The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2

 Well, it is with mixed feelings I've sat down for this second season.

 

 

While it is a good generic fantasy series, it churns my insides it is supposedly Lord of the Rings related,  one can count more inconsistensies in 5 minutes then the finale of a bukkake party.

 

 And will we get answers on who "the Stranger" is?  Okay, granted, we all know, but heck, it never hurts to think the producers can keep it a secret...  It begins at the dawn of the Second Age, when Sauron was murdered by Adar and his orcs, only to turn to a black ooze that recovers to a physical form after thousands of years.  Yeah, that makes Adar a mighty old Uruk...

 

 While Gil-galad believes the rings are a weapon against Sauron, Elrond disagrees and takes them to Cirdan the Shipwright.  He believes them to be pure perfection, and he dons one, just as Galadriel and Gil-galad, restoring the power of the Elves.  In the meantime, the Stranger, Nori and Poppy got lost on their way to Rhun.  

The dwarven realm of Khazad-Dum still suffers from the aftermath earthquakes of the birth of Mount Doom, but the king Durin III and the prince Durin IV still refuse to reconcile.  Sauron has moved to Eregion to meet with Celembrimbor for more rings to be forged, as Galadriel sees the death of the latter in a vision and wants to travel there as well.  Celembrimbor is conceived by Sauron, who takes on the guise of Annatar, an emmissary of the Valar.  

The presumed dead Isildur awakens in a spider cave, managing to escape thanks to his horse, and comes across a girl called Estrid on his way back to the village.  Ambushed by wild men, they are saved by Arondir, still mourning the loss of Bronwyn.  Her son Theo and the Wildmen are captured by an unknown being in the forest.  In Numenor meanwhile, a power struggle has erupted between the blinded Queen Miriel and Pharazon.  

 

As Elrond and Galadriel set out for Eregion, the Stranger runs into a mysterious man, Tom Bombadil, nearby a colony of halflings, the Stoors.  They learn the Harfoots are descendant of one of them that left the desert to find a place of green hills to settle, the Suzat.  Estrid, discovered to be one of the Wild Men, regains Isildur's and Arondir's trust when she frees them from the mud.  They encounter Ents that had captured the others, while Elrond and Galadriel face off Barrow-wights (yeah, they really are putting the whole Barrow-downs and Tom Bombadil ommited part from the books in the series instead *sigh*).

 

 As Galadriel is captured by Orcs, Durin III receives his ring of power and tries to bring sunlight back to the mountain, but it also makes him very greedy.  In Eregion, Annatar tries to convince Celembrimbor to make the Nine, rings intended for Men, but he refuses.  But through manipulation and truth-bending, he convinces him at last to start the work.  Numenor sees the internal struggle escalate when Pharazon is crowned and starts a hunt on the Faithful, putting the blame on Elendil for starting the riot and arresting him.

 

 

As Annatar takes on the governing of Eregion, with Celembrimbor focussed on the ringmaking, as Adar tells Galadriel that Sauron's masters crown of Morgoth was the weapon that could defeat him, and that together with the elven rings it could destroy him for good.  As Tom Bombadil brings the Stranger to a valley to find his wizard's staff, he receives a vision of Nori and Poppy in danger and goes to help them instead.  Adar lays siege to Eregion, but Galadriel realizes Sauron lured it there as he doesn't have an army of his own.   Bringing down the mountin next to the city to dam the river (because yeah, three trebuchet shots do that), the orc army assaults the city.  Elrond arrives at Durin's to ask for their help, while Celembrimbor realises he is trapped in an illusion as he finishes work on the Nine.

 

Seeing his city in flames, he tries to rally his soldiers and people, only to find that Annatar has placed them all under his influence.  he finds Galadriel, who escaped with the help of Arondir, and hands her the rings, in order to take them somewhere safe.  As the forces of Lindon engage the orcs, the dwarfs set out of their hold, but soon are called back and don't come to the aid of the beleagured city.

 

Below Khazad-dum, a Balrog has awakaned due to Durin III's mining, and coming to his senses the king engages it and goes into his doom (hence, Durin's Bane), but not before naming his son the new king and a blast resealing the mine.  The Stranger refuses an offer from the Dark Wizard, apparently also one of the Ishtari, who offers to supplant Sauron (is he Saruman of one of the missing blue wizards?) but is rebuked for this.  He destroys the canyon, forcing the Stoors to migrate and Nori and Poppy join them, as the Stranger finds his staff, as well as a name he thinks he will be called by, "Gandalf" (tadaaa, because his first appearance in grey clothing never aluded to that).  In Numenor all the Faithful are arrested and Miriel accused of being in league with Sauron, as Elendil escapes with the sword Narsil, while Pelargir is set up as a military outpost of Numenor.  

 

 

Sauron kills Celembrimbor before taking a hold over the army of Adar, who is killed by his desillusioned soldiers, as Sauron takes the Nine from Galadriel to save the survivors of the city.  He comes back on his word though, but then the Dwarfs finally arrive, helping the Elves to escape to a valley north of the burning city (aka, what will become Rivendell), where they resolve to stand against Sauron...

 

And so the second season ends.  Sure, it did have good moments, see my opening remarks about the whole Rings of Power series, and still a few questions unanswered.  Like how will Elendil become the High King of Numenor,  and who is the Dark Wizard, but that will probably take 2 or 3 years still as it is currently in pre-production. 

All in all though, it was better then the first season at least.  And the penultimate episode, Doomed or Die, really was some great fantasy watching.

 

And we got Old Tom, you never can get enough Tom in your life!