The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power 2×05 “Halls of Stone” was the first time I’ve ever actively cheered for Celebrimbor and hated the humans with a passion unlike any I’ve felt before.
Celebrimbor was testing Sauron in 2×05, showing that he isn’t the absolute fool he believed AND that we believed. He has his limits and appealing to his hubris like Sauron did in 2×02 can only get Sauron so far. So what does Annatar do? Pivots to a degree that shows his cruelty and how every single person in that forge, or Middle-Earth in general, is a pawn for his grand master plan of ruling for reasons. Because movies and two seasons later, I still don’t know why Sauron wants to rule besides wanting to. But maybe sometimes we don’t have to give the villain a cookie cutter sad story on why he wants to rule. Maybe he’s just evil. Maybe Sauron just is.
Back to Celebrimbor. He’s right in not wanting to make rings for men. We know how selfish and foolish men can be when given the smallest bit of power in our world. And the thought of giving them an untethered power that is even affecting the dwarves has to shake someone out of the stupor Annatar put Celebrimbor in. Because this is all a game. And Celebrimbor is on the cusp of realizing that there is a noose around his neck that is slowly but surely tightening, making it so he never escapes. None of them will escape, making “Halls of Stone” another sad reminder that all of these lives will be destroyed because one being simply wants to rule over all the rest.
I did want to point out that the Sauron/Galadriel girlies got a little snack in the form of Sauron comparing an elf in the forge to Galadriel. He still thinks of her, probably as much as she thinks of him. But while Galadriel wants to destroy him, Sauron wants to infect her with his darkness and watch her burn the world down at his side like he clued in 1×08. (Which, if you know any books where the hero goes dark and rules by the villains side, let me know.) And I can’t help but want to enter the screen and shake this young elves shoulders like, “Run, run as fast and far as you can! Go to the Undying Lands! Because that pretty face with the bad wig is going to destroy you.”
But it’s too late for the elves of Eregion, Sauron having them trapped by the oncoming wave of orcs making their way to the city. And its too late for the dwarves. Which, first and foremost, I’m glad that Durin believed Disa and went to his dad with his concerns about a looming evil within the mountain. For as much as I feel like The Rings of Power is overstuffed, I can’t help but want to see these two in every episode. Disa and Durin are strength, companionship, love, and friendship tied into one. And their romance is exactly what this show needs. Because whether you’re elf, dwarf, or human, you bond with others like you to face the world together. And these two are facing everything together.
As for the dwarves in general, death is knocking on their door. I know it’s going to be generations before the Balrog destroys them, but “Halls of Stone” is where the cracks begin. Because I’m glad to see more of the dwarves, their city, and the great doors of Khazad-dûm that we later experience in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings. But with it comes pain. These communities are a ticking time bomb, ready to collapse and be wiped out. And I don’t want it. I want to see King Durin hang out with his family, Disa and Durin take the kids out for a stroll, and to learn more about their community. Because THIS is the strongest part of The Rings of Power, my interest in this society. Not Sauron. Not the elves. And not the humans. This.
The Rings of Power doesn’t help any of it’s storylines because its overstuffed. Case in point, The Stranger, Tom Bombadil, Nori, and Poppy not being shown at all this episode despite that fact that they play major characters. I think the show itself is also overstuffed by the presence of the humans in Numenor. Unlike the dwarves, I don’t care for the humans at all. I don’t care for Elendil’s daughter, who has consistently given me “white woman tears” with a side of “loud and wrong.” I also don’t care for Pharazôn’s delusions of grandeur and his annoying mediocre son who had one second of power and decided to *checks notes* destroy a sacred temple and it’s relics and kill someone Elendil thought of as a son. AND the annoying mediocre son did it while Valandil had his back turned AND because he was jealous that “white woman tears” daughter had a crush on him.
Men. They ruin everything. And it literally took one episode of The Rings of Power “Halls of Stone” to remind me why I abandoned Game of Thrones. Because anytime you give little annoying mediocre men power, they destroy everything they don’t understand with an unmatched cruelty that screams, “Me, me, me. It’s all about me. How can’t you see that?” That feeling made me check out from Game of Thrones besides the chisme because it’s all everyone talked about at the time and my low self-esteem didn’t want to be left out. But I’m not going to do the same with The Rings of Power. Because no, everything hasn’t been perfect on this show. But it’s been leagues above, at least for me, Game of Thrones and their unnecessarily and brutal cruelty for kicks.
If The Rings of Power goes the way of Game of Thrones, I will say goodbye. No matter how much I love the dwarves and how much I want to see more of Arondir.
And before you leave, don’t forget to check out Prime Video’s inside look at episode 2×05 below!
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power drops new episodes every Thursday on Prime Video.
