The Rings of Power – Partings Review

With the aptly named “Partings,” The Rings of Power officially pushed each of its four storylines into second gear. While I am still struggling to find a connection worth rooting for in the Southlands section of the series (Arondir and Bronwyn continue to be more archetypal cyphers than actual characters), this was the first week where the Harfoot wing of the story felt like it truly belonged alongside the Galadriel and Elrond portions – inching us ever closer to the suspected identity of The Stranger and what he may bring to Middle Earth as a whole.

Let’s touch briefly on Adar’s plans to conquer the Southlands – a plan we still don’t quite know enough about at this stage, other than he desperately wants that “key” of a broken sword and that he plans to turn the Southlands into a land of darkness. Now, we know that this is where Mordor will one day stand – a land of darkness, full of Orcs and other such dangers, under the watchful eye of Sauron – but we still have some time until things should get that dire (after all, I doubt Prime Video wants the series to butt up against The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit in the immediate future). So, it stands to reason that something – or someone – will arrive that will quell this particular uprising for the moment. Now, for that to be a satisfying victory, we’re going to need to learn a lot more about Arondir, Bronwyn, Theo, and Adar. And that much expositional work is a tricky thing to knit together – especially when the rest of the series has already managed to ground its story within its specific character set. With these characters occupying the future key battle ground of this epic tale, we need to understand the stakes and the people involved in trying to keep this land safe from those who wish to harm it. It’s clear that Adar is incredibly dangerous, but we need to know more about what his end goals are – and how he went from being a normal Elf to whatever he has become – if we are to truly grasp just what is happening here.

Now, onto the major surprise of the episode – at least for me. It turns out that you can make the Harfoots interesting and compelling – you simply need to put them at the mercy of the mysterious Stranger to do so. The introduction of the creepy, pale three women who were seen searching the crater where The Stranger fell to Middle Earth certainly seem to suggest that he’s far more sinister in origin than the wizard some fans have guessed. Now, perhaps he is a good guy and these creepy ladies are evil seeking to stop him from doing good. However, I suspect The Stranger is, in actuality, Sauron, and these are three mystical individuals looking to find him and take him back to power. After all, I don’t really think The Rings of Power is trying to be a puzzle box show – I don’t think it’s trying to confuse and surprise us with anything. Man falls from the sky and forms a crater that looks an awful lot like the Eye of Sauron? Then it might just be Sauron. It certainly helps this theory that The Stranger’s arm turned an eerie black when he managed to save the Harfoots from the wolves – that’s not a good sign – and that what he took from his conversation with Nori was that he brings peril – again, not what I would want to hear coming from a very powerful man who doesn’t know the limits of his own power.

Speaking of powerful individuals, good god is High King Gil-galad a jerk. I mean, we knew this from his treatment of Galadriel (and his foolish desire to pretend darkness has left the lands so that he can keep his people believing they are safe when he full well knows things are getting more and more dire by the day), but oof. I’m intrigued to watch how Elrond handles the coming episodes. He was, essentially, lied to so that he could use his friendship with Durin to see if the Dwarves had managed to mine mithril. And then when the truth was revealed to him, he was tasked with trying to ensure that Durin wouldn’t get too angry and would allow him the chance to get that highly prized metal in the hopes of savings the Elves. No small task and while he’s acquitted himself well thus far, it’s interesting to see how open, trusting, and diplomatic he is at this stage of his life – especially knowing how shrewd he will become as time goes on. And then there’s Durin, still my favorite character, who now has the chance to do the one thing he’s been afraid to thus far: Stand up to his father. I’m more and more intrigued by this story as the episodes go by. After all, we know the Elves will get mithril – and that they won’t wither and die – so seeing how this comes to pass should be an interesting story encompassing some of the series’ most interesting characters.

And then there’s the political intrigue in Númenór. Now, I’ll admit that I’m still not completely sure why Eärien was so hellbent on stopping her father and Isildur (not to mention the rest of the Númenórean fleet) heading to Middle Earth (perhaps she got into it but I missed it), but I appreciate the series taking the time to show us that there are still clear divides in Númenór that will eventually lead to the island’s destruction. And, tipping Pharazôn’s hand at this early stage in the game was also a smart move. He’s not going to go against Mírel at this stage of the game, but he’s focused solely on what this coming fight can do to promote him in the eyes of the people and how it can help him gain power. Setting up that facet of his personality now, while there’s still time to go before he will need to go full heel is a smart move on the part of the writers. If we know he wants power and sees a path to obtaining it, that’s enough to keep us watching him to see just how far he will go. As for Galadriel, it appears her faith in Halbrand was not, after all, misplaced. While Halbrand’s “hero’s journey” is one of several in the story (something that will make the show all the more interesting – having multiple characters on their own distinct hero’s journeys), it’s closeness to the Aragon arc in The Lord of the Rings might cause some to be a little less interested in it. I think we’ve got quite a ways to go before we can claim Halbrand a hero – and he still needs to come clean about what betrayal he committed that sent him on the run in the first place, but it’s off to an interesting start.

All-in-all, “Partings” saw our characters making key decisions that will push the story forward at a nice clip. With so many on the move or about to face complex battles – both with weapons and with words – this is shaping up to be a great final stretch of episodes. I was wary about The Rings of Power when it began, but thus far, it’s the best fantasy epic currently airing on television.