The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 1 Episode 3 Review: Adar
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 1 Episode 3, “Adar,” is slowly chipping away at the meat of the series but continues to have the same pacing issues as the first two episodes.
Like the series premiere, the setting is stunning and it’s clear that they wanted to give viewers the cinematic quality of the movies. It does look great, but it is also clear that some of the storylines lack substance.
While there are parts of the series that drive the plot forward, there are others that seem like they just exist to fill time.
Galadriel’s arc is driving us closer to the promised arc of the series, the creation of the rings of power. The revelation that the sigil is actually a map and that Sauron has a plan is inching the story towards a plot.
However, we also need to keep in mind, that we are already three episodes into an eight-episode season and overall the plot hasn’t moved much. We get some hints and nods, but we don’t get the cohesive story as we do with The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies.
The closest we get to that is Galadriel, who is currently reading more like a young adult heroine than an elf who has been around for several centuries. Her arrival in Númenor and audience with Queen Miriel has a tone similar to a petulant teenager being told they can’t do something.
Yes, Galadriel is young for an elf, but it’s hard to believe that she wouldn’t have some understanding of the history and politics that led to Númenor’s existence.
While I found it easy to connect with Galadriel’s quest to avenge her bother on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 1 Episode 1, “A Shadow of the Past,” it’s clear on this episode that Galadriel isn’t fully developed. I enjoy a badass heroine, but the show needs to give me something to show that she has some humanity to her.
She needs a weakness or to start realizing that she alone cannot defeat Sauron.
Arondir’s capture by the Orcs is another plot that seems to give us just enough information so that we can figure out what is going on. This arc also provides us with a touch of action as the elves attempt to break free and escape their imprisonment.
The pacing of the episode resigns this arc to being told in small chunks and as a result, doesn’t give us enough time to build to the escape or connect with Arondir’s fellow prisoners, no matter how tense that scene with the water ration is.
In fact, much like how Galadriel’s time on the raft on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 1 Episode 2, “Adrift,” it feels like this plot was meant to till time and give us tiny breadcrumbs of interest.
However, the tone of Alondir’s storyline seems to fit with Galadriel’s, unlike the Harfoots.
On the other hand, the Harfoot plot feels completely different in tone to the point where it doesn’t seem to fit the story. The fact that this plot comes in halfway through the episode is jarring and seems to fill time until we can either get back to Númenor or Arondir.
Unlike the other two plots, this one feels like it’s more there for comic relief where the show doesn’t necessarily need comic relief.
When it comes to The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 1 Episode 3, “Adar,” it feels like the series is really trying to take us to Middle Earth, but it misses the mark.
The series needs to focus more on pacing and giving us compelling character-driven stories that move the plot forward than giving us a facade of Middle Earth.
Stray Thoughts:
- The horseback scene would definitely play better on a big screen, but the tonal shift also feels strange in the middle of this episode.
- I want to know more about Isildir’s family. I was more interested in how his sister got into the Builder’s guild and what that meant than just about anything else on this episode and the show cut away from it so quickly.
- I am very glad that the series didn’t try to cram Elrond and the Dwarves into this episode too. It shows the writers understand you don’t need to cram every character in for equal screen time.
- So, you call this episode Adar and then show us a hazy image of Adar at the very end? That feels like a tease.
What did you think of this episode of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power airs Fridays on Amazon’s Prime Video.
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Lauren Busser
Lauren Busser is an Associate Editor at Tell-Tale TV. She is a writer of fiction and nonfiction whose work has appeared in Bitch Media, Popshot Quarterly, Brain Mill Press Voices, and The Hartford Courant.