Rings of Power Season 2 Episode 1 recap: ‘Elven Kings Under the Sky’
Prime VideoWhat’s more important: power over flesh, or faith in the light? This becomes the source of unexpected conflict and anxiety in Rings of Power Season 2 Episode 1, all while Sauron sneakily plots his master plan in Middle-earth.
As many Lord of the Rings fans pointed out, Season 1 was a bit of a mess, but it ended with a key event that will define the second chapter: Celebrimbor forging the first titular Rings of Power (the three Elven rings).
This came after Halbrand (aka Sauron), the so-called lost king of the Southlands, embedded himself with the Elves. By the end, Galadriel – whom he’d hoped would become his queen – discovered his true identity, though not before he gently pushed Celebrimbor towards the ill-fated rings.
Rings of Power Season 2 finds Galadriel struggling with the fallout of Sauron’s deceit (and the doubts of everyone around her), and that’s before we get to the mystery surrounding the Stranger (who’s clearly Gandalf) as he sets off to Rhûn with Nori.
Season 2 opens with a historic assassination
Prime VideoEpisode 1 begins around 1,000 years ago in Forodwaith, at the dawn of the Second Age after Morgoth’s reign ended. “Always after a defeat, the shadow takes another shape and grows again. Morgoth is gone, leaving us alone and disgraced,” someone says, as an Orc carries a familiar crown.
“But today, a new age begins, under your new master: Sauron,” he adds (he’s played by Jack Lowden instead of Charlie Vickers, but it’ll become clear why in a couple of minutes).
He then explains: “With a new age I bring a new vision, a path to unconditional conquest, for I seek a new kind of power – not of the flesh, but over flesh. Power of the unseen world, one we shall use to enslave the people of Middle-earth to our very will.”
There’s just one caveat: lots of orcs will die, but “new and perfect order” will be forged out of the chaos. Sauron sees a world where they’re all seen as saviors – but the Orcs aren’t convinced.
“Doubt me at your peril… you have nowhere else to turn. The Valar will never forgive you, Elves will never accept you, men will never look upon you with anything but horror and disgust,” the Dark Lord warns.
When an Orc tries to flank Sauron, he brutally murders him in front of everyone. “I am your only future,” he screams.
It’s clear the Orcs don’t like being told what to do (or maybe they just don’t fancy another Morgoth). Adar, the “father” of the Orcs, seems to ignore them and willingly crown Sauron as their new ruler… but it’s all an elaborate ruse.
As Sauron lowers his head, Adar plunges the crown into his back and the Orcs ambush him. It isn’t an easy fight, but they eventually overpower him and savagely stab him over and over again until Adar tells them to stop.
He doesn’t die, though. With black blood spilling out onto the floor, scorching light blasts out of his eyes and mouth. An enormous blast shakes Forodwaith and covers the area in frost, and his body disappears. For now, the Orcs have a new leader, one they’re happy to follow: Adar.
Sauron becomes… Venom?
Prime VideoWe see Sauron’s blood dribbling underground into a small pool of water in a cave. Later, when a rat comes sniffing for food, a black, symbiotic lifeform reaches out and consumes it.
Sauron needs to rebuild himself, consuming any creature his ooze comes across, whether it’s a centipede or a passing woman with a horse and carriage. Soon, he’s back in human form, exactly how we met him in Season 1. The question is… now what?
He bides his time; sitting alone by small fires, dreaming of revenge and a land drenched in darkness. When he comes across a small community, he’s told to avoid a path where “death” lies ahead; in other words, there’s an army of Orcs.
“Perhaps the fortunate ones were the first to die,” Sauron says, but the man (sporting Southlands heraldry) assures him that “fortunes can turn for even the most powerful”, and that his suffering shouldn’t doom his future.
“A sure path may crumble, but there’s always another; often it can lead somewhere better, somewhere good,” he says, inadvertently giving Middle-earth’s worst person a great idea.
Sauron decides to join them in a voyage across the sea, where they’re attacked by a giant “worm” that destroys the ship and leaves them all to die. Initially, it seems like he was considering breaking good, but he nicks the man’s Southlands insignia before jumping into the sea… and the worm doesn’t attack him.
He survives alongside a few others, and days later, a woman swims toward their raft: Galadriel. “The tides of fate are flowing, yours may be heading in or out,” he says.
Elrond doesn’t like the Rings of Power
Prime VideoOutside Lindon, Galadriel pursues Elrond on horseback. He has the three Elven rings, but he refuses to hand them over. Before she can catch him, she’s summoned to a meeting with Gil-Galad and Elrond.
“Is it true?” the High King asks, demanding to know the identity of Galadriel’s “companion” and why she withheld that information. She “dances so to avoid revealing the truth” and stresses she’d never knowingly endanger the kind, before confessing to being tricked by Sauron.
Elrond is furious, but Galadriel says she was “deceived” and blames Elrond’s failure at Khazad-dûm for having to resort to the rings. Elrond begs Gil-Galad not to wear them or use them, pointing out how Sauron helped Celebrimbor for weeks before they were forged.
“Soon, the last gold leaf will fall, and it’ll be my task to inform all of Lindon that our time here has ended, and that the Elves must abandon these shores forever,” Gil-Galad says.
“Now you inform me our most cunning enemy is rising again. If we leave now, the peoples of Middle-earth will be left to suffer under the tyranny of a new Dark Lord. Those rings are more than our last hope, they may be the last hope for all Middle-earth, it is a risk we must chance to take,” he tells Elrond.
Elrond not only refuses, believing Sauron will use the rings to attain greater power, but he takes a Richard Kimble dive from the top of the waterfall with the rings.
Halbrand meets Adar again
Prime VideoOver in Mordor, with the lava of Mount Doom bubbling and spewing onto its rocks, Halbrand is dragged with a chain around his neck into Adar’s camp. Those who don’t swear allegiance to Adar are killed on the spot and left to “feed the soil”, and men who bend the knee are branded for their fealty.
Halbrand asks for “his people” to be freed, or Adar’s Orcs will die. Adar says his men have nobody else left to fear, but Halbrand tells him Galadriel has sought a new kind of power, one “over flesh” that’ll allow them to enslave his children.
Adar immediately recognizes that he’s talking about Sauron and demands more information.“You can’t kill me,” Halbrand tells him, but Adar responds: “In time, you will beg me to.”
Later, Sauron stares off against a huge mongrel. He’s offered some food if he talks, but he refuses, so Adar’s men beat him to a pulp. Once he’s alone, he reaches out to the dusty, muddy leg of meat left on the ground – but he uses it to curry favor with the dog watching over him. Seconds later, he’s an obedient good boy.
The Stranger dreams of destiny
Prime VideoWe hop over to Rhûn, where The Stranger stumbles towards a staff in the twilight hours. He reaches out and grabs it, sparking visions of destruction, fire, and a mysterious ‘Dark Wizard.’
Thankfully, it was just a dream. The next day, under the sweltering sun, Nori asks him to explain the dream as it could be a clue about what they’re trying to find out in the East, “when they reach those stars.”
Somebody (wearing a mask resembling something out of Star Wars) watches them from a distance, but it’s unclear who they are or who they’re affiliated with.
They both realize they’ve traveled in a big circle, arriving at some familiar dried-out trees. The Stranger insists there must be some “evil” cast over these lands, and tells her not to panic; it’s the fool’s meal, after all. Nevertheless, they’re still starving, but Nori has an idea: why doesn’t the Stranger use his magical powers to make the tree bear some fruit?
He’s hesitant at first (his powers were pretty volatile in Season 1), but he gives it a go. It doesn’t quite work: the tree blows up, but bugs start to crawl out. “We’ll eat for days,” Nori exclaims.
The Stranger isn’t happy, though. He wants to control his powers, but he doesn’t know how. He considers sharing his dream, but believes it’s best not said aloud. “Perhaps Wizards are not always fair,” he tells Nori, before chomping down on an insect.
Of course, he’s not the only one who’s struggling. This is unfamiliar territory for a Harfoot, both emotionally and physically; she’s away from home, and she misses Poppy and her family.
“Strange how which is left behind can be the heaviest burden to carry… I miss my home as well,” the Stranger tells her. “Sometimes I perceive a glimmer of it… a longing for a feeling I can’t remember or even name. But I know it’s real… just beyond the sunset.”
Suddenly, a vague light can be seen in the distance. “It appears we’re being followed,” the Stranger says, so the pair set off again.
Elrond finds Círdan
Prime VideoGil-Galad sends a messenger to Eregion to tell Celebrimbor about Halbrand’s true identity. Galadriel thanks the king for “trusting” her, but that isn’t the case. “Let this be clear, commander: you and I are momentarily aligned for one reason. Your actions have left us no alternative.
“Because of you, our enemy lives. Because of you, we have no choice but to test the virtue of the rings.”
Galadriel swears she won’t stop until she destroys Sauron. Gil-Galad’s forces tell him they can’t find Elrond, but Galadriel is convinced he’s still alive and has tried to find someone who “could turn the tides his way.”
She’s right. After leaping from the cliff in Lindon, Elrond quietly arrives at the Grey Havens to seek counsel from Círdan the shipwright, the “oldest and wisest” Elf in Middle-earth.
Círdan recalls Celebrimbor’s aspirations of creating objects that could “change the heart of any who beheld them”, and says he must have succeeded. Elrond believes the risk of Sauron’s influence over the rings is too grave, and he wants them destroyed.
“Do so and the age of the Elves will end. We will be abandoning all Middle-earth to its fate. Could you accept that?” Círdan asks, and Elrond says to do otherwise would be falling prey to the designs of the enemy. “You do your father proud,” Círdan tells him.
Moments later, Galadriel and Gil-Galad arrive to try to reason with Elrond. “I have come to coax you willingly,” she tells him, but he gives her the cold shoulder. She tells him they need to trust in the “balance” of the three rings, but Elrond says they need to consider the possibility of his corruption – and that she herself may be under his spell, even still.
Soon, Galadriel realizes he’s been stalling. Círdan has already set sail with the rings – but as he tries to drop them into the irretrievable depths, something stops him.
A familiar friend arrives
Prime VideoBack in Rhûn, the Stranger and Nori intercept the mysterious person stalking them – but it’s just Poppy, and she has food and a map! It warns if you forget “the song” you’ll end up going in circles. The words come to the Stranger, who starts singing about the “lands far away” – it’s the lyrics of ‘The Wandering Day’.
Under bright moonlight, they make it to a cliff overlooking Rhûn – the same place from the Stranger’s dreams. However, they’re still being watched, and we get a glimpse of their symbol: an eye, suggesting some sort of connection to Sauron (or, at the very least, they’re not friendly).
We hop back to Mordor, with Adar standing above ‘Halbrand’. He tells him about being chosen by Morgoth for “rebirth” and endlessly tortured, and how Sauron offered him wine “red as a blood moon.” Adar then reveals he set the Southlanders free, so Halbrand tells him that Sauron has taken a new form.
If released, he offers to “seek Sauron out” so Adar can prepare to destroy him. He agrees… but not before kneeling and vowing allegiance to Adar. As he sets off, the mongrel eats the man who tormented Sauron.
The three Elven rings
Prime VideoIn Lindon, Gil-Galad sings of a “bare and leafless day” and warns that “the light of the Eldar is fading.” However, Círdan shows up with the rings, believing Celebrimbor has brought “perfection” to Middle-earth.
Elrond cries out, “No!”, causing the rings to slip from Gil-Galad’s hand – and one (Nenya) falls at Galadriel’s feet. She puts it on, as does Gil-Galad and Círdan, restoring the great tree of Lindon’s golden light.
Elrond allows himself to bask in it, just for a moment, before the extent of Galadriel’s actions sink in. He walks away, betrayed, but their fallout can wait – for now, it seems the Rings of Power have worked wonders, as promised.
In Eregion, Sauron arrives (still under the guise of Halbrand) and asks to negotiate with Celebrimbor. For now, he remains at the gates, waiting to get inside.
Make sure you’re up to date with our Rings of Power Season 2 release schedule, and check out our guides on Morgoth’s origins and powers, Rings of Power’s filming locations, and our breakdown of the Istari.