Partings – As the fifth episode of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power begins, Nori Brandyfoot (Markella Kavenagh) sits with the stranger (Daniel Weyman) and tells him about the migration. In mid-summer, they make for Norfield Glen to snail while the snailing’s good. At the first blush of the oak leaves, they head to the Grove. The only problem is that there are hundreds of perils between here and there. The stranger begins wondering if he is a peril, but Nori doesn’t think so. She goes on to say he is good because he is here to help. Once they get back on the trail, the others encourage Poppy (Megan Richards) to sing her mom’s walking song. They make it to Trout Bend and continue. A group goes to the spot where the stranger landed as it looks like they’re hunting for him. Adar (Joseph Mawle) is told that the tunnel is complete.

He looks at the orc’s arm as he says it feels like fire. Adar wishes the orc could feel it like he does. It’ll be gone soon and the part of him that knew warmth will be as well. Adar orders the orc to summon the legions because it is time. Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi) and Arondir (Ismael Cruz Cordova) confront the locals to warn them that their enemy intends to attack. In exchange for mercy, they have been ordered to abandon this tower and swear fealty to their commander. Bronwyn says the tower will no longer be a reminder of their frailty if they choose to stay and fight with her. Although may raise their hands to join her, Waldreg (Geoff Morrell) thinks they’d be better off taking their chances bowing to the enemy. Arondir insists the enemy is not the deliverance. Waldreg says their ancestors survived. If they follow him, they will too.

Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin) is urged to come with them as Rowan (Ian Blackburn) walks away with Waldreg. Isildur (Maxim Baldry) tries talking to his father Captain Elendil (Lloyd Owen) because he wants to be part of the expedition. He pleads with his father to skip him to the front of the line. Elendil admits nothing would make him prouder but he has already had his chance and he made his choice. Earien (Ema Horvath) tries to get Pharazon’s attention as he is belittled for the decision to help Galadriel. Kemen (Leon Wadham) tells her that many feel how she does, but there isn’t enough to sway his opinion yet. She pleads with him to speak louder and get Pharazon to listen to him. Halbrand (Charlie Vickers) works at the forge until he learns he has visitors. Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) wants him to tell them where the enemies went. He tells Pharazon (Trystan Gravelle), Queen Miriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), and Galadriel that they went towards the Watchtower of Ostirith.

The Queen thanks him and suggests his fellowship will prove just as invaluable once they make landfall. Galadriel told them about his aspiration to unite his people, but Halbrand seems to know nothing about that. The Queen hopes he’ll do his part because she has staked her name on it. She learns that her father wants to see her. Once they’re alone, Halbrand accuses Galadriel of using him. She says she convinced Numenor to send five ships, 500 men to aid his people, and place a crown upon his head. They might assume he used her. Halbrand rips off his necklace and tells her to find another head to crown before leaving. As Nori and the others continue, they find wolf footprints in the soil. Malva asks Sadoc what is going on since she has never seen the trees this bare. She believes the big fella is responsible so she encourages him to take their wheels and leave them.

While she hunts for food, Poppy and Nori scare her. They want to tell her about the wolves. Once they hear howling in the distance, they begin running for their lives. The stranger protects Nori before using his power to scare the wolves sending them running in the other direction. Valandil (Alex Tarrant) and Ontamo (Anthony Crum) have a sword fight in the city. Galadriel tells Elendil that they’re untested against this foe so he asks if she’d offer some instructions. She tells them that there are many ways to kill an orc, but she will keep it strong and simple. She tells them to stab, twist, and gut. She wants them to come at her and Elendil will promote anyone who can score flesh. Once she schools Valandil, she tells them that swordsmanship is about balance rather than strength. As she takes on multiple soldiers, Isildur rushes over to watch it.

Galadriel tells the soldiers it is often best to outmaneuver the orcs. Valandil cuts the clothes on her arm so she calls him a lieutenant. Galadriel notices that Halbrand can handle a sword well too. Kemen tries to convince Pharazon to stop this since there is still time to do so. He reminds him that he basically singlehandedly stopped the last king from returning them to the old ways. Kemen thinks his father would rather die than take orders from an elf. Pharazon insists elves will take orders from them once all of this has ended. His cousin can go to war for Galadriel if she wishes while he goes to war for Numenor. He explains they will soon save the men of Middle-Earth, lift them up, and give them the king they’ve waited for. That king would be forever in their debt. Miriel tells her father that they’re doing now what he always thought they must.

She is going to Middle-Earth and they’re restoring their connection to the elves. Her father asks her not to go to Middle-Earth because darkness is all that awaits her there. Nori runs back to the stranger to tell him that everyone is talking about what he did. She has never seen them take a shine to an outsider like this before. Nori brought beeswax so he can put it on his paw to deal with the tenderness. The stranger puts his hand in water and causes it to turn to ice. When Nori touches his arm, her hand begins freezing too. Once he finishes, Nori is thrown back. He approaches her only for Nori to run away. Elrond (Robert Aramayo) drinks with Prince Durin (Owain Arthur), Lord Celebrimbor, and King Gil-galad. They are there to celebrate their union. The King asks Durin about his furnaces burning bright and their mines delving deeper. Durin claims he could say the same about Lindon.

Elrond wants to make sure Durin is not offended, but the King doesn’t think he’d be offended by an honest inquiry. Durin asks the King where he got the table because the stone only grows at certain depths. They consider it a precious gift and reserve its use for the most sacred purposes. They use them for monuments or tombs to their honored dead. The King asks him to forgive their sacrilege. He offers to send it home with him so it can be treated with the proper respect. After drinks, the King asks Elrond if his loyalty to his friend justifies lying to his king. Elrond wonders if the King has been lying to him. He believes he sought something more tangible than friendship with the dwarves. The King asks if he is familiar with the Song of the Roots of Hithaeglir before asking him to recount it. Elrond says it speaks of a battle high among the peaks of the Misty Mountains over a tree within which some claims was hidden the last of the lost Silmarils.

An Elven warrior fought on one side and on the other a Balrog of Morgoth. Lightning engulfed the tree and created a power as pure and light as good. It was as strong and unyielding as evil. It is said that it seeped down the roots into the mountain depths where it has waited for centuries now. The King believes the dwarves found the ore containing the light of the lost Silmaril. Elrond will only say that he promised Durin her would never reveal his people’s secrets. The King suggests keeping the promise to his people could me allowing the doom of his own. They go outside as the King says they first took notice of it just prior to Galadriel’s return. They hoped sending her away would arrest the decay, but their decline has only quickened. The blight on the tree is only an outer manifestation of an inner reality that their light is fading. Elrond is asked if the dwarves found the ore or not.

Elrond says he swore an oath to Durin. He knows that may hold little weight to some, but to him it is by such things that their very souls are bound. He does not intend to let his slip away on the basis of mere hope, but the King says hope is never mere. Even when all senses are asleep, it is the eye of hope that is the first to awaken and the last to shut. If the Elves abandon Middle-Earth now, the armies of darkness will march over the face of the earth. It’ll be the end of their people and all people. He continues trying to reason with Elrond to get him to betray his oath to Durin. The people in Numenor celebrate and drink through the night. Isildur’s friends are encouraged to invite him over so he can sing with them. When he approaches them, Valandil thinks he is trying to get on the expedition now that he has been promoted. Isildur admits it is true before apologizing again and pleading with them to bring him.

When they say no, Isildur offers to give them a free hit. Valandil quickly takes him up on that offer. He admits Isildur is probably still his best friend, but he can’t stake his name recommending him for a duty that he might abandon. 31:32 left hopes Isildur will find something that he’ll be willing to sacrifice anything for one day. Onatamo promises to look after Berek who was recruited by the horse master. Kemen breaks open the barrels and lets the liquid pour onto the floor. He finds out that Isildur is trying to stow away. Isildur tries to stop him from burning the boat. They get into a brief scuffle and have to run out of the boat to avoid the explosion. Captain Elendil sees the aftermath and immediately calls for help. Isildur doesn’t tell the truth while Kemen says he saved his life. Galadriel and Queen Miriel learn about the incident. Galadriel believes it was an attempt to kindle the Queen’s doubts.

Pharazon wonders if they acted in haste since the kingdom should be led instead of dragged. He recommends delaying the voyage until they have time to win more hearts for the cause. Galadriel argues otherwise because the enemy is only growing stronger. She asks the Queen to remember her faith because they still have three ships and her father’s blessing. When asked about Lord Halbrand, Galadriel claims he is awaiting their departure. The Queen says the council will reconvene at first light to make a final decision. Galadriel is ordered to make sure Halbrand attends. Lord Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) apologizes to Elrond for not telling him sooner. He begged him to tell him from the start, but the High King forbade it. Elrond asks if the mithril is their only salvation. Celebrimbor has tested it and nothing diminishes its light. If they can obtain enough of it to saturate every last elf in the light of the Valar once more, it very well could be their salvation. Elrond contemplates his situation.

Celebrimbor tells him that he was there the night his father set sail. He was a mortal man who could convince the Gods to come to war in their aid. He heard his mother pleading with him not to go. He told her that he was the only one who could do it. Galadriel admits she was wrong to use Halbrand before apologizing for doing so. She tries to convince him to go to the meeting tomorrow since his voice may decide whether the mission stands or falls. Galadriel asks him to stop fighting her so they can fight them together. Halbrand reminds her that men like him were fighting alongside them not too long ago. He tells her that she doesn’t know what he did before he ended up on that raft or how he survived. When these people discover it, he thinks they will cast him out. We see some of the people with Rowan and Waldreg bowing to Adar. He thinks she will too, but she says to find the light you sometimes have to touch the darkness first.

Halbrand asks what she knows of the darkness. He asks whose dagger it was and who was lost. Galadriel says it was her brother who was killed in a place of darkness and despair by servants of Sauron. Halbrand wants to know why she is still fighting and why he should go to the one place he swore he’d never return. She cannot stop. Galadriel mentions that the company she led mutinied against her. Her closest friend conspired with the king to exile her. She believes they could no longer distinguish her from the evil she was fighting. Halbrand says he is sorry for her brother and everything else. Galadriel doesn’t think there is peace for him here or her. This is how he’ll earn his. Waldreg says he has long awaited this day for Adar’s kind to return so they could be lifted up from the muck and filth. He pledges his undying service to Adar.

He pledges his loyalty to Sauron. Waldreg begins wondering if Adar is Sauron. Adar grabs him by the neck and holds him to the ground before putting Rowan on his knees. Waldreg is given a knife as he is told that only blood can bind. Rowan pleads with Waldreg not to kill him. Meanwhile, Arondir teaches Theo how to use a bow. Arondir tries to explain why he has decided to teach Theo how to shoot. Theo decides to show him the hilt. Arondir admits he has seen it before. He uncovers a large memorial of sorts in front of them. He explains that the hilt is a key conjured by some forgotten craft of the enemy to enslave their ancestors. He isn’t sure what the key is for, but the enemy commander spoke of becoming a god and giving the Orcs a home in these lands. The enemy knows Theo has what he needs to enact it. Arondir believes they have days or hours.

He is confident that there has to be a way to survive this. After she says there is one, Arondir warns her that bowing to the enemy means she will take away everything from his son and his sons after him. He believes there should be another way. Bronwyn believes they are destined for darkness. Arondir says there is more at stake here than just their lives since it may unleash horrors if the enemy obtains it. She thinks it is already over because the tower will fall as soon as the enemy marches upon it. Adar and his soldiers march toward the tower. Durin has the table transported back home. He admits to Elrond that he made it up because Disa has been wanting a new table for years. Elrond finally tells him that he visited because of ambition instead of friendship. While he did not know it, he came for the mithril.

Without it, his kind must abandon these shores by spring or perish. Their immortal souls will dwindle into nothing until they are shadows. Durin realizes that the fate of the entire Elven race is in his hands. He tells Elrond to fetch his feathery shirts so they can start watching, but he shouldn’t thank him until they find a way to convince his father. Halbrand is summoned by the Queen. He takes the pouch with him. Later, Earien sees Isildur and others marching through the streets. Isildur learns from his father that he is going to be the stable sweep. When his friends laugh at him, he begins laughing too. Galadriel joins them on the ship. She embraces Halbrand before the ship takes off for Middle-Earth.

 

The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power Review

Despite a few odd moments, this episode of The Rings of Power was surprisingly good. The story is moving in the right direction and it now appears that intense conflict should be coming in the next few episodes. The buildup to the battle has been effective. Some of the characters are even starting to become relatable.

On the other hand, there were a few moments in this episode that will likely make viewers cringe. In particular, I am having a difficult time really getting behind Galadriel and the way she is leagues better than everyone else. It doesn’t help that there was only a little character development for Galadriel so it has been difficult to connect to the character.

Certain performances could be better and that may make a difference too. Other characters are doing a better job with Halbrand becoming more likable in this episode. While Rings of Power may not satisfy hardcore fans that want more lore and stories that align more with that, it has gotten better in the latter episodes and has possibly transformed into a lighthearted, fun adventure.

The episode scores a 7 out of 10. Recaps of Rings of Power can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our work at this link.