After the long-awaited launch of the Rings of Power series with the first two episodes, Prime Video is returning to traditional broadcasting. Offbeat recap of the episode by someone who has seen the two trilogies but knows nothing about it!
Rings of Power Episode 3! Generic with the mysterious little grains but which actually mean something.
Arondir, who was kidnapped in the tunnel he had gone to inspect, wakes up groggy, lifted by two hounds. He’s with the Orcs, those charming creatures who growl and stole their looks from Mad Max. He finds his comrades in arms, also kidnapped and reduced to slavery condemned to dig trenches.
Another wakes up groggy, it’s Galadriel. She’s on a ship with Halbrand. The boy is still sarcastic with the Elf who doesn’t seem to share his sense of humor. They are among the military who look at Galadriel as if she came down from the moon. Not hostile, but not friendly either. And they enter the majestic city of Númenor, a mix between Angkor and Mount Rushmore but in lush vegetation.
On site, the reception is chilly. Which leads to a little history lesson from Mistress Galadriel to student Halbrand: during the Great War, Halbrand’s ancestors were on the side of Morgoth; the men of NOTúmenor were with the Elves. As a reward, the Valar gave them this island. End of the story, just as Elendil – the captain of the boat – comes to pick them up to present them to the Queen.
Sublime decors in an atmosphere between Central Asia and the Middle East. And always Elle Déco in the back of my mind. Faced with the Queen Regent, Míriel, Galadriel is still in a vindictive mood and understandably annoyed by the inquisitive gazes that land on her. Galadriel comes to the meeting with long titles to say that she is not just anyone. And casually asks for a boat to leave just as dry.
Begins a historical debate between Galadriel and the Chacellier Pharazôn on the history of NOTúmenor. Not everyone seems to be in complete agreement on the question, which is causing some tension… As a good diplomat, Halbrand cuts off Galadriel’s quid and offers to stay a few days. Proposal accepted, Galadriel opposed. But Halbrand scores a point with Galadriel by returning the dagger he stole from Elendil’s waist. Smart boy.
Isildur is at the beach
Head for Isildur, the son of Elendil who is a sailor like his dad. At least younger. He looks at his land in the distance and we hear a woman’s voice whispering his name. Wouldn’t we be in The Odyssey of Homer? Isildur would in fact be Ulysses and the voice that of a siren? We are quickly brought back to reality with Valandil, a cadet and friend of Isildur who does anything with a rope.
The landscapes of NOTúmenor are so beautiful it looks like an issue of National Geographic. Arrived on earth, the cadets already dream of becoming officers. Isildur’s sister comes to greet him on the beach. He kisses… the horse!
Meanwhile, Míriel receives Elendil in a private audience. And Míriel questions the loyalty of her soldier who brought Galadriel back to the kingdom. To test him, she asks him to do a favor by giving her a sword… None of this bodes well.
In the Southlands, Arondir searches for a way out of this hell among the Orcs. The other Elves have noticed that the Orcs have found a leader they revere, a successor to Morgoth named Adar. The plan is simple: get out of the trench when the sun is high – because the Orcs would be ersatz vampires – and find help. But the Orcs catch them planning a coup and things go wrong.
Amazon Studios / Ben Rothstein “Who rubs it, stings it” adage of the Orcs
As a good sadist, an Orc plays the appeasement and offers a drink to the three Elves. It’s when they least expect it that he takes the opportunity to slit the throat of one of them. Annoyed, Arondir then offers to cut down the huge tree that is blocking the trench.
To NOTúmenor, Galadriel searches for a way to go off on a tangent but finds herself with Elendil in custody. While he is rather cordial, she pulls out her dagger to make her case. She understands that he is not hostile to her when he speaks to her in Elvish, the language he learned where he grew up. Place that Elendil proposes to make him discover.
Galadriel rides a horse
And here is our Galadriel, happy as a child, ears in the wind, galloping on her white horse.
Also in Númenor, Halbrand attempts to blend in and tries to land a job as a blacksmith. White cabbage. Without the corporation brooch, no right to forge. Halbrand goes to heal his grief in an inn where a band of blacksmiths come to mess with him. Smart, Halbrand offers them a round to thank them. And he takes advantage of the jubilation to steal the famous brooch from the apron of one of them.
The sequel is inevitable. A good beating in good and due, but it is Halbrand who inflicts it on four or five fellows with an arm breaking sequence in the lot.
In the lands of Elendil, Galadriel is doing research in the library. There she discovers that the mark of Sauron is not a seal but actually a map of the Southern Lands. She realizes that Sauron is planning his ascension and that the Southern Lands are only the prelude in his plan.
Amazon Studios / Ben Rothstein
Galadriel and Elendil in The Treasure Map
Among the Pievelus, we sing, we dance and we prepare for the migration. But Nori’s father still isn’t able to walk with his broken foot. As for Nori, she is still obsessed with the Stranger. She sneaks into Sadoc’s to consult her grimoire which collects constellation maps.
On the eve of the great departure, the Piévelus organize a vigil, an unstoppable ritual before the migration. Sadoc makes a beautiful speech that mists everyone’s eyes by quoting all those who before have not survived previous migrations. It is then that the Stranger approaches to consult the map of constellations that Nori “borrowed” from Sadoc. This big clumsy sets fire to it, twists himself in the tents of the Pievelus and causes a general panic.
General Council. Nori gets her suspenders pulled up by everyone. She and her family risk exclusion. The verdict of Sadoc falls: they are not excluded but will make their way at the very end of the convoy, which amounts to condemning them especially with the father unable to pull their caravan.
Rounding off
Return to Numenor. Elendil has a family dinner with Isildur and Eärien, the latter’s sister. Dinner that quickly turns sour when Isildur announces to his father to postpone his exam to become an officer. Elendil throws a tantrum and orders his son to go to the meeting that is coming. But Isildur takes advantage of the fact that he looks away for a moment to leave.
During the evening, Galadriel goes to pay a courtesy visit to Halbrand in his cell and announces to him that she has discovered his true identity. He is simply the king of his people in the Southlands. She offers him an alliance between two heirs to repair the mistakes of their families who made the wrong choices. She NEVER lets go.
As for Míriel, she goes to visit her father who we learned was locked up in a tower in Númenor because he was an ally of the Elves. She makes this intriguing announcement:The moment we dreaded has arrived. The Elf is there.“
The Pievelus have begun their migration. A badly embarked affair for the Brandyfoot when the father is not damned to put one foot in front of the other. As they are about to lose all contact with the advancing others, the Stranger arrives and offers help with a single word: “Friend” on a little perky Irish music.
Among the Orcs, it is the hour of rebellion for the Elves who are trying to free themselves from their chains. When they see they are losing the advantage, the Orcs pull out their weapon of mass destruction, the Warg. A very ugly creature that looks like a hyena. Arondir managed to incapacitate her long enough for her former captain to climb to the top of the trench. But when he reaches the top, he is pierced by two arrows.
Arondir is overtaken by the Orcs who are about to chop him up. But one of them grants him a reprieve and orders that he be brought to Adar. The one that was mentioned at the start of the episode. A figure approaches as the orcs bow down in its path. The image is blurred but we guess that it is not an Orc. Could it be an Elf? Answer (maybe) in the next episode!
Generic.