The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 1 Episode 8 Review: Alloyed

With The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 1 Episode 8, “Alloyed,” it finally feels like the show has found its direction. 

While it’s been a great ride getting to know the Harfoots, seeing Khazad-dûm, and exploring the Southlands, most of the series felt like it was disconnected. With “Alloyed” the show finally brings several of those threads together and drives the series towards its goal: forging the rings. 

The reveal of Sauron is the pivotal moment of “Alloyed” for many reasons. Not only does it give the enemy that we have been hearing about all this time a face, but it also forced Galadriel to confront the fact that she’d saved and assisted the enemy multiple times. 

Morfydd Clarke delivers a great performance as Sauron turns Galadriel’s mind inside out and attempts to get her to join her side. The cinematography also delivers a lot and helps drive the tension of the scene. 

It’s a turning point for Galadriel’s character. If we think back to early episodes in the season she was delivered a very young adult heroing vibe and it was hard to imagine her taking one of the rings.

However, after “Alloyed” it is easy to see how Galadriel would feel responsible for Sauron’s rise and how she would become the version of herself we see in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. It’s also easy to see how she might see the ring as a piece of her brother since his dagger contributed to the metal used to forge the ring. 

In the end, it’ll be exciting to see how Galadriel regards the ring as she continues her question. It will also be interesting to see Elrond contront her about it, because let’s be real: he knows what she’s hiding. 

The episode finally reveals the origins of The Stranger. It doesn’t feel like a big surprise to find out that The Stranger is one of the Istari, or wizards.

The confrontation in the forest, where Nori convinces him that he’s a good guy and that he can protect them feels like a moment that the series earns. It’s a great fight scene that relies on the performance and relationships that the characters have built. 

While the defeat of the three pursuers feels like a plot that could have gone on for a little longer, it’s hard to argue with the emotional payoff the final Harfoot scenes. 

Seeing Nori’s family encourage her to go with The Stranger makes the Harfoot journey feel like it’s come full circle. I thought they’d set down roots after Sadoc was injured and let Nori move on with The Stranger, but this is still a strong ending for a thread that sometimes felt like the weakest thread of the series. 

In the end, “Alloyed” feels like the series has found it’s stride. While Numenor and the Southlands continue to remain open-ended, the fact that we’ve started to see the forging of the rings and the reveal of Sauron has us very excited for a second season. 

There are still 17 rings to forge afterall. Let’s see what happens once the dwarves and men get their hands on these rings. 

Stray Thoughts:

• Elendil and Muriel feel like such a small moment compared to everything else that happened on this episode, but I love their dynamic. I really hope they share more scenes in the future. 
• Eärien and the king feels like another small moment meant to set up more for Season 2. We know the fall of Numenor is supposed to be covered during the run of this series so it makes sense that we’d start to see murmurs of the fall now and the reign of a king end.
• The end credits song “Where the Shadows Lie” is beautifully haunting. Fiona Apple is a great choice for a lyricist. 

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 Season 1 is now available to stream on Amazon’s Prime Video.

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