Welcome to the Season 2 recap of The Rings of Power, the hit show from Amazon. So nice they renewed it twice. Following the events of Season 1, SAURON HAS RETURNED! Middle-earth now faces its greatest villain of all time. Cast out by Galadriel, with no army or allies, the Dark Lord of many names must now rely on his own cunning to rebuild his strength and oversee the creation of the Rings of Power, which will allow him to RULE THEM ALL!
Welcome to Episode 2: Where the Stars are Strange
The poop continues to roll downhill. Let’s start with Halbrand. (Psst: remember Halbrand is really Sauron. In case you’re wondering why more people are not freaking out, Galadriel, in her great wisdom, kept the secret from everyone. And she wonders why on one trusts her.) Halbrand announces himself in Eregion and refuses to be turned away.
The Stranger, with Nori and now Poppy, walk the desert on the way to Rhûn as they discover more secrets and threats. Of course, The Stranger is still plagued with visions of who he was and, like smoke, is trying to grab some idea of his life his purpose—hell, even his name.
On the other side of Middle-earth, the Dwarves faces a life-threatening calamity in Dwarrowdelf aka Khazad-dûm. The rocks no longer sing to the Dwarves. The sun no longer shines. Father and King Durin III no longer speaks to his son Durin IV. Cats and dogs living together. MASS HYSTERIA! And at this point, the only one rational enough to save the Dwarves from themselves is Disa. That’s right, another rational character who must save the day. That will become a theme.
As the Dwarves try to understand what doom they are facing, The Stranger, Nori, and Poppy continue to cross an unforgiving desert. Also, they know they are being followed by an unsavory band of cutthroats, sent to capture them by a Dark Wizard. Why? Who can say, but these cutthroats are very motivated. Sadly, they are facing an unstable Wizard with enough PTSD to fill up several volumes of the DSM-IV*. Also Sauron, in his Halbrand form, continues to stand outside Celebrimbor’s tower, waiting for an audience like a thirsty prom date, using deception and lies to seduce the Elven-smith into making more Rings.
Spoiler alert: Celebrimbor buys it hook, line, and sinker. In his defense, it was a good show on Halbrand-Sauron’s part. It was right out of CIA’s playbook of recruiting witting or unwitting assets via MICE (Money, Idealogy, Consciousness, and Ego). For the record, Sauron used Ideology and Ego. Calling himself Annatar the Lord of Gifts—yes an Evil Santa Claus with visions of world domination.
As plans against Sauron grow, we start to see the rift growing between Elrond and Galadriel.
