The Rings Of Power Episode 6 Review- An Explosive Episode

Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) thinks Celeborn dead in The Rings of Power, teases new villains for Season 2 and there's Buzz around young Shelob.

The Rings of Power Episode 6 review. This was an explosive episode and yes, that’s a bit of a tease for what Episode 6 brings. This review will cover Episode 6 of The Rings of Power, called ‘Udun’. As for SPOILER policy? For now I’m keep as SPOILER FREE as I possibly can. That could change as the season progresses but for now that’s my plan. This week I do have a small predictions and theories section which may have some mild spoilers, but you can bail out before then if really concerned.

Bit of background. I’m a fairly big Tolkienite, and have read pretty much everything he wrote many times. Yet, there are still some out there who far outstrip my own knowledge. I came at this show with trepidation because ultimately this is a fan fiction project. Okay, it’s licensed by the Tolkien Estate and there are some rules as we understand. However this is still largely fan fiction. So was it any good?

What’s Good?

If you’ve been reading my reviews of the season so far you’ll know that on the whole I’ve been mostly positive. That being said I have had a few gripes and I have a few more this week. However I will get to that below, so what’s good?

After a few slower, character based episodes, this one turned up the action a little more. You probably know what’s coming, when we left our players last the pieces were moving. The Orcs under Adar march on the Tower. Meanwhile the Numenorean forces are sailing to engage them. It doesn’t take a genius to work out where this is going and the action ultimately takes up around the first two thirds of this episode.

Was the action any good? Yeah it was okay, it felt a little chaotic like a good battle should. I also really enjoyed some of the more brutal aspects. I like when equality goes both ways, and I don’t mean to sound strange when I say I appreciated women and old men getting killed and not just young soldier looking types.

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Ultimately though I won’t get too much into how the action goes down though I do have some notes for the criticisms below. That might get a little more specific than I like with spoilers, but I’ll do my best to avoid. However I think by the time Rings of Power is finished, we won’t remember this as a great battle episode. Considering what is to come this is after all, small potatoes. My guess is this show finishes with the Last Alliance, and that’s a bigger battle than anything we ever saw in The Lord of the Rings movies.

I guess, for someone that likes a slower burn show, I appreciate perhaps the final third more. The after battle was for me more dramatic than the battle itself as it were.

Criticisms

The Rings of Power Episode 6 review. This was an explosive episode but was it exciting for an action filled episode?

There is definitely some lore and Tolkien mythology issues for me this week. Though, I’ll stress that they are not major, yet. There is still time for the show to fix some of my misgivings as characters arc’s progress. A good example I can give of this is Elendil. I spoil nothing by talking about the ending of this show as we all know what happens. If it is the Last Alliance then our end is the prologue of The Fellowship of the Ring. That means we know that ultimately we will have Elendil and Gil-galad face off in direct combat against Sauron. We’ve not seen Gil-gilad fight yet, but Elendil was said to be so great in battle that no man could stand in his way.

I know the Numenoreans are not used to warfare yet and the show has 5 seasons to get there, but he’s going to have to improve for me. hopefully the years of warfare and conflict coming up will hone his skills as a commander and a fighter before the end.

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I also have to say that as much as the action was well done, there wasn’t, for me, much excitement in any of it. That’s not to say it was boring either, and once again I’ll say the final third was more exciting to me than the fighting. the shots are standard and predictable. There was one moment where two characters are struggling in a fight with one another, and is the set up clicked into place I already knew exactly shot for shot how this fight would end, who would be involved and when it would happen. Why? because we have all seen it done a thousand times in hundreds upon hundreds of movies and shows.

Ultimately though, if you checked out some of my predictions last week then you’ll know this plot happened in a way that seemed… pretty obvious. There was a bit of the ol’ switcheroo, and a victory is turned to turmoil. However, I’m far less sure about where events go once we are into Episode 7?

Predictions and Theories (Beware Mild SPOILERS)

Last week I talked about how I thought Mordor would form and, well I’ll just leave that where it is for now. So let’s get into the game everyone is playing each week, who is Sauron? Last week I predicted that we have not yet met Sauron. That instead Sauron is sowing fear into the hearts of the Elves and making them believe they need to take action.

This remains my hope for The Rings of Power. And yet, the show is still trying to hint to us that Halbrand may be Sauron. It’s very deliberate, and if he does turn out to be Sauron not only will no one be that shocked, but I may roll my eyes. If I’m rolling my eyes at a story, then that’s not a good sign.

All the points I made last week about why Halbrand should not be Sauron, I still maintain. However there are definitely potentially hints at something unseen when it comes to Halbrand. I don’t think I can say now that Halbrand is definitely not Sauron 100%. However I will say, if he is, I don’t like. Plus, that would not be nearly as entertaining as if Annatar has been in Celebrimbor’s ear for some time already. Sauron is good, but he can’t be in two places at one time. It’s one or the other, one I’ll love and one I’ll roll my eyes at. I guess we will know which within the next two weeks.

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The only thing I can think of, dramatic enough to close off Season 1 is an Annatar reveal. There was a rumored name cast as Sauron and as yet that actor has not appeared in the show. I therefore wonder whether we will see him only in the final moments of Episode 8.

As for where the rest of the story goes, I have no idea. The Southland’s story seems to have climaxed for now, yet we have two episodes remain. We know we are going back to Khazad-dum with Elrond and Durin, so that will be interesting. I’ll also guess that the Harfoots will be back and that there is going to be a meeting with those three white robed figures. Who, or what they are remains a mystery to me, but they don’t seem like decent folks. A confrontation between they three and the Stranger beckons I think.

At the end of all, The Rings of Power Episode 6 was decent, but also somehow not that memorable outside of the last few minutes.

Oh, and I was wrong about Adar being Maglor. Clearly that is not the case whatsoever. Which is slightly less cool.

GRADE: B

Please leave your own The Rings of Power Episode 6 review below if you can. Or, let me know what you think of what I had to say? Do you agree with me, or disagree after watching the show?

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