The Rings of Power Episode 5: Partings [SPOILERS]

[The Good Hunter]

This can be filled in once we know the whos and whats, perhaps a kindly admin?

Written by assumedly John D. Payne and Patrick McKay, Directed by Wayne Che Yip

We're on climbing higher and higher and higher now, with so many questions about what is to come. Who is Adar? Who is the Stranger? What will come of Durin and Elrond's frienship? Will Arondir and Bronwyn escape their trap? With trouble brewing at home and abroad, where will Númenor stand?

[Eldy Dunami]

I officially can't even with ROP anymore. Whether or not the Elves are correct in their belief, the fact remains that Gil-galad's and Celebrimbor's motivation, and by extension the driving force behind much of the plot, is that they believe the Elves' "immortal souls will dwindle into nothing" in less than a year unless they acquire vast quantities of mithril, which is believed to contain the light of a Silmaril, so that every Elf in Middle-earth can soak up Silmaril light like they're Siberian schoolchildren getting doses of UV light in winter.



Surprisingly, the Harfoot plotline was the most tolerable to me this episode. I had problems with some of the others, most notably Isildur being insufferable (I understand it's early in the series and he'll have character development later on; doesn't change the fact that he's an unpleasant brat), but I can't bring myself to think much about them when we have goddamn mithril tanning beds. What the hell.

[Melahny_oftheWoods]

I agree @Eldy Dunami the mithril thing is very weird! LOL that picture. I need me some Silmaril lights for the winter too. Since when do they need light of Silmarils to be immortal? They were immortal before the Silmarils, were they not? Also...I thought they couldn't mention anything to do with the Silmarillion? I guess the Silmarils and Manwe are mentioned in the appendices? I'm confused.

I loved the song that the hobbit girl sang though! It was very beautiful, and nice to see some song and music in the episode. I also really liked the scene with Galadriel vs the Numenor soldiers. That sword fighting was fun to watch! I did not see that guy cut Galadriel though... did he just rip the fabric of her dress or something? I didn't see anything.

Also, this is being very picky, but I can't stand the Elve's ears in this show. They all look SO FAKE. And Elrond's are the worst! Elves are supposed to look delicate and elegant, and he's got giant ears, sticking horizontally outwards so far it's distracting! Why couldn't they make better ears? Elrond looks like he's got hobbit ears. Also Galadriel is short.

[Elenhir]

Who is the Stranger?

Do we need more shots of him framed directly underneath the moon?

[Silky Gooseness]

I did like the Hobbit song, but the rest of this episode was mostly me trying to puzzle out a fairly incoherent and disjointed plot. The scenery and music continues to be enjoyable. The weird mithril myth-ril just baffled me - why would Elves, who have lived through their own histories and have memories that go back thousands of years, have half-forgotten legends? ummm just not sure where we’re going with this chaps

That said I continue to enjoy Durin. His casual table theft did amuse.

[Boromir88]

I watched Episode 5 last Friday, but haven't been feeling well this week and memory of it is quite foggy. I'll probably rewatch the Episode tomorrow, before the new one to share more opinions.

I've read from quite a few people about being put off by the Elves needing mithril to survive, as if their immortality depended upon mithril. Like I said, my memory is a bit foggy, but that's not the impression I had. I thought Gil Galad and Celebrimbor were talking about how Middle-earth was decaying and the Elves would "fade" like Middle-earth was fading without the mithril. It seems to definitely be going a "mithril is used in the forging of the Rings of Power" theory. It has been one of the head-scratching "I'm not sure this is going to work for me" moments in the series. But I'm trying to stick to a belief that any change to the lore can work, if the adaptors make it work, by being consistent within their own story.

Thankfully, it appears my fears about Elrond were unfounded. I really liked him in this episode and his portrayal. It was nice to get his forceful opinion about making and breaking oaths. It reminded me of the part in the book in Rivendell when Gimli says an oath can "strengthen" a wary heart (paraphrasing here) and Elrond says "or break it." Elrond knows full well the consequences of oath-breaking and that I think came across in the TV series. I also chuckled with Durin's table stealing ploy.

The Numenorean song and the Harfoot walking song were unquestionably the highlights of the episode. The music and songs feel like they fit in Middle-earth. I just wish the same could be said about the dialogue.

(My thoughts are a bit jumbled, because I'm still under the weather and taking cold medicine. I have a feeling when I read this later, it's going to be difficult to follow whatever points I've tried to make. )

[Boromir88]

Having finished watching Episode 5 again, I'm left thinking this episode simultaneously contained the best moments and the weirdest of the season so far.

I loved the songs and music in this episode. This is the first time the music was memorable to me, because of the Harfoot traveling song (beautifully sung), Numenor's song, and the orcs marching chant. I also liked Elrond and Gil-galad's conversation about oaths and Gil-galad telling him that hope was never mere. The memorable music, oaths and "mere" hope are good themes that make it feel like a Middle-earth story, in my opinion.

Then the weird. Celebrimbor's line about needing enough mithril to bathe all the Elves in the light of the silmarils. Oh boy...I'm hoping that's just clunky script writing. @Eldy Dunami's picture is quite appropriate.

[Fuin Elda]

I swear the mithril thing is infact a nod to the whole Arwen's life is tied to the ring bit from LoTR she will die unless the ring is destroyed. I hate it. Utterly hate it. This is honestly one of the first things in the show where I am not able to get past it with 'this is some really well funded fanfiction' It just makes no sense and I've written some WEIRD and cringy fanfiction back in my high school days. This is probably worse.

I quite liked the Harfoots bit was my favourite part I kept trying to figure out where they are with the map I very very much want to spend a few hours and actively draw out the map where they were traveling to see if we can place their exact location in Middle earth currently though admitted that may have been figured out already.

[Hanasian]

I swear the mithril thing is infact a nod to the whole Arwen's life is tied to the ring bit from LoTR she will die unless the ring is destroyed.

Yeah, I kind of got the vibe that the whole 'mithril needed to survive' was giving a nod to Peter Jackson's whole deal with Arwen's mortality depending on the (mithril?) jeweled pendant she gave Aragorn. I didn't like that bit os storyline either, in the movies or in Rings of Power.

On a positive note, I liked the scenes with Eärien and the Palantir.

I'm mixed on the character at the moment, but it is clear that she does not replace Anárion, who I'm still holding out hope for in making an appearance at some point in the series.