The sixth episode of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: “Udûn” included the first real battle sequence of the show and focused its efforts on a much smaller group of characters than the previous episode.
Adar, portrayed by Joseph Mawle (Game of Thrones, Birdsong), prepares the orcs for an attack on the tower. They arrive expecting to meet the remaining Southland forces but find the building abandoned. That’s when a hidden Arondir, played by Ismael Cruz Cordova (In the Blood, Mary Queen of Scots), springs out and shoots a flaming arrow at the top of the tower, where he has installed a mechanism to cause its collapse. He flees and traps many orcs, who are crushed and killed. In the distance, Bronwyn, played by Nazanin Boniadi (Homeland, How I Met Your Mother), calms the people, including her son Theo, played by Tyroe Muhafidin (Dusk, Caravan), and tells them that they still must prepare for battle. On the ships that left Númenor, Galadriel, played by Morfyrdd Clark (Saint Maud, Crawl), meets Isildur, played by Maxim Baldry (Years and Years, Skins). She learns that his mother drowned.
The orc armies arrive, and the people of the Southland and Arondir execute a well-thought-out plan to stop the orcs. Arondir and Bronwyn prepare for battle and rouse the people. Arondir hides the hilt, knowing that the object is what Adar is genuinely after. However, once they’ve won the fight, they find that most of the enemies they killed were enslaved men. Adar and his actual force of orcs ambush them. Bronwyn is shot through the chest by an arrow and is carried inside by Arondir. He calls for all to retreat into the tavern where those unable to fight are hiding. Theo is forced to stop his mother’s bleeding in a rather graphic scene. Adar and the orcs break-in, and Bronwyn, Theo, and a few Southlanders are held at knifepoint. Adar asks Arondir where he hid the hilt, but he receives no response. The orcs start ruthlessly killing innocent people. Adar instructs them to kill Bronwyn next, and just as she is about to be killed, Theo shouts for them to stop and gets Adar the hilt.
The forces from Númenor arrive and quickly overpower the orcs. Galadriel manages to avoid damage in epic acrobatic fashion before chasing after Adar and the hilt with Halbrand, played by Charlie Vickers (Medici). Halbrand manages to trip over Adar and his horse before stabbing his hand that was reaching for the hilt. Galadriel steps in to stop Halbrand from killing Adar for an undisclosed form of revenge. Later, Halbrand returns the favor when Galadriel comes close to killing Adar after he claims to have killed Sauron. Adar accuses her of being Sauron’s successor.
Halbrand is named king of the Southlands and takes over from Bronwyn to much celebration. Arondir speaks to Theo, who feels guilty about his previous decision and withdrawal from the power of the hilt. Arondir gives him the hilt to rid himself of it and its curse. But when Theo uncovers it, he finds that it is a decoy. One of Adar’s followers plants the hilt into its keyhole equivalent, and chaos ensues. Water bursts and flows into a volcano that erupts and starts killing many people. All flee from cover aside from Galadriel, who waits to be consumed by a dark and fiery volcanic cloud.
“Udûn” was the best episode of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power by far as it focused on Arondir, Bronwyn, and Theo, who have all been marvelous since the beginning of the season. The battle scenes were excellent and inventive. They struck the perfect balance between adding in reminiscent features (such as orcs ominously speaking just before their death and horse-whispering) and having a surprising and engaging individual style. The landing of the ships from Númenor to ultimately save the day felt predictable, but the twist of the decoy hilt countered this effectively. After a slow build-up, this pay-off felt extremely important for viewer engagement.
Rating: 8.0/10