The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 Episode 6 Spoiler Review
The siege of Eregion begins in season two episode six of ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ as Adar reveals the true size of the massive force he possesses to both the city and Galadriel. Inside the city, Sauron continues to manipulate Celebrimbor, pushing the ringsmith harder and harder. Durin IV and Disa take matters into their own hands to try and stop Durin III from delving further into madness, and in Rhûn the Stranger realises what he has to give up for his destiny. It’s a packed episode, but this episode does have a cohesive feel to it, largely flowing naturally from one location to the next.
Addressing the shocking idea of a Galadriel and Adar team up, while Galadriel does seemingly entertain the idea at first – even going so far as to reveal critical information to Adar – thankfully it doesn’t come to fruition. It would have been so monumentally stupid to have her team up alongside orcs. Adar reveals the true size of his force to both Galadriel and Eregion, leaving the audience with a nitpicky question. How did he gather such a large force? It doesn’t affect enjoyment, but it’s one that niggles at the back of the mind.
Behind the walls of Eregion, Celebrimbor continues to toil on making the nine rings for men, and it’s taking both a visible and mental toll. The drama continues to unfurl, as the smiths are sent away, leaving Celebrimbor alone. Celebrimbor refuses to even engage with the rest of Eregion, being completely sucked into his work. It’s the danger of ambition. He does attempt to break when the siege bells go off, but Annatar/Sauron quickly casts an illusion over Celebrimbor to make him think all is well. The Lord of Gifts is showing his true deceptive nature.
This leaves Annatar/Sauron in control of Eregion’s defence, as he calmly walks across the city as all hell breaks loose. It’s unclear if this is all by his design, Galadriel certainly seems to think so. As the episode ends, Adar’s siege begins. Audiences are surely in for an action-packed episode next week.
Annatar/Sauron makes a visit to King Durin to politely ask for more Mithril, though is surprisingly rebuffed, even for a moment. He gets to see first hand the corruptie powers of his own designs, experiencing a temporary setback because his plans worked a little too well. As he leaves, he sees a vision of the Balrog. It’s another hint of the creature audiences have gotten, though it’s unclear whether it will wreak havoc just yet. It looks like it’s being saved for another season, as the siege of Eregion will likely be the focus of the final two episodes.
Durin IV makes a desperate plea to his father to take off the ring and give up the search for gold, but he’s physically rebuffed by the man, who’s now just consumed by greed. Disa tries to rally Durin IV to take a stand against his father’s dangerous mines, and for a moment Durin IV falters, breaking down into tears. He feels like he’s lost his father to the ring. It’s a moment that highlights the small scale, personal consequences that Sauron’s rings can cause, separate from the larger and more epic wars. It’s a great moment. Disa does manage to convince Durin IV to pick himself to make a stand against the new mines, standing in the way of their fellow dwarves. No doubt this will continue in the final two episodes.
In Númenor, Ar-Pharazôn decides the best way to deal with Elendil is to leave his fate to the Valar, as the ways of the faithful demand. Though a wrench is jabbed into his plans by Míriel, who argues on a technicality that it should be her who is thrown to the sea monster. Ar-Pharazôn is forced to accept this, and is then dealt a further blow when the Valar save Miriel, prompting the people to chant in her support. The people of Númenor are seemingly a fickle bunch, clamouring for Ar-Pharazôn and cronies one minute, only to turn away shortly after. From a writing standpoint, hopefully Ar-Pharazôn’s reign as King of Númenor isn’t over, else it would have been short and largely pointless.
The Stranger and Tom Bombadil continue their relationship, and it’s now becoming clear that the writers want this relationship to feel like Luke and Yoda’s from ‘Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back’ where the Stranger is Luke, with his journey into a wider world, and Bombadil is Yoda, with his wise nature obscured by his kookiness. When the Stranger wants to leave his training to save his friends (a la Luke in ‘Episode V’) Bombadil warns him of the threat that it will have on his destiny (a la Yoda in ‘Episode V’). But it doesn’t work, as it’s an attempt at the profound that falls flat on its face, and doesn’t have the desired impact.
Some small inclusions this episode are Elrond attempting to convince Gil-Galad to send elves to Eregion to no avail, Nori and Poppy bonding with the villagers in Rhûn and a small beat with Arondir. All of these are likely included to remind audiences that these characters are still in the mix of the show, and that they’re important enough not to be forgotten about, but there’s so far nothing to further their story.
Episode six largely manages to string several unrelated plotthreads together and keep them feeling like they belong in the same instalment, which is a good achiement. It showcases the personal suffering that Sauron brings to Middle-earth, a perspective often lost in the adaptations of of Tolkien’s works. There are still parts that don’t click, like the Stranger attempting to find his destiny at the cost of others, but episode six is still enjoyable despite this.
