Guest
Rings of Power Season 2 Episode 8 is here, bringing the hit show’s tumultuous second season to a close. There’s a lot to cram into a single hour once again, but too many stories in too little time is Episode 8’s smallest concern. All of the season’s excesses and worst tendencies are together here, as nearly every plot gets watered down or thrown out the window in the pursuit of fanservice and “cool” moments. The Orcs’ siege of Eregion enters a new phase, now the creatures have access to the city’s interior. They pillage, murder, and plunder, desecrating sites of beauty and erasing centuries of collective knowledge in a moment with an ignorant grin and a well-placed torch. It’d be tragic, if we had any reason to care about Eregion. Meanwhile, Annatar and Celebrimbor’s relationship comes to a close with a dramatic moment undermined by an utterance that made me groan out loud. Celebrimbor foresees Annatar’s future and says his avarice and arrogance will be his undoing. It’s quite the curse, but then for inexplicable reasons, he gasps that Annatar is the lord of the rings, a title that makes no sense and has no meaning in any context of the show. The whole thing feels like the Simpsons meme where Bart’s class demands that he says “the thing,” and after the emotional turmoil of his relationship with Annatar, it’s hard not to see this as an unfitting end for Celebrimbor.
