In Review: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (S1 – EP7) The Eye

Synopsis: In The Eye, Survivors of a cataclysm try to find safety; the Harfoots confront evil; Durin is torn between friendship and duty; Adar considers a new name.

The Story

Picking up from last week. The Southlands have all been wiped out by a massive volcano. The episode kicks off in the aftermath and sees Galadriel, Queen Regent Míriel and the survivors of the human race scurrying about to find and save as many people as they can. Isildur is missing and presumed dead. And his loss is having a heavy effect on Captain Elendil who had been hard on his son. However they do manage to get to relative safety, but things are not ideal. In an accident, Míriel has lost her eyesight. But has still managed to come up with a plan to help the refugees of the Southlands find new land and a new start. There is hope as their King has thankfully survived, but needs elven medicine to heal his wounds. 

In Khazad-dûm. Elrond pleads with the Dwarfs for their help. He promises riches and timber to the dwarfs in exchange for the mithril that the Dwarfs were mining. However their king much to Durin the third is not interested and tells his son Durin the Fourth that the Elves should be left to their fate. Prince Durin is heartbroken by this and with some prompting from his wife decides to start mining the mithril again so he can help his friend Elrond. Unfortunately Durin the third catches his son in the act of mining and stops him and takes his title away from him. He also sends Elrond on his way.

Elsewhere on Middle Earth. The Harfoots have found The Grove only to find all the trees and leafy greens charred and burned beyond recognition. Their leader Sadoc wonders if the Stranger who has been traveling with Nori and the Brandyfoot family can help. Indeed the Stranger tries but seemingly is not able to achieve much. At least not right away. Sadoc is sympathetic to the Stranger and gives him a parchment with a map of stars on it and sends him on his way to one of the big foot settlements in hopes that the humans can help him.

The very next morning. Nori awakes to find that the burned trees have been replaced with green fruit trees and an abundance of food for them to pick. It seems that whatever the stranger did worked. But hopes are soon dashed when the Harfoots have an encounter with the evil mysterious figures that have been following the Stranger burn the huts and the food and things that the harfoot’s have gathered. In the wake of this attack. Nori decides that she should go after the Stranger and warn him.

In the Southlands. Adar and his Orks are victorious and choose a name for their new home, which they call Mordor.

The Acting

It’s a tough job this week to mention any standout performances as this cast has been awesome throughout the series. Lenny Henry was really good as Sadoc Burrows who has been a fairly low-key presence throughout the series. I really enjoyed his scenes with the stranger (Daniel Weyman). I particularly enjoyed the scene where Sadoc gives the stranger the parchment with the stars on it. 

Cynthia Addai-Robinson continues to strike a regal pose as Míriel who shows us a less aggressive demonstration of power when she insists that she continues on as normal despite her blindness. It’s truly a heroic act of leading by example. I also enjoyed Morfydd Clark’s performance as Galadriel. The scenes that she has with Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin) where she says that he should stop blaming himself for what has transpired. 

Overall

This episode was truly awesome in that it gave us plenty of great character moments while simultaneously delving more into the mythology of the world they are inhabiting. The episode’s title The Eye is referenced in several ways throughout the episode. One of which was the fact that the eye of Sauron as opened. But other references included the shot of Galadriel’s eyes opening at the start of the episode as well as Queen Míriel’s blindness. 

This is event television at its finest.