Welcome to this week’s Ending Explained for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Episode 4. The most expensive show ever produced has become a quite controversial appointment every Friday. The show has been bombarded by members of the audience calling it “woke” among other things, and the fan base has been split in half thanks to the many changes the show has done to the lore created by Tolkien. Only time will tell if the show can remain as successful as on its release date, but we are doubtful that those numbers will remain the same throughout the season.
Episode 4 really slows things down a lot. If you thought past episodes were slow or boring, then Episode 4 will definitely put you to sleep. The episode follows the storylines of Galadriel, Elrond, Durin, and Arondir to some extent. However, these storylines move really slowly, and for an episode that is almost 70 minutes long, it feels like The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power might not have as much story as it should, and it is starting to stretch things quite a bit.
The following paragraphs contain spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Episode 4. Read at your own risk.
Is Galadriel Able To Leave Númenor?
In the previous episode, Galadriel and Halbrand found themselves trapped on the island of Numenor, a mysterious island once given to humans by the elves for helping in the war against Morgoth. However, now the humans living on the island don’t want to have anything to do with the world from the outside. So when Galadriel arrives, they immediately treat her as a hostile force. Galadriel doesn’t help her case, either, as she antagonizes the Queen of Numenor very quickly after arriving on the island.
This episode begins with Queen Miriel having a vision of a great wave that will sink Numenor, destroying everything in its way. Numenor was very much inspired by the myth of Atlantis, so Tolkien didn’t stray too much from the original source and gave Numenor the same destiny as Atlantis. At some point in the future, Numenor will fall. The great wave will come, and that will be it for the island and its inhabitants. Queen Miriel wants to prevent this vision from becoming true, but she clearly doesn’t know how to do that.
Miriel is afraid of losing grasp of her power on the island. She is only Queen because she managed to take power after her father, and the king stopped appearing in front of the people. The King is quite sick and will soon die, so Miriel is afraid to act without her father’s counsel. Galadriel discovers this truth and manages to convince Miriel that the Queen and Numenor’s power will be needed in the incoming war against the darkness. Against Sauron. The Queen decides in the end that she will send a mission to Middle-Earth, to help Galadriel find Sauron and stop him.
Galadriel learns to be a bit more diplomatic from Halbrand, and she is also ready to let humans help her on her quest. Elendil is chosen to lead the man who will go to Middle-Earth. Isildur, Elendil’s son, also decides to go along with his father. Both father and son will become kings of the realms of men in the future, so it is cool to see them having such humble starts. The mission to Middle-Earth will part in ten days.
What Is Theo’s Dark Sword?
So, Galadriel manages to get Numenor’s forces on her side, but what about the other people going around in the show? The next most important storyline in this episode involves Elrond, and Durin. The dwarfs are helping with Celebrimbor’s project, but Elrond finds something odd about Durin’s behavior. He goes to Khazan-Dun to get answers and only finds dismissals. Finally, Durin accepts that he is hiding something from Elrond, and he chooses to trust him.
The big mystery is that Durin has been mining a mysterious vein in the city. There, Durin has found a new ore, one that is light like a feather, but stronger than any other metal. It is an ore that seems to have light inside of it. The new ore being discovered here is, of course, Mithril. The special material from which Frodo will receive chain mail made from it, a chain mail that will save his life as he goes through Moria. However, the mining of this mysterious vein seems to be also related to the apparition of the Balrog in Minas Moria. The dwarves mined too deep, Gandalf said.
Back in the Southlands, another storyline is taking place. Here we find that Andar is an elf serving Sauron. He leaves Arondir alive to send a message to the humans, that if they don’t leave soon, they will come and kill all of them. Arondir leaves, and on his way, he saves Theo, Bronwyn’s son, who was back in town looking for food. Theo has a dark sword that can only work when he gives blood to it. When he goes back to the watch tower, he meets an old man who tells him that Sauron is coming and that they will need to be prepared.
It seems that Sauron has more followers than initially thought. He has Andar, an elf, on his side, and also human followers as well. Sauron’s reign of terror is about to begin.
