User Reviews

The ending grows on me... And so does the whole show. At first I was disappointed Halbrand was Sauron because I had tried too hard to explain away thr mithril story that I thought Sauron was already lurking in the shadows in Eregion, as Annatar. I thought the "we die unless mithril" was his idea, because it felt so off. I didn't want to believe the rumors though everything pointed that way.

But now, after a rewatch and a few days to think about it, I feel differently. Halbrand's deception (and Vicker's acting) throughout the series has been masterful, and I now see how he uses Galadriel, tricking her in nearly every scene. The acting is phenomenal.

My absolute favorite scene in the whole show was when his features changed when he realized Galadriel *knew*. Turning from scruffy Aragorn into sly, cuninng Sauron - without even speaking a word!

And then the vision with the raft, following suit! What could have been... how that must have haunted Galadriel throughout her life, even to the extent where she uses his words in the scene with Frodo. It makes a lot of sense.

The rest of the scenes in the finale were less interesting to me, and I didn't like the "magic staff" thing with the Stranger. It felt too much like the LOTR and Hobbit movies, and I'm more a book fan.

But that said, all the endings had much potential, I think, and I really look forward to season 2 now. :)

The best episode of the series! Easter egg line from Sauron for Garadriel from fellowship of the ring where she told the same lines to frodo when he offers her the one ring! Gandalf is back! I don't know why the hate for this series! I found it great! Awesome effects and the cast is pretty good actually! We are waiting for season 2 now! I hope it's far better than the first!.....

Servant of the greatest Vala The evil Lord is back In black Mordor he set his home A black tower of death Barad-dûr's the name of fear Tortures and dark spells He's become the king of men Terror and despair!!!!!!!!!!!

This was a great episode and a worthy end of the first season. Again, the surroundings are absolutely stunning and the camera work and effects top notch.

The setup for next season is nearly perfect and I only think this will be better next season, now that the characters are introduced.

I have 'only' read the Hobbit and the LOTR trilogy and naturally seen all the movies before this and I actually have Baldrog tattooed on my right arm (my only tattoo, made when I was 17). But I still do not count me as a hardcore fan, I have not read everything else so it was shocking for me to realise that Haldran is Sauron. What a twist for those of us that don't read online theories or have read the books!

I could not resist reading a bit online after watching this and it seems like Gandalf does not enter until third age (whilst this is second age) and that the three elves rings were made last and not first. But it would very ok for me if the makers of this show changes a few things, as long as the flow of the story is good and interesting. Very much looking forward for next season!

This episode is a very disappointing finale to a very disappointing season of a very disappointing show.

The big problem is the writing. Its consistently bad. The Tolkien lore went out the window a long time ago, but even if you don't consider the show a Tolkien story, it's still just a bad story told badly. Almost nothing makes sense: Time, place, motivation, continuity - all of it feels like it was written by 10 different novice writers who never talked to each other.

This episode reveals that Sauron is Sauron. Yes, we all knew and said that it was Halbrand, but still we had to have a silly scene where the cultists mistake Gandalf for Sauron. And when he kills them, they look like Nazgul. So they are the Nazgirls. It's not an hommage to LotR. It's just a corny attempt to piggyback off the LotR trilogy just like the Gandalf lines such as "follow your nose".

But the worst part of the show is the Sauron reveal and the forging of the three rings.

The Sauron reveal makes no sense. Galadriel rides to Eregion with Halbrand/Sauron who is wounded. Here she doesn't tell Elrond and Celebrimbor that Sauron is back, that the Numenoreans have come, that the war has started and that the volcano has turned the Southlands into a dark place ruled by the dark lord. Instead she keeps it to herself. And when she finally realizes that the Southlands haven't had a king for centuries (shouldn't the elves know this?) she confronts Halbrand who is then revealed as Sauron. She doesn't tell ANYONE that Sauron is literally in the house. And when he leaves she doesn't tell ANYONE to follow him. Instead she goes into the forge and lectures Celebrimbor about the creation of rings. He wanted to create one or two, but Galadriel knows that three is the right number. Okay... I guess the point is that Galadriel knew that it was Sauron's plan to have Celebrimbor create one or two rings and by creating three, she stopped his plan. Wow. This lady has been chasing Sauron for thousands of years, and when he is right around the corner she literally tells no one and lets him get away because making three rings instead of two is a much better plan. How about not making any rings at all if that's Sauron's plan? How about at least waiting a day or two to discuss the forging of rings? Or at least tell Celebrimbor that the guy who told him how to make rings is actually Sauron, so Celebrimbor, the legendary grandmaster smith, would have a chance to create them without the influence of Sauron. But no. Galadriel won't tell anyone anything apart from lecturing and giving orders. She literally acts like a maniac, and the show gives us no reason and no motivation for her maniacal behaviour.

How is it even possible to write an episode like this? How do you turn a popular character like Galadriel into a complete maniac who acts in unfathomable, contradictory and wholly irrational ways? Galadriel is now literally responsible for the rise of Sauron and for centuries of war, death and destruction.

The dialogue is horrible. The plots make no sense. The continuity is non-existent. The pacing is abysmal. The characters are either wooden or maniacal. Who are these writers? You could go to any writing class and pick a student who would write a better script. And this is the most expensive TV show ever!?! Wow.

SPOILERS AHEAD AND HOW CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE EPISODE WITHOUT THEM -- Note I wrote this as I was watching the episode as a sort of "real time (live) reaction" review.

Welcome folks, welcome to the episode of "let's rush everything because we wasted the first half of the season building up things". In the span of 10 minutes, we get three major story threads solved in an instant: any speculation of who Sauron was (allegedly for now), who these white women are AND who this stranger who fell from the sky may be is solved in the first 2 minutes of the episode without build up nor climactic reveal; story thread 2: right after we see Elrond meet with Galadriel with a swift salute and not a slight of physical emotional reaction to seeing one of his closest friends not only be there but also "alive" after he thought she had gone to Valinor forever (which was built up and presented as a sort of Valhalla, a place for her to spend the rest of her days as compensation for her service), there's no time to waste because we got to keep the plot going. Thirdly, the entire subplot of Celebrimbor and the mithril is fixed by a guy who was seemingly dying, gets better in what could have been a longer span of time but because the show now has no time to waste has rushed through that period to have us see how he approaches a table and does the equivalent of Good Will Hunting's solving-the-equation-in-the-blackboard by literally saying the solution to the the mithril problem... After he says his humble wisdom can't be compared with that of the famous and acclaimed Celebrimbor, master of craft. Man, what a promising start!

Why is Galadriel ALWAYS so untrusting? It is tiresome to have a main character who befriends no one, who trusts no one but those who she already knew (Elrond). She distrusted the people of Numenor, their Queen at first, Elendil at first,.. Basically everyone she encounters until they prove her wrong. And now, after she had distrusted Halbrand when she met him, then he proved her wrong and actually became friends (if such a thing is possible for Galadriel), now she all of a sudden distrusts him and to us Halbrand is now presented as... Shady? The show sides with this character reaction, it seems like all we see with Galadriel's scenes is her subjective point of view when the show should remain impartial. All of a sudden Halbrand is sleazy and distrusting, why?

And in the same vein as the spirit of this episode, we also get the fastest tracking in existence by a group of halflings, who supposedly not only fell behind in going after the stranger from the sky, but also have shorter legs. Not only did they catch up to the mysterious white-cloaked beings too but managed to stay hidden and not be bothered by the hurricane the allegedly revealed Sauron creates around the vicinity... I give up. I mean, this is certainly more nitpicky than an actual mistake, but it only shows the subpar quality of the most expensive show ever made. Where did the money go? Where? Thank god at least these beings had noticed their presence and the scene went down how I expected it to. The day three smelly, short and clumsy halflings are able to sneak past who seem like superior beings without just but an owl whistle is the day I throw away my sanity and disbelief for the show.

I don't think the man from the sky is actually Sauron, I think it's a wizard and they have mistaken him. The lighting in Nori's speech to Gandalf is wrong... the contrast is too low, like super low for being in a night setting lit by a surrounding fire. It's fake and devoid of drama and tragedy, making the tone of the scene subpar. And how is Sadoc still alive? He was just stabbed in the stomach but is now fighting and standing and everything. Wow.... Not only does Gandalf can speak now to destroy these beings but... second twist! HE IS NOT SAURON, HE IS "THE OTHER" (someone called Istar) so it didn't take me long to be right. It never felt natural to me that this guy was Sauron, no matter how his arc could have gone downhill in the following seasons. But now it's obvious who Sauron is... Halbrand. His mysterious origin, his probably false made up past, what he has on that pouch, why he is so drawn to power, gems and crafting.

Meanwhile, in the ships back to Numenor, the Queen doesn't want to be patronized. Chill the f out, Elendil just wanted to help jeez. Also, it's not dramatic that she had to ask what Elendil saw 3 times; it's just plain annoying. And this is all I have to say about Numenor's scenes.

At the "How do they do it?" TV episode: Halbrand yet again comes up with the solution to why things aren't working. Rendering Celebrimbor's contribution to the show to be... useless? What does this character provide to the show other than emotional reactions to things he has no control over? All while Galadriel attempts to stop the creation of whatever it is they are doing and haven't yet explained to us why or what reasons she has to distrust Halbrand all of a sudden.

There are two ways of doing a prequel to a famously good story. One, you make a story that takes place WAY before anything related to the current timeline, therefore cutting any and all contrivances and sprinkling only references to it but telling a new story with new characters which never suffer the comparison test nor the accuracy one. For instance: House of the Dragon, which takes place so far in the past there is no risk of altering or upsetting the fanbase for altering historical events nor characters that can be found in Game of Thrones. Or, you do exactly the opposite. Like RIngs of Power, which happen so close to the events that unfold in their "main storyline" that is LOTR, that the resolution of everything turns out to be just too... convenient. That's the word: convenient. Rings of Power ends with a series of contrived and convenient decisions that make all the pieces fall into place no matter the narrative consistency, just for the sake of puting things in place for the events to come; which I will diligently list as they permeate through the episode but are noticeably rushed in the last third of it: 1. The new-found mystery of Halbrand's identity who is again put into question when it had been sort of resolved for the time being is rushed to its inevitable conclusion: he is Sauron. It's so rushed it comes across as it came out of nowhere, like a bad cartoon villain, he smirks and monologues his plan to Galadriel as he enchants her.

2. Galadriel goes to Celebrimbor and tells him to stop what he is doing because Halbrand was evil but he doesn't say why or what's his connection with anything. And not only is it really convenient that the closest city Galadriel could have brought Halbrand to be cured is precisely the one where Elrond and Celebrimbor are building the very weapon that was going to be used to destroy him; but his injuries are cured instantly, he solves any and all obstacles in the creation of what they never refer to as the rings of power. Galadriel COMMANDS him to stop, doesn't reveal her mission and doesn't answer Elrond's questions because she doesn't trust Celebrimbor, and she commands him to make 3 rings so they don't divide and whatever (like in the lore), and which shall only be crafted by elves (like in the lore), and no more shall be created (like in the lore). What authority has Galadriel that would allow her to order around people that are not under her command and why would anyone obey or believe her? If they are really crafting the weapon to save the elves and kill the enemy why is her word the dutifully followed command?

3. And the final convenience is that Celebrimbor now knows how to make the rings but it requires gold and silver from Valinor. How are we to fix this problem? No worries, Galadriel has in her hand her brother's dagger: which is conveniently made of gold and silver from Valinor, has an emotional meaning to her and she has conveniently never lost throughout the many perils she has endured and which she has wielded against Sauron just 2 minutes ago. Wow, how convenient! Also, Wow, the Elves' rings of power were made in 3 weeks, how impressive! And cathartic. Are you going to tell me they have to melt Galadriel's dagger? Is there NO MORE GOLD OR SILVER FROM VALINOR in this massive golden-detailed city of a culture that traditionally and trendily use gold and gems as decor and to accessorize everything? Is time running out that fast that you gotta make the rings like now, like right now because we can't take two minutes to acknowledge that Halbrand was Sauron all along and he just left (they could possibly catch him but, again, we have no time frame of what happened after Galadriel was enchanted nor do we know how long did the charm last; and therefore we don't know how far away he could have gotten) but rather we must built this right now without questioning if he has corrupted the furnace or without reevaluating any of what just happened and they have been doing...

Back with the Halflings: What? He can talk now? Why... Oh, bother! Also, he remembers, can recall and can comprehend things and people. And Istar means Wizard. Here we have it folks, the first wizard (I suppose) and yet another throwaway line to give away and confirm that this wizard is Gandalf: "Always follow your nose". A direct reference to Gandalf's line from the lore. And finally, "bye Nori, you are part of something bigger now", it was so predictable and yet it feels.. unearned. But just like most of this show. Cute backpack too, super useful when it rains and also intelligently crafted to not let things fall out of it.

IN CONCLUSION, two words define this show: subpar and contrived. It sets mysteries that were never secret, it never rose to the occasion nor met its budget with a worthy cinematic quality. It resulted in a bland, averagely enjoyable show that never attempts to redefine anything nor pay respect to the legacy of his writer. Some have called it an antithesis...

Congrats, if you made it this far. Let's summarize this nonsense.

-So as everyone and their aunt guessed, Halbrand is Sauron of course. No big surprise, the one character who is not from any official material. Except, his plan makes zero sense. Did he pretend to be a Human, have Adar kill his fake family (because Adar clearly did not recognize him 2 episodes ago), escape to raft with other southlanders and just... HOPE that Galadriel will jump off the ship and somehow, get to that specific raft???

And yes, we get the whole "Join me and we shall rule Middle Earth as father and son... I mean, king and queen!" speech alongside the other evergreen classic, "We are not so different, you and I..." because yes, sure, the person who hunted you for centuries will believe you just want peace and redemption. Pull the other one. And apparently he can just enter people's minds and make them see anything? Seems like an useful power that he should have used before to get Miriel to do what he wanted... instead of relying on Galadriel to convince her with words. Though, again, why did he even need all this charade? The writers probably thought the whole Annatar thing would be too simple (where, as in the original books, he shows up as an Elf from faraway lands bringing the gifts of the ring-creation), so instead he does this roundabout nonsense to get to Celebrimbor, instead of showing up as an Elf who'd be instantly trusted.

The worst part? Now, we will have the Dark Lord, the main antagonist of Lord of the Rings, be played by this super mediocre and boring actor for who knows how many seasons. Great. The showrunners also said Sauron will be "Like Joker, an antihero" and that just fills me with dread.

-Galadriel remains insufferable. Upon returning to Eldriador, she all but tells Elrond "yes, you were wrong" and never says "I effed up by staying behind". Then when she finds out Halbrand is Sauron and awakens to be greeted by Elrond she does the classic "how to identify a shapeshifter" trick by asking him something only the two of them know. Except... did she just forget that Sauron a minute ago was in HER MIND showing her a memory of her brother Finrod, that ONLY SHE KNEW? Dumb, dumb, dumb... Then, inexplicably, she does not tell the others that the idea for how to save the Elves comes from their sworn enemy, no, she lets them proceed. I half expected the show to pull another trick that this Galadriel is Sauron, and we will cut to the real one waking up, but no, I gave this show more credit than it deserves. It really is THAT badly written. So everything is Galadriel's fault and she does not even have the courage to admit Sauron is back?

-For some reason, the rings need silver and gold from Valinor and somehow the only such item they have is Finrod's shortsword/dagger? For reals???I get it, OMG Symbolism!!! But still felt forced. The Elves probably brought a LOT of that stuff from Valinor with them.

-Despite the show trying to fool us before the opening, of course the Stranger was Gandalf. Not called by name, maybe Amazon does not have the rights, or they wanna milk the reveal, but clearly it is him. "Follow your nose", "Return to the shadow from whence you came!" - direct lines from Gandalf from Lord of the Rings... the whole adventure speech, it all adds up to that. Again, I gave the show more credit than they deserve, I assumed the Morgoth/Sauron cult are trying to trick him and bring him to the real Sauron to be killed or corrupted, but no, these idiots really did not recognize an Istari and really thought he was Sauron. Why would Sauron even lose his memory and need to learn his powers? Why would he fall from the sky as a meteor, when we has been on Middle-Earth? The last war ended centuries ago, he did not just arrive back, he has been around for a long time.

I am not even surprised that the three ladies have ridiculously powerful abilities. Not even Gandalf or Saruman had such powers - shapeshifting, immunity to fire and the ability to create and control fire at will? The Dweller (who oddly never talks, maybe was not paid for it?) can even do the whole force-push thing Saruman and Gandalf did in Fellowship. I mean, why be surprised, these people care nothing about the lore, but magic is not something regular Humans and Elves can do... And then, after grabbing the staff, Gandalf banishes them because... they are RINGWRAITHS??? BEFORE the rings have even been forged? WTF is this shit...?

-At least Sadoc died. I expected him to say at the end "nah, I cannot go on so leave without me, same way we left you and your family behind because of a twisted ankle." Then inexplicably, despite Gandalf having re-grown the whole apple orchard, the others just continue their wanderings instead of staying at this lush and plentiful place? And despite Nori telling Gandalf that one adventure has been enough, and clearly having learned his lesson and wanting to settle back to normalcy, her family pushes her away to follow her heart and leave. I guess the writers thought it was poignant, I saw it as more proof that everyone hates Nori and wants her to leave.

-Not much happens in Númenor except Elendil and Míriel talking a bit using sentences no real human would ever use. And the king dies, so sad, pity we never knew anything about him. I am reminded of how Viserys died just the same week on House of the Dragon, and how touching and sad that moment has been, because I truly liked and cared about him.

I literally laughed at the screen when they started the really badly sung Legend of the Rings at the end, because -- this makes no sense this way anymore. If Sauron wanted all other rings bound to the One, he needed to forge it already, and he doesn't even have mithril. Whoopsy-doodle! The song even says "the Dark Lord in Mordor" and I was like, Sauron does not even know it is called Mordor - Adar never told anyone but his Orcs!

Maaan I am morbidly curious how much worse this thing can get in season 2? Maybe a civil war between Adar and Sauron... though given his powers, it would be over quick. And we completely skipped the forging of the rings - nor do we even have human and dwarf kings they could be given to, only Durin III. Where will the Witch-King of Angmar come in? Surely these writers cannot resist to give him a tragic origin, where for one whole season we will believe he is a good guy. Or maybe they will just turn him into the Witch-Queen of Angmar? Apparently, Círdan is coming in season 2 too, can't wait to see how they mess him up. Maybe Celeborn will be revealed to be alive, waiting centuries for his wife to come for him... in vain.

The episode ties everything together nicely. The Halbrand reveal was well done after the little twist trown in there regarding the Stranger. The overly long farewell scene of Nori was a bit tedious but then again, it was a bit of a nod to the end of the original trilogy where there is scene after scene of goodbyes. Elrond was very good, especially at the end. He was clearly torn between the situation regarding Halbrand and the beauty of the 3 rings now completed.

Now lets adres the elephant in the room. I think all the hate the show is getting is undeserved for the most part, and more caused by YouTubers looking for views and therefore revenue by creating a controversy. Tolkien's work is of course as no other suited for this. A lot of people grew up watching the movies and the IP is close to their heart. What most perhaps do not understand that this special feeling of seeing Lord of the Rings for the first time all those years ago is just something that was an unique experience. Its like going to Disneyland for the first time as a kid with your parents and just have the best day ever. That feeling is just special and going back to Disneyland later in life will just no be the same. Perhaps too many have hoped that this show would somehow bring that magic back, and many influencers saw an opportunity to monetize this nostalgia.

Watching it was entertaining for the most part. I rate it obviously below the original trilogy but I think the show was actually better done than The Hobbit movies. I think it respected the original lore enough. Obviously it took some liberties with timelines but this was to be able to tell the different stories that eventually lead to the events in Lord of the Rings at the same time. They sort of had to do this because its story is of course puzzeled together from mulitple works of Tolkien. All in all, pretty good. Dont let others put you off and tell you what you should or should not like and try to make up your own opinion. If you are a fan of Lord of the Rings and are interested about what went on before, I absolutely recommend this show. Solid story, interesting characters and great visuals. Not the masterpiece we hoped for but still very much worth a watch.

Where has this been, this felt like an honest to God installment into the LOTR universe where has this been hiding ? The final three episodes have been good but this one was just fantastic plain and simple. The story is finally on the move and next season is set up to hit the ground RUNNING. Sauron is going to Mordor to build his arm that Adar has in wait, the elves have their rings and the realms of men and Dwarves will be after their own. The harfoots are on their way and the stranger is one of the blue wizards as we had been hoping. Still not completely sold on him being Gandalf but we will see. Best episode of the season and show so far 12/10. Let's hope they keep this pace and flow for the future it can create one heck of a show !!!

Season one was a big mistake

This series will bury itself into depths of Khazad-dûm if they keep making the same mistakes they did so far, and if they don't find themselves and stop mimicing Peter Jacksons trilogy, take responsibility to put in the effort - if they can.

The reason why I think Ring's of Power is doomed to fail is because the show is unstable and fragile, and that could be unsustainable in the long run. Here is why:

I don't understand why Amazon chooses to buy the rights for the books of the Third age, when they are making the show about the Second age? I know there are some writings about the Third age even there, but it seems that they don't care, because they don't even follow the lore at all.

So now, making something out of nothing its like shooting in the dark, and it becomes even more painful when you realize that the hired writers and directors are uncapable to make a good show, they feel so unoriginal and without any creativity. On the other hand, community hates the Rings of Power for multiple reasons, one of them is because it is not true to the lore, and it can never be, because Amazon has nothing to work with. Chooses not to. For me it does not entirely need to be true to the lore even a bit, as long as it has a good quality writing followed by seriousness, good logic, writing and timings, (and this unfortunately is not the case here). Those can only be accomplished only with dedication, love, creativity, and good inspiration, but not senselessly and with imitation of Jackson's work, that indicates only a lack of innovation, imagination and originality.

In the opening it started with quick jumps from one plot to another, following the stories of fictional characters that no one knows anything about, and they failed in the attempt to bring them closer to us and make us care about them.

Poor writing. The dialogues are shallow, feels like its without Tolkien's depth and wisdom. The Elves seem so superficial without depth and wisdom, bearing in mind that they are thousands of years old, and do not look like elves at all, and Galadriel seems like a spoiled brother filled with anger towards Sauron, the uniformly presented enitity of the embodiment of evil.

Actors are allowed to act with a stiff face, without any solid facial expression. Acting gets somehow better with Hallbrand, Durin or Nori on the scene, even Elrond, it feels natural with them, realistic, it immerses you, you can see emotions and effort. However, the decisions the characters make depend on the writing of the story, and the writings of the story depends on the writers, and many of them are bad. Like the decision to leave the fortress on the hill and to defend themselves from the orc attack from the village, or the decision for no one to check what was under the cloth they took from Adar.

The timings are bad, some scenes should have been allowed to develop longer or shorter, in order to feel full and realistic, for example (the cave troll thing) which overly glorified Galadriel needed to be more real and longer, make snow troll harder to kill, to make companion take the effort of killing togheter, and lastly - with her making the last blow. Way too short. Or the scene when Arondir and other humans gets stuck in Tavern to heal themselves while awating the orc attack, it was way to long.

Gandalf looks foolish, the line he utters (I am good) while casting his powers on Sauron's minions is so cringeworthy, foolish, and make me feel ashamed for them - the directors who allowed such an idiotic line, what a childish decision.

So they allow such important scenes to end quickly, and let's say the departure from Numenor to last so long and boring. The entire fifth episode is a deadlock, because it should have already been dedicated to the Numenoreans and their landing in Middle-earth, so they would somehow manage to justify the rapid arrival of the cavalry to help. It just came out kind of rash like this.

Yes, the cinematography is astonishing, and the world looks beautiful. Numenor and Kazhad'dom bouth looks fantastic, but that is not enough.

Watching the final episode I've really appreciated the mammoth task Amazon has in producing this series. It's all based on tiny details that haven't been extrapolated for the films, plus a lot of made up story lines that are going to be eeked out for what, four more series?

So it wasn't a surprise then that there was o real action to speak of, albeit a disappointing death of my favourite Half foot.

We find out after a rather unconvincing false flag, that the stranger is a good wizard, having nearly been conned into believing he was Sauron. I didn't believe it for one second. Although I was slightly caught off guard by who is actually the dark Lord. We dont yet know if the stranger is Gandalf, or Saruman. Could be either, though my money is on Gandalf still, although he does have Saruman's nose.

I was slightly let down by the ending. The elves make three rings. Fine. But why were the credits lyrics singing about the 12 rings, and one ring to rule them all? It kind of undermines the end scene when we haven't even gotten to the twelve rings being made. Maybe it's a subtle plug for the second series but I think aside from it being beautifully sung, it was the wrong choice as its basically a spoiler. A bit like if they remade Titantic and the opening song lyrics chorus of she sinks and everyone dies.

The series overall is nice but I accept it has to be slow paced if Amazon are going to get their moneys worth out of the rights. Which also makes the elongated plot lines somewhat cynical. But I look forward to series 2 all the same.

I honestly don't have the time or frankly the will to write in full just how awful of a finale this was, which is almost fitting to cap off just an absolute piece of crap opening season. Aside from absolutely butchering the canon, I could at least excuse that if the writing was decent. But it's not. The "standoff" between Galadriel and Sauron was just cheesy AF, the idea that mithril has ANYthing to do with the power inherent in the rings was lazy, and the "worshipping sycophants" of Sauron and how they acted towards Gandalf when they thought he was Sauron made zero sense, and the transition into the big reveal where they figured that out was again, just cheesy.

The writing on this show is so bad. I gave it a chance, but I don't think I'll be tuning into the second season.

Amazon: go hire the writers of House of the Dragon. It's not perfect, but they are kicking your show into next week because the writing is just that much better.

We're here at last, "there and back again", at the final leg of the journey, for season 1 anyway. S01E08 "Alloyed" in "Rings Of Power" was a testament to what Amazon could do with one of the biggest pop-culture IPs.

Wayne Che Yip did excellent work as director, balancing the many layers and nuances contained in the "Rings Of Power" finale. Writers Gennifer Hutchison, J. D. Payne, and Patrick McKay scripted a suspenseful and memorable concluding episode. Production design, VFX, and musical scoring were brilliant. Hair-makeup, editing, and costume design were exemplary. Stunts, set decoration, art direction, and sound effects were noteworthy.

The Elves residing in Middle-Earth needed Mithril to continue living there, as opposed to others of their kind who enjoyed eternal life in the Grey Havens. All the Rings were someday going to be forged. But plans for the first three were set in motion when Elrond (played by Robert Aramayo) and Lord Celebrimbor (played by Charles Edwards) put their heads together. In their desire to extract Mithril and refresh Elven lifespans, the forge-tower that could "match the powers that wrought the Sun" was fired up. Near episode's end "three rings were made for the Elves." Morfydd Clark as Galadriel continued to bring an amazing screen presence, and a performance to go with it. The Númenorean King Tar-Palantir, played by Ken Blackburn, finally got abundant lines to deliver this season, and they were impactful. Queen Regent Míriel, played by Cynthia Addai-Robinson, gave a convincing performance since she became blind.

Nori Brandyfoot, played by Markella Kavenagh, was inspiring. Poppy Proudfellow, played by Megan Richards, was superb. Sadoc Burrows, played by Lenny Henry, gave a heart-wrenching performance. Marigold Brandyfoot, played by Sara Zwangobani, was quite good. Largo Brandyfoot, played by Dylan Smith, was amazing.

The Dweller (played by Bridie Sisson), the Ascetic (played by Kali Kopae), and the Nomad (played by Edith Poor) began the episode with a grand announcement, of sorts. All three gave great performances. One of the most astounding revelations in this episode soon followed, focused around the Stranger (played by Daniel Weyman).

He was indeed a wizard, the one and only Gandalf. From his dialogues to his powerplay moments, everything about the confirmation of Gandalf in this epi was enchanting. We also heard the so-called witches say "Istar" - a version of "Istari" or Wise One, part of the longer "Heren Istarion" aka the Order of Wizards - further entrenching the fact that Gandalf and the Stranger were one and the same.

Canonically speaking the Grey Wizard was not supposed to have been around during the "Rings Of Power" timeline. According to Tolkien's original lore, wizards like Gandalf and Saruman didn't even arrive in Middle-earth until the Third Age. Seeing as how the events in "Rings of Power" took place in the Second Age, this was clearly an intentional time-twist on the part of the show-writers, and a welcome one at that. I got goosebumps the moment 'young' Gandalf turned to Nori and said, "When in doubt...always follow your nose." Now, about Halbrand (played by Charlie Vickers). The man - or should I say, Elf - needs special elaboration here. In my reviews for episodes 4 and 6, I wrote the following lines about him:

"They also played Halbrand's cards close to their chest. His 'Hulk smash' style super-strength in episode 3 was apparently a key element to be explored as the show progressed and not to be revealed too soon." "Also, the way Halbrand brought down Adar's horse without harming the animal hinted at a special je ne sais quoi, which we may learn the (skilled technique) origins of in a future episode. In this one, he reluctantly reclaimed his role as the true king of the Southlands."

Seems to me that despite his early inability to maintain control over his illusion and his apparent use of an ancient Elven (?) horsemanship technique, Sauron's shape-shifted 'disguise' as Halbrand successfully did not give him away all season. Now I think back on it, the foreshadowing was there yet none of the exposés.

Halbrand apparently used Galadriel from the beginning. In the previous episode, he faked an injury that needed Elvish medicine, knowing deep down that Galadriel would take him to the nearest Elven city in Middle-Earth, namely Eregion, thus inadvertently granting Halbrand access to Celebrimbor and his legendary workshop.

The whole affair was beautifully orchestrated, and in keeping with Tolkien's lore where it stated that Sauron was shape-shifted at the time he learned the craft, directly from Celebrimbor I may add, that would later help him forge the One Ring of Power. A non-canonical character therefore became one of the most significant canonical characters in the franchise. Well played, Amazon Studios, and well hidden.

Season 2 "Rings Of Power" thus established the coming of the villain who has always remained vital to the "Lord of the Rings" and related story arcs 'forged' by J. R. R. Tolkien. All hail the Dark Lord, indeed.

Other cast and crew members did superb work in the season finale of "Rings of Power" now streaming on Amazon Prime.

After learning what he needed, Halbrand-Sauron was headed to Mordor, toward Mount Doom to be precise, in a scene that gave me chills. The Elves found hope in Mithril and the Rings, but a new darkness will certainly be coming from the former Southlands.

Gandalf and Nori were off on a journey of discovery. The Harfoots were in a place that looked a lot like the Shire. A political gear-change was imminent in Númenor.

Galadriel's role in the series going forward became of utmost importance. Elrond's further contribution, and that of the dwarves, was definitely on the way - Rivendell, Moria, that Balrog, were all open for world-building and unleashing in S02.

The next season of "Rings Of Power" is going to be lit, and not necessarily in a benign way. And so begins the next longest wait for fans of the "Lord of the Rings" franchise.

*** *** ***

"The Quest stands upon the edge of a knife. Stray but a little, and it will fail, to the ruin of all. Yet hope remains while the Company is true." - Galadriel.

"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us." - Gandalf.

"You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to." - J. R. R. Tolkien.

*** *** *** "Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulûk, agh burzum-ishi krimpatul." *** "Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie." {The transliterated inscription on the One Ring, written in the Black Speech of Mordor.}