Episode 5 covered every location and almost every storyline of the ROP. Plus, it introduced some new characters AND dropped some pretty big bombshells that will greatly affect the storyline (What was that about mithril?). So to say this episode is jampacked is quite an understatement. So. Much. To. Process. Let’s get to it.

• Migrating Harfoots
  • A New Walking Song
  • Cut-throat Harfoots and Wolves
  • The Stranger’s Strange Abilities
• New Creepy Characters in White
• The Southlands
• Lindon
  • The Origin of Mithril as the Salvation of the Elves – What?!
  • The Relationship Between Elves and Dwarves
• Númenor
  • Halbrand’s Skills
  • Galadriel’s Skills
  • Burning Ships
  • A Soldier’s Farewell
• A Few Final Fav Moments and Quotes

Migrating Harfoots

Episode 5 opens with Nori teaching the Stranger English. This prompted a whole chat between ma and I about whether the Harfoots and Hobbits in general actually speak English. But I’ll save that for another post. I found this a sweet moment. Nori comes off very endearing as she shares some info about the Harfoots’ migration patterns:

• They winter in the Old Forest
• Make for Norfield Glen in mid-somer (for the good snailing)
• And ‘at the first blush of the oak trees’ (such a lovely description for autumn!), head to the Grove.

I wonder if the Old Forest mentioned here has any relation with the Old Forest, a large woodland on the eastern border of Buckland, close to the Shire in LOTR. But according to the map, it doesn’t appear to.

I like Nori’s cute phrases, like ‘quick sticks’. I also appreciate how the Stranger is wondering whether he’s bad or good – just like we are.

A New Walking Song

I like the migration montage. But I’m still trying to figure out how I feel about the walking song. The melody is lovely, but in my humble opinion some of the lines of the poem are not as Tolkien-ish as I would like. There’s a nice reference to Aragorn’s name poem (written by Bilbo!), with the line ‘Not all those who wander are lost’. But in this walking song it’s expanded to include ‘Not all those who wonder or wander are lost’. I kind of wish ROP had taken a hobbit walking song from LOTR, with the idea that it was passed down over the years to be used in FOTR. I don’t think it would have been too far-fetched.

Cut-throat Harfoots and Wolves

I already felt uncertain about the Harfoots after Ep3. But seeing Malva here literally telling Sadoc to take the Brandyfoots’ wheels and leave them behind, made me even more wary of these Harfoots. It really is a cutthroat world out there.

We find there’s more than just cut-throat Harfoots to worry about when a wolf comes after Nori, Poppy and Malva. This wolf looked a bit smaller, and much less wolf-like than I was expecting after seeing the pawprints in Ep1. A chase scene follows, with the Harfoots climbing up trees to escape the wolves (did this remind anyone else of The Hobbit, when Bilbo and Co escaped wolves by climbing up trees?). Except that these are the lowest trees I’ve ever seen. Not the most effective escape route.

The Stranger’s Strange Abilities

The Stranger saves the day with an impressive bit of magic, blasting the wolves away with a big earth tremor. The encounter leads to lots of praise from the Harfoots, but also a nasty blackened arm for the Stranger (are the wolves cursed?). While he’s nursing his wound in some water, the water starts to turn into ice. He also accidentally freezes Nori’s arm when she touches his arm, leading to a rift in their friendship. It’s interesting that he’s now displaying abilities with ice, when previously he’s been more associated with fire. His portrayal in this episode seemed much less Gandalf-like to me, so the guessing game continues as to who this Stranger/Meteor Man could be.

New Creepy Characters in White

Adding even more to the mix, this episode introduces a trio of new characters. Who look super creepy. The music gives the scene such an ominous feel. These three are listed as The Nomad, The Ascetic and, the (possibly the group’s leader) The Dweller. I have no idea who these people are. Are they connected to Adar? Their ears are (conveniently) hidden, so I can’t tell if they’re elves or not. What we do know is that they’re checking out where the Stranger fell, and seem to be tracking him.

The Southlands

In the Southlands we first see Adar, working on his tan in the sun. It seems to me a bit harsh to rub in his tolerance for the sun to the orc (who can’t tolerate it at all) standing next to him. Bronwyn gives an impassioned speech calling for her people to ‘stand and fight’ against the dark forces taking over their land. Waldreg takes the other road, saying it’s better to bow to the enemy and survive, and the people divide.

Galadriel isn’t the only elf giving lessons in this episode. We see Arondir here teaching Theo how to shoot. Theo shows Arondir the Morgul Blade, and Arondir uncovers a stone sculpture of what looks to be the same blade impaling a man, that conveniently just happens to be right next to Arondir. When Bronwyn learns about the blade, she does a pretty drastic 180-degree turn, saying they need to follow Waldreg after all to survive. This felt a pretty abrupt shift to me, and I wonder why she would so quickly lose hope.

It also becomes clear that Adar is most likely not Sauron. How do we know? Well, Waldreg literally says to him, ‘You are Sauron, are you not?’ In response, Adar stalks up to him and forcefully pins him down. Sounds like a not to me. To confirm Waldreg’s loyalty, Adar asks him to kill Rowan, Theo’s friend. Pretty dark stuff. The way the episode is cut makes me wonder if Halbrand had to make similar dark choices to survive.

Lindon

This is where the show lost me a bit. If you’re wondering about the origin of Mithril and/or whether it’s tied to the salvation of the Elves, there’s a lot to unpack from this episode.

In this episode we head back to Lindon, meaning that Gil-galad is back. And I have to say, my initial impression of him, which was not great, hasn’t improved. He doesn’t seem very genuine or likeable to me, as of yet. But I know he needs to be eventually, so I’m interested to see how his character arc shapes up. I did feel a bit bad for him over the major (but not actually) faux paus about the table. Durin points out that their dining table is made from material sacred to the dwarves, and acts quite offended that the elves would show such disrespect to use it so cavalierly. It later comes out that he made the whole thing up to embarrass Gil-galad and to get a new table for his wife, Disa, who’s been wanting one.

Durin’s whole spun tale about the table really reminded me of how calmly Disa also spun a tale about Durin’s whereabouts to Elrond in the previous episode. These dwarves sure are good liars.

The Origin of Mithril as the Salvation of the Elves – What?!

Speaking of spinning tales…we get some pretty grand tales here in Lindon as well. Gil-galad keeps pushing Elrond to break his oath to Durin and confirm whether mithril has been found. Why? It all comes out when he prompts Elrond to share the story of The Song of the Roots of Hilthaeglir. A legend, that Elrond himself says is ‘regarded by most to be apocryphal’. The tale is of a great battle between an elven warrior and a balrog over a tree, which hides the last of the lost Silmarils. As they fought, lightning struck the tree, and the light of the Silmaril seeped down the roots of the mountain to create mithril. Gil-galad wants Elrond to tell him if the dwarves had discovered this special ore.

Gil-galad also drops another bombshell, showing Elrond their dying golden tree. He says this tree reflects how the elves’ light is fading. Their ‘immortal souls will dwindle into nothing, slowly diminishing, until we are but shadows.’ In order to survive, they need the light of Valinor. The Silmarils are what held the last of the light of the Two Trees of Valinor, which I’m guessing was transferred to mithril via lightning strike? Ergo, mithril is the key to the elves’ salvation. And the fate of the race of elves lies in the hands of the dwarves.

This story does not come from Tolkien, but was created by ROP. And it leaves me with so many questions. First off, why are the elves dying? In Tolkien’s works, the fate of elves is tied to the lifespan of Arda (the world). As long as the world exists, so do elves. Gil-galad’s description of elves dwindling into shadows made me think of the Ringwraiths, who were once great kings of men who one by one fell into darkness. The description of the light of the Eldar fading also felt very similar to Arwen’s storyline in the ROTK movies (another original storyline not from canon). Her lifeforce became tied to the One Ring. So in this episode, just replace the One Ring with the light of the Valinor (which was in the Silmarils and got transported to Mithril – did I get that right?)

Secondly, why do the elves need the light of Valinor to survive? Numbers of elves have survived for centuries without it. And thirdly, wouldn’t putting the fate of the elves in the hands of the dwarves have a major effect on the relationship between elves and dwarves?! Well, let’s discuss.

The Relationship Between Elves and Dwarves

One of my initial concerns after seeing Elrond and Durin’s friendship in Ep2 of ROP, was how this relationship fit into the larger storyline of LOTR and the relationship between elves and dwarves. In LOTR, the two races are notorious for being at odds with eachother. That’s why Gimli and Legolas’ friendship was so unusual and groundbreaking.

I’ve been worried that Durin and Elrond’s friendship could take away from the uniqueness of Gimli and Legolas’ bond. But thus far this friendship has been a highlight of the ROP for me. I love how their interactions bring humor and heart-warming moments to every episode they’re in. However, I am wondering how this development between the races will work out.

By the end of this episode, Durin seems on board with saving the elves. If that holds true, and the dwarves do end up saving elven kind, how then do we get to LOTR? Shouldn’t Gimli be treated as an honoured guest when he arrives in Lothlorien? Wouldn’t elves and dwarves be best buds?

Númenor

Back in Númenor, we get glimpses of men preparing their ships to sail out. The detail in these scenes is just stunning. We also see Elendil talking to his son Isildur, who wants to join the planned voyage to Middle-Earth. Elendil says nothing would make him prouder, but Isildur had his chance to serve and wasted it. Elendil’s showing some tough love, but it seems like Isildur might need some help with getting his priorities in line. He seems to have an entitlement mentality, asking his father to ‘slip me to the front of the line’. When that fails he asks Valandil to use his new promotion to lieutenant to get him on his ship. He seems to think a few punches can just solve everything. So I think he could probably use a bit of humbling.

Halbrand’s Skills

We go to Halbrand in the smithy, where it’s apparent he really is quite a skilled craftsman (interesting…), forging a beautiful sword. He’s also got some pretty good sword-handling skills. He gave me some major Aragorn vibes when he kicked a sword off the ground, caught it and swung it around. Apparently he’s also not very loyal, trading information on Galadriel for a guild crest so that he could work in the smithy. Sneaky. But that does feel pretty on-brand with what we’ve seen of Halbrand so far – abandoning the rest of his shipwrecked crew in the Sundering Seas, for example. He also doesn’t seem very onboard with Galadriel’s master plan to crown him as King of the Southlands. At least, until the very end.

Galadriel’s Skills

We get a training scene where Galadriel shows everyone how much more skilled she is with a blade compared to the young volunteers of Númenor. Don’t think I didn’t see you there in the corner, Halbrand, watching Galadriel be a boss. This felt quite a cliché scene to me, and I thought it was a bit much for Valandil to get so much praise for nicking Galadriel’s arm when it was like five against one.

I appreciated Galadriel humbling herself to apologize to Halbrand. And I am so intrigued by Halbrand’s story. He tells Galadriel that no one knows what he had to do to survive, but once people did they would cast him out. I want to know his story.

Burning Ships

This episode have us another look at how cool and calculated Pharazôn is. His grand plan is to ‘save the low man’ in order to gain political power. On the other hand, Kemen had seemed quite jovial in his innocent pursuits of Eärien. But he got dark pretty fast, when we see him burning the ships to prevent them sailing to Middle-Earth. It’s quite a different scenario, but the burning ships did make me think of the kinslaying from The Silmarillion.

Isildur, who had been stowing away on a boat, saves Kemen’s life when the ships explode. With this act, he’s finally given the second chance he craved and is brought on board the ships to sail to Middle-Earth. As stable-sweep. To Idildur’s credit, he takes his friends’ ribbing with good nature.

Finally, we get our first proper look at the King, Tar-Palantir. Did anyone else think he looked a lot like Gandalf/Dumbledore combined?! But then we got quite a Theoden moment. He recognizes his daughter, saying ‘Míriel’, and I half-expected him to say ‘I know your face.’ Instead he warns Míriel of danger in Middle-Earth.

A Soldier’s Farewell

The soldiers walking out at the end of this episode reminded me of a similar scene with Faramir in the ROTK. In both there’s people lining the streets, watching the soldiers march out, and laying flowers at their feet. But instead of the solemn mournfulness of the ROTK, the crowds in Númenor are cheering and waving their soldiers in celebration. Well, everyone aside from Isildur’s sister Eärien, who obviously doesn’t want to see her brother go. I get the sense there’s something deeper going on there.

The crew loads up the ships, and they make way for Middle-Earth. I think the Númenorian helmets look a bit odd. They remind me of Rohan’s horse-tail helmets from LOTR. I like the design of Elendil’s helmet much more. Galadriel’s armor is awesome (though where did she get it, so perfectly fitted, and on such short notice?!). And I can’t get over the beautiful design of the ships! I’m also still in love with the music, it’s quickly becoming one of my favorite parts of this show.

The ending feels very cinematic, which I think is one of the main features that sets ROP apart from other tv shows. I also liked the walking song, introduced at the beginning of the episode, playing over the credits. That added even more to the movie feel of this episode. 

A Few Final Fav Moments and Quotes

• We got a pub song from the Númenorians, which reminded me of Merry and Pippin’s antics in pubs in FOTR and ROTK.
• I like the touch of Malva foraging for mushrooms in the forest – we saw how much hobbits love mushrooms in FOTR!
• While the elves were carrying the table, one stumbled and it really threw me. I’ve never seen an elf stumble, and it feels very out of character for elves, who are meant to be so graceful and sure-footed. Besides, are they really going to carry it all the way to Khazad-dum? Elves in ROP seem to have lots of stamina, whether swimming or carrying.
• There’s a scene when Elrond looks up into the night sky and the stars go especially bright. Was he looking for his dad in the sky?
• Galadriel to Halbrand: ‘One cannot satisfy thirst by drinking seawater.’
• Elrond to Durin: ‘A burden shared may either be halved or doubled. Depending on the heart that receives it.’
• Pharazôn to Kemen: ‘Sometimes the folly of youth is enough to make an old man weep.’

In case you missed it, check out:

• My First Impressions post, for more of my initial thoughts after watching these first two episodes
• My Rings of Power Review for Episode 1
• Rings of Power Review for Episode 2
• Rings of Power Review for Episode 3
• Rings of Power Review for Episode 4