Webcrawler is back this week to break down the events of Episode 5 of The Rings of Power. Read and enjoy. And, remember, you’re welcome to join our ongoing discussions on TheOneRing.net’s Discord Server.
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Recap: The Rings of Power Episode 5
by TORn Discord moderator Webcrawler
Season 2, Episode 5
Titled “Halls of Stone”, a direct reference to the second line of the Ring Verse.
“Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring. Book 1, Chapter 2: The Shadow of the Past
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone…”
Synopsis
There are four regional plots we follow in this episode:
Lindon
Two very short scenes; the first is High-King Gil-galad reading Lord Celebrimbor’s letter, sent from Eregion. In the letter, Celebrimbor congratulates the High King on the success of the Three Rings in restoring Lindon, and mentions that he has shut down the forge as requested. Invites Gil-galad to visit Eregion when he can. Gil-galad looks concerned and in deep thought; one his commanders ask about sending forces to attack Mordor.
Gil-galad sees visions due to the effect of Vilya, which seem to foreshadow the calamity of Eregion, including the dammed up riverbed. Elrond is seen running back towards Lindon, having left Galadriel to fend off the orcs alone. He arrives at Lindon and offers Nenya to Gil-galad, stating that Galadriel was correct and Eregion was about to be attacked by orcs. Gil-galad says he believes Sauron is the architect of this, and mentions the elves are not strong enough to fight Adar and Sauron.
Númenor
Four scenes; We see a city near the shore, covered in fog with a visible tower; it is Avallónë on Tol Eressëa. Pharazôn speaks to Kemen about it, speculating that the elves put it there on purpose to remind Men of the immortality they cannot have.
Pharazôn has a task for Kemen, which involves removing power from those who would still support Míriel’s claim to the throne of Númenor. Among those are Elendil, who willingly turns in his sword and captaincy, even after Eärien pleads with him to renounce his support of Míriel for mercy. The other Faithful Sea Guardsmen chant ‘Captain’, much to the chagrin of Kemen.
Míriel and Elendil talk in the Elven Tower on Númenor, with Míriel advising Elendil to stay calm and not start an uprising. She asks him what he saw in the palantír. He speaks of a vision of himself leaving Armenelos on horseback; Míriel believes that since his vision is different from the one she used to see, that Númenor’s fortunes have changed and the doom has passed.
Elendil, Valandil, and a group of the Faithful are doing a ceremony to mourn the lives lost on the expedition to the Southlands. It is interrupted by Kemen, who states the temple is to be condemned to make way for a new aqueduct. A conflict ensues, and Kemen and Valandil fight each other. Valandil wins and has a sword pointed at Kemen; Elendil tells him to stand down. Valandil complies and drops his sword and begins to walk away; however Kemen picks it up and stabs Valandil through the back, killing him; Kemen then has Elendil arrested, accusing him of starting the fight.
Khazad-dûm
The Seven rings of the Dwarves are sent to King Durin, who puts on the largest one, with a blue gemstone. Using it, he is able to see everything in the Mountains of Khazad-dûm, including where to dig to open up a light shaft.
Durin IV is doubtful of his father, but nonetheless tells Narvi, who clears out the area of other dwarves while King Durin digs at a foundation wall. King Durin successfully opens up a light shaft, and credits the use of the dwarven ring. Later, he invites emissaries from the other dwarven realms, telling them that if their lords in the other realms offer tribute of gold and jewels, he will give them a ring.
Disa has doubts about the new rings, as they allow the King to do what she used to with resonating. Disa goes down into a cave and tries resonating; but something deep in the caverns bellows out at her. Durin IV tries to tell his father about this, but the dwarven ring has altered King Durin’s behavior.
He chooses to continue forward with digging even deeper into Khazad-dûm for gold and mithril. He reinstates Durin IV as Prince Durin, and offers one of the seven dwarven rings to his son. Prince Durin later goes home to Disa, who asks him to promise her that he will not put on one of those rings.
Eregion
Celebrimbor, along with the Gwaith-i-Mírdain and a group of dwarves are toasting their success on a new project; the creation of the Doors of Durin, to replace the West-Gate to Khazad-dûm after it was damaged by the earthquake. Annatar walks away during the middle of the speech.
Celebrimbor goes to speak with him afterwards, and learns Annatar is still concerned for the well being of Men, and wants Celebrimbor to make Nine Rings. Celebrimbor refuses, stating that men are more easily corrupted by power, and he will not take that risk. Annatar says he will do it himself.
Later, as Annatar and the Gwaith-i-Mírdain are attempting to forge new rings, Mirdania, one of the smiths, puts on the ring and becomes invisible. She starts to throw objects around the forge, until Celebrimbor stops her by taking off her ring.
Mirdania states that she could see the Unseen world, and there is a fiery, evil looking creature among them. Celebrimbor asks about how they made the rings, and chastises them for using too much mithril in the mix. He attempts to explain what they should have done, but doubt begins to creep into his mind.
Prince Durin comes to visit Celebrimbor, and states his concern that the dwarven rings are flawed; they have made King Durin greedy, covetous, as he has increased tributes within the Kingdom and demands more from the other dwarven realms. Celebrimbor balks at this, until Prince Durin accuses the fault not to just be in the rings, but the ringmakers, implying Annatar may be the culprit for their flawed design.
Celebrimbor confronts Annatar with this information, but Annatar turns it around by claiming it was Celebrimbor who brought deceit into the process when he lied to the High-King in his letter. A guilt-ridden Celebrimbor fears telling Gil-galad the truth would result in him never being allowed to forge again. Annatar convinces him to push forward with making the Nine Rings. After giving another speech to his smiths, work begins, but Celebrimbor looks very troubled.
In the outskirts of Eregion, the orcs have created an encampment on a cliff, and are able to see Ost-in-Edhil in the distance. Galadriel is in a locked cage on a cart, which is rolled to the center of the camp. Glûg releases her, and Adar appears, stating to Galadriel that they should ally, as they have a common enemy.
Overall Thoughts on Episode 5, “Halls of Stone”
This was the shortest episode of the season, but it was packed with plotpoints, character development and some very surprising twists. In some ways it felt a bit rushed, particularly with Númenor, which only had about three scenes back in episode 3. Nonetheless, a lot was pushed forward this episode; Ar-Pharazôn is officially King of Númenor. He has an interesting discussion with Kemen about the Undying Lands, that evokes the following passage from the Akallabêth:
“For in those days the Númenóreans were far-sighted; yet even so it was only the keenest eyes among them that could see this vision, from the Meneltarma, maybe, or from some tall ship that lay off their western coast as far as it was lawful for them to go. For they did not dare to break the Ban of the Lords of the West. But the wise among them knew that this distant land was not indeed the Blessed Realm of Valinor, but was Avallónë, the haven of the Eldar upon Eressëa, easternmost of the Undying Lands.”
The Silmarillion, Akallabêth
We also see a quick image of Avallóne at the beginning of the scene, clouded with a fog as described in the text:
But no ship came ever again from the West to Númenor, and Avallónë was veiled in cloud.
The Silmarillion, Akallabêth
Meanwhile, Lloyd Owen as Elendil has a lot of excellent scenes this episode, and you can really start to see his character grow into the one we know from the lore; I have previously talked about Elendil’s journey in S2, and as predicted he has lost his captaincy, and is arrested by the end of the episode. There’s a great moment when Elendil is talking to Eärien and potentially foreshadows her demise in Númenor.
Another interesting point was the funeral memorial ceremony done by the Faithful, Elendil and Valandil. The text states that the Númenoreans were only worshippers of Eru, and that too only during three particular days of the year; and yet here we see them praying and utilizing what appears to be a statue of Nienna.
Mourning the dead does not seem like something they would normally do, but the text does state that even the Faithful felt unease about death. It’s an interesting bit of world-building that the show engages in, possibly highlighting the greater difference between The Faithful and the King’s Men.
“Nonetheless even they, who named themselves the Faithful, did not wholly escape from the affliction of their people, and they were troubled by the thought of death.”
The Silmarillion, Akallabêth
Charlie Vickers continues to put in a mesmerizing performance as Annatar; he’s cold, calculated, manipulative, and yet he feigns a mercurial streak with Celebrimbor. Sometimes he seems to be pleading for Celebrimbor’s help; other times he seems bored, tired of Celebrimbor’s refusal to help him make the Nine. He’s playing Celebrimbor like a fiddle and we all get to watch.
Charles Edwards, meanwhile, puts in a haunting performance near the end of the episode as doubt, fear and guilt begin to creep into his mind. Long gone is the more joyous, ambitious and optimistic Celebrimbor; the trials of making these rings, and the dangers they start to present seem to push Celebrimbor into a more desperate position to set things right.
It is clear that Annatar means to turn the Gwaith-i-Mírdain against Celebrimbor; we see it in his conversation with Mirdania, and his words of encouragement near the end of the episode; he is positioning himself as the one in control while Celebrimbor seems to be losing his.
In those days the smiths of Ost-in-Edhil surpassed all that they had contrived before; and they took thought, and they made Rings of Power. But Sauron guided their labours, and he was aware of all that they did; for his desire was to set a bond upon the Elves and to bring them under his vigilance.
The Silmarillion, Of The Rings of Power and The Third Age
I also finally understand the reason the showrunners made the Three Elven rings first. This episode makes it clear that in this adaptation, Celebrimbor is the one who knows the secret to making the rings, not Annatar; rather, Annatar has been slowly trying to pull the secret out of him, and with each iteration of the forging make more dangerous and corrupted rings.
In my opinion, this version elevates Celebrimbor’s status as a smith, truly second only to Fëanor among the Eruhini. Círdan’s assessment in the first episode of this season was correct; Celebrimbor had achieved perfection with the Three Rings. These new forgings of the Rings of Power are draining Celebrimbor, and with Annatar, introducing corruption into his works.
The dwarven plotline also features some excellent performances from Owain Arthur as Durin IV and Peter Mullan as King Durin. King Durin’s slow decline into obsession with gold and the ring is fascinating, bringing to mind both Gollum and Bilbo’s corruption via the One Ring.
There’s a particularly sad moment when King Durin tells his son that he was right to ally with the elves and procure these rings, a clear reversal of their season one opinions, and the look of sorrow and pain on Owain Arthur’s face highlights how far King Durin has fallen in the eyes of his son.
Of this Ring something may be said here. It was believed by the Dwarves of Durin’s Folk to be the first of the Seven that was forged; and they say that it was given to the King of Khazad-duˆm, Durin III, by the Elven-smiths themselves and not by Sauron, though doubtless his evil power was on it, since he had aided in the forging of all the Seven.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: Appendix A
Unfortunately, Narvi is given very little to do, except run around and reluctantly comply with the king’s orders. Kevin Eldon does as well as he can with the role, but it does feel diminished. There’s a small amusing moment where both Durin’s are asking him to do opposite tasks, and in frustration, Narvi just silently walks out on them.
Rating: I would give this episode an 8.5/10
It’s a very strong episode with a lot of great acting moments from everyone in the cast; still I wish some of these plot lines were spread out across two episodes and not condensed into one.
I am also a bit disappointed in the very condensed friendship of Narvi and Celebrimbor; one scene to establish a friendship between them, and them working on the Doors of Durin together feels more like an easter egg or fanservice that was put in to appease fans. Contrast that with the great friendship built between Elrond and Durin IV in the first season and I can’t help but feel like Narvi’s friendship with Celebrimbor was greatly diminished.
Númenor also felt rushed; Although there’s not much said about Pharazôn becoming King of Númenor in the text, it would have been nice to see more of the political intrigue after Númenor’s failed expedition to The Southlands.
The Annatar and Celebrimbor relationship continues to be the highlight of season two; using Mirdania as an analogue for how Annatar enamored the Gwaith-i-Mirdain to his side was an excellent bit of storytelling and highlights just how well Annatar was able to work his charm to get what he wanted.
About the author: Webcrawler is a full-time data analyst and a part-time Tolkien aficionado and moderator on TheOneRing.net’s Discord Server. When he’s not working or in the discord, Webcrawler is horsing around on Twitter
