The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Powerhas introduced fans to a whole different side of J.R.R.
Elves, Dwarves, and Men live in long-forgotten places like Lindon and Khazad-dum.
The characters ofRings of Powertake viewers on an adventure they never expected without leaving Tolkien’s themes out.
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He tries to convince her that they met for a reason.
Galadriel sees through the lies and deception and refuses to join him.
Elrond (Robert Aramayo) rescues her, but Galadriel thinks Sauron is impersonating him.
She asks him to prove his identity by confirming where they first met.
He replies at the seaside when he was first orphaned.
All Sauron has to do is travel through Galadriel’s mind and scan for the memory of meeting Elrond.
It shows that she now trusts no one after Sauron’s deception.
While Halbrand’s ancestors stood with Morgoth during the Great War, theancestors of the Numenoreansstood with the Elves.
As a reward, the Valar granted them the island.
However, Galadriel notices that Numenor has seen many changes since then, not all of them good.
They’ve ended their friendship with the Elves.
In the meantime, Halbrand steals a guild crest from a smith named Tamar.
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He and his men attack Halbrand for it, provoking him into violently retaliating.
The Numenorean’s prejudice against Galadriel and Halbrand is a bit random in the storyline.
The citizens treat the Elf and her companion as something to be abhorred.
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But why do they detest the Elves so much?
It’s never explained.
Tamar then uses the fight to scare his fellow citizens while protesting.
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Pharazon (Trystan Gravelle) also uses the protest to his advantage and to push his agenda.
The Numenoreans hating the Elves is confusing, especially since it’s unexplained.
Galadriel thinks if they continue north, they’ll come across it again.
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Marking the symbol on the fortress’s anvil and other places the scattered orcs might go is smart.
There’s no point unless his body was left for passing orcs to see.
Has she never been to the Southlands or seen a map of it?
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It’s also a wonder she’s only ever found the symbol twice during her centuries-long hunt for Sauron.
Their ancestors sided with Morgoth primarily out of fear.
Once the Elves depart, though, the Southlands are defenseless to the growing threat of Adar.
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The Southlanders’ history is a little oblique.
They remember their ancestors’ history with Morgoth but not their own royal lineage.
Why doesn’t anyone have it written down?
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Villages like Tirharad or Horden aren’t so destitute that they wouldn’t have at least a few records.
There’s just enoughdetail to keep the Southlands plotmoving.
However, the ambiguity of the Southlands’ royal lineage is glaring.
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Some things should have been omitted from the show’s story, but this is not one of them.
They discover that the village has been decimated, and a tunnel has been dug underneath.
Arondir enters the tunnel but is captured by orcs.
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Eventually, he’s the only one left alive once Adar (Joseph Mawle) spares him.
Carving the miles of trenches along the demolished land must have taken time.
Not to mention, Ostirith has a perfect view of everything in the Southlands.
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It’s a small detail to get confused that makes the story less believable.
They’re one of the last to find the camp full of survivors.
Tirharad isn’t that big.
Theo was with Arondir and Bronwyn during the eruption, so how did he get removed from them?
However, after a while, his trail grew thin.
For many Elves, the pain of the Great War dwindled, but not for Galadriel.
She searched for Sauron for centuries but only learned about the turmoil in the Southlands from Halbrand.
Galadriel knew Sauron’s sigil was leading the orcs to some unknown place but never looked into it.
So it’s no surprise she was clueless about everything concerning the Southlands.
They think they’ve won, having the orc leader and Sauron’s sword hilt.
When they arrive, several volcanic bombs have destroyed the area, including an apple orchard.
Sadoc says that his great-grandfather told him about mountains in the south that could spit fire-rock.
The mountains go to sleep for hundreds of years, only to wake again when a new evil rises.
So, how did the volcanic bombs reach that far?
It seemed the only thing to do was to let the Harfoots know something is amiss down south.
Having the orchard destroyed also allows The Stranger to try and heal something again.
Still, none of this works when looking at the map or thinking about it pragmatically.
Halbrand’s suggestions are so good that Celebrimbor invites him to work on the project.
Not of the flesh, but over flesh."
When she asks Celebrimbor if Halbrand told him that, the smith is too frantic to answer.
After Celebrimbor mentions creating something that is “power over flesh,” Galadriel is instantly suspicious.
Adar only told her that when explaining what Sauron had planned to craft centuries before the Uruk killed him.
So, if Celebrimbor heard the term, surely it had come from Halbrand, who must be Sauron.
It’s a bit of an unexpected jump that seems too convenient and even a little rushed.
She should’ve looked into the Southlands’ lineage months before and would’ve discovered the truth then.
Using this as what gives away Sauron’s identity seems random and almost like an afterthought.
Only Arondir survives, and the orcs take him to Adar, their leader.
Thankfully, Arondir inspires some hope with his plan.
They evacuate the villagers back into town while Arondir waits out Adar and the orcs.
Did he think the villagers would still be there, waiting patiently to be killed?
That the sword hilt would just be waiting there for him?
All this moment manages to do is bring the fight back to Tirharad.
It falls flat in the story arc of the Southlands.
