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This article contains spoilers for season 1 of The Rings of Power.
With so many connecting threads weaving the tale of Middle-earth’s second age, it’s easy to forget everything that happened last season in The Rings of Power. It has been a couple of years since we last ventured into this realm through our screens after all. To help us all come into the new season with the epic events fresh in our minds, here’s a handy recap of everything you need to remember from season 1.
Galadriel’s Vendetta, Númenor, and the War in the Southlands
Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) starts the season off skeptical that Sauron is truly dead. She even goes so far as to defy the orders of High King Gil-galad (Benjamin Walker) to ensure that the evil forces that killed her brother don’t resurface. She relinquishes her spot in Valinor to continue her quest, leaving herself lost at sea for a time until she and the human man Halbrand (Charlie Vickers) are rescued by Elendil (Lloyd Owen) of Númenor and brought to the island’s shores.
After discovering that Sauron’s sigil is a map of the Southlands during her time in Númenor, and that Adar (Joseph Mawle) and his army of orcs have been attacking humans there, she and Queen Míriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) set sail to aid them and stop their evil forces from spreading.
The mysterious yet charming Halbrand is thought to be the rightful King of the Southlands, and thus instrumental in reclaiming them from the evil forces that threaten to take them over. Although at first he’s hesitant to claim the throne, he is later convinced to join Galadriel, Míriel, and the rest of the Númenóreans on their journey back to Middle-earth to save the Southlanders.
Galadriel and Míriel are also joined by Elendil and his son Isildur (Maxim Baldry) whose relationship is strained after Isildur is kicked out of the Númenorean Sea Guard. Other Númenóreans are willing to join the fight as well, but many on the island kingdom are against joining another war with the Elves, including Elendil’s daughter Eärien (Ema Horvath).
The humans of the Southlands, led by healer Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi) and aided by Elven warrior Arondir (Ismael Cruz Cordova) do their best to fight against the encroaching orc army. However, even with Galadriel and the people of Númenor, Adar and his army unleash the fury of Mount Doom upon the Southlands. The fire and ash that rain down upon the land permanently transform it, and Adar renames the land Mordor.
The surviving humans, which thankfully include Bronwyn and her son Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin), decide to leave the Southlands and head for Pelargir, a settlement in the south of what will one day become the kingdom of Gondor.
Some Númenoreans stay behind to help their fellow man, while the Queen, who lost her vision in the attack, and Elendil, who believes his son perished, return to Númenor to regroup, only to find that the King has passed away in their absence.
Halbrand’s True Identity and the First Rings of Power
Meanwhile, Galadriel rides back to the land of Elves to report to the High King what she has witnessed in hopes of convincing him that evil truly has returned to Middle-earth. And she doesn’t arrive alone. Halbrand was mortally wounded during the calamity caused by the eruption of Mount Doom, and thus Galadriel decides to bring him back with her to the Elven doctors who can save his life.
Once Halbrand is back on his feet, he’s eager, a little too eager for Galadriel’s liking, to help Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) discover how to use the small amount of mithril brought back by Elrond (more on that below) to help the Elves stay in Middle-earth. Galadriel does some digging and discovers that the lineage Halbrand claims to be from died out long ago. She confronts him, and he reveals to her his true identity – Sauron. He offers to let her rule beside him, but she refuses. After he vanishes, Galadriel rushes to stop Celebrimbor from carrying through with Halbrand’s plans, only to find that it’s too late to stop the process. Instead, Galadriel helps Celebrimbor craft three rings with the metal instead of one to split their power, hoping that they will be of aid in the coming fight against Sauron.
Halbrand reappears at the end of the season finale trekking through the wastelands of Mordor, presumably to try and take his throne.
Khazad-dûm and the Mithril Mines of Moria
The Dwarven kingdom of Khazad-dûm becomes vital to the survival of the Elves after Prince Durin IV (Owain Arthur) and his wife Disa (Sophia Nomvete) discover the precious metal mithril in the mines of Moria. King Durin III (Peter Mullan) has forbidden the Dwarves from mining the metal, worried that doing so is too dangerous. This doesn’t stop Durin IV, Disa, and the elf Elrond (Robert Aramayo) from trying to convince him otherwise…and then mining mithril anyway until they’re caught (and seemingly awaken the Balrog in the process). But until Durin IV takes the throne, it seems like the mithril mines will have to wait and the Elves will have to make due with the small amount procured.
A Harfoot and a Mysterious Stranger
As war rages in the Southlands, a little Harfoot named Nori Brandyfoot (Markella Kavenagh) tries to figure out the intentions of the mysterious Stranger (Daniel Weyman) whom she found after he literally fell out of the sky. The man seems to have no memories, nor is he able to communicate with Nori or the other Harfoots in her caravan, but he does possess magical abilities. Even though he has used his powers to help Nori and the others many times, he also seems to lack control over them and unintentionally harms and scares her a few times.
After an encounter with some followers of Sauron, who mistakenly believe that the Stranger is their master reborn, the Stranger learns that he is the Istar and that the answers he seeks lie in Rhûn. At the encouragement of her family and tribe, Nori sets off with him to find out who he is and his true purpose.
The first three episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 premiere Thursday, August 29 on Prime Video.
The post The Rings of Power Season 1 Recap: Galadriel’s Journey, Sauron’s Identity, and A Stranger’s Mystery appeared first on Den of Geek.
