Shadow And Flame – As the finale of Rings of Power begins, Prince Durin (Owain Arthur) approaches Princess Disa (Sophia Nomvete) who blames the ring again. Durin tells her not to follow him down to the mine. Then, he confronts King Durin (Peter Mullan) and threatens to cut off his hand if he doesn’t remove the ring. When the Prince begs with him to take it off, King Durin says a dwarf would never beg. He breaks through the wall. The King shows his son the true wealth of their mountain. The King is grabbed and pulled down by Balrog. After the attack, King Durin finally takes off the ring. He admits Prince Durin was getting strong all along. The King prepares to attack Balrog. Disa stops Prince Durin from going after his father. When the King and Balrog touch, it appears that there’s a cave in.

The Dark Wizard (Ciaran Hinds) tells the Stranger (Daniel Weyman) that Manwe promised he would come. He explains they’re kin and there were five of them. The Stranger convinced him to leave the Uttermost West for this world because he believed they could never hope to defeat Sauron alone. He journeyed to Rhun to seek answers. The Dark Wizard claims he’ll get those answers if he follows him. The Stranger mentions Nori (Markella Kavenagh) and Poppy (Megan Richards). Brank (Yasen Zates Atour) brings them out with a knife to their necks. The Dark Wizard kills Brank. Gundabale Earthauler (Tanya Moodie) notices the Dark Wizard. He says pity will not defeat Sauron. The Stranger asks if he wants to defeat Sauron and become his successor. The Dark Wizard suggests they can be successors together. Once the Stranger says he doesn’t want that, the Dark Wizard admits he’s left him with little choice.

He begins destroying the area. Dark Wizard hopes losing the ones he cares about will show the Stranger what Middle-Earth will suffer. He tells the Stranger he will be waiting once his senses have returned. The Stranger uses magic to protect Nori and the others. Earien (Ema Horvath) gathers everyone. Pharazon (Trystan Gravelle) enters and says Miriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) bewitched the sea because she has an ally of cunning powers. It is gathering strength to make them bleed. He is told the Sea Queen has no allies but the Valar who upholds her. The Faithful are now declared traitors of Westernesse. Loyal Numenoreans are called upon to oppose the threat. Fights occur and members of the Faithful are seized. Earien goes to Elendil (Lloyd Owen) to tell him what is going on. She warns him that they’re coming for him. Earien tells the guards there are no Faithful there. Elendil hides from them. The guards leave.

Elendil wants to head for the West where he will find Faithful and his son, Anarion. Miriel tells him he should only travel at night. She believes she should remain there. Elendil suggests he should remain by her side. Miriel tells him about the sword which is called Narsil. She tells him to reclaim his Lordship and his destiny with the sword. The battle at Eregion continues. Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) tries to lead a group to safety. They travel out of a cave and find themselves surrounded by orcs. Galadriel says Lord Father is after her. Lord Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) has been filled with arrows by Sauron (Charlie Vickers). Sauron claims Celebrimbor did this to himself. He warns him the orcs will be there soon, but he still has time to tell him what he did with the rings. Celebrimbor says the rings are beyond his reach and he will be soon too.

Sauron argues there are ways to keep him alive. Celebrimbor wants him to know that the Rings of Power shall destroy him. Sauron stabs him and claims he’s their master. Celebrimbor believes Sauron is their prisoner. After Celebrimbor dies, orcs arrive and ask if he’s Sauron. He says he has many names. Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin) checks on Isildur (Maxim Baldry). Theo asks how he lives with his mom. He heard what he said about being all his fault. Isildur admits he carried it poorly. Once Theo leaves, Estrid (Nia Towle) joins Isildur. They talk about building a home now that Hagen started laying the foundation a few days ago. Isildur insists he’s happy for her. She says she felt ill about it. They end up kissing. Isildur asks Estrid to come with him to Numenor. Kemen (Leon Wadham) arrives and speaks to Theo. They keep telling Kemen that Theo’s mother was Bronwyn.

Kemen tells them the agreement has changed. He wants to build a watchtower even if they have to destroy a few houses. Kemen is surprised to see Isildur who wants to take Berek back too. Isildur also reveals that Estrid is coming with him. Kemen tells him there is no passage for low men. Isildur learns that everything has changed in Numenor. Kemen announces that Pelargir is now a fortress for Numenor’s soldiers. Any low man who remains must deliver a regular allotment of timber from the surrounding forests. Galadriel is taken to Adar (Sam Hazeldine). She says she accepts his terms and she has what Sauron seeks. Adar asks how she expects to do that without her ring. When he turns around, Galadriel sees that his face has changed. He had a different name when he last looked like that. Adar was the name he earned.

He asks Galadriel to help him earn it back. Adar returns the ring and asks her to help him vanquish Sauron with it. If she does, he will recall his children to Mordor never to make war on Middle-Earth again. Adar finds out that Glug (Robert Strange) has been injured. Sauron tried to make Glug betray Adar but he refused. The others are pursuing Sauron now. Glug tells Adar it’s too late before stabbing him in the side. The other orcs join in. Sauron grabs the crown and speaks to Galadriel. He tells the orcs to raze Eregion and leave no elf alive. He wants their leaders. Galadriel believes this was Sauron’s design from the beginning. She tries to attack Sauron who easily stops her. Sauron sees the ring and asks for it. He ends up cutting her as the fight continues. High King Gil-galad (Benjamin Walker) is taken captive by the orcs. Elrond (Robert Aramayo) tries to stop them. He sees that Arondir (Ismael Cruz Cordova) has also been taken captive.

Everything is burned while Galadriel is easily overpowered by Sauron. Galadriel ends up knocking him over. When she approaches, Sauron’s appearance has changed. He turns into her and says they could no longer distinguish him from the evil he was fighting. They continue fighting. Sauron turns into Celebrimbor. They both fall to the ground. Sauron kicks her sword away. He says he knows her mind. Sauron tells her that the door is still open. Galadriel says the door is shut before hitting him. Sauron eventually stabs the crown into her chest. He says he would’ve placed the crown on her head. He wouldn’t have rested until Middle-Earth had been brought to its knees to worship the light of its Queen. Galadriel collapses to the ground. Sauron picks up the pouch and says the rings are his. He hears the horn blowing when the dwarves arrive to help Eregion.

Galadriel takes off her ring and asks if Sauron wishes to heal Middle-Earth. She tells him to heal himself before falling backward off the cliff. Arondir sees her falling. Glug tells Sauron they’re overwhelmed. Sauron stabs and kills him. Arondir and the High King check on Galadriel. Gil-Galad says her immortal spirit is being drawn into the shadow realm. Elrond arrives as Gil-Galad is trying to remove the darkness from her. Elrond picks up the ring. Gil-Galad says the darkness is too powerful and he cannot save her. Elrond says he can and they can. He puts on the ring. Nori and the others look at the wreckage. She tells Poppy that they have to fix this. Poppy tells her that some things cannot be fixed. Durin, Disa, and the others mourn the loss of the king. Isildur has to leave Estrid behind. Isildur rides alone. Poppy says Burrows used to say they can only try and build something new.

Poppy tells the stranger not to be a stranger. The others say goodbye to him. Nori tells the stranger it’s high time she walked her path and he walked his. He believes they’re very different creatures when all is said and done. Nori doesn’t think they’re that much different. She leaves. The Stranger picks up his staff. Then, he returns to Tom Bombadil (Rory Kinnear). The Stranger believes he was meant to choose friendship over power. He was also meant to find the staff. Tom says a staff finds a wizard. The Stranger calls himself Gandalf. Tom says the song will begin. Durin learns about Eregion. He wants Elrond to know they’re ready to help at any time. Disa says the Lords of the Blue Mountains paid King Durin vast tributes and they’re ready to collect. There are rumors that Durin was not the preferred heir. His brother is growing support.

Galadriel wakes up. Elrond says they’re in a sanctuary protected by the Elven Rings. He gives her the ring back. Arondir joins them and tells the High King they await his decision. Sauron’s armies are roving across Eriador. They must decide whether to attack or prepare their defenses. Arondir asks Galadriel what she would advise. She says she would remember the council and Celebrimbor. She reminds the people that it is light that overcomes darkness. They agree to fight.

 

Rings Of Power Review

The season finale of Rings of Power was okay and easily could’ve been a lot worse. The story is slowly moving forward with Eregion being overwhelmed and Adar being killed. The dwarves arrived in the nick of time to help Elrond and the others push back the orcs. It was too late though considering Sauron has gained control.

Gandalf finally got his staff and his name. Not much surprising or thrilling really happened in the finale though. There was a short battle between Galadriel and Sauron which was far too competitive. Galadriel was left for dead trying to protect the ring. The dwarves just happened to arrive in time to save the elves that mattered. Numenor is just drifting out there doing its own thing that is very hard to connect with.

As a matter of fact, none of the characters are really easy to care about. Midway through Galadriel’s battle with Sauron, I wouldn’t have minded if he just killed everyone. In general, I find much of it to be very boring even when there are action scenes. Morfydd Clark was certainly not the best choice for Galadriel and that much has been clear from the beginning.

I never loved it and still don’t, especially after the mannerisms during the battle with Sauron. There were some cringe moments there although Charlie Vickers was stronger. The story is stretched thin with the constant jumping back and forth to different places and different characters. The biggest problem is just the lack of heart making it impossible to genuinely care about the main characters.

When it comes to this series, the future is probably more intriguing than the past. Although it may never happen, one would think the story would get more compelling and more intense as it progresses. The finale scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of Rings of Power can be found here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link.

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