I’m back for another Rings of Power Review, this time of Episode 2! Here are the topics I’m covering in today’s blog post:

• An Epic Title Sequence
• Nori, Meteor Man, and ‘No Heat’
• Celebrimbor, Elrond, and Fëanor, Oh My
• Durin’s Khazad-dum
• Galadriel, Hilbrand, and the Sea Worm
• Bronwyn and Theo
• A Few Final Tidbits

An Epic Title Sequence

I wonder why they didn’t use this title sequence in the first episode – it surprised me when it came in on this second episode. It has been growing on me the more I see it. But I agree with Matt from Nerd of the Rings that the incredible title reveal was more impressive and memorable. I do like the music, and it makes me so happy that Howard Shore returned to Middle-Earth to compose it.

Another Corey Olsen revelation was about this title sequence. He explains on Rings and Realms that it could evoke hints of the Ainulindale. If you don’t know what word I just used there, the Ainulindale is the opening chapter of The Silmarillion, and has some of my favorite passages of Tolkien’s writings. It describes the creation of Middle-Earth. As a musician, I may be a bit biased in my love for the key role music plays in Tolkien’s creation story. The symbols in this title sequence, being shaped and moved seemingly by the music, may also be no accident. There are mountains, trees, a serpent-like figure (Melkor anyone?) and I also noticed rings, nine in one frame and three in another. Very interesting.

Nori, Meteor Man, and ‘No Heat‘

There’s a fascinating moment when Nori falls into the hot lava pit, left by the Meteor’s arrival, and you’re worried she’s going to be burned to a crisp. But she’s absolutely fine, and she notes that the fire isn’t even hot. Remember how in the first episode Galadriel says that the elves can’t feel the flames because Sauron’s place that they’re in is so evil? No way that’s a coincidence.

Does the name Nori/Elanor Brandyfoot sound familiar?

Nori, rather surprisingly, is currently one of my fav character in ROP so far. It could be because she reminds me a lot of Bilbo in The Hobbit – although I’m also getting strong Pippin vibes – and feels more relatable. I do wonder why they called her Nori, when there is a male dwarf in the The Hobbit also named Nori. Does that confuse anyone else??

Nori’s full name is Elanor, which brings up another LOTR reference. At first I thought this could be a sweet foreshadowing to Sam’s first child of the same name. But then I remembered how Frodo suggested the name Elanor, recalling the golden flowers that grew so abundantly in Lothlorian from his and Sam’s adventures.

Elanor flowers were apparently also prevalent in the Second Age. But would the Harfoots have known about them? The Harfoots had more dealings with the dwarves, not the elves. Perhaps they came across them in their nomadic wanderings somehow. Still, I felt that having this name already used within hobbit circles took away from the novelty of Sam using it. But that’s just my opinion.

Her surname, Brandyfoot, also sounds like a combination of Brandybuck (as in Meriodoc aka Merry Brandybuck from LOTR), and Proudfoot (the family of hobbits who got a shoutout in Bilbo’s birthday speech).

Who is the Meteor Man?

By the end of this episode, I really felt like the show was positioning the Meteor Man to be revealed as Gandalf. Personally, I don’t really want him to be Gandalf. Out of all the different theories swirling around of who this man could be (Sauron, a Blue Wizard, Radagast, a Balrog, Tom Bombadil, etc), Gandalf is towards the bottom for me. However, there were a number of moments in this episode that really seemed to be picking up on Gandalf-like moments from the LOTR movies we know and love:

• When Nori approaches the Meteor Man and he towers over her, with the trees darkening and looming over them. This totally reminds me of when Bilbo accused Gandalf of wanting to the One Ring for himself. Gandalf loomed ominously over Bilbo as the ceiling of Bag End darkened and groaned around him.
• When the Meteor Man speaks to the fireflies, just like Gandalf spoke to moths in LOTR
• When the Meteor Man draws a rune on the ground, which looks like it could be an inverted G (Gandalf) symbol.
• When he keeps repeating the words ‘Uru’ and ‘Mana.’ These are possibly translated to ‘What is heat?’ Heat could refer to a number of different characters, but we do know that Gandalf is closely associated with fire.

The Gandalf vibes are too strong to ignore. Maybe they’re misdirects. The show is certainly making it a mystery, and I’m very intrigued to see what they do with this character.

Celebrimbor, Elrond, and Fëanor, Oh My

There’s a scene in ROP when Elrond visits Celebrimbor in Eregion, Here we get a glimpse of Fëanor’s hammer and the first mention of the Silmarils.

There’s a lot of history about the Silmarils that you can read all about in The Silmarillion. In ROP, Elrond points out that Fëanor crafted the Silmarils using the hammer we see in Celebrimbor’s study. But what we don’t learn from the ROP (at least yet), is that Celebrimbor is actually the grandson of Fëanor.

In this scene Elrond delivers a line that reminded me a lot of one from Boromir in FOTR: “Strange, isn’t it? How one object could be responsible for creating so much beauty, and so much pain.” Boromir’s quote about the One Ring went like this: “Is it not a strange fate that we should suffer so much fear and doubt for so small a thing? So small a thing!”.

Celebrimbor also tells a short story about how the Silmarils were said to be so beautiful that Morgoth himself was enraptured by them. “Fëanor’s work nearly turned the heart of the Great Foe himself,” he says. This story is not from canon. But, as Matt explains in his Episode 2 Breakdown, that it’s not too far off from what does go down in Beren and Luthien’s tale in The Silmarillion.

From the moment I heard that Charles Edwards was cast as Celebrimbor, I was excited. I recently watched The Crown, and thought Edwards was fantastic in his role as Martin, the Queen’s private secretary. As Celebrimbor in ROP, he hasn’t played a large role yet. But what he has done with his presence, lines, and delivery so far, I absolutely love.

There’s just one thing I’m not a big fan of about Celebrimbor, and it’s his outfit. The velvet doesn’t seem that practical or appealing to me. However, I am a fan of Elrond’s ensemble. I especially love the feature wing detail on his shoulders. This could be a reference to his mother Elwing, who was transformed into a great white bird by the Vala Ulmo. It’s small touches like that I so appreciate.

Durin’s Khazad-dum

Khazad-dum is one of my favorite visuals so far – it looks spectacular! To me it feels different to the dwarf kingdom we saw in Peter Jackson’s trilogies (particular in The Hobbit movies), which seemed more focused on stone. Here in ROP there is lots of greenery and water, which looked beautiful! I’m not sure if it felt the most dwarf-like to me. But I really appreciate the detail put into the world-building here. And I can totally picture this newly imaged Khazad-dum turning into ruins that the mines of Moria are in the FOTR movie movie. Plus, the music is fab.

I need to look further into Tolkien’s history behind Elrond and Durin’s friendship. Were they really such close friends? So far, I haven’t seen much to indicate this. But, this is a period of time when dwarves and elves did have closer relations, and there is history between their dealings involving Celebrimbor that I think makes this storyline quite possible.

To me, this friendship feels very similar to Legolas and Gimli’s fron LOTR. But the main thing that made their friendship so extraordinary was its uniqueness! The dwarves and elves have had difficult relations for centuries. For Legolas and Gimli to overcome all of that was very special. I feel a bit nervous about giving Elrond and Durin another epic friendship before theirs, because I worry that it might take away some from what Legolas and Gimli were able to forge. I mean, Elrond gave Durin a seed of a Lindon tree, which Durin nurtured for years like a third child. That’s a HUGE deal! All of that said, I do think there are some lovely exchanges between Elrond and Durin, as well as Disa and their children, that bring light-hearted and heart-felt moments into this episode.

Aulë’s Beard – is it really a Tolkien phrase?

I appreciate the reference to Aulë, the smith of the Vala who also made the dwarves. However, I always pictured Aulë as much more concerned with intricacy and finesse, as a craftsman. So this Rite of Sigin-tarâg, essentially a completion involving smashing rocks, doesn’t quite fit with my view of him. The phrase ‘Aule’s beard’ also immediately made me think of Harry Potter’s Merlin’s beard, which I felt was unnecessary.

Galadriel, Hilbrand, and the Sea Worm

The shipwrecked storyline of Galadriel is not my favorite. After she jumped out of the ship to Valinor, I imagine she had Dory’s voice from Finding Nemo in her head, chanting ‘just keep swimming, just keep swimming.’ Was she planning on swimming all the way back to Middle-Earth? I don’t think so. I guess she was hoping to run across a ship so she could hitch a ride. 

I’m not entirely sure what the purpose of the encounter with the ‘worm’/sea monster is. Other than having Galadriel meet up with Hilbrand and revealing that he’s the type of man who’s pretty much just looking out for himself. Except for when he goes and saves Galadriel’s life. I’m intrigued by Halbrand’s character, who I think is well cast and acted. I’m also excited for Elendil (and more than just his shadow) to enter the scene!

Bronwyn and Theo

The mother-son battle against the orc in their home was pretty epic. Matt pointed out his own appreciation for the effort it took for these two to defeat one orc, compared to the masterful skills we’ve seen from great warriors like Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli. I think that was very well done.

A Few Final Tidbits

• This episode feels like the show is going in a darker, more mature direction than the previous LOTR and Hobbit films. Not too extreme, as of yet, but there were definitely moments that made me jump and squint my eyes.
• Again, I felt I got more out of this episode on the second viewing. I have a feeling that’ll be a pattern with this show.
• Fav Lines :
  • ‘That’s a tomorrow problem.’ – Nori
  • ‘Where there is love, it is never truly dark.’ – Elrond

And that’s my Rings of Power review for Episode 2 – stay tuned for Episode 3!

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