Episode 1 of Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power was a delightful and powerful way to break into Prime Video’s newest series, the action and emotion only get ramped up in episode 2. As does the development of the overarching plot. This review will contain spoilers for the second episode of Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power.

Story

We open on the man in a crater, the mystery of who this man is carried on throughout the episode but the current theory is that he is a wizard, perhaps one we didn’t see in the Lord of the Rings films. Or perhaps one we did and we already love. 

We get a lot more of Nori in this episode as she helps this mystery man, who she is as a character, and what drives her is revealed. She is a very sweet and caring girl who craves adventure and wants more out of her life. Very much the Bilbo/Frodo Baggins character. She is very smart and just wants more, a very relatable main character motivation.

Possibly mentioned before but Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power serves as a very good entry point for new fans who haven’t seen Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit as it does a great job of defining the terms of Middle Earth and its people and races. 

Character Development

Perhaps some of the best character development and interaction were done in the scenes between Elrond and Durin (Owain Arthur). The power struggle that was really just veiled frustration at missing a friend, the heart and emotion from Durin when talking about Elrond missing the important moments in his life were so beautifully depicted. Male friendships in Lord of the Rings have always been an incredible part of the series and the fact that Rings of Power carries on that tradition is very important to take note of. 

Also seeing the Dwarven city under the mountain at full power was beautiful, the production design on this show is incredibly impressive and certainly lives up to Lord of the Rings.

Galadriel is saved by a group of men after jumping ship, they are quickly attacked by a sea creature and soon it is down to just her and one man. Seeing this partnership develop is going to be interesting because they are both forced to deal with differences between their races as well as the stress of their situation.

The ending of the episode is the king holding a leaf taken over by darkness, making it even harder for him to deny what lies within Middle Earth. Watching the lore that is used within Lord of the Rings develop is really cool. This show is going to make fans love Lord of the Rings even more than they already do. Rings of Power definitely stands on its own but it still enriches the world it comes from and we have very high hopes for this series.