Spoiler Review Of ‘The Rings Of Power’ Season Finale
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WARNING: SPOILERS FOR SEASON 1 OF THE RINGS OF POWER
The Rings of Power has concluded its first season. Rings were forged, and secrets were revealed in a shocking and emotional finale. The final episode consisted of many twists, some of which fans have theorized, and others came as a complete surprise. It also included some big reveals, with the biggest one being who Sauron is.
A red herring was thrown at us at the beginning of the episode. The mysterious people in white finally found The Stranger and started worshiping him as the Dark Lord Sauron. However, he was not Sauron. It was actually Halbrand. Yes, the mysterious man Galadriel met on the raft is the Dark Lord himself. Many things in the episode alluded to his being Sauron. The first was when he walked into the Celebrimbor’s forge. It is known that Sauron, or Annatar, influenced Celebrimbor while creating the rings of power. Later, we would hear Celebrimbor say “not the flesh, but over flesh.” This made Galadriel suspicious as Adar had pointed out in Episode 6 that Sauron “sought to craft a power not of the flesh, but over flesh.”
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Galadriel became concerned and searched for more information about the Southlands kings. She discovered that the bloodline had died out thousands of years ago, and there was no king, contrary to what Halbrand has been saying. They got into a fight, she fell under his mind manipulation.
In one of the moments, the two were back on the raft. This scene was absolutely gorgeous, as the skies behind them represent their characters. It was light blue and cloudy behind Galadriel, and dark and stormy behind Halbrand. They looked down into the water, and they saw the outline of the Sauron in his full armor, which fans are familiar with. This was a great way to finally reveal who Sauron is. Fortunately, Sauron’s manipulation did not work, and Galadriel refused to join him. Charlie Vickers and Morfydd Clark did an excellent job bringing out their characters’ emotions here.
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On the other side of Middle-earth, the Harfoots showed us that good can prevail despite all the evil going o naround them. The Harfoots utilized their skills to fight the people in white to save The Stranger. The “leader” of the Harfoots, Sadoc Burrows, however, got caught in the crossfire and died. He was joined by Poppy, Nori, and Nori’s mother as he fulfilled his last wish to watch the sunrise. It was a beautiful bittersweet scene. With the help of Nori, The Stranger was able to utilize his full power and destroy the people in white. In the end, Nori left her family and Poppy in an emotional scene, to follow The Stranger on his journey. It is unclear who this man is, although it is leaning toward Gandalf especially when he told Nori to “follow your nose.” This was exactly what Gandalf told Merry in Fellowship of the Ring. However, in Tolkien’s canon, Gandalf did not exist in the Second Age, so Amazon would definitely be taking some creative liberties if this character turned out to be Gandalf.
Not every storyline reached conclusion in the season finale. There were no signs of the Dwarves nor the Men of what was once the Southlands. Back in Numenor, Eärien was about to uncover the Palantír, before it switched scenes. Isildur was out there somewhere as well, waiting to return. Hopefully, we get more of these characters and their stories in Season 2.
Finally, the three rings for the elves were created. Everything led up to this moment. Things were finally looking up for the Elves. Then, the camera moved to Halbrand in Mordor, heading toward Mount Doom. The scene was dark, and terrifying, especially since fans already know what is coming. It will be exciting to see more of his story in the coming seasons, and how he becomes the Dark Lord Sauron that we all know.
This finale was spectacular. The cinematography was incredible. Bear McCreary delivered an impressive score and Fiona Apple’s song was the perfect conclusion to the episode and the season. Season 2 is a long way off, but I cannot wait to see what is in store.
Image Source: Nerdist
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