The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power: Udun-Recap

credit: Rings of Power

Things have been pushed to a level that makes one feel that it’s time to prepare for the coming of Mordor and an era of warfare, and some people might think that it’s about time, while others might be a little confused as to why this chain of events came to be in this manner. What some folks might need to remember is that at some point, Mordor needed to be formed, and the people of Middle Earth would need to be made to fear the coming of Sauron. This is all material that is being used to build toward the original trilogy, and much like the original trilogy, there’s plenty of room to play with the narrative, so long as it pushes forward in a manner that supports the formation of the original story. But as things continue to progress, one can’t help but think that this current episode is about to stand out as the trigger that will allow the intro of the initial trilogy to stand out as it already has. 

credit: Rings of Power

Giving the villains a reason for being bad isn’t doing the show a lot of favors. 

Adar is a complex character, there’s no doubt about that, and the explanation of the orcs and what is really going on has managed to get people talking. But the truth is that the nature of so many said evil characters in this story appears to be up for grabs at this point that it makes a person wonder if there is any such thing as an actually evil individual. These days it happens that a lot of movies and shows are attempting to show that evil characters are not entirely responsible for their choices in life and that accountability is less important than how and why villains actually become villains. This tends to bring to light the issue of morality while sometimes showing that the villains do have a reason for becoming the way they are and that it’s not their doing. But one thing about the orcs and the Uruks in this story is that it’s tough to justify their actions in any way, especially since they tend to be far more violent on average than any other race. 

The fight between the humans and the orcs takes a serious twist. 

While the fighting between the folk of the Southlands and the orcs were bound to be vicious, it was not as one-sided as it could have been since the initial thrust of the enemy was hindered in a way that was not fully expected as Arondir and Bronwyn managed to organize the people into an offensive unit that took out the first ranks of the enemy without as much damage as one might have thought. But when it was revealed that the orcs were humans in disguise, the traitors that had lost hope and joined Adar put a different spin on the battle, especially when the real orcs decided to attack. Then things turned deadly in a way the townsfolk hadn’t expected, as arrows started flying, and it became a real possibility that Bronwyn might die. 

credit: Rings of Power

The power of Sauron is proven to be stubbornly absolute in some ways. 

The attempt to sunder the sword of Sauron has been unsuccessful, which isn’t too surprising since anything made by such a powerful being feels as though it would be given the type of durability that might allow it to endure a great deal of damage. Still, one can’t fault Arondir for trying, but the image of the hammer he was using flying apart when striking the sword hilt was kind of amusing. But the fact that it was stolen and used to fulfill its purpose, well, since it speaks volumes of how things are going to be pushed forward and how the story will continue to develop with each passing week. With only so many episodes left before the end of the first season, one can’t help but wonder what will happen next and how Mordor will continue to shape up. The end of the Southlands appears to have come, and where things go from now should be easy to guess, but people are still going to keep talking; that’s a given. 

All looks hopeless at the moment, but the next two episodes should help to shape the direction for the second. 

The eruption of the volcano was an interesting effect considering that no one saw it coming, and the image of Galadriel standing tall, or perhaps in shock, as the billowing ash clouds rolled onward toward and over her was kind of terrifying to think about. But as this first season winds down to a close, it does feel as though it’s going to reach a point that will allow it to plunge into the second season in a manner that will keep the fans glued to their devices.