The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Episode 4 Review – The Great Wave (2023)

TheRings of PowerReview contains spoilers.

There's a loose parent-child theme running through this weekTheLord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. And also issues of risk and safety. We see this clearly in Míriel's dream during the opening, where she greets a roomful of babies before the titular Great Wave comes and destroys the city. The dream of "The Great Wave" is a recurring dream that Tolkien himself had. He handed it in to Faramir The two Towers, so it's very fitting that it appears here first.

It is Míriel's fear of fulfilling this dream that puts her at odds with her ailing father and unwilling to trust Galadriel. Meanwhile, Prince Durin takes risks that bring both reward and danger that his father doesn't think are worthwhile. Theo takes risks that would nearly kill him and his mother, and Isildur gets distracted and abandons those around him, including Elendil.

All of these storylines involve the difficult balance between taking a risk and not taking it. As Miriel's problem shows, knowing the (possible) future doesn't always help to make decisions in the present, but it does give a hint that listening to the wisdom of your ancestors is usually a good idea. The parents, on the other hand, are motivated almost entirely by a desire to protect both their own and others' children, with poor Míriel experiencing both sides at once, unwilling to listen to her ailing father and desperately trying to care for the children (and adult) to protect. by Numeror.

We also get clues about the fathers of Elrond and Galadriel. Galadriel is referred to by the Númenoreans as "Daughter of Finarfin", while Elrond speaks to Celebrimbor and to Durin about his father, Earendil. In these cases, the great deeds of parents overshadow their children, providing both inspiration and an incredibly high standard to live up to, something that obviously weighs particularly heavily on Elrond.

We're getting a little more movement in some of the big storylines in this episode. It looks like the mysterious object the orcs are looking for is aPalantir. These have been modified somewhat from Tolkien's source material. In the books there are a number ofpalantiriaround during the Second Age, one of Elendil's father, and it is Elendil who brings seven of them to Middle-earth. They are used for telepathy and communication, although Sauron also uses them to show only select truths to Saruman and Denethor in order to corrupt themLord of the Rings.

Here thisPalantirSeems to work more like the mirror from GaladrielThe Fellowship of the Ring, showing "many visions" that Galadriel says will "perhaps never come to pass". We are also told that there were only seven of them and that the other six were already "lost or hidden". With that in mind, it seems likely that it is onePalantirthat the orcs are looking for.

As in the previous episodes, this hour is incredibly beautiful to watch but moves at the pace of an average glacier. The series still suffers from a chronic lack of anything actually happening. We meet the mysterious Adar and then he disappears again for most of the episode. Theo is still toying with turning to the dark side. Prince Durin will go to Lindon, but he hasn't left yet. The Númenoreans have decided to accompany Galadriel to help the Southlands, but they have not left yet. The Harfoots and Probable Gandalf didn't even appear in this episode.

To take the Elrond/Dwarves story as an example of the problem here, for Tolkien fans who know the source material, there's a main character who doesn't seem to have appeared yet (unless in disguise) and for those she is central to this plot. Four episodes in Where's He? For those unfamiliar with the source material, little seems to be happening. IfMithrildoesn't mean anything to you and you don't know the basics of the plot or what will happen if the dwarves "dig too greedy and go too deep" (to quoteThe Fellowship of the Ring), then this story so far is about Elrond working with some dwarves who are mining in a mine. This is not the stuff of big drama!

The slow pace gets really ridiculous in the action sequence where Theo, Arondir and Bronwyn escape an army of orcs presented in literal slow motion. Slow motion combat sequences can be a really effective way to focus on the tragedy of war and show a dying character (like Haldir inThe two Towers) or make a general statement about the violence and the battle lost (like the opening sequence of Ridley ScottsGladiator). But a scene where three main characters all narrowly escape with their lives was meant to be a thrilling adrenaline rush, and that's how it started with faking Theo possibly losing an arm. The slowdown does nothing but slow down the story.

We can only assume that this technique was inspired by the Peter Jackson films, as Jackson used it often, especially when other characters thought a main character might be dead (Frodo being stabbed by a cave troll springs to mind). But if we're being completely honest, as fantastic as these films are, Jackson overused it a bit. It definitely doesn't need to be used in a TV series that has already used slow motion extensively for the Númenor sequences and is suffering from a pacing issue.

Slow pace aside, although the series has avoided covering all four major storylines in one episode, it still feels like there are a few too many characters and plots to keep track of and focus sometimes lies on top of the less interesting storylines. This is particularly an issue in the Númenor storyline, as we spend some time with new series character Eärien and her slightly flirtatious relationship with Pharazôn's son, but very little time with Pharazôn himself. This is a character we desperately need to know more about . We see him standing around parroting real-world anti-immigration rhetoric, but we need to know more about what he wants in his own world. So far we know he doesn't like elves, and that's about it. The show could really use cutting Eärien down and giving Pharazôn a little more time.

There were some nice little details in this episode, little things that are just fun to watch, like Elrond using his excellent Elvish eyesight to lipread Durin and Disa's conversation. Isildur's friend Ontamo, and Princess Disa in particular, also provide some much-needed ease whenever they're on screen. Disa's humor as an ailing wife is quite worn, but it's well delivered and a refreshing change from grand speeches and somber situations.

But we desperately need some movement in this season's big storylines. who is the stranger Who or what is Adar? What is Pharazon up to? What are Elrond and Celebrimbor doing and where is the character we are waiting for to work with them? And when will anyone start talking about the title rings? We're already halfway through season one - the show needs to start answering at least some of those questions soon.

Evaluation:

2,5 von 5

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tags:Amazon Prime-VideoLord of the ringsThe Rings of Power

Juliette Harrisson is a storyteller, freelance writer, and ancient historian and lifelong Trekkie whose childhood heroes were JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis. In her podcast...