The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power
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Shes called out on it, replies earnestly, and dutifully begins making plans.
Once so cordial, evenfriendly, this relationship has suddenly picked up sharp edges.
If they go north, itll take an extra two weeks.
Elrond still hates Galadriels ring and its visions and resents her bad attitude.
But, bound by a sense of shared duty, they press on together.
to which its attached.
Nothing seems to be going his way.
Happily, both Nori and Poppy survived theWizard of Ozlevel storm that whisked them away in the previous episode.
They awake to find themselves in the middle of nowhere.
But their meeting takes a turn after the visitors (rightly) suspect hes stealing water.
She hasnt come this far to be foiled by an overprotective mayor.
But when Nori mentions her lost friend is a wizard, a hush falls over the stoors.
They only know the Dark Wizard.
And they dont like him.
In no time, Nori and Poppy go from being uninvited guests to prisoners.
Its division of labor time: theyll hunt for the harfoots while the Dark Wizard looks for the Stranger.
Given that hes still stuck in a tree, that shouldnt be too hard.
Fortunately for the Stranger, his new acquaintance is happy to rescue him from the hungry tree.
Does this fellow have a name?
Hes a friendly fellow, asking the Stranger into his home.
But hes odd, too.
So whats his deal?
Tom Bombadil seems to be old.
As in older than the stars in the sky, which he calls newcomers.
In his words, hes not just old; hes eldest, no further explanation is needed.
And its quite possible hes telling the truth, given the way the fire reacts to a mere yawn.
Its yours to wield already if you prove yourself worthy of it.
And, Tom Bombadil informs him, he is not.
But maybe he will be, with the proper training.
But who could those heroes be?
Elsewhere, Galadriels vision of dark foes on the southern route to Eregion.
Thats because it passes through the Barrow-downs where even the trees seem ill at ease.
Theres a good reason for that.
The Barrow-downs are home to evil skeletons called Barrow-wights.
Take it up with the showrunners.)
Theyre pretty scary, if ultimately no match for the elves, despite being impervious to their weaponry.
Their own weaponry, however, is another story.
(Remember, she knows a thing or two about the Wild Men.)
Thats bad news for Arondir and Estrids burgeoning flirtation, but good news for the search for Theo.
While they bicker, Arondir stumbles across the clue that cracks the case.
Theo wasnt taken by men, wild or otherwise.
Hes being held by the Ents.
Its a meaningful moment interrupted by the sudden arrival of ents.
Unfortunately, back at the stoor village, its to be a sentence of exile for the harfoot visitors.
Or it would be if not for Poppy dropping the name of the harfoots leader.
Their historical puzzle-solving gets interrupted by the arrival of the riders.
But, despite the threat of violence, the Gund does not give up her unwanted guests.
If Estrid and Arondir can put their differences aside, can Galadriel and Elrond do the same?
Elrond remains skeptical, but they both agree that defeating Sauron is their top priority.
Sure, drums are scary.
But are they as scary as ents with a grudge against anyone whos taken an ax to a tree?
It looks for a moment like Arondirs past transgressions against trees will be his doom.
After that, the ents let loose their prisoners.
Theo, seemingly realizing what a jerk hes been, hugs Arondir.
(Hes played by Gabriel Akuwudike.)
Or maybe, Elrond speculates, it wasnt her friends she was protecting after all, but the ring.
That question will have to wait.
As the episode draws to a close, she finds herself face-to-face with Adar himself.
Its a busy episode, even without check-ins at Numenor and Khazad-dum.
That makes sense, too.
Episode four keeps the balance pretty well, mixing breathless action scenes (Skeletons!
with touches like Poppy becoming almost instantly lovestruck after meeting Nobody (and vice versa).
In this episode the show delivered on that promise.
Still, hes officially the Stranger so the Stranger he remains until hes officially somebody else.
The first season concentrated most of its romantic energy on the semi-forbidden love between Arondir and Bronwyn.
Bronwyns departure has seemingly awakened other characters romantic longings.
(With elves its hard to tell.
Maybe those looks just communicate the deep respect they feel for one another.)
