S02 E05: Halls of Stone

[Erestor Arcamen]

Discussion of Season 2 Episode 5: Halls of Stone

"The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" Halls of Stone (TV Episode 2024) ⭐ 7.6 | Action, Adventure, Drama

1h 1m | TV-14

www.imdb.com

 

[Eljorahir]

Durin's Ring gives him the power to see the precious metals and jewels in his mountain making the accruing of wealth quite easy, knowing just where to dig. To me, this seems like a good choice for the show. It gives the Ring a real demonstrable power and feeds into what we know is coming: too much greed and digging too deep.

 

[Halasían]

Watched Ep 4 & 5 again, and have to say I'm liking how Charlie Vickers is portraying Sauron! In the book-lore, other than being the serious disembodied baddie toward the end, and Morgoth's eltee in the beginning, we get glimpses of his 'fair but foul' demeanor and cunning strategy, but it is quite summarized and rather vague in that period. I think the show is doing a decent job of fleshing out Sauron this season.

I also like Mirdania. She's a bit too flirty with Annatar, but I have to agree with the Dark Lord. She does have 'the look' of Galadriel, and I'm thinking that Amelia Kenworthy would have made a better Galadriel than Morfyyd Clark.

As far as the series is going so far, I think they have to wide of a scope with too many storylines. The Hobbit/Stoor/Wizard arc is really a bridge too far, and I think if they had concentrated on the Elves/Dwarves/Numenor arc it could have bene better and seem so 'rushed'. A lot of screen time was wasted in the first season with the whole Bronwyn story which could have been summarized in a part of an episode to lead in Theo.

Getting back to Episode 5, part of this 'rushed' feel is with the Numenor arc. Eärien, sadly, seems to be easily swayed, and is the family replacement of Anárion (who hope makes an appearance later in the series) who was the 'rebellious' kid. The cringeworthy moment for me this season is hers...

Valandil: "Were being stripped of rank."
Elendil: "By who's orders?"
Eärien: "Mine!" she says with a little foot-lift bounce and this grin.

And yes, I cheered when whatshisname ... Kemen? I keep forgetting his name. Maybe I'll call him Kevin.... got punched in the face.

 

[Goldilocks Gamgee]

Just finished watching the episode, and my goodness! this was a good episode. Not very book-accurate, of course, but the Numenor storyline hits deep. I cried when Valandil died. The treachery, the horrible smugness of Earien and Kemen, the nobility of Elendil... it's just too good. How I wish Rings of Power was just its own show! It would've been so good, if it wasn't marketed as Tolkien's work!

 

[Erestor Arcamen]

I don’t expect any book accuracy at this point but enjoyed this episode. I really find the hobbit episodes more boring, I prefer the numenor, dwarf, and elfisodes.

 

[Fingon_Findekáno]

when Valandil died

Ah, so that’s his name. Having just joined in for this season, I’m still learning who many of the characters are, especially the Númenorians. I could see his demise coming a mile away as soon as he backed off, since it was a classic setup for backstabbing. It was certainly sad to see Elendil’s grief over him though. He thinks he’s lost his son Isildur, and now he has also lost Valandil, who seemed to be like a son to him. It’s frustrating how the King’s Men seem to be having the upper hand right now.

I thought the scenes with the Dwarves were very interesting, seeing the effect the ring is having on King Durin III. Increase of greed and the ability to see treasures throughout the mountain! Cue Durin’s Bane…

Also quite enjoying seeing Annatar play his game, manipulating Celebrimbor into crafting first the seven Dwarven rings, and now nine rings for Men. He’s so suave and unassuming about it, and he knows exactly how to achieve his goals without drawing suspicion to himself. Looking forward to more of him!

 

[Rivendell_librarian]

I agree that Amelia Kenworthy as Mirdania would have made a better Galadriel although Annatar=Sauron telling her she has hair like Galadriel was a huge cringe moment - in a pantomime you would be shouting a warning to her. I like that here we are seeing elves who are neither aristocracy or warriors but rather artisans - up the workers so to speak. Although I am finding the Sauron dripping poison in everyone's ear a bit tedious. I do realize this is like the Manhattan project for Middle Earth - with the parallel argument about who should and should not get powerful rings. I like Charles Edwards as Celebrimbor. It's not a role that will attract a huge amount of fan adulation but I think he is conveying the inner conflict very well. There was a good bit of lore with the making of the doors of Durin and the mutual respect=friendship between Celebrimbor and Narvi. Though later one of the doors was being used as a table - seemed a bit like sacrilege.

Numenor seems to have gone a bit Game of Thrones with the cowardly atrocious Kemen killing Valandil. I don't think Earien will be too happy despite her misplaced loyalty to the new order. It's going to end badly for Numenor despite the plumbing.

For me the stand out character of the whole series is Adar now acted by Sam Hazeldine. It's a great part for an actor and I am wondering if there will be a left field attraction between Adar and Galadriel. Hopefully we'll see more of him in 6-8 though I fear Sauron will do for him. It's a really interesting idea of an orc leader who opposes Sauron.

This felt like a bridging episode setting up the second half of season two but it was a definite improvement on the last episode.