Friday, October 7, Amazon Prime Video lifted the veil on “The Eye”, the 7th episode of The Rings of Power. A chapter rich in emotion, notably marked by the birth of Mordor. Big plan.
Darkness engulfs Middle-earth. After a grandiose episode marked by the devastating explosion of Mount Destiny, the series them Rings of Power continues with the darkest episode in its history. In the Southlands, the survivors regain consciousness under a shower of red ash, falling from a fiery sky that looks like Mordor. Galadriel, Míriel and Théo quickly register on the list of survivors, but the series chooses this episode to begin writing that of the dead. Ontamo, Isildur’s friend, is the first to succumb, followed by Isildur himself, trapped in the collapse of the burning tavern. In this same collapse, Queen Míriel receives a shower of sparks in the face, which make her lose the use of her eyes forever…
This scene, which sees a key character disappear and severely injures a second, marks a real turning point in the narrative. The forces of darkness, hitherto only represented by Adar and his orcs, are now spreading everywhere, like this red dust in which we neither see nor breathe. An image that makes sense on screen, since it allows the viewer to become aware of the turn the plot has just taken. We also note that for the first time since the launch of the series, Rings of Power makes the choice to sink the hemoglobin. The scene where Theo searches for Bronwyn in a tent transformed into a hospital is full of assumed close-ups of the foul wounds of bedridden soldiers. There is no doubt, the war is on. And it is not to displease us.
Les Pévelus in slow motion
And the Southern Lands army is not the only one to suffer the consequences of Adar’s victory. Hundreds of miles away, the Pievelus finally arrive at Grandverger and find that the supply trees have died under the wrath of the Orodruin. The Stranger tries to heal them, but only manages to frighten the nomads, to the point that Sadoc ends up demanding his departure. A few hours later, however, the Pievelus realize that the Stranger’s efforts have not been in vain: the trees have come back to life. But the relief is short-lived, as the mystics in search of the Stranger make an appearance and burn all the hobbits’ provisions in one fell swoop. Nori, supported by Poppy, Sadoc and Malva, decides to stand apart to warn the Stranger of the threat hanging over him. If the pievelus scenes make it possible to highlight the impact of the eruption of the Mountain of Doom throughout all of Middle-earth, they do not, once again, bring much to the plot. As usual, the Stranger doesn’t line up a single word, the mystics reveal nothing about their purpose, and Nori spends most of her time moping about her fate. In short, it is not yet this time that we will become attached to the Pievélus.
Durin, on the other hand, managed to move again this week. After his father’s refusal to let the Elves take the mithril from the mountain, the dwarf decides to come to Elrond’s aid without the king’s consent. The latter does not take long to notice this and definitively banishes Elrond from Khazad-dûm. He then passes a soap to his successor, giving rise to a father-son sequence as strong as it is moving. As a loyal and determined friend, Owain Arthur gives voice with such intensity and sincerity that his emotion bursts the screen… and the heart. A performance as they are rare for the moment in Rings of Power…
The Transition to Mordor
With this seventh episode, which sees Adar rename the Southern Lands to Mordor, Rings of Power makes the transition between the Middle-earth before, and the one after. A necessary step, which nevertheless raises questions about how the first season will end. There is indeed only one episode left for the writers to conclude the first chapter of the series, and it is clear that elsewhere than in the Southern Lands, things have not progressed much. After promising Galadriel to return, Míriel left for Númenor. The Elf, she took the road to the elven lands with Halbrand to heal the wound of the latter. Those who took six episodes to put together are therefore separated again, as if they were making a fresh start before they had finished what they started. Should we therefore expect an episode 8 devoid of action? That would be a shame, especially with episode 6, Rings of Power has now proven what it can do…
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