Show Review: ‘The Rings of Power’ Season Two, Ep 4: an Episode Worthy of Tolkien’s Praise?
Image courtesy of Amazon Studios
***BEWARE THERE ARE FULL SPOILERS BELOW***
READ THE REVIEW FOR EPISODES 1-3 HERE
Was this my favorite episode so far this season even though barely anything actually happened? Possibly. This episode was for the Tolkien nerds, and honestly with how many tree references there were, for Tolkien himself. While the story didn’t move forward all that much, I really loved how many Tolkien-esque things we were served. Entwives?! A Hobbit origin story? Barrow-wights?! Tom-freaking-Bombadil?! There were so many little moments of delight for fans of the books. I did miss the dwarves in this episode (again, Disa and Durin are favorites!), but I appreciate we were actually able to spend more time on some other storylines. The Numenorian storyline was also missing from this episode, and to be honest, I didn’t miss it that much. I know I should be so excited for this, as it’s basically Tolkien’s version of the tragedy of Atlantis, but I’m not as invested in those characters other than Elendil. Perhaps that will change as the season goes on.
Ok, but back to some favorites. I was so excited when I learned we were going to get Tom Bombadil this season. He’s a quirky, but much beloved character in the fandom, and he’s rarely ever seen on the screen. Probably because he’s always singing and acting odd, while not necessarily adding meat to the storyline, so he’s easy to cut. He’s a bit like a fever dream. So I actually really loved their interpretation of Tom Bombadil. He’s a bit more grounded here, but still has his whimsical nature. I mean…they’re in the middle of the desert, and he’s got lemon trees, and bee hives, and goats, and a baby lamb? I felt the nod to the songs was just enough to not turn it into a full blown musical where they’d inevitably lose a bunch of the audience. I am WAITING for him to give Gandalf his hat!
BTW, I know there are a plethora of theories roaming around about who the Stranger is and if he’s one of the blue wizards (which would make the most sense from the timeline, but as we know they’ve completely thrown the timeline out the window), or perhaps Saruman, but I, am convinced he’s Gandalf. There are just too many hints and I don’t think they’d misdirect us that much, right? RIGHT?!
Also, is Old Man Willow going to give Gandalf his staff?! I absolutely adored that we got a nod to this tree that gave the Hobbits some grief near the Withywindle.
Then we learned how the Hobbits are definitely descended from the Harfoots and Stoors, and eventually are going to live in Burrows in The Shire. This was honestly so cute, and I absolutely loved it. Is it canon? Absolutely not, and I don’t care. I love Nori and Poppy, and this was a nicely tied bow on the Hobbit origin story (and also explains why some of their descendents still have a hankering for wandering and adventure!).
Don’t even get me started on the Ent Wife! That was such a special moment! But dang Arondir, you didn’t have to tell her! Although it was a nice tie back to Season One when he had to fell the tree while captive by Adar’s Orcs. For my ACOTAR fans, what in the Middengaard worm was that mud monster?! It’s what I immediately thought of and was cracking up.
Something I’d need a Tolkien Lore Expert to comment on: Nenya apparently has healing powers? Is this canon? I don’t remember this being the case, but in this episode Galadriel uses its power to save on of the Elves who was hit by an Orc arrow. Speaking of Galadriel, we got some nice very epic Elvish battle moves from her. I’m still a bit annoyed with how little deference she’s given, given that she’s literally one of the eldest Elves there and was born in Valinor. It also seemed very imprudent to only travel with a party of five Elves to check on Eregion and Celebrimbor. If you think Sauron is there, don’t you think you just might need a few more people?!
If you’re a language nerd, and especially an Elvish nerd, you might also have freaked out at one of my favorite lines of Elvish being spoken by Adar of all people at the end of the episode. A LOTR creator goes into amazing, super nerdy detail on why his pronounciation is super important to his backstory and where he may actually be from. I thought I saved the video, but apparently I didn’t, so I’ll add it as soon as I can find it (it’s fascinating and a much watch IMO).
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this episode, and in keeping with the idea that this is fanfiction, I do feel they’re staying true to the essence of Tolkien in this episode. I’ll be back next week with Episode 5 thoughts! So let me know in the comments (and keep it respectful, please), what did you think of this episode?
Reading LOTR for the first time and not sure where to start? Head here for my ultimate guide to reading The Lord of the Rings.
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