Welcome to my first Rings of Power review! Each episode I’ll be looking at highlights exploring Tolkien lore (canon), alongside the new angles the series is introducing (creation). Plus, whatever else I find interesting, puzzling, and exciting as the show progresses.

There’s quite a lot jampacked into Episode 1, so here’s a summary of the big points. Let’s dive into the Tolkien tidbits!

• A Shadow of the Past – Sound Familiar?
• Gil-galad’s Lindon
• Who Are the Harfoots?
• What’s Going Down in the Southlands
• Galadriel’s Jump and the Meteor Man’s Fall
• Final Tidbits
• Further Resources for Digging into Episode 1
  

A Shadow of the Past – Sound Familiar?

To start off, I always appreciate a Tolkien chapter title reference. Peter Jackson sprinkled them into his two trilogies and I loved it each and every time. This reference in The Rings of Power (ROP) is no exception, I’m a fan of the episode title. The second chapter of The Fellowship of the Ring (FOTR) is called ‘The Shadow of the Past’, and gives a lot of background as Gandalf explains the history of the One Ring to Frodo. I see this episode taking on a similar role in setting up the backstory of the series.

What Happened in Valinor?

The series starts with a sweeping prologue, covering thousands of years in a matter of minutes. There are glimpses of Tolkien canon within these opening scenes. But understandably, without the rights to The Silmarillion, these references could not be that overt. I picked up on some allusions, and learned more from watching Dr. Corey Olsen’s, aka The Tolkien Professor, deep dive of the episode on his YouTube channel, Rings and Realms. His points completely blew my mind!

1. Galadriel’s Swan Boat – This little boat in the opening shot of the series is not just a piece of incredible artistry. It immediately made me think of the swan boats we saw Galadriel use in Lothlorian in FOTR. Galadriel’s mother was also one of the Teleri elves, who were known for boat making and their swan ships.
2. Bullying Elves – I found it interesting that after the opening line of ‘Nothing is evil in the beginning’, the first scene we get is of a young Galadriel being bullied by other elf children. These two ideas seem quite contradictory to me. However, Corey Olsen really helped me appreciate some deeper notes in this scene. An important event in The Silmarillion is the kinslaying – a horrific moment in Elvish history when the Noldor elves, led by Fëanor, killed Teleri elves to take their ships and sail to Middle-Earth. This marked the first time elves killed their own kind. Corey explored how this bullying scene could be a nod to the kinslaying. The clinching factor in Corey’s assessment is that some of the bullying elf children in this scene have red hair, a rarity for elves. Notably, three of Fëanor’s sons had red hair.

3. The Two Trees of Valinor – Showcasing absolutely spectacular CGI, I personally feel that the shot of the Two Trees could have come right after the opening line, to better fit with the idea of the absence of evil. Regardless, the Two Trees are one of my favorite passages in The Silmarillion (I even did a mini-series covering it on Instagram). I love their depiction here in Valinor. I feel like the visual of them in ROP really captures the passages about Laurelin and Telperion, the gold and silver trees who gave off light to illuminate Valinor before the sun and moon even existed. The glimpse is too short!

Galadriel’s Brother and Search for Sauron

Galadriel’s search for Sauron is probably my main area of questioning, and the show’s biggest departure from canon. In ROP, Galadriel is on a quest to track down Sauron because her brother Finrod died at Sauron’s hands in the same task. His body is found with claw marks (which does look like a nod to canon), and the mark of Sauron (a new creation of the series, which will definitely come up again!). 

In Tolkien’s writings, Finrod did swear an oath, but it wasn’t to vanquish Sauron. Rather, he made an oath to Barahir, a man in the First Age who saved Finrod’s life. In thanks and friendship, Finrod gave Barahir his ring (which eventually comes to Aragorn!). He also promised to come to the aid of Barahir and his line. Barahir’s son, Beren, invoked this oath when he needed help to steal a Silmaril from Morgoth. Beren and Finrod were captured by Sauron, thrown into his dungeons and Finrod was killed by Sauron’s werewolves. So Sauron does kill Finrod in canon, but not quite in the way the ROP portrays. You can read the whole dramatic tale in The Silmarillion!

Gil-galad’s Lindon

According to Tolkien’s writings, Gil-galad established a kingdom in Lindon at the beginning of the Second Age. I think Lindon is portrayed beautifully in ROP. But several questions emerged for me from this plotline.

• The reunion of Elrond and Galadriel is lovely. However, given what I know about Galadriel’s history in canon, I am unsure if they would have been such good friends at this point? If this is foreseeing a compressed timeline of their close friendship, I can let it slide.
• I’m very confused about how Gil-galad bestowed the honor of sailing to Valinor on Galadriel’s company of elves. It doesn’t make much sense to me for Gil-galad to have this power. In canon, the Valar are the ones who can bring elves to, or ban elves from, Valinor. In fact, at this point in time Galadriel is actually banned from Valinor herself until she ‘passed the test’ in the FOTR scene where Frodo offers her the One Ring.
• I did not love calling Elrond a ‘politician’. It felt a jarring term that pulled me out of the world of Middle-Earth the show was creating. I am enjoying seeing him in the role of herald to Gil-galad, which is from canon, and am looking forward to his diplomatic development.

Who Are the Harfoots?

In the Prologue to FOTR, Concerning Hobbits, Tolkien describes hobbits as ‘a very ancient people’, whose history ‘lies far back in the Eldar Days that are now lost and forgotten.’ This takes them back to the First Age. The histories from that time period were preserved by the elves, but don’t mention hobbits. So it’s not out of the question for them to be part of the story this series is telling. However, showrunner Patrick McKay himself told Vanity Fair, ‘One of the very specific things the texts say is that hobbits never did anything historic or noteworthy before the Third Age.’

Consequently, I was, and still am, a bit unsure of the portrayal of hobbits here in the Second Age. I feel like they shouldn’t be doing anything noteworthy. But if that’s the case, then what role can they play in ROP? We’ll have to wait and see. I do understand the value of a hobbit’s perspective in telling a story of Middle-Earth. It certainly worked for The Hobbit and LOTR.

What’s Going Down in the Southlands

‘The Southlands’ is a non-canonical name referring to a very canon-ical region in Tolkien’s LOTR. It’s located where we know Mordor will be, which gives us some clues for the future of the villages currently residing in this area in the ROP. There are also a number of newly created characters revealed in the Southlands, including:

• Arondir – A silvan elf, who seems like he’ll be a grounding element to the series – though I fully expect to see fancy Legolas-like maneuvers like we saw in the teaser trailer.
• Bronwyn – A woman and a healer from the village of Tirharad, in the Second Age, mother to Theo.
• Theo – The son of Bronwyn

Another Elf-Human Romance?

I’m not the biggest fan of the blossoming romance between Arondir and Bronwyn. At least, right now (but my mum is, so if you are too, you’re not alone). In Tolkien’s Middle-Earth, elf and human romances are rare, describing three significant elf-human relationships: Beren and Luthien, Tuor and Idril, and Aragorn and Arwen. Aragorn and Arwen’s romance takes place in the Third Age in LOTR, so happens after the events of ROP.

In this ROP Second Age, it’s pointed out that there were only two such couples like this known, and they both ended in ‘death’. But that statement is not totally correct in Tolkien’s canon. There’s a lot to unpack on the relationships of Beren and Luthien (which, in addition to their chapter in The Silmarillion, Tolkien developed into a whole stand-alone book!) and Tuor and Idril. The latter relationship actually ends with Tuor rumored to become the only man to be counted as one of the Eldar. That would make him an elf, potentially giving him the immortality of the elf race. Which sounds like the opposite of death to me. Just sayin’.

Galadriel’s Jump and the Meteor Man’s Fall

The meteor streaking across all the lands, with shots of main characters looking up as it tracks across the sky, makes a strikingly dramatic ending to Episode 1. There are a lot of questions as to who this ‘Meteor Man’ is! I’ll explore more in my next post.

But I did not fully appreciate the symbolism of this scene until I heard Dr. Maggie Park’s breakdown of it in Rings and Realms. Echoing the words of Finrod at the beginning of the episode, Maggie pointed out the juxtaposition of the Meteor Man’s fall to Earth (like a stone) contrasting with Galadriel’s jump from the ship into the sea and her swimming (or figuratively sailing) back to Middle-Earth. I love the way the scenes from these two significant moments are cut together. It does leave you on a cliffhanger with lots of questions about what’s coming next too.

Final Tidbits

• I feel quite conflicted about the current main plotline of Galadriel’s pursuit of Sauron, stemming from her brother Finrod’s Oath. This may be because it’s a big departure from canon, but I also just don’t find it the most compelling.
• For me, this opening episode had a bit too much packed into it. I think the world-building is beautiful, and I love the care put into making each place in Middle-Earth look distinctive. I felt that the speed at which the episode jumped around to cover all of the different places, peoples and plot lines, detracted from character development.

Further Resources for Digging into Episode 1

• If you’re looking for excellent recaps of each episode, I love Matt’s on Nerd of the Rings. Here’s his Breakdown for Episode 1
• For in-depth analysis and comparison to Tolkien’s works, look no further than Dr. Corey Olsen and Dr. Maggie Park’s YouTube channel, Realms and Rings. I found this video going through Episodes 1 and 2 particularly good.
• Rings of Power Wrap-Up Podcast – I actually haven’t even listened to this episode myself yet (it’s in the queue!). But I love Alan and trust his opinions a lot, so I’m sure there’s lots of gold in this episode too.

That’s my Rings of Power Review for Episode 1! What were your thoughts after watching this episode? Any tidbits to add?

Look out for my Episode 2 Review!

And in case you missed it, check out my First Impressions for more of my initial thoughts after watching these first two episodes.