TV Review: ‘The Rings of Power’ Episode 4

It seems that we’ve finally met all of the show’s major characters by the end of Episode 3, so now in Episode 4 we start to delve deeper into the relationships and events already introduced. We spend a lot of time on Númenor in this episode, where we see new alliances form and some explanation on the White Tree. The White Tree is a symbol of the Valar, and eventually Isildur will take a seed from the tree in Númenor to plant in the future Minas Ithil of Gondor, and the tree will become Gondor’s motif. Queen Regent Míriel views the falling blooms of the White Tree as a sign that she should unite forces with Galadriel and the Elves to hunt down and fight Sauron, who is slowly gathering power in the Southlands. Míriel is convinced that Númenor will soon be destroyed because of a vision granted by a palantir, so Galadriel directs Míriel’s fear into a will to fight rather than her inclination to keep Númenor separated from the politics of Middle-earth. And thus Galadriel, from Halbrand’s wisdom, gains allies to join her in returning to Middle-earth.

We’ve heard several references now of the Valar, so I think it’s time for a short history lesson on them, which will illuminate some valuable information about Sauron and The Stranger as well. It all begins with Eru Ilúvatar, the first being in existence who created everything to come. He first created beings called the Ainur, who he tasked with creating the world. The Valar were the fourteen most powerful Ainur who created the world, but they still needed Eru himself to breathe life into the Dwarves, Elves, and Men. The lesser Ainur were called the Maiar and they served the Valar. When Sauron was growing too powerful, five of the Maiar were sent to Middle-earth to pose as Wizards in order to help the various beings of Middle-earth destroy Sauron. I’ve mentioned those five Wizards before while discussing The Stranger, as he is most likely one of them: Saruman, Gandalf, Radagast, or one of the two Blue Wizards.

So their humanoid Wizard forms are not the true nature of the Wizards we know, thus explaining how Gandalf was able to come back to life with the help of his fellow Maiar. Going back to the Valar, there was a fifteenth Valar called Melkor, or Morgoth, who spent too much time away from his fellow Valar and became corrupt in his quest for power. And so Morgoth was incredibly difficult to destroy because he was Ainur- a powerful primordial spirit. As it’s customary for the Valar to have Maiar serving beneath them, Morgoth had a star pupil named Mairon, who specialized in smithing. Mairon loved order and perfection and sought to control the minds of those in Middle-earth for their own benefit, but his original intent was corrupted by Morgoth, and so Mairon eventually became Sauron. And thus it takes thousands of years to kill Sauron because he is also Ainur, like Gandalf.

There is an overwhelming amount of lore surrounding these major characters, but understanding the basics of Middle-earth’s earliest history helps us understand how characters like Sauron and Gandalf are as powerful as they are. Sauron was not a Man who was simply clever enough to gain a lot of power- he was already an immortal being who found a way to attach his essence to the One Ring when his mortal form was destroyed. But in between major events recounted in Tolkien’s various books and documents, there are still large chunks of history where we don’t know exactly what Sauron was up to- hence the mystique around Adar and whether or not he will turn out to be Sauron. The lore tells us that Sauron is able to alter his appearance, so at this point he could be anyone. But even though Adar is probably loyal to Sauron, I doubt that he himself is Sauron since it feels a bit early to introduce the main villain. I suspect that Adar is simply sympathetic to Sauron’s cause and is doing his bidding to conquer the Southlands and retrieve the sword hilt that Theo found. Now that Adar’s interaction with Arondir confirms that Adar means “father”, we still don’t know if he feels that he’s a symbolic father to the Orcs, or if it’s a direct reference to another character in particular. I saw a theory that he may be Theo’s father, which could make sense with Bronwyn being a friend to Elves and Adar being an Elf. It could also have something to do with why Theo is so drawn to the sword hilt. But for now, we can only speculate on Adar and his larger identity.

The scenes with the Dwarves mining mithril were really interesting. If you watched Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, we saw mithril made into a chain mail shirt worn by Bilbo and then by Frodo, and that shirt saved Frodo from being pierced by a spear in Moria. We also saw mithril inlaid in the West-gate of Moria- which is where the Fellowship of the Ring enters Moria by speaking “friend” in an Elvish tongue. The Elves liked to fashion jewelry with milthril, as evidenced by one of the three Elven Rings of Power, which we will surely see at some point during this show. So now, hundreds of years earlier, we’re seeing mithril mined for the first time and a small piece given to Elrond. Unfortunately, we already know that the mining of mithril will eventually awaken a Balrog, but for now the Dwarves of Moria will continue to safely mine it for hundreds of years and thus acquire great wealth. Apparently, Sauron also covets mithril, so it will be interesting to see if the show includes Sauron’s search for it after its discovery becomes widely known. For now, it remains a secret between Prince Durin and Disa, who discovered it. Disa had some wonderful scenes in this episode, in particular when she “resonates” in a call to the rocks to deliver the endangered miners alive. Sophia Nomvete who plays Disa actually helped compose the beautiful song that she sings. Everything I learn about Nomvete makes me love her more.

For the next episode, I’m hoping to get some more answers about Adar’s past and his future plans. I would love for the Númenóreans to reach the Southlands in time to help Bronwyn’s people fight Adar and his Orcs, but I don’t think that would make much sense logistically since the Númenóreans have a long way to travel and Adar is very close already. But perhaps Gil-galad received word of the Orcs in the Southlands and is sending help himself- one can hope! Bronwyn’s people certainly don’t have the strength or resources to fight on their own. I would also like to see more of Elendil, who will probably be a primary leader for the Númenórean troops. And since we didn’t see the Harfoots at all in this episode, we better get some long scenes with them next time or I’ll riot. It would be nice to see them settle in their new encampment and learn to be friends with The Stranger. We’re now halfway through this season, so I can’t wait to see how some things may be wrapped up.