TV Review: "The Rings of Power: Doomed to Die" (S2, Ep. 7)
The penultimate episode of the second season of "The Rings of Power" is beautiful and heartbreaking, just as one would want from an adaptation of Tolkien.
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Warning: Spoilers ahead!
It hardly seems possible, but here we are nearly at the end of the second season of The Rings of Power. It has certainly been a wild ride this time around, as matters in Eregion have grown ever more tense and terrifying, King Durin has continued his descent into madness under the malign influence of his own Ring of Power, and the various Free Peoples of Middle-earth brace for the darkness looming on the horizon.
Needless to say there’s a lot to say about this past week’s episode, “Doomed to Die,” so let’s just dive right in.
Let’s begin with Eregion, which has long been the emotional heart of this season. It’s been quite chilling to watch Sauron tighten his hold on Celebrimbor, twisting his mind and directing him in the crafting of the Nine. This episode is the apotheosis of this entire storyline, as this being of many names finally reveals many truths to his collaborator, including the fact that he was willing to give of his own divine blood to forge the Nine. This is a chilling revelation for Celebrimbor and, as time will make abundantly clear, in giving something of himself to the Nine Sauron has sown the seeds for his eventual enslavement of the Nine.
Charlie Vickers has always been extraordinary in his role as Sauron, but he really outdoes himself in this episode. He brings out all of the menace and power and charisma that one would expect of one of the most powerful beings still alive in Middle-earth. His beauty, as it turns out, is nothing more than a mask for the malevolence and dominating spirit lurking beneath. When it comes right down to it, he’s willing to sacrifice anyone and everyone who he feels is an impediment, whether it’s poor Mirdania or the Elves that try to stop him.
This episode also showed us, in no uncertain terms, just how manipulative Sauron is and how skillfully he uses bits and pieces of his own biography to justify his cruelty and his imprisonment of Celebrimbor. I actually felt a chill race down my spine at the way he was able to evoke his treatment at Morgoth’s hands to cast himself as the heroic victim in all of this. Not only that, he even goes so far as to tell the poor Elven smith that he alone is the architect of his own misfortune. It takes a creature of titanic hubris and arrogance to make a claim like this, but it’s very much in keeping with the idea of Sauron as the Great Deceiver. As Celebrimbor pithily reminds him, so skilled is he at the arts of deception that he has even managed to delude himself.
And speaking of Celebrimbor…
If Charles Edwards doesn’t get an Emmy nomination for his work in this episode, then there is truly no justice in the world. He brings such remarkable depth to his work in this episode, and he mines every moment for this character’s wrenchingly tragic arc. This is an Elf, after all, who has given all of himself to the forging of the Rings of Power–all in the hope that he can create something enduring, something that will make Middle-earth better–all for it to turn to ashes in his hands. During the course of this episode poor Celebrimbor goes through so many different emotions, from rage to desperation to sadness to determination, that in less capable hands it would feel quite disjointed. So powerful is Edwards as a screen performer, however, that we are more than willing to go along with him on his extraordinary journey. Sauron may have believed that he had the upper hand and that he would win in this battle of wills, but Celebrimbor shows that he is truly the grandson of the great (and equally tragic) Fëanor. Unlike his grandsire, however, he ultimately chooses the light and, while it may be his fate to fall at Sauron’s hands, he’s not going to go down without a fight.
There’s something equally remarkable about the depths of emotion that Robert Aramayo continues to deliver as Elrond. By now we’ve seen him struggle–time and time again–with the heavy burden of betrayal, first by Galadriel and her embrace of the Three and now, in this episode, by the fact that Prince Durin fails to come to the relief of Eregion. I’m sure I’m not the only one who felt their heart break into a thousand tiny pieces as he kept repeating to himself that Durin would come, even though all evidence was pointing to the contrary. Elrond is, we know, one of those people who tries to do what’s right, even at tremendous cost to himself. And, as even Adar himself admits, he has the wisdom of his ancestors in his veins, even if that sometimes isn’t enough to save him from his own tragic arc.
The dramatic irony, of course, is that we in the audience know that there’s a very good reason that Durin has pulled the Dwarf armies back rather than going to the aid of Eregion: his father has gone completely mad and taken his axe to his own people, all in the pursuit of mithril and heedless of the doom of shadow and flame that awaits him. Owain Arthur once again knocks it out of the park with his stirring speech to the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm, in which he invokes their loyalty to the rest of the Free Peoples of Middle-earth. This was another of those scenes in this episode which captured the rousing power that we expect from an adaptation of Tolkien’s works, filling our hearts with spirit and fire. I almost wanted to take up an axe myself and march off to the aid of the beleaguered Free Peoples of Middle-earth. The scene between Elrond and Durin was also a poignant one, giving these two remarkable characters the chance to reforge their sundered friendship. It remains to be seen whether Elrond will be able to forgive Durin for his failure or whether, as seems more likely, he’ll hold onto his bitterness through the rest of the Ages that he spends in Middle-earth.
Even though Morfydd Clark had less to do this episode than in the last few, she’s always a welcome presence. Here, she shows a softer, gentler side, particularly in her moments with Celebrimbor. It would be easy for her to find fault in the other Elf but she, of all of those who are still in Middle-earth, knows all too well how easy it is to fall under the sway of someone like Sauron. Their scenes together are like a gut-punch, for the audience knows, even if they don’t, that there can be no happy ending for Celebrimbor, that the rest of his (short) life will be spent trying to atone for his time helping Sauron in his crafting of the Rings of Power.
And then there’s Adar. If you’re a regular reader of this newsletter, you’ll know that I’ve been a fan of what Sam Hazeldine has been doing with this role from the very first episode, and I’ve loved watching his own slow but steady fall into his own darkness. This continues in this episode, as it becomes ever clearer that he’s willing to destroy his children rather than see them become slaves to Sauron. This is really a remarkable thing for him to admit, since so much of his arc has been focused on saving the Uruk from whatever threatens them. As so often in the world of Tolkien, however, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions and, by the time this is all over, all of his sacrifices and all of his efforts will be for nought. He may no longer be an Elf, but he is bound to the same dark fate as so many of his former brethren.
At a formal level this episode was truly remarkable. While I was impressed with the battle sequences in the first season, this takes things to a whole new level. Watching the shining ranks of the Elves make a doomed charge toward the ranks of the Uruks stirred the blood, and the juxtaposition of light and darkness remarkably effective (the haters can go pound sand if they disagree). “Doomed to Die” also highlighted the grittiness and filth and brutality of the battlefield, making effective use of its vast space to show us the stakes involved in the failed efforts to save Eregion. This is the type of devastating battle scene that you expect to see in a Tolkien adaptation. Its depiction of Elven slaughter reminded me quite a bit of the Battle of Helm’s Deep in Jackson’s The Two Towers, one of the most notable battle scenes in the history of the cinema. The fact that The Rings of Power was able to pull it off on the small screen makes its achievement all the more remarkable (for what it’s worth, I think this outdoes almost anything that Game of Thrones sought to accomplish).
We’ve known even before this season started that it was going to be one filled with darkness and more than a little bit of despair, and so it is in this episode, as the beautiful realm of Eregion is laid waste by Adar and his legions of Orcs. What was once one of the most beautiful of the Elven realms still in Middle-earth is now reduced to nothing more than ash, thanks to Sauron’s manipulation and Adar’s stubborn pride, Elrond’s faith in the Dwarves and the fall of a Dwarven king into greed and Ring-induced madness. It’s hard to see how things could get any worse for our beloved heroes, as each of them–including dear, sweet Arondir–find out that there really is a lot of truth to Adar’s remark that one should never start a war in anger.
Yet if Tolkien’s writings show us anything, it’s that one must never give in, one must never set aside the commitment to the light and the fight for what is right and noble and true, even (especially!) when it seems as if all of that effort will come to naught. Instead, as Celebrimbor so powerfully says, one must always seek out and embrace the light, for it alone has the power to dispatch the darkness.
I think it’s safe to say that this was, by far, the best episode of The Rings of Power that we’ve so far seen and, given how strong this season in general has been, that’s quite a feat. There were a few things that left me a little cold–I continue to struggle with the idea that any of the Three, particularly Nenya, would ever be used as a weapon, but this is a conceit in which Jackson also indulges, and I really do think that Mirdania deserved a better send-off than that she got–but over all this episode was everything I could have wished for and more. I was quite literally on the edge of my seat, uncertain how this was going to pan out, nervous to see who was going to live and who was going to die. The Rings of Power may not be quite the misery-fest that both Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon are now infamous for being, but that doesn’t mean that everyone is going to make it out of this season, or this show, alive. It is precisely the possibility that many will die, including those we love, like Arondir, that gives this show its extraordinary dramatic stakes.
By now it should be clear that I am very much looking forward to whatever the series has in store for us in its second season finale. I must say, though, that I’m a little uncertain about just how, or whether, The Rings of Power will be able to wrap everything up in a way that feels unforced and satisfying. After all, we’ve hardly seen the Stranger or Númenor this season, to say nothing of Círdan or Gil-galad. Still, if this season of The Rings of Power has shown us anything, it’s that we should never underestimate J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay.