The Lord of the Rings- The Rings of Power: Doomed to Die

"Forgive me..."

"Win!"

More than seventy minutes for this penultimate episode, and there's not a Man, Wizard or Harfoot to be seen. It's all an epic chronicle of the siege of Eregion, with all its twists, turns and impressive CGI hill troll(!)... and we end on a very bleak note, with Adar triumphant, and Arondir seemingly dead.

And the dwarves, despite Durin's promise, cannot come to the elves' aid, lest Durin's ring-addled father continue to mine and awaken the beast beneath- the Balrog? The show likes doing these kinds of impossible dilemmas, but they're effective. Can Elrond's friendship with Durin survive? Surely this will cause the enmity between elvesand dwarves; I'd assume so.

The parlet between Elrond and Adar is nicely done too, with Elrond refusing Adar's terms even at the apparent cost of Galadriel's life... and that parting kiss. For this show, usually all about the epic scale and not the humanfor once we have a lot of effective character drama here.

Most horrifying of all, though, is the full force gaslighting of Celebrimbor by Sauron. Yes, he wins, sort of, by entrusting the nine rings to an escaping Galadriel, but what he suffers is truly horrid. Charles Edwards is simply extraordinary here.

The Rings of Power has at times been inconsistent, but this extra-long episode is a trimph of both visuals- it looks amazing, cinematic- and storytelling. I have high hopes for the finale.

The Lord of the Rings- The Rings of Power: Halls of Stone

 "It will open with a password known only to friends..."

This episode is, perhaps, the most exciting yet to those of us who have read only The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings, pointing strongly towards the future we know. We have Durin's gate of course, but we see Sauron to continue manipulating Celebrimbor to makerings not only for Dwarves but also for Men... nine rings for the kind of the nive noble realms. We know well where this is leading.

We also have hints of the doom that awaits Khadad-Dum. Oh, King Durin III may have saved his realm in the short term, but he shows signs of the greed and the ring addiction that we shall soon come to know so well,charging a "ring tax" and forcing the other sixdwarven kings to make a tribute in return for their own rings. Worst of all, he wants to dig, despite the fact that ancient evil lies beneath.

Then there's Gil-Galad's dilemma between Sauron and Adar. Adar seeking an alliance with Galadriel. And the darkness beginning to envelop Numenor. Pharazon already threatens to be a tyrant, and his son seems worse. Elendil is not having a good time, and nor are his many friends. Even his daughter has betrayed him.

And yet... despite this series being more about epic events than character, what shines here is the detail of Sauron's manipulation of the proud but gullible Celebrimbor. The Rings of Power is on fire as never before.