Rings of Power: See what happened in Episode 8

Considered a drag at the beginning, Rings of Power delivers a lot in the last few episodes and especially in the season final. With many mysteries revealed, twists, great songs and references to the lore of Lord of the Rings, the 8th episode of the series makes everything we've seen so far worth it and leaves us looking forward to the next season.

WARNING: Contains spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power

Remember the previous episode

After bloody battles, great loss of life on the part of the human alliance with Galadriel and Numenoreans and the success of Adar's operation in the Southlands, the 6th episode, called "The eye“, deals with loss and grief.

We see the pain of defeat, especially in Galadriel, who sees her life goal and struggle for centuries ending in resounding failure. Also, we have confirmation: the Southern Lands are renamed and known from then on as Mordor, yet another great human defeat.

The loss can also be seen through the elves, who have their request to the dwarves for Mithril mining aid denied by King Durin. Prince Durin ends up fighting with his father for believing that his refusal in this endeavor is a way of going against the progress and future of his race, which causes the King to remove him from the title of prince. In the end, we see that the King is right, deep in the mines of Mithril we find a Balrog, probably the one we see in the first film of the trilogy Lord of the Rings.

Episode 8: Choices and How They Can Change Our Destiny

The big theme of this final episode and, more broadly, of the Lord of the Rings series as well, is about choices. In the original books and films, we are introduced to characters who, in the final moments, surprise us with choices that subvert expectations. An example of this is Boromir, who was against the quest to sneak into Mordor to destroy the ring due to the danger of the quest and is even lured into stealing the ring for himself, but sacrifices himself to save Frodo, whom he has always shown distrust and a certain disdain. At season finale, we see how characters' choices can completely alter their fate and the world around them.

The Stranger is Sauron?!

The episode begins by following the Stranger on his quest for his identity, being hunted by the group of still-mysterious figures who had attacked the Hairyfoot in search of him. When they reach him, they reveal something surprising to everyone: Strange is actually Sauron. From then on, they begin to perform a ritual to recover the memory he had lost when he was “expelled” (although they did not explain exactly by whom or how), but they did not count on the insistence of the Stranger’s little friends, who interrupt with stones.

The priestesses then proceed to attack the Hairyfeet and mortally wound them. Zadok, the elder, but Nori manages to take the magic staff from dweller and goes on to ask for help from the Stranger, who has already accepted being a bad person and that the girl should not get involved with him. Nori then insists and says that we are what we choose to do, which manages to convince him and we watch him use his magic against his pursuers.

With a ray of white light, he reveals their true form, very similar to what we see in Nazgal, followers of Sauron, in the Lord of the Rings trilogy: white ethereal forms on a different plane from the world visible to all. It is revealed that the Stranger is not the Dark Lord Sauron, but a istar: The Stranger is a mage! He then defeats them, turning them into butterflies or moths, dissipating into the air, a type of magic we've already seen used by a specific mage.

After we said goodbye painfully to Zadok, we are taken back to the Hairyfoot camp, and we see the Stranger tell Nori that he is going on a journey to Rhûn, the place that the dweller said to be his origin after seeing the map he carries. The girl initially says that she was tired of adventures, but after her family encourages her to go with her friend, the girl decides to accompany him.

At this point, we have another indication of who the Stranger should be: when deciding which direction to take to start the new adventure, the wizard says that when in doubt, we should always follow our nose. This phrase is important because it is a phrase already said in the original trilogy by none other than Gandalf! Yeah, we're probably seeing how Gandalf the Gray emerged in Middle-earth.

Galadriel's Choices

The other focus of the episode is the elves core, with the arrival of Galadriel to Valinor, their homeland. After riding for 6 days without rest, she arrives with a convalescent Halbrand and is greeted by the King. Gilgalad, not happy with your arrival, and your friend Elrond. After her partner is taken in for medical attention, she receives information about what has happened since his departure.

We see that Gil-galad does not believe that there is salvation for Valinor, not even with Mithril, and begins to plan the exodus of his people, but is convinced by Elrond to give him a chance. Celebrityimbor and its ability to create a solution to the problem. With an unknown material and in small quantities at hand, the elven craftsman saw all attempts at creation with Mithril frustrated.

At that moment, a half rim now much healthier, he starts working with Celebrimbor, for whom he reveals to have a great admiration. In one of these interactions, we see him suggest mixing the metal with others to form a metal alloy and increase its quantity. He then tells the elf to consider it a gift and it will prove important later on. Seeing the interaction between the two, Galadriel asks them to secretly seek the lineage of kings of the Southlands.

When the elf receives the parchment with the bloodline, she confronts Halbrand: the lineage of kings had been broken millennia ago. Then who is Halbrand in the end? who bet on Sauron, the Lord of Gifts (I said the gift was important) or of Darkness, got it right. That's where we're brought to the main point of the episode, brought by Sauron himself to Galadriel: her choices brought him back, safe and sound. It was she who saved him in the middle of the sea, she who convinced him to fight Adar, she who healed him after he was on the verge of death. Galadriel's choices had the opposite effect.

As Nori said earlier, it didn't matter to Galadriel who Halbrand was and what he would have done (and he warned him that he had a bad past), what mattered was his actions and their common goal. And so Sauron proposes that they save Middle-earth together as King and Queen (look at the ship live there)! “Save or rule?” asks the elf. To Sauron, they are the same thing.

Galadriel doesn't accept her mortal enemy's proposal, of course, especially after he desecrates her brother's memories by showing a vision in which she talks to him. feanor, distorting the words he had said. After being rescued from the River Glanduin by Elrond and with Sauron gone, the elf runs after Celebrityimbor to change the course of history once again.

Galadriel suggests to the artisan that the Mithril be used to create 3 rings to be used only by elves, so there would not be the corruption caused by a single ring or the polarity caused by two, but a balance between the three elves who have the gems. For this to be possible, Celebrityimbor asks for a high sacrifice to be paid: elven gold and silver. The elf then knows that this sacrifice is hers to be paid and offers the dagger given to her as a gift by her brother, the one who failed to defeat evil once again by directly confronting it. Sauron.

Once again, the series elves do not learn from their past mistakes and Galadriel does not tell her companions Halbrand's true identity and his possible interest when he advised Celebrimbor on what to do with Mithril. And then we have a beautiful scene where the three elven rings – narya, Nenya e vilya – are each forged using a jewel guarded by the artisan. As we know where the story is headed, these rings will likely still be a source of much disappointment and pain for Galadriel and the elves in the future events of the series.

In the last scene of the episode, we see half rim fully recovered and reaching Mordor, and we are then reminded of the words of Adar and the rancor of Sauron when I found the father of orcs. Apparently, Adar hasn't been able to finish what he wanted to do and it will cost him everything. Does Waldreg Will he betray the oath of loyalty he had sworn to him when he finds his beloved Sauron again? Scenes from the next chapters.

Opinion: one season finale of respect

With so much new information and plot twists happening, the last episode of Rings of Power contains many references to lore from the books and movies, which must have pleased the fans a lot. Some still complain that Gandalf shouldn't show up around this time, he would only show up later, but we still need to confirm that the Stranger is indeed the wizard we love.

The credits with the famous song about the rings of each kingdom and the One Ring form an excellent composition to say goodbye to the first season of the series. I don't know if it was just me, but I need to review everything already knowing what we know now to see all the signs we had during the other episodes that may have gone unnoticed. I hope the next season doesn't take too long, expectations are high!

See also other features

Did you like this text about the seventh episode of Rings of Power? See also the our recap and opinion on the seventh episode of the series.

Sources: Prime Video, Esquire