The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 Episode 6 Review: Where Is He?

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 Episode 6, “Where Is He?” truly tests where the main characters’ loyalties lie with more interesting and compelling situations.

Whereas The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 Episode 5, “Halls of Stone,” presented how characters like Durin IV and Elendil had to endure grim changes, this episode showcases the effects of those lies being strung out. As such, it also tries to keep pace with all of the storylines as Season 2’s endgame nears.

However, the narrative formatting of Episode 6 keeps a consistent flow. This especially goes for the scenes involving Celebrimbor and Durin IV and the events in the East.

Throughout Season 2, Celebrimbor has become much more grizzled and ill-tempered due to his multiple failures. At this point, the Rings have consumed him to the point where he’s isolated himself from society.

Celebrimbor’s new attitude is all in thanks to Annatar, who’s definitely gotten into his mind.

Watching Celebrimbor ‘s darker side form was almost sad to watch given his real goodness he’s shown to others like the Dwarves.

By being too consumed, he’s basically turned into Annatar’s pawn. Even when Celebrimbor’s workers find a dead corpse with that eerie warning about Sauron, Annatar still has control over the situation.

The situation with Durin IV and Khazad-dûm is no better given what happened on Episode 5. Though Durin IV tries to convince his father, Durin III, to let his Ring go, he’s too greedy to do so. Durin III’s Ring has ultimately consumed him, much like how Celebrimbor is with his personal work.

Durin III has gotten extremely greedy to the point where the citizens of Khazad-dûm and rest of the Dwarf lords have given him tribute. This leads to perhaps one of the episode’s more emotional moments between Durin IV and Disa following Annatar’s confrontation.

These two storylines in The Rings of Power finally colliding has this feeling of tragic excitement. I initially found it refreshing to see these characters interact with each other finally, yet everything between Durin III and Durin IV has been so bleak.

Yet, that’s what leads to the most fun part about Durin IV’s story in this episode: the lovebirds are able to stand up for themselves. Funnily enough, this happens when Disa attracts all the cave bats against Durin III’s men. Unfortunately, they still have more to face later on.

The events involving Nori and the Stranger also surprisingly play into Episode 6’s grander idea of putting your loyalties into something. Both characters, one more so than the other, have a hard decision to make when it comes to protecting what they love.

For Nori, it’s easier for her because she has this strong connection to the Stoors. Sure, this relationship may have only developed in Episode 5, yet they both know the struggles about adapting to new circumstances. However, the talk between Nori and Gundabel felt a little brief for my liking.

As for the Stranger, there’s definitely a heavier weight to the situation he faces here. Progressing forward, Tom Bombadil decides to give him an ultimatum: return to Nori and Poppy and protect them or find the truth about his past. 

It’s a heavy toll for the Stranger to carry and even though I knew he was going to protect them, I couldn’t help but be compelled by Tom’s speech. The talk he gives to the Stranger is captivating, especially when you have that idea of who the Stranger is meant to be.

However, perhaps the most significant presentation of this idea comes in Elendil’s story. The tensions here are ramped up to a higher level all in thanks to Pharazôn’s planning to execute Míriel.

Throughout the episode, Elendil decides to place his loyalties into Míriel even though she doesn’t want him to. By showing this dedication, it manages to influence his daughter Eärien to do the right thing, if late. In the end, their shared respect goes both ways as she decides to face the punishment Elendil was given.

Besides giving more insight into how Sauron is fully influencing Pharazôn, this story definitely uplifts the episode positively. Yes, it looks like it might have a good resolution given Míriel’s survival, yet there’s still time to make it have an overarching effect.

This leads into the most personal climax of The Rings of Power Season 2’s season with the meeting between Galadriel and Adar. The two may have a shared interest in gaining something thanks to the Rings.

By having this interest, it shows that they’re dedicated to making Middle-earth a better place by ridding it of Sauron. However, their methods completely differ.

Through their dinner, they both realize that Sauron is still alive and want to do something about it. Yet, it all leads to what Sauron wants in the end: for Adar to launch the attack against Eregion with his armies.

So far, The Rings of Power Season 2 has been solid in presenting its ideas through its shared storylines and ideas. With the action getting higher, though, the next episodes may need to focus on finally connecting these characters together.

Stray Thoughts:

• Annatar’s new dark outfit is definitely bad boy-coded, it should be clear he’s the bad guy!
• Arondir’s mini-fight was cool, but they didn’t do much with him this episode (which felt weird.)
• Tom Bombadil’s hat is literally the one that Gandalf has in the films. There’s no way that this ISN’T 100% confirmation of the Stranger being Gandalf at this point.
• Wait, was Tom a figment all along? He literally just disappeared right after that speech so I’m a bit confused!
• I’m just now seeing how the Stoors’ tree, Khazad-dûm’s tree, and the Elven tree have this narrative connection. They’re metaphorically tied by this episode’s big idea about dedication.
• “Faith is not faith if it is not lived” is probably the best quote that encapsulates this episode’s narrative theme.
• This episode really does have too many fake-outs, but it almost does play into the narrative for tension just a bit.

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The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power streams Thursdays on Prime Video.

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