It wouldn't be Tolkien if there wasn't a dirtbag teenager somewhere.
On this week’s installment of Rings of Power, our story is all about parents and children—especially fathers and sons. So why was last week’s episode called “Adar” (Elvish for “father”) instead of this one? Your guess is as good as mine. Luckily, “The Great Wave” has some familiar Tolkien magic up its sleeve, from unexpected alliances to problematic teenagers. We’re breaking it all down below: what we loved, what we’re still scratching our heads about, and what you need to know from the lore.
This week’s episode opens with a dream sequence: during a routine blessing of Númenorean babies, a colossal wave overtakes the island, engulfing Queen Regent Míriel and the members of her court. But as we learn later in the hour, this is no dream sequence: this is a vision of the future witnessed through a palantír (the seeing-stones used by wizards like Gandalf and Saruman).
Míriel reveals all this to Galadriel after a seriously bumpy week. The Lady of Light has officially worn out her welcome: after failing to convince Míriel that Númenor must reforge its alliance with the elves in the fight against Sauron, Galadriel demands to speak with “Númenor’s true ruler”—Míriel’s father, the deposed Tar-Palantír. Her insolence gets her thrown in the slammer, though she’s breaking out in no time to cat-burgle her way into the royal tower, where she finds a bedridden Tar-Palantír and a livid Míriel. Finally, Míriel confesses the truth: her palantír has revealed that Númenor’s downfall begins with Galadriel’s arrival. Despite a moving speech about choosing faith over fear, Míriel determines that Galadriel must leave Númenor. But ultimately, after a sign from the Valar, Míriel is moved: she will personally escort Galadriel back to Middle-earth and the forces of Númenor will come to the Southlands’ aid. I was heartened by Elendil’s recruitment speech in the town square, where he calls for Númenor’s “brave sons and daughters” to take up arms. Daughters! Eowyn’s influence! I can’t wait to see what Galadriel, Míriel, and Elendil get up to on their long ocean voyage to Middle-earth. Hope no one gets seasick.
Poor Arondir. He fell in love with a human woman and became a prisoner of war to protect her people, only to get saddled with looking out for her dirtbag son. After a revealing conversation with Adar (more on that below), Arondir is dispatched with a message for the refugees of the Southlands: “Your people may live if you forsake all claim to these lands and swear fealty to him.” The “him,” of course, is Sauron, dispelling any theories that Adar might be Sauron in disguise. Arondir’s journey back to Bronwyn takes him by way of Tirharad, where he saves useless Theo from orcs while he’s out scavenging for food. Once again, the special Ring of Power for best stunt work goes to Arondir, who caught an orc’s arrow with his bare hands, then fitted it to his own bow and fired it back into the orc’s chest. Sick!
King Durin III and Prince Durin IV butted heads this week with characteristic dwarven stubbornness. As I suspected, the dwarves have discovered mithril: “a new ore lighter than silk, harder than iron… a species maybe dearer than gold.” This miraculous mineral promises to change the fortunes of the dwarven race, but there’s just one problem: King Durin has forbidden his people from mining it, as the process is notoriously dangerous. Furious with what he sees as his father’s short-sightedness, Prince Durin keeps on leading secret mining expeditions until one nearly claims a company of dwarves’ lives.
Prince Durin has concealed all this from his buddy Elrond, but as it turns out, Elrond is exactly the person he needs to talk to. In the most poignant sequence of the episode, the gents bond over their daddy issues. Explaining that the gods elevated his father Earendïl to another realm out of gratitude for his great deeds on earth (relatable!), Elrond wonders if Earendïl would be proud of him or disappointed in him. “I would be only too happy to hear any judgment, so long as it granted the opportunity to have but one more conversation with my father,” he tells Durin. “Do not waste what time you have left with yours.” Chastened, Durin asks for his father’s forgiveness; the king replies, “Forever am I with you, my son. Even in anger—sometimes in anger most of all. There is nothing to forgive.” Reader, I teared up! The Mithril Saga is far from over, but at least the Durins are back on good terms.
The special Ring of Power for best line of the week goes to Disa. When conferring about Prince Durin’s secrecy, Elrond assures Disa that her husband isn’t sneaking around with another woman. “I know,” Disa retorts. “Who’d have him?” Elrond tries to trick Disa into revealing Durin’s whereabouts, but our canny dwarf princess won’t be tricked by anyone, not even an immortal elf renowned for his intelligence. Smiling toothily and calling him “dearie,” Disa lying straight to Elrond’s face was a true delight.
After last week’s cliffhanger, Adar finally came into full focus—and we still don’t have any answers about this mystery man, though we have more clues. Adar is clearly an elf, though the scarring on his face suggests that he’s been tortured at the hands of Sauron—or maybe even Morgoth. I say Morgoth because it’s clear that Adar is old enough for a potential encounter with this Big Baddie, way back in the First Age. When Arondir reveals that he was born in Beleriand, Adar muses, “I went down that river once when I was young.” Notably, Beleriand was destroyed at the end of the First Age. Whoever Adar is, he’s got big ambitions, telling Arondir, “You have been told many lies. Some run so deep even the rocks and roots now believe them. To untangle it all would all but require the creation of a new world, and that is something only the gods can do. I am no god. At least, not yet.”
Why are Isildur and Theo so terrible? As the great Amy March might say to them, “With every chance of being good, happy, and useful, you are lazy, faulty, and miserable.”
Tolkienheads know that Isildur is destined to die face down in the River Anduin. Maybe if he’d spent this week’s sailing lessons listening rather than daydreaming, a different fate would befall him. Aboard a Númenorean ship, Isildur is hypnotically drawn to a shimmering landmass in the western distance—a place he calls “the real Númenor.” Could it be the easternmost shore of the Undying Lands, a forbidden paradise that long tormented and tantalized the Númenoreans? For his negligence as a sailor, Isildur is sacked—as are his two working-class buddies, who rip into him for his entitlement. But don’t worry: by the end of the hour, they’re all joining the Númenorean army and heading to Middle-earth. Nothing like going to war together to mend fences, right?
Meanwhile, over in the Southlands, we have another problematic teenager. Rude to his mom, a thorn in Arondir’s side, and seemingly destined for corruption, Theo is The Worst. He endangers his people when he reveals his sinister broken sword to the orcs, who react with excitement and hot pursuit: “It’s a boy! He has the hilt!” Then, once Arondir’s rescue has delivered him safely back to the watchtower, he encounters a local Sauron sympathizer. This old crank says of the hilt, “It is no sword. It is a power fashioned for our ancestors by the master’s own hand.” All along, I’ve been thinking that this was Sauron’s broken sword—but given how it draws out the blood of the man who wields it, this explanation makes a lot of sense. Just what power is the sword conferring on Theo? We may find out soon; as the old crank advises, “Starfall means his time is near.” Sauron is coming, friends. Stick with us as all is revealed.
Adrienne Westenfeld is the Books and Fiction Editor at Esquire, where she oversees books coverage, edits fiction, and curates the Esquire Book Club.
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