Why does Rings of Power season 2 make Lord of the Rings feel so empty?

So, here we are at last: the eighth and final episode of The Rings of Power season 2. As you’d expect from a season finale, a lot goes down in episode 8. The Sauron/Celebrimbor partnership reaches its inevitably tragic conclusion. The extended dust-up between Elrond, Galadriel, and the elves and Adar’s forces reaches its endgame. And the Stranger finally gets a name.

With all this payoff, episode 8 should feel like a triumph; the thrilling capstone to a generally better-executed sophomore batch of installments. Yet it’s ultimately an underwhelming affair, its every high point undercut by at least as many lows. In that sense, the finale is emblematic of season 2 overall, where the real battle isn’t between the elves and the orcs, or even Sauron and those out to bring him down — it’s between the good and not-so-good halves of the show itself.

[Ed note: This article contains spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2, episode 8.]

In fairness, the Lord of the Rings series’ “good half” is well represented throughout episode 8. The production values have never been better, particularly where the battle scenes are concerned. Director Charlotte Brändström, cinematographer Alex Disenhof, and the wider crew deliver big-screen-level action aplenty, from Durin III’s heroic last stand against the balrog to that one-take shot of an elven archer cutting loose in Eregion. The cast continues to give it their all as well. Sure, some actors rise above the rest — Charlie Vickers and Charles Edwards are especially strong during Celebrimbor’s impressively gnarly, book-inspired death scene — but, the occasional creaky accent aside, everyone acquits themselves well.

So, it’s a real shame that season 2’s finale feels so emotionally empty, even if this is far from unexpected. As I predicted last week, episode 8 drops its direct predecessor’s hyper-focused approach to The Rings of Power’s sprawling (read: overstuffed) narrative. Instead, we touch base with every plot thread scattered across Middle-earth and beyond. There’s a logic to this; it wouldn’t make sense not to check in with all our heroes and villains before season 2 wraps. Yet it also forces showrunners (and episode 8 scribes) J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay to prioritize less engaging subplots — did anyone else completely forget about Isildur, Estrid, and the rest of the gang over in Pelargir? — at the expense of giving the finale’s big moments room to breathe.

The dwarves’ much-hyped showdown with the balrog? Over in the blink of an eye, apparently for the sole purpose of giving Durin III a heartfelt send-off, which — due to its briskness — doesn’t even feel earned. Sauron winning back the orcs? Accomplished off screen and more or less “because,” just so that the Dark Lord can have an army again, and Adar can befall the same surprise pincushion treatment Sauron endured in episode 1’s opening flashback. And the climactic one-on-one duel between Sauron and Galadriel? A hollow sword fight given Galadriel’s drastically reduced (and almost entirely Sauron-free) screen time this season. It’s clear we should care, but there’s simply not enough buildup to make it happen.

Episode 8’s obligatory Lord of the Rings foreshadowing likewise suffers from playing out at breakneck speed — another weakness it shares with the rest of season 2 (and The Rings of Power overall). Míriel sending Elendil on his way with a legally mandated off-model Narsil is a prime example of this. It should be a big deal — a symbol of Elendil taking a decisive step toward his destiny as the future King of Gondor — but it isn’t, because it happens so damn fast with so little context. He’s given the sword and shoved out the door to Middle-earth with only the vaguest sense of what he’s supposed to achieve there and why. What little gravitas the scene musters is borrowed; Prime Video may not own the rights to Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, yet Brändström and Disenhof nevertheless run back the staging of Aragorn receiving the reforged Narsil in Jackson’s Return of the King. But in a vacuum, it doesn’t amount to much. Like Sauron’s orc recruitment drive, it happens because it has to — and if we care it’s because we’re supposed to, not because of any groundwork laid in season 2.

Ironically, the reverse is true of the goings-on in Rhûn. Here, the problem is not enough speed and too much setup. Episode 8 finally, finally confirms the Stranger’s identity — and he’s exactly who most of us pegged him as during season 1. Yet, despite this obvious outcome, it’s taken us two whole seasons to hear the name “Gandalf” (or a variation of it). It’s a generous viewer who’ll consider this time well spent. Yes, it’s neat visiting a largely unexplored corner of Middle-earth, and yes, the wizards’ origins are a fascinating bit of lore for those less familiar with J.R.R. Tolkien’s canon. But when all’s said and done, scenes devoted to the non-mystery of the Stranger’s backstory and purpose have chewed up minutes that could’ve otherwise been used fleshing out The Rings of Power’s central (and far more compelling) Sauron-centric storylines.

And the knock-on effect of things moving at the wrong pace? A disappointingly weak platform for future seasons to build on. On paper, episode 8 sets the stage for season 3 well enough. Every Ring of Power (with one notable exception) is now finished, and the outed Sauron, backed by the orcs, is ready to embark on his long-delayed Brat Summer. The elves have set up shop in Rivendell and are committed to fighting back. Durin IV has succession headaches to deal with. Gandalf’s rivalry with the Dark Wizard is just warming up. Nori and the Stoors are off in search of the Shire (or something). And Ar-Pharazôn and his Númenórean cronies are making even bigger assholes of themselves at home and abroad. However, in practice none of this elicits the excitement that season 1’s finale managed via a single shot.

That’s partly because a bunch of people cheering after a lot of half-baked palaver about darkness versus light lacks the visceral oomph of Sauron marching into Mordor. But it’s also a symptom of episode 8 — like a decent chunk of the episodes that preceded it — being so uneven in its execution. This makes it hard enough to invest in the adventure at hand, much less those further down the line. Why get pumped for the Second Age milestones slated for the show’s remaining three seasons when the likes of Eregion’s destruction, Númenor’s decline, and the Durin’s Bane comeback tour weren’t exactly home runs this go round? Indeed, once the credits roll, the prevailing feeling is that, despite another valiant effort by all involved, The Rings of Power’s shortcomings have again won out over its positive points in season 2. Maybe the tide of “battle” will turn with season 3 — but not without some pretty major changes to the Prime Video series’ plan of attack.