The war between Sauron (Charlie Vickers) and the Elves of Middle-earth has raged for five years. Can the Dark Lord be stopped before he finally creates his “Master Ring”?
Broadcast on: Main video
Episodes viewed: 7 out of 8
It’s just as well that JRR Tolkien was good at cards. Because you’ll see a lot of his charting in this final season of The Rings of Power. With the help of a few Indiana Jones-style animated touches, each episode repeatedly takes us through its ink-on-parchment Middle-earth, from the glistening western isle of Númenor, to the eastern, oliphaun-trodden wastes of Rhûn. This season, things are getting geopolitical.
Set half a decade after Season 2, this latest installment of JD Payne and Patrick McKay’s epic prequel opens with a bloody standoff between ringmaster Sauron (Charlie Vickers, now handsomely decked out in a spiky crown and big, thick gloves) and the Elves of Lindon and the new Rivendell. Both camps need allies. Big S is recruiting men to become proto-Ringwraiths (known here as Nazgnagôl) and wants the armies of Rhûn (led by Ciaran Hinds’ bushy-browed dark wizard) to join his horde of Orcs. The Elves – once again led by the pointy-eared troika of Galadriel (Morfydd Clark, always determined to kick ass), Elrond (Robert Aramayo, always melodiously diplomatic) and High King Gil-Galad (Benjamin Walker, always perpetually grumpy) – must rally to Númenor. Meanwhile, the dwarves of Khazad-dûm, now led by the always adorable Durin and Disa (Owain Arthur and Sophia Nomvete), are just about able to stay out of it all, thanks to a clever hiding of the seven dwarf rings forged by Sauron.
But there are divisions everywhere. Apparently taking inspiration from infused politics AndorSeason 3 features multiple, complicated power struggles that muddy the waters of its central conflict between good and evil. In Númenor, for example, we find siblings Isildur (Maxim Baldry) and Eärien (Ema Horvath) engaging in a “rebellion”, if you will, against the new “empire”, if you will, of King Ar-Pharazôn (Trystan Gravelle), leading to morally gray, arguably terroristic tactics. And in the dwarf kingdom, Durin must face a power-hungry brother in the form of Eddie Marsan’s delightfully devious Thrain. Even the dark wizard has problems, thanks to one of his lieutenants who accidentally transformed Nazgnagôl, not to mention the intervention of a guy in a gray hat who we can finally call Gandalf (Daniel Weyman).
There is, we can say, a lot going on. As a result, some characters are denied the screen time we might have hoped for them – Gandalf in particular – while others are omitted entirely (there are no Harfoots visible in the seven episodes we’ve watched), and still others are quickly, sometimes shockingly, killed off. Although that leaves room for a few newcomers, notably Celeborn, Galadriel’s long-lost husband, played with gentle confidence by Jamie Campbell Bower (formerly Stranger Things‘ Vecna), and the orc general with murky motivations Marnûkh (Adam Young), who teams up with Galadriel and the stoic soldier Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova) in a somewhat Gollum style.
With all this juggling, a few balls fall. Southland kid Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin) struggles with the dark side that feels rushed, contrived and awkwardly unconvincing. Rounding, as cool as it is, seems to have a storyline that lacks direction. And Vickers doesn’t seem as comfortable directing evil stiffly at Barad-dûr as he does playing deceptive tricks on the world. Fortunately, he starts to have more fun later in the season, as he gets closer to his ultimate goal, and a crucial trinket-forging scene provides a season highlight, complete with mesmerizing visual effects.
Indeed, when it comes to showmanship, nothing is left to chance. Each fantasy environment is superbly designed, thanks to both digital wizardry and good old-fashioned set construction. Prosthetic makeup artist Barrie Gower deserves credit for his incredible work on both the Dwarves (Marsan’s bulky, shaggy Thrain, in particular) and the wonderfully repulsive Orcs, who get a lot more screen time this season. With the creations of veteran illustrator John Howe as the visual cornerstone, the creators of this version of Middle-earth continue to make it both distinct, but also potentially connected to the Peter Jackson-directed film trilogy that we all know and love so well.
It remains to be seen whether McKay and Payne will finally make the senior landing (they still have two epic seasons left). But their ambition is impeccable, and Season 3 succeeds in keeping us eager to continue the unfolding of this iconic map.
With such scale, some elements are lost, but Season 3 adds cool new characters and complications to its war-torn world, and continues to impress with its production value.
Gn entert
