As the first season of Rings of Power comes to a close, the uneven yet incredible series continues the Lord of the Rings tradition of multiple satisfying endings. The grand finale eschews the traditional sword and sorcery spectacle in favor of moving character growth and long-awaited answers to massive questions.
As everyone knows, Rings of Power had the second season order greenlit before its first episode aired. The season finale, directed once again by Wayne Che Yip and written by Gennifer Hutchison and showrunners J. D. Payne & Patrick McKay, had a lot of ground to cover. "Alloyed" manages to close the season well and leave the audience excited for the upcoming follow-up.
Rings of Power was criticized for its unusual pacing in the early episodes, but as the second half kicked into gear, it moved with impressive speed and grace. Episodes six and seven brought an impressive climax and moving emotional aftermath to the screen, leaving the final episode to close out the multiple storylines. Fans have had questions since the first trailers. Just about every character with a speaking part has been accused of being Sauron. The answers to most of the big questions finally come in "Alloyed", and not only are they satisfying in their closure, but they also leave the door open for a fascinating season 2.
"Alloyed" opens with the moment everyone has been waiting for. The mysterious robed trio approaches the Stranger who fell from the stars and proclaims him to be Sauron. The big reveal comes with many new questions, but, the Stranger seems unwilling to accept the title they give him. Nori and her fellow Harfoots work to rescue the Stranger. It's a struggle between a handful of untrained little folks against godlike warriors with incredible magical powers. The series has been a little more liberal with its use of magic than the typical Tolkien work, but it's always come in interesting new directions. Sure enough, when the Stranger finds his true power, even the revelations from the episode take a harsh turn. The Harfoot side of the narrative has felt the most like a Lord of the Rings film, and its satisfying ending lays the groundwork for a very familiar type of adventure next season.
As Nori and her family deal with the sudden influx of evil magic, Galadriel and Halbrand join Elrond and Celebrimbor in their efforts to make use of Mythril. The show has a lot of fun teasing the audience with the eventual reveal of the eponymous rings. King Gil-Galad calls off the project and prepares to whisk the Elves back to their ancestral homeland, but Elrond manages to work out an absurdly brief time limit to play with. With a ticking clock over their head, Halbrand joins the effort to forge something useful out of the crucial material. The strongest aspect of this storyline is the gradual push-pull of the various minds in the room. Elrond, Galadriel, Celebrimbor, and Halbrand earn some real depth in this episode. Even the tiniest exchanges of dialogue communicate so much about these people.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about the success of Rings of Power is what it makes out of what it has. It's a work of art that pulls and reforges elements from the source material in much the same way that Tolkien pulled from old mythology. Like Celebrimbor forging the Mythril into rings, the writers, directors, and showrunners take brilliant raw material and alloy it with something new to give the world a new experience. The show can't avoid comparisons to Peter Jackson's films, but it really is a different project. Direct adaptations aren't easy, but, Rings of Power isn't just tasked with bringing beloved content to life. It's working with material that has popularly been considered extraneous if not unnecessary for decades. Imagine taking parts of a beloved story that many people simply didn't care about, weaving them together with new ideas, and tying the entire thing into a satisfying season of TV. The crew behind Rings of Power took that task and succeeded beyond the wildest expectations of many.
Rings of Power is a wonderful adventure that serves as both a fitting return and a new vision to the beloved world of Middle-earth. Now that the season is done, there is so much interesting room to grow as the show goes into what could be years of future stories. From epic fantasy battles to the charming comedic hijinks of pastoral little life, Rings of Power has found what people love in the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. It's a joy for fans without feeling overly reliant on references or callbacks. It's a wonderful show in its own right that still has the source material in its blood. Everything from the poetic writing, to the stellar score, to the incredible action, to the sheer visual spectacle makes Rings of Power a joy to behold. Rings of Power is absolutely enchanting, and we can't wait to see what else Middle-earth has in store.