There is a lot that happens in  LOTR: The Rings of Power episode 3. Unfortunately, it still fails at transcending past the realm of mediocrity. This episode is titled “Adar,” and focuses on Arondir as he is made an unwilling slave to a group of orcs. Galadriel and Halbrand find themselves rescued by a group of mariners who transport them to the ancient kingdom. Meanwhile, Nori and Poppy do their best to discover how best to aid the mysterious stranger from the stars.

The best parts of this episode again come from the portrayal of the orcs. I love their costuming and brutality. I also enjoyed how this episode showcases the hatred between elves and orcs: the orcs were once elves themselves that have fallen into darkness from Morgoth’s corrupting influence. As a result, they now take special pleasure in harming the elves and asserting their dominance over them by forcing the elves to defy their principles.

This episode also introduces a fair amount of new characters to the story, as Galadriel and Halbrand travel to the isle of Númenor. There they meet Elendil, a ship captain, and the reigning monarch of Númenor, Tar-Miriel. Once more the visuals on Númenor are wonderful and there is some fantastic scenery. This episode also introduces Isildur, Elendil’s son. Isildur will become a central figure at the end of the Second Age, but for now, his storyline is relatively dull, focusing on his desire to leave the island and his training as a cadet in the Númenorian Navy.

Galadriel gets a lot of screen time in this episode. Unfortunately, this only serves to highlight how inconsistent her characterization is in LOTR: The Rings of Power. One moment she is stoic and harsh, and the next, she acts sympathetic and carefree. It makes for some frustrating conversations that feel pointless and drag out scenes for far too long. The revelations that Galadriel discovers here also come across quite forced and obvious for my taste.

Halbrand gets some interesting scenes in this episode. I’m still not quite sure how exactly his character will slot into the story at this point or what direction his character will travel towards. As of this point, he does feel more like a simple tool for Galadriel to bounce off of.

The biggest weakness in this episode is the Harfoot storyline; it feels extremely generic and rather annoying. Tonally, this storyline feels like I’m watching a different show and it serves to emphasize issues with the show’s structure. In the original works by Tolkien, the tone gradually grows darker as the hobbits travel further from home, which serves to further emphasize The Shire as a place of peace and safety. Here, the perspective constantly shifts between characters in various scenarios. As a result, we have moments of comedy interspersed with the orcs slaughtering elves for the fun of it.

I also dislike some of the action choreography here. I enjoy the wild brutality of the orc combat matched with the grace of the elves. There is, however, one fight that involves Halbrand that felt slightly off for a few reasons. As a fight between humans, I would have preferred if the main hero took more damage to contrast the lethal precision of the elves. Additionally, Halbrand’s fighting style came across as slightly too efficient.

I understand that the audience doesn’t know everything about his background at this point in time. Nevertheless, I have a hard time believing Halbrand was trained in hand-to-hand combat rather than weapon skills in a medieval fantasy world. It’s a small issue that most people won’t notice. For me though, it breaks my immersion slightly when I see a man in a world of swords and sorcery take down thugs with the efficiency of John Wick using only his bare hands. Especially, when the said man has never had any additional scenes that build up his skills in combat.

While there are things to enjoy about this episode, I was hoping for something more cohesive in terms of character and plot. Unfortunately, I again find myself sufficiently disappointed by the writing here. I wish the Harfoot scenes could just be cut from the show completely; doing so would allow for the development of characters that actually matter to the historical canon of Middle Earth. Though I’m happy to finally see Isildur and Elendil, I feel they should have been introduced during the first two episodes instead of wasting time reiterating themes explored by the original works.

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The Rings of Power

5

Score

5.0/10

Pros

• Orcs, Orcs, Orcs!
• Numenor

Cons

• Harfoots are boring
• Inconsistent characterization