The Rings of Power The Eye review: A friendship provides a ray of light in a dark time in Middle Earth

Following last week’s tremendous, tide-turning episode, The Eye returns to the spread-out storytelling structure that has been this season’s hallmark.

The eruption of Mount Doom has torn the Númenóreans and the rest of the humans in the Southlands apart. Galadriel, Theo, Míriel and Elendil are all searching for survivors. I was pleasantly surprised by the pairing of Theo and Galadriel. This unique pairing gave Galadriel an opportunity to share her wisdom. Míriel suffers a serious injury and Elendil searches in vain for Isildur.

Meanwhile, Elrond and Prince Durin return to Khazad-dûm. They want to convince the king to allow the mining of Mithril. Finally, the Harfoots are still wandering around.

The friendship between Elrond and Durin remains the strongest element of the series. Durin’s impassioned plea to his father is the best-written scene in terms of dialogue in the series.

The Eye continues the series’ struggle with maintaining any sort of narrative momentum. Until the end of The Eye, it’s not clear how any of these storylines will tie together by the season’s end which is next week. Galadriel looks to be returning to Lindon, so perhaps a reunion with Elrond is in store.

With the overview out of the way, let’s dive deeper into the elements that stood in The Eye. There may be some minor spoilers. The Rings of Power is available to stream on Amazon Prime.

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Searching for survivors in The Eye of a volcano storm

Galadriel is in shock after the eruption but otherwise is unharmed. Isildur appears to be fine. However, after helping out Míriel he disappears and is assumed dead.

Galadriel hears Theo yelling for his mother. The pairing up of Theo and Galadriel is terrific. Since Galadriel is with a teenager, she softens her vengeance stance and provides some perspective for the youngster. When Theo asks if he’s a soldier now, Galadriel simply gives him her sword to give him confidence.

In addition to her brother’s death, Galadriel also reveals her husband died fighting Sauron’s forces. The reveal is a departure from the books but does explain Galadriel’s quest for vengeance. I just wish this detail was revealed earlier in the season.

Míriel is blind following the eruption. The scene where Elendil finds out Míriel is blind while riding the horse is phenomenal as is Cynthia Addai-Robinson‘s performance.

Elendil has a moment of hope as well. He sees a man walking Isildur’s horse. The glee in Elendil’s voice when he thinks the man is Isildur is sweet and absolutely soul-crushing when he realizes the man isn’t his son. Elendil can barely look at Galadriel.

Bronwyn, Arondir and Halbrand are alive. Míriel boards the ship to head back to Númenor. She promises to bring more troops back for the war. Galadriel and Halbrand are heading to Lindon to treat Halbrand’s wounds.

Loyalty of Durin

Elrond’s impassioned plea to King Durin doesn’t work. Prince Durin’s wife, Disa, wants her husband to do right by his friend over the king’s orders. Durin’s not sure the precedent of disobeying their king is the right one for their children. Disa believes doing what’s right on a friend’s behalf is the right example to set.

Elrond walks in and they say what may be their final goodbyes. Elrond leaves without the decaying leaf. The leaf happens to lay close to the mithril stone. The leaf quickly heals.

Prince Durin decides to mine for Mithril with Elrond in secret. Unfortunately, the king finds out.

Prince Durin and his father engage in one of the best dialogue scenes of the series. The king believes if it’s the elves’ time to die, then they should die. Dwarf loyalty should be extended only to fellow dwarves. Prince Durin views Elrond like a brother and calls his father soft, among many other things. The king strips his son of his rank.

The brotherhood between Elrond and Durin remains the warmest aspect of the series. The moment where they break down over the prospect of never seeing each other again is the closest we’ve had to Sam and Frodo saying goodbye to one another in The Return of the King.

Wandering Harfoots

The Harfoots are close to the Mount Doom eruption which has burned up an important tree. In an effort to increase the food supply, Sadoc Burrows wants Nori to convince the stranger to help. Due to the unpredictable nature of the stranger’s magic, Nori is hesitant.

Burrows decides to ask the stranger himself. The stranger seems to cause more damage to tree. The tree topples over and hurts Nori in the process. Everyone, including Nori, believes the stranger has to leave.

When Nori wakes up the next morning, she see that the tree and the surrounding area are brimming with food. Nori and her family with Burrows decide they’re going to help the stranger on his journey.

There’s a sweet quality to the Harfoots story, which is hard to ignore. However, this storyline just hasn’t gone anywhere interesting. The show hasn’t provided any answers as to the stranger’s identity. The Harfoots attitude toward the stranger hasn’t changed either. Nori believes in The Stranger. The other Harfoots don’t believe in him until they need something from him. Perhaps the season finale will make this storyline matter, but at this point, there’s no reason for this storyline to be happening at this time.

The Eye Final Thoughts

The Harfoots drag down what is an otherwise interesting episode. The reveal of Mordor with simple text is pretty lame.

The friendship between Elrond and Durin provides an emotional element and is a great way to balance out Galadriel’s quest for vengeance. Add in strong performances by Addai-Robinson as Míriel and Lloyd Owen as Elendil and you have a solid, unspectacular penultimate episode for this season.

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