“Rings of Power” - Episode 7 Review

Story posted October 11, 2022 in CommRadio, Sports by Ethan Hetrick

Instead of calling the episode “The Eye” they should call it 'The Monologue' because that is all that happened in this episode.

The reason why there were so many monologues is because it is the penultimate episode and the show needed to be this way to build up the finale. All the monologuing furthered the plot to set up the season finale, but the episode could've used some a little action to keep it entertaining.

The biggest fault is that there was too much talking. This isn’t to say that monologue sequences don’t work in a show because dialogue is important, just look at “Mad Men” for examples of that, but the old English just felt tiring and hard for an average viewer to keep their attention on. Especially since every monologue ended the same way: a message of hope.

That was the overall theme of the episode. No matter how bad things got, every character remained hopeful. At times it seemed to fit well like the Harfoots rallying together at the end of the episode to save the Stranger but at other times it did not work. For example, after the Mount Doom eruption from the last episode the Queen Regent Míriel is blinded and remains hopeful that humans/elves can win back the Southlands. It felt out of character because she was opposed to saving the Southlands for the majority of the show.

Enough of the monologuing in the episode. Onto the brief recap of the show.

Let’s start with the Southland folk after the eruption of Mount Doom. Surprisingly, the majority of the main cast survived the eruption, but Galadriel and Theo were separated.

Galadriel and Theo were stuck back in the main battle village of the previous episode, and they had to sneak out of town without being caught by the orcs, which they successfully did. This also provided the first speech that makes Galadriel be more than a warrior but caring to a kid. She provided him with a warrior spirit and courage to wisely fight rather than being reckless which is a nice change of pace.

Eventually, they regroup with the surviving Southlands members. In one of the most impressive yet vile make up work, the audience gets to see many survivors severely burned. Luckily, Theo finds out his mother also survived.

Meanwhile, Galadriel regroups with the leaders of the Númenóreans. Although the Queen is blinded, she vows that the Númenóreans will aid the Southlands once she gets more troops from home. This story ends with Galadriel heading back to the elves to get them to aid in the upcoming battle.

The next part of the story is the dwarves and Elrond.

Elrond and Prince Durin IV mine for Mithril and have a nice heart to heart. This shows their friendship is in full swing again, but King Durin III stops them. The King is in full rage that they are mining against his wishes and Elrond is banned from the Dwarven kingdom.

The King and the Prince had a heart to heart but after Prince Durin brings up his mother to try to convince his father to help save the elves and to continue mining, this angered the king so much that he disowned his son. King Durin says that its too dangerous and casts his son off.

The Prince and his wife speak but after a speech from his wife, the prince is convinced to continue mining even if it means overthrowing his father.

Before this plotline is finished, the king throws a leaf down a hole and a monster is seen down there. The very monster that “The Lord of The Rings” and “The Hobbit” foreshadow as the downfall of the Dwarven kingdom. That is something to look forward to in the finale.

The last story follows the Harfoots.

The forest has lost the plentiful crops that provided food for the group and The Stranger walks up to a tree and it starts to catch fire, then all the trees catch fire. Nori and the rest fear him and stop him from burning down the forest. Afterwards, they banish him, but in the morning all the trees have rebloomed and provide food once more. The Stranger helped the Harfoots which brought faith to the Harfoots to help strangers once more.

Later that night, three beings in white cloaks show up and are searching for The Stranger. Nori happily shows them where he went. They repay the favor by burning down the forest and leave. After some despair, Nori rallies the Harfoots to go warn and save the Stranger.

Before the episode ends, the audience sees the Southlands as a wasteland and the title card changes the location from Southlands to Mordor.

The reveal of Mordor and the beast in the mountains lead to an exciting conclusion for the season. Although this episode had its flaw of being boring, its buildup to the final seems to be exciting due to a massive battle that is ensuing. Will it happen, the audience will just have to wait until next week to find out.

Rating: 3/5

Ethan Hetrick is a second-year communications major. To contact him, email eth5186@psu.edu.