The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is back in a big way, dropping the first four episodes of season three all at once. This recap is therefore of the extra-beefy double-double variety.
At first, we spend a bit of time checking in with all the storylines, since there’s been a five-year time jump since season two. That doesn’t take long, though, and most of the episodes are full speed ahead with family drama, political drama, wizard drama, and all the mega-drama Sauron is whipping up as he tries to craft his One Ring to rule them all.
We start with a “previously on” that spotlights important characters and plot points to remember. Then, we shift to “the War between the Elves and Sauron is in its fifth year,” as Galadriel’s narration over an animated map of Middle-earth catches us up with everything that’s transpired.
Sauron’s power has escalated. His Orc army has invaded nearly everywhere. But he doesn’t have the three Elven rings, which are protecting Rivendell and Lindon. He doesn’t have the seven Dwarven rings, which are not in use. He does have the nine rings crafted for men, as we saw in season two, though the two biggest kingdoms of men haven’t picked a side yet: the island of Númenor and the desert of Rhûn.
But Sauron—who, oops, killed Celebrimbor and the other Elven-smiths and destroyed their records back in season two—hasn’t figured out how to craft the One Ring that will rule them all. That’s not for lack of trying. In Barad-dûr deep in Mordor, he keeps plenty of Orcs on hand to test out his efforts. None of them want to be the next guinea pig, and we see why when the latest “volunteer” puts the ring on and promptly bursts into flames.
But as it turns out, not all of these Orcs are disposable. Enter Marnûkh, who has a certain gleam in his eye and promises Sauron he’ll strike out and find the secret of the One Ring. If he can deliver, the Dark Lord says, he’ll be not just the Orc who won the war, but “the Orc who won all wars.”
No sooner have we established Rings of Power’s present day than we have cause to step back “thousands of years earlier” amid the previous Middle-earth war. At an Elven post-battle celebration, two impossibly good-looking warriors meet, have a Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon-style bout of flirty swordplay, dance, and fall in love: Galadriel, who we already know, and Celeborn (Jamie Campbell Bower).
The golden-tinged memory of their instant connection and their desire to be together “for always” lingers in Galadriel’s mind, even on the battlefield in this latest conflict. Nearby is Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova), who’s just as badass with a blade as he is with a bow and arrow. Still, the most important weapon they wield is Galadriel’s ring, which helps her intuit their next move.
But the ring also acts as a beacon for a particular breed of pest: Sauron’s Nazgnagôl, the recipients of the nine rings made for men. At this “Ring-servant” stage, they’ve still got their human forms, but their Ringwraith eras, when they become the ghoulish Nazgûl we know from Fellowship of the Ring, are closing in.
Sauron wants the Elven rings, but Galadriel’s ring in particular holds special significance because of the close connection they forged—before she realized his true identity—in seasons one and two.
This time, the Nazgnagôl that chases after her is thwarted, but he’s not worried, declaring, “The Elven rings will not protect them much longer.”
That’s putting a lot of confidence in Sauron’s craft project, which is something the Dark Lord himself is lacking at the moment. “Holding a hammer from Valinor cannot make you Celebrimbor,” we hear a familiar voice tell him, and—hello—it’s Celebrimbor himself (Charles Edwards), poking into Sauron’s conscience from behind the grave. He’s there to give voice to Sauron’s private fears. Without knowing the secrets of the Elven rings, he says, “You will never forge a ring capable of mastering them… of mastering her.”
While they have this imaginary discussion and we realize that Rings of Power is definitely going to lean into the Celeborn-Galadriel-Sauron bizarre love triangle in season three, we see that Sauron has kept Celebrimbor’s corpse mounted on the wall. No wonder he’s haunting his thoughts.
But there’s no time for Sauron to mope any further, because the delegation from Rhûn has arrived. This is one of the realms of men who have, until now, remained neutral in the current war. They’ve come to Mordor to tell Sauron that their ruler, the Dark Wizard (Ciarán Hinds) will pledge his support—but Sauron doesn’t want that. He wants Rhûn to toss aside the Dark Wizard and follow the Dark Lord instead. And he’s got the jewelry to back it up, promising one among the party will get to become one of his Ring-servants. The key word there is “one,” and as he tosses down a dagger so his visitors can fight to the death over the privilege, he can’t help himself from smirking in sick delight.
In the considerably more tranquil environs of Rivendell, the Elves return from battle. Galadriel watches as other families reunite, including Arondir and his enormous dog. It’s a lonely moment for her, even as Elrond (Robert Aramayo) appears, eager for an update. The news is not good: lots of loss, and one of their allies has now become a Ring-servant on Team Sauron.
Rivendell is safe and protected, but Galadriel can’t sit by and watch the rest of Middle-earth get taken over. She suggests they appeal to Númenor for help, but Elrond thinks it’s too dangerous to pin any hopes on men, who are so easily influenced by evil. He brushes aside her mention of his family history with the island kingdom, which was founded by his brother, Elros. He won’t even entertain the idea of asking High King Gil-Galad (Benjamin Walker) to consider a new alliance with Númenor. Elrond does not want to get involved.
But even though Galadriel doesn’t yet know Sauron’s working on the One Ring, she does know he won’t curtail his brutal reign of terror.
Unable to sleep after a Sauron nightmare, she runs into a similarly restless Arondir. The war is taking a mental toll on everyone. He’s worried about Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin), the son of the human woman he loved (RIP, Bronwyn), having imagined he saw him on the battlefield earlier. He plans to go to Pelargir, the old Númenórean settlement in Middle-earth, to check on him.
But we go there first. The port is controlled by Kemen (Leon Wadham), the bratty son of Númenor’s current ruler, Pharazôn (Trystan Gravelle), who’s crossed the sea to raid Middle-earth’s forests to build ships for their fleet. A summons from Mordor arrives, but Kemen sneers at it, along with the idea of “magic jewelry,” and flings it to the ground. It’s scooped up by Theo, who is definitely looking for a way out of tree-chopping duty.
Speaking of Mordor, a winner has emerged from the Rhûn contingent: Khamûl (Zubin Varla), who vows to “die for Sauron” but is corrected by the man himself: “You will live for him forever.”
Next stop is Khazad-dûm, where Elrond receives a secret delivery of swords crafted by King Durin IV (Owain Arthur). The Dwarves haven’t declared a side, but these two are old friends. Elrond lets him know that Durin’s estranged brother is headed home with two wealthy Dwarf-lords in tow, presumably intent on contesting his claim to the throne.
Durin’s been planning for the visit. He’s not worried. Inside the mountain, there’s cheerful chaos with his wife, Disa (Sophia Nomvete), and their teenage kids. But some of the cheer evaporates when it’s made known that brother Thráin (Eddie Marsan) has bypassed the formal welcome ceremony and is already partying in the tavern.
There’s a comical back-and-forth of messages until Durin brings out ale for everyone. When Thráin finally makes his entrance, he bends the knee, but there’s major tension afoot. The Dwarf-lords, who paid massive tributes to Durin’s father when he was king, want the rings. Durin points out that the rings are tainted by Sauron’s involvement in making them and that he’s hidden them for everyone’s safety.
Thráin backs him up, and they bond over losing their dad. But there’s something shifty about Thráin. In a brief moment alone with Disa, he calls her “Didi” and reminds her of a fling in their past that she’d rather forget. He then calls out Durin for “runnin’ swords,” and the brothers get into a physical fight interrupted by an unexpected arrival: Marnûkh. Even more unexpectedly, the Orc’s opening line is, “I have knowledge that could save Middle-earth.”
In Lindon, Gil-Galad and Círdan (Ben Daniels), who both have rings, glimpse the Orc in a shared vision and realize he is important in some way—though they’re not sure how. They do know that most realms of men have been declaring loyalty to Sauron, and the Elves are running out of friends. Where will they turn? Perhaps there is “another power” out there?
And at last, we see what Gandalf (Daniel Weyman) is up to, while Sauron gets the scoop on him from Khamûl. The Dark Wizard isn’t the only wizard in Rhûn; there’s an opposing force who’s powered by “the Secret Fire” itself.
“I will see to Gandalf myself,” Sauron muses as another group of men arrive in Mordor. He’s surprised to learn it’s not men of Númenor; it’s men interested in rising up against Númenor. We’re not surprised to see Theo among their ranks. And since we saw what happened with the Rhûn contingent, we already know the fight to the death that’s coming.
Episode 2
Finally, a glimpse of Númenor after all that talk about it in episode one. Middle-earth is struggling, but the island kingdom is thriving—though there is dissent lurking. As Ar-Pharazôn, riding in his golden carriage, reflects with remarkable glibness on the “Dark Lord” rising in power across the sea with Lord Belzagar (Will Keen), an assassin is getting into position.
No surprise: it’s Isildur (Maxim Baldry), son of Elendil (Lloyd Owen), and a member of the Faithful in support of the former Queen Regent Míriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson). The attempt goes awry; there are casualties and a Faithful who helped block the parade route is taken prisoner.
In Mordor, Theo is on the losing side of his fight when Sauron spots the distinctive scar on his arm and intervenes. Theo gasps out that the mark came from a blade his father (who he never met) left behind, and Sauron makes an irresistible offer: “Would you like to meet him now?”
Just then, an Orc interrupts to let the Dark Lord know that Marnûkh has surrendered to the Dwarves. He doesn’t get the detail that we see next, though, which is that the rogue Orc is teasing some top-secret intel that he’ll only reveal to Galadriel herself. This creates some consternation among Durin and company.
For one thing, it’s very odd for a solo Orc to show up, much less one who starts declaring he has some important information. Is it a trap? And if it’s not a trap, and they help Marnûkh share his secret with the Elves, what will happen if Sauron finds out? They decide to take a chance and summon Elrond.
In Númenor, Pharazôn and Belzagar strategize their next move. We learn the Faithful freed Míriel from the dungeon sometime between seasons; we also learn the “Man With the White Flame” (Elendil) is building up a Faithful army. Belgazar thinks the unrest in the kingdom is reason enough not to go to Middle-earth and try to overthrow Sauron, because “if you can’t make your own subjects kneel, how can you expect to make him?”
One thing they can agree on is that they have a spy in their ranks. Eärien (Ema Horvath), who supports Pharazôn despite being Elendil’s daughter, is summoned to squeeze information out of the prisoner. But her zealotry is just an act. She’s the spy. She offers the prisoner a drug to ease his suffering, but he begs for a more permanent end. So she tells the guards she has pried the spy’s identity out of him, and they can kill him.
Having to name someone, she points the finger at her nosy maid. As they watch the woman’s execution, Belzagar tells Eärien that a more “robust” solution to the problem of the Faithful “will begin in the West,” but he doesn’t say more than that.
Eärien and Isildur have a secret meeting. They both feel guilt over the prisoner’s death, and she says she feels “evil” after spending so much time pretending to be on Pharazôn’s side. Her brother suggests she make an escape to the West, where the Faithful are safe. “Not anymore,” she says.
They ride to the Bay of Elros, south of the capital, where Míriel meets with Faithful bound for the Havens on the island’s western edge. She’s furious with Isildur over his assassination plot and tells him that his “us and them” outlook is not the way forward. Númenor needs an “us and us” situation, with everyone united.
However, there are more immediate issues. Elendir needs to be warned about the reprisals in the West. The only swift way to reach him is to use the seeing stone, or palantír, which is locked away. Eärion says she can steal the key.
A pair of Nazgnagôl turn up at Khazad-dûm. Though they refuse Durin’s demand that they remove their rings, they do take away their face plates to show the men beneath the armor. Seeing as how Sauron so generously supplied the ring that restored Khazad-dûm’s prosperity, they’d like a small favor: to know where the Orc is. Things get heated from there until Thráin unleashes an impeccably timed belch and suggests they’re overstepping their authority.
That’s enough to make the Ring-servants leave, and the brothers embrace. Durin is relieved, but the camera holds on to Thráin’s calculating expression, with a shrill music cue further suggesting danger ahead.
Marnûk, we see, has gotten his audience with Galadriel. Arondir and Elrond are also there. They are immediately suspicious, but they hear him out. He explains Sauron’s big plan—the One Ring—which is a real “oh shit” moment for the Elves—and explains why he’s not on board with it. The Orc Lord-father, Adar (RIP in season two), and the “She-Elf” had made an alliance for peace, which Marnûk figures is preferable to being “nothing but food for his enemies’ swords.”
He’s not wrong! And while the Elves don’t trust him, they do believe him. Marnûk explains Sauron’s been having trouble crafting his masterpiece because he can’t “savvy” the secrets of the Elven rings. The Orc’s big secret is that one of the Elven-smiths survived the fall of Eregion. He knows, because he personally brought her to the Fortress of Gundabad, an isolated dungeon with a fearsome reputation.
If they find the last Elven-smith before Sauron figures out she’s there, he tells Galadriel, “You and I can see to it that Sauron never completes his ring.”
“And never wins the war,” Galadriel adds.
The Elves discuss what to do with this information, considering the source, while Marnûkh, who may be evolved but is still an Orc, considers eating Arondir’s dog. (He doesn’t.)
“We have no choice but to act,” Elrond decides. “All of us.” He’ll talk to the High King about Númenor, and Galadriel and Arondir—who puts his Theo plans on hold—will travel to Gundabad with Marnûkh.
Unfortunately, Theo has already chosen a much darker path. Back in Barad-dûr, Sauron is giving the lad a lesson in Necromancy 101. To talk to the dead, one needs a tongue, so Sauron has an Orc brought in and hands Theo a knife to chop one off. Then he conjures some messages from the beyond in Black Speech, telling Theo his father’s name and what happened to him. “Who are you, Father?” Theo asks.
The answer: from an ancient house sworn to Mordor. Then Sauron makes things even darker, telling Theo that his mother killed his father “when she found out what he was.” Theo’s shocked reaction is to tell Sauron he’s evil, but Sauron tells him there’s no such thing: “There is only power.” He bends the reluctant Theo to his will, handing over a ring and telling Theo he could be a “conquerer, a sorcerer, a king.”
Another character who’s fallen for Sauron’s temptations is—surprise!—Thráin, who hustles out into the forest to meet with the Nazgnagôl he’s just burped at. “I need more time,” he explains, saying he’s already set a trap for Durin.
Also, he tells them, the Orc’s in Rivendell, where at that very moment Elrond is leaving for Númenor, and the unlikely trio is heading off to the Orc dungeon.
And speaking of Númenor, the festivities surrounding Kemen’s return from Pelargir—ahead of his next assignment rooting out the Faithful in the Havens—give Eärion a chance to steal the palantir key from Belzagar’s chambers. He spots her as she’s leaving, but he keeps himself hidden. And he doesn’t prevent her from racing the key to Isildur, who sends his message without interference and enjoys a “reunion” with Elendil.
When Eärion returns to the palace, she’s hauled in before the king and soon realizes she’s been made. After some humiliation and intimidation—and being told they let Isildur send the message because they’re going to use it as a way to trap Elendil—she strolls to the tower window and jumps.
Episode 3
We begin in Rhûm, where the Dark Wizard is eagerly anticipating the ring he thinks is coming his way from Mordor. “Once I have the ring, everything will be as it once was,” he muses, envisioning a future where the barren desert is once again alive with flowers.
An incognito Gandalf overhears this proclamation. He’s also on hand to witness Khamûl, now in Nazgnagôl form, tell the Dark Wizard that he will be keeping the ring for himself—answering only to Sauron and protected from the Dark Wizard’s angry incantations. The two hiss back and forth, and Khamûl says the Dark Wizard’s acolytes may not be so eager to follow him if they knew “what became of your partner.”
The people of Rhûn chant “Hail Sauron” as the Dark Wizard has his own “oh shit” moment. Gandalf is worried, but Tom Bombadil (Rory Kinnear) has a more blasé reaction. As Gandalf leaves the meeting, he unknowingly deflects a would-be attacker while fiddling with his magic staff. He also soothes an oliphant that’s already harnessed for the coming battle.
In West Númenor, the Faithful army is training with Anárion (Andrew Richardson), who then sits down for a talk with his father. Elendil tells him Eärion sent word there’s a spy in their midst, but they have a plan to root them out: crash the upcoming meeting the spy has set up with Pharazôn’s men. They don’t know, of course, that this is the trap the doomed Eärion unwittingly helped set.
The animated map takes us across the sea back to Middle-earth, where Galadriel, Arondir, and Marnûkh are making their way to the orc dungeon. Marnûkh is passing the time by irritating Arondir any way he can. He turns serious when advising which route to take, though the Elves still aren’t sure they can trust his insights into Orc troop movements. Sauron, who has eyes everywhere, learns that Marnûkh is leading them north, but still has no idea why.
In Tom Bombadil’s cozy house, Gandalf says he’s realized they don’t need to defeat any armies. They just need to defeat one wizard. If they can get the Dark Wizard to see their point of view, he’ll lift the spell on his followers, and support for Sauron will dissolve! Defeat the Dark Wizard and save Middle-earth!
But it’s not that simple. Tom won’t be handing over any easy-to-interpret advice to Gandalf, who has understandably grown frustrated with any and all riddles. What he will do instead is break into song rather than giving the “hint” that Gandalf begs him for.
But is that the hint? “Sing, and Tom will be with you,” Tom says, and Gandalf huffs away, softly murmuring the tune. Suddenly, in the middle of the desert, the sky darkens and a mighty flame erupts and calls out to him. “The Secret Fire,” Gandalf says.
“You know me not,” the flame replies, then segues into a Middle-earth history lesson.
“There were five servants sent to Middle-earth,” we learn. One was Gandalf, of course. Another was the Dark Wizard. “He was once called Pallando, one of two wizards sent to protect these lands. But he wanted more, so he betrayed and murdered his partner. An act so evil that it laid all of Rhûn to waste.”
That explains a lot, actually. Then the flame tells Gandalf he’s not supposed to defeat the Dark Wizard. He’s meant to save him. They’ll have to work together to stop Rhûn’s army from joining Sauron—and by doing that, save Middle-earth. When Gandalf hurries to tell Tom, Tom is gone. But he did leave something behind: a familiar hat, which looks just smashing on Gandalf’s greying head.
In Mordor, another head is being crowned: Theo, now in Ring-servant garb. An Orc enters with a little more backstory on Marnûkh for Sauron, but it’s not much. Seems he was a skilled torturer who was there for the Eregion battle. Then, we cut to Marnûkh reciting a poem in honor of a fallen comrade, to the Elves’ utter disbelief.
The moment of levity is interrupted by the arrival of two Nazgnagôl, who skulk around until Galadriel weaves some butterfly magic to distract them. Later, the Elves accuse Marnûkh of deliberately leading them into the Ring-servants’ path. The Orc’s response to this is to taunt Arondir about Bronwyn’s death, which very nearly ends in violence. Arondir and Galadriel confer; Arondir is certain Marnûkh cannot be trusted. Galadriel thinks Arondir is being held back by his grief and tells him he should go find Theo as he’d originally planned.
In Númenor, Pharazôn’s trap works perfectly. Elendil is captured, with Kemen there to smugly pass on the news of Eärion’s death. Anárion puts up an impressive fight, wiping out multiple soldiers, but can’t save his father from being carted away.
In Mordor, Sauron has figured out a grim way to get more information on Marnûkh. A married pair of Elves who’ve been his prisoners since the fall of Eregion are put to some uniquely awful torture; the wife is poisoned, and Sauron won’t hand over the antidote unless they start talking.
When they reveal what we already knew—a living Elven-smith may still be out there—Sauron hands over the vial, but the husband is unable to open it before his wife burns up from the inside. Ouch. But how will Sauron get to Gundabad before the Elves? “Saddle the beast,” he orders.
Meanwhile, Arondir has started to take his leave when he sees Sauron’s army attacking in the distance, just as Marnûkh said they would be. He realizes the Orc has been telling the truth and decides to rejoin the party.
Episode 4
It’s the jailbreak episode! But first, Sauron needs to get his ride sorted out. “The beast” resists being bridled until the Dark Lord himself steps in. “They were once eagles, until Morgoth blessed them with his touch,” he says, beholding with wonder this winged monster that loves snacking on living flesh.
Meanwhile, Marnûkh has just arrived at Gundabad with his “freshies.” He’s so convincing—and the ruse of Arondir and Galadriel being his prisoners goes off so well—that the Elves look like they’re second-guessing their decision to trust him. The sheer grossness of the place (the Orc munching on a bowl of maggots is a nice touch) doesn’t help.
Across Middle-earth, there’s great unrest in Khazad-dûm. The Dwarves are mad that Durin has been passing weapons to the Elves. And they want to get their mitts on the seven rings. “The rings will divide us,” Disa insists, but that’s already happening even with the rings still hidden, especially when Thráin makes it clear he’s in favor of using them.
And there’s more trouble: when Durin admits his father was wearing one of the rings when he reinstated Durin as his heir, even his level-headed advisor Narvi (Kevin Eldon) admits that’s a problem, because … was he of sound mind when he did that?
Durin and Thráin agree that a trial by combat is the only way to decide who gets to be king. Disa worries, knowing Thráin will do what he always does: make Durin lose his temper as a way to get the better of him. And she has a idea of what secret Thráin will spill to fluster her husband.
Near Lindon, where there’s a battlefield full of corpses, the High King and Círdan reflect on the cost of war. “What am I to do when hope is lost?” Gil-galad wonders. An answer comes when Elrond arrives to lays out his plan for reaching out to Númenor.
“My brother chose a mortal life because he believed Númenor could be a force for good,” Elrond says. So he’s surprised to learn Pharazôn has already sent a message saying sorry, but the island kingdom has its own problems to deal with. The Elves decide they’ll have to sail there to make their appeal, hoping the combined power of the High King and the guy who looks exactly like Elros, Númenor’s founder and Elrond’s twin, might be enough to change some minds.
In Númenor, Kemen proudly tells Elendil about his unusual upbringing: when Pharazôn learned he’d fathered a son by a local prostitute, he killed her and brought the child home to raise him. Kemen calls it an “act of mercy,” and now we know why he’s so eager for approval. His capture of Elendil is a hollow triumph, because Anárion and his men intercept the caravan. “He is worth more to us alive,” the newly freed Elendil tells an out-for-blood Anárion, so we’ll be enduring more Kemen, it seems.
In Gundabad, Marnûkh and Arondir overpower the other jailers en route to the torture chamber—see, Marnûkh really does have good intentions!—and scramble to find Maitalle, the Elven-smith. Then, they’ll spring Galadriel and GTFO.
Maitalle is in her cell, but she’s been dead for some time. “We should never have left Rivendell,” a disappointed Arondir fumes. And now they’ve got to escape this hole they’ve dug themselves into.
Lucky for them, another prisoner speaks up. It’s Celeborn, who’s been locked up in Gundabad so long he knows literally everything about it. If they spring him from his cell, he says, he’ll help them find a way out.
In Khazad-dûm, Thráin promises Disa that if Durin hands over the rings, he’ll relinquish any claim to the throne and leave the mountain. Then he again references their one-time hookup, hinting he’ll resort to blackmail to get what he wants. Disa’s immediate next move is to find her husband, come clean about everything, and tell him Thráin is trying to weaponize her long-ago mistake. He’s hurt, but he understands and he forgives her.
Emotions are already running high when Durin heads to meet Thráin for the trial by combat. There’s a ritualistic element to it, but it’s also just a fierce brother-on-brother brawl. Durin’s got his head on straight until his dopey son, Gamli (Lee Braithwaite), unwittingly plans a seed of doubt by saying he saw Disa and Thráin together.
We know, of course, she was telling him off, but the teen only saw their close body language and got the wrong idea. Just when you thought Disa’s honesty had warded off disaster… Durin enters the fight with his head all scrambled. The terrible result: Thráin knocks him out, winning the trial and the throne.
In the dark skies above Middle-earth, Sauron rides his fell-beast like a Targaryen on a dragon toward Gundabad. Within the prison, Marnûkh, Arondir, and their new pal Celeborn are making their way to the exit. Celeborn doesn’t want to stick around to rescue the other member of their party until he hears her name is “Galadriel.”
As for the lady in question, she’s slaughtering Orcs in the lower levels. It’s a repulsive setting for the long-separated husband and wife to reunite, but there’s still a spark when their eyes meet across the filthy chamber.
At that moment, though, Sauron arrives at the gate. The quartet is surrounded by Orc guards with a Nazgnagôl blocking their path, and Marnûkh fake-surrenders, pretending he’s been playing a long game. He uses the moment to open one of the pens of prisoners, bringing even more chaos onto the scene.
The Elves fight their way to the roof but their ordeal is far from over. Galadriel shoots a sparking arrow into the sky and a Great Eagle takes flight toward the prison. (“Landroval, Prince of Eagles,” to be precise.) But there are still Orcs in pursuit, and a Nazgnagôl knocks over Marnûkh just as Arondir has saved him, finally convinced of his good intentions.
But it’s not just any Nazgnagôl. It’s Theo. Arondir is shocked, and Theo tells him to just walk away. The Dark Lord isn’t interested in Arondir.
But Arondir won’t abandon his friends or the young man he feels so responsible for. “Let me help you,” he urges. Just when it seems Theo might take him up on the offer, Sauron appears and instructs Theo to kill Arondir, which he does without any hesitation.
Celeborn drags Galadriel off the roof (Landroval is waiting to catch them) before a glowering Sauron can approach. He orders a shell-shocked Theo to leave Arondir where he’s fallen, and the last shot is a close-up of Arondir’s face as snow drifts past his dead, open eyes.
Two more episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power arrive November 18, and the final two drop November 25.
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