The first two episodes of The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power were brilliantly paced, immersive, and captivating. Rings of Power, Episode 3 brings more action, and the beginning of our plot, character, and big bad (Sauron) development.

The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power, Episode 3

After setting such a high bar for the show, the internet was divided after the first two episodes.  Of course, there were the people who review bombed and complained without ever watching the show in the first place, and then there were the hopeful skeptics. The latter hopefully got everything that they wanted out of the premiere of this series. The third episode brings more action, and the beginning of our plot, character, and big bad (Sauron) development.

Galadriel and her human companion are saved by a ship of Numenor, a place that once regarded Elves with praise and respect. But Galadriel’s arrival was not welcome. In fact, the queen of Numenor seemed to have nothing but hostility and contempt for our Elven warrior. It’s revealed at the end of the episode that like most hate, their contempt is driven by fear. We simply don’t know what they are afraid of yet, but a good guess would be the sheer power of the elves. This moment was very specific though, the queen says “THE elf has arrived” implying that they were specifically fearing Galadriel. 

The Search for Sauron

Our time in Numenor also gave us some great relationship development for Galadriel. The audience has seen her be a very one-track mind thus far. Entirely focused on finding and killing Sauron. In this episode, we get to see her take a look at the big picture. The captain that saves her takes her to Numenor’s house of lore where Galadriel puts the pieces together. The sigil she’s been following is actually a map of the Southlands, where orcs are supposedly doing Sauron’s bidding.

Speaking of the Southlands, elves are being enslaved there, by orcs. The orcs seem to be looking for something, or someone. The in-universe theory is that the orcs are also looking for Sauron. The final scene where the elves try to escape their enslavement was a little rough. Elves are warriors, they are battle born and the way the scene was written was tactically shallow. The elves were all attacking one at a time which was proven very inefficient. Though the design of the elves could have been more consistent, the look doesn’t take you out of the story. However, elves not acting like elves might throw you out of the universe. 

The balancing of multiple main characters

The balancing of multiple main characters can be very difficult to write but for the most part, the pacing and continuity are wonderful. Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power is going to have the same problem Game of Thrones did in that if a single story lingers for too long the audience starts to miss the other characters. For example, there was no appearance of Elrond or Durin in this episode. But we are also starting to see how this show is going to be five seasons, theoretically leading up to where The Hobbit would begin. The forging of the rings, the forging of The Ring, the rise and fall of Sauron, and the immediate aftermath. 

Nori is incredible, her storyline is so classic Tolkien as well as being wholly universal it’s grounded and really cuts to the heartstrings. She had two just incredible lines in this episode-

“Without friends, what are we surviving for?” and “I know I’m not special”. Markella Kavenagh is utterly amazing, her delivery for both of those lines was so raw and beautiful. The rest of the races in this story seem to be intertwining their stories already. Whereas the hobbits remain entirely independent, seemingly unaware of Sauron and the rest of what their world is up to. 

Overall Rings of Power Episode 3 had some flaws in the world-building that these little battles are supposed to provide but as a whole the character and plot building was amazing. We also got introduced to Isildur, so it’s really nice to get real background on characters that just kind of appeared in Lord of the Rings in passing.