Rings of Power Season 2 Episode 2 recap: ‘Where the Stars are Strange’
Prime VideoRings of Power Season 2 Episode 2 returns to Khazad-dûm, where a gulf remains between the two Durins. Meanwhile, Celebrimbor tries to resist Sauron’s Halbrand-shaped persuasion… and fails.
After the over-stuffed first season, Season 2 Episode 2 wisely paid attention to just three groups: Elrond, Galadriel, and Gil-Galad; Sauron and Adar; and the Stranger and Nori as they journeyed into Rhûn with Poppy.
Galadriel and Elrond are at odds with each other over the titular Rings of Power; she believes they’re the key to defeating Sauron (they also restored the light of Lindon’s tree, so she’s definitely onto something), but Elrond is frightened of Sauron’s influence, even passively before they were forged.
This debate continues in Episode 2, but the show’s scope widens to the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm – and we get a big “Lord of the Rings” name-drop.
Khazad-dûm goes dark
Prime VideoWe open on Prince Durin and Disa shopping for groceries, forced to “tighten their purse strings” after the argument with his father. “You married a prince, now you’re bound to an outcast,” he says, but she tells him she’s “bound to the Dwarf she loves.”
Disa tells him he should talk to his dad, but Durin says he’s too stubborn. Moments later, Khazad-dûm begins to shake, with rocks and boulders falling from above. But it gets worse: all of its light passages are covered too, submerging the Dwarves in near-total darkness.
Galadriel pleads to chase Sauron
Prime VideoBack in Lindon, Galadriel plants seeds beneath her brother’s memorial. Celebrimbor arrives with news of an unexpected visitor, and cloud suddenly covers the surrounding area, with vines snaking towards the Elven blacksmith. As the world is rendered in blood-red, they pin him against a tree as he recites a familiar poem: “Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf-lords in halls of stone, Nine for Mortal Men, doomed to die.”
The tree impales him… but it’s just a daydream. Celebrimbor is still alive and well, while Galadriel is distracted during a meeting with Gil-Galad and the Elven chiefs. She tries to gather her thoughts and suggests invading Mordor from the West, but she believes Sauron may have already arrived at Eregion.
“He seeks to rule [Middle-earth] not only through conquest, but by mending the minds and wills of all of its peoples to his own. For that he needs not armies, but rings, and he cannot craft them without Celebrimbor,” she warns the High King, who dismisses such worries.
How wrong he may be. “Some veiled evil closes in on Celebrimbor,” she tells him, revealing how her ring has given her “perceived glimpses of the unseen world” – something Gil-Galad has also experienced. “Mountains crumbling, waters running dry, and clouds black gathering over white towers,” he describes.
But there’s a problem: according to Gil-Galad, if a deceiver gains your trust, they could sculpt your thoughts and alter your reality. In other words, Galadriel may be weak to Sauron without even knowing it.
“He knows my mind, and I know his, which is why I must face him; why I alone can slay him,” she insists.
Enemy at the gate
Prime VideoOver in Eregion, Mirdania tells Sauron (still looking like Halbrand) that he can’t come inside. He asks to talk to Celebrimbor directly, but she says he’s occupied. “The Lord of the Eregion is asking you [to leave],” she tells him, but he says he plans to wait. As he turns, she notices a nasty wound on his back.
Mirdania then goes to Celebrimbor to tell him that Sauron has refused to leave, and that he appears to be injured. He decides to ignore him, citing his promise to Galadriel to “never treat with him” again.
Unfortunately, he’ll be waiting a while for any message from Lindon: the Elves carrying Gil-Galad’s letter are killed in the forest and dragged away by unknown assailants (presumably Orcs).
The Dark Wizard
Prime VideoIn Rhûn, the mysterious masked rider arrives at the home of their master: the Dark Wizard, who also oversees the Cult of Melkor (those weird witches who fought the Stranger in Season 1). It’s unclear who he is, exactly (some people will say Saruman, others will say he’s a Blue Wizard).
He’s clearly powerful, using blood and butterflies to conjure the appearance of one of his acolytes (the same leader from Season 1), who tells him that Sauron’s shadow is deepening and he’s taken a new form. The Dark Wizard asks about the Istar (the Stranger), and says they need to find him before anybody else.
The tracker we’ve seen following the Stranger, Nori, and Poppy then tells him that he knows how to capture the Istar. “What makes you think a mortal like yourself could defeat an Istar when my most powerful acolytes could not?” he asks, but he believes the Stranger will surrender to him to avoid Nori and Poppy’s deaths.
Meanwhile, Nori and Poppy test out a few different names for the Stranger, but he hates all of them. “No-one can give you a name, it is yours already. It is who you are, and when you hear it spoken, you feel your heart glow,” he tells them.
Poppy suggests a shortcut, but it means traversing across barren lands without any water or food, so they stick to their original route. They hear the hooves of the Dark Wizard’s trackers in the distance, so they make a run for it and hide. Unfortunately, as the Stranger points out, this means they need to find another trail – aka, they need to go trek across the endless sand.
The mountains aren’t listening anymore
Prime VideoIn Khazad-dûm, Dwarves struggle to grow anything without light, with gardens withering since the earthquake. “Some say the mountain was cursed when the prince let in that Elf,’ two women say, but Disa stops them and tells them not to “traffic in conjecture.”
Narvi tells King Durin about Mount Doom’s eruption, believing it caused Khazad-dûm’s quakes. He says the obvious remedy is getting the dig teams to repair the shafts and create new ones, but Disa points out how every “stone singer” has failed to identify a path to dig.
So, Disa and the two women start singing, with their powerful, angelic voices booming through Khazad-dûm – but it only makes it worse, covering one of the few remaining shafts. “Not once have [the stone singers] ceased to provide for us, but now, whatever the cause, the bond is broken; the hand of darkness has closed in on Khazad-dûm,” King Durin says.
Before Disa leaves, Durin awkwardly approaches asking about his son. “Surely Durin knows I spoke in anger,” he says, believing the onus is on the prince to apologize for causing offense. “I imagine it does take strength to carry a grudge so heavy, to keep your wounded heart so tightly bound it can barely beat,” Disa tells him, and he responds: “Aye, it does.”
“No wonder we can’t hear the mountain, its king is deaf to the sorrow of his own son… you want to show true strength? Summon your son to you, he’ll answer. Leave it to him, and the peaks of Zirakzigil will thaw before this feud of yours will,” she says.
Elsewhere, Durin joins the miners, but struggles with blisters on his hands. “No shame in it, even I’ve had them… when I was five,” one of them quips, before lightly slapping his face like a child. He threatens to bite off his finger, but as soon as Durin turns his back, he’s pushed to the ground.
Disa tells him to “climb off his high peak” and apologize to his dad. “We can’t hear the mountains anymore. I’m afraid, Durin. I’m afraid,” she says. “We’re Dwarves. We’ll find a way, we always have,” he assures her.
Elrond seeks Círdan’s peace
Prime VideoGaladriel tells Elrond that she fears Sauron may already be in Eregion, and asks him to join her on her journey. The king’s trust in him is valuable, as is his steadfastness. “A dog is steadfast… and just as quick to follow on a leash,” he tells her.
However, Gil-Galad won’t allow her to go without Elrond, as she could be vulnerable to deception on his own. “He’s right. Sauron used me, and under his hand I was played like a harp to a melody not of my choosing,” she admits, but Elrond disagrees. He believes Sauron gave her everything she truly wanted, and that’s what he’ll do to everyone else.
“The labyrinth is his. As long as you stay in it, you have already lost,” he warns, and Galadriel begs for his help. “In choosing to wear those rings, you have all chosen to become his collaborators. I will have no part in it,” he tells her, before asking her to leave.
Once again, Elrond goes to Círdan for advice. “I cannot trust these rings. What is beauty when it is born in part of evil?” he asks, and Círdan tells him: “No less beautiful.”
“Judge the work, and leave judgment concerning those who wrought it to the judge who sees all things… it is called humility, and it is difficult for most, but it is the truest form of sight,” he adds. Elrond wishes he could know Círdan’s peace, but Cirdan shows him how much power a single ring exerts over every aspect of life – if Sauron got his hands on just one, he could wreak unimaginable havoc and pain.
“It is not your enemy who bears these rings, but your most trusted friend… open your eyes and guide them before the darkness spreads across Middle-earth and blinds us all,” Círdan says.
It’s a trap!
Prime VideoIn Rhûn, Poppy and Nori find a well just as the Stranger collapses from thirst. Thank the Valar, it’s full of water – but they accidentally alert trackers to their location.
The Stranger finds a staff, not dissimilar to the one from his dream. As they ride towards him, he slams the ground and conjures a tornado… that engulfs the whole area and sends Poppy and Nori flying into the distance. He screams out their names, but they can’t hear him.
Celebrimbor is the Lord of the Rings
Prime VideoAfter showing his latest creation to Mirdania (Ithildin, the rare mithril later used for the Doors of Durin in the LOTR trilogy), Celebrimbor asks if ‘Halbrand’ is still outside. Sauron summons rain, trying to force Celebrimbor’s sympathy – and it works, but only after he mentions the rings. Celebrimbor is so eager to find out about their success, so enamored by Sauron’s empathy, that he invites him inside for some supper and wine.
“Did they work?” he asks. “They worked wonders,” Sauron tells him. Celebrimbor is so delighted that he opens a First Age bottle. “You have not the slightest inkling how this feels after all this time, after all these centuries, to finally create something,” he says, with tears of joy in his eyes.
Sauron asks Celebrimbor if they’re friends, because “there’s no room for half-truths.” He confesses that he came to Eregion to plea for rings for men. “The risks of corruption are far greater,” he says, and then ‘Halbrand’ reveals his ‘true’ identity. “When Galadriel discovered the truth, she cast me out, and I dare not risk the same happening with you,” he says.
“There are forces in this world beyond evil, and sometimes they send aid in the form of an envoy; a messenger sent to bring guidance to the ears of the wise. Mordor’s rise was but the beginning. At this very moment, Middle-earth balances on the brink of the abyss. Soon, every realm will fall – not just Elves, but Dwarves and men.
“The darkness is growing stronger, and the Rings of Power are our last hope of restoring the light. You and I have work to do.”
Celebrimbor can’t believe he’s talking to a messenger from the Valar, but Saumon uses every spooky trick in his arsenal to convince him, before emerging from the fireplace with a new look and name: Annatar, Lord of Gifts.
“I have walked through the dust and the desert of faraway lands, in search of an artist possessing the craft to save all Middle-earth. The storm is coming, Celebrimbor, I can bring you the knowledge none other possesses; I can unlock your grandest abilities. When our work is complete, never again will the world overlook you as the mere scion of Fëanor, but forevermore revere you… the Lord of the Rings.”
As the episode draws to a close, Gil-Galad summons Galadriel and tells her she’s departing for Eregion tomorrow morning. However, her mission comes with a condition: Elrond will be leading her company.
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 the biggest complaints about Season 1. You can also read our review of Rings of Power Season 2.