s folk did ally with the Elves against Sauron in that battle. And Gil-galad did call on Númenor for aid during his Second Age fight with Sauron, and the Númenóreans answered with a great fleet. But he never went to Númenor with Elrond in the books, as this episode suggests will happen.
The Balrog, of course, will ruin Khazad-dûm, so that’s the other thread mysteriously unraveling in Moria. And Disa (Sophia Nomvete) has a history with Thráin. Whoopsy, Disa. This is clearly original material, since both characters are original, but it’s juicy.
Celeborn, at last
The fellowship of Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova) and Marnûkh (Adam Young) reaches Gundabad and infiltrates it. Maitalle, the Elven-smith they were seeking, is unfortunately dead. She was the last smith of Eregion to have worked with Celebrimbor, and an invention of the show.
But now, Celeborn (Jamie Campbell Bower), locked in a cell. This is perhaps the most anticipated arrival of the whole show, and his absence has been a target for trolls since the start. The show acknowledges this delightfully. A majestic sweep of music plays as Celeborn introduces himself, only for Arondir to interrupt with what is basically “Sorry, who?”
What ethereal acting Bower was going to do with this role was impossible to tell. Celeborn had no truly profound characterisation in the legendarium, just heroic feats and a history. Bower gives him levity, a certain silliness that other characters here are lamentably devoid of. He’s kind, even to characters who represent evil, and in being so, Tolkien lives through him. Nothing was evil in the beginning, and Bower’s Celeborn just gets that.
Now we see why the show had the fellowship struggle all the way over here: narratively, to find Celeborn. How this relates to the forging of the One Ring remains to be seen, since there’s no useful Elven-smith to be found here. One thing’s for sure: Tolkien never said Celeborn was imprisoned in Gundabad while Galadriel hunted Sauron. But as far as TV goes, this is going down a treat.
The pull of the darkness
Sauron says the fell beasts were once eagles corrupted by Morgoth that came to crave Morgoth’s lash. Conversely, Tolkien, in a letter, speculated that perhaps it was “a last survivor of older geological eras.” Reflecting this lash-craving, Sauron said in season 2 to Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) of his fall to Morgoth: “The pain almost became a reward.” There’s a dark corner of The Lord of the Rings fandom called “angbang,” taking its name from Morgoth’s Angband fortress. Need we say more? Its textual basis: faint. Nonetheless, there’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it smirk at this dark corner going on here.
Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin) as an evolving Nazgnagôl is layered, sympathetic and brilliant. His seemingly random season 1 insertion into an adaptation of the Second Age finally makes the most wonderful sense. He almost lets Arondir pull the ring from his finger. Then Sauron (Charlie Vickers) arrives and orders him to kill, and he does. Arondir dies, and with him goes one more distraction from The Silmarillion’s plot.
On eagles’ wings
Sauron and Galadriel meet again, at last. She lunges towards him, and Celeborn pulls her away, off a cliff, again. The Ringwraiths move so slowly in season 3, they almost seem underpowered. But heroes need some plot armour. In the same vein, surely Sauron could have followed the eagle when it carries Galadriel and Celeborn to safety, away from Gundabad. Or perhaps not. None of this ever happened in the books. But is “Saurondriel” still the most staggering thing about this show? It appears Celeborn will finally get a say in that.
The Rings of Power season 3 continues on Prime Video on November 18. For more on Galadriel’s long-lost husband, read about what Celeborn was really up to in the Second Age or catch up on the new characters coming in season 3.
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