Season 2, Episode 3, titled “The Eagle and the Sceptre,” of the Prime Video series, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, is directed by Charlotte Brandstrom and Louise Hooper and penned by Helen Shang. The episode focuses on the Numenoreans and the Southlanders as they journey through the conflict inflicted upon them by the rising darkness. In Numenor, there is growing tension between the Faithful and the Kingsmen. The Faithful desire Numenor to return to their friendship with the elves and the Valar but the Kingsmen desire Numenor to become a superior kingdom of conquerors with everyone beneath their feet. On the other hand, the Southlanders are living in Pelargir surviving against Adar’s orcs and other dark creatures.
Arondir saves Isildur
The episode opens with Isildur’s horse Berek being surrounded by the orcs of Mordor. The orcs attempt to capture the horse for food but Berek proves that a horse is as smart as a humanoid being and avoids capture. Berek tracks his rider Isildur (Maxim Baldry) to the cave of Shelob and her fellow spiders. The two work together to escape Shelob and the spiders attacking them. Together, they head to Pelargir where the other Southlanders are. Eventually, Isildur meets a Southlander named Estrid (Nia Towle), a secret servant of Adar. They are ambushed by other human thugs serving Adar before Arondir (Ismael Cruz Cordova) arrives to save them both. However, Berek is taken by the other thugs.
Bronwyn’s Funeral
At night, Isildur and Estrid follow Arondir to the Southlander colony in Pelargir where they hold Bronwyn’s funeral. She did not survive her wounds during the Southlanders’ battle against the orcs in Season 1. This tragedy leaves Theo (Tyroe Muhafiden) an orphan and his grief is so strong that he does not accept Arondir as a foster father. Theo continues his mother’s work as a healer but is still bitter at his loss. Arondir attempts to share his grief in losing his home during the aftermath of the War of Wrath to the point of hating Morgoth and himself. However, Theo does not accept the offer of help and decides to isolate himself.
Despite Theo’s bitterness, he befriends Isildur as the two discuss the wonders of Numenor’s infrastructure such as the aqueducts. They also share the grief of losing their mothers and struggle to find a purpose growing up in life. This growing friendship leads to the two working together on a plan to save Berek from the human thugs. Over time, Estrid learns to accept Isildur as a friend, secretly renouncing her loyalty to Adar after loving the kindhearted and heroic nature of the young Numenorean.
Together, Isildur and Theo rescue Berek and fight Adar’s human servants. Theo distracts the human servants by pretending to act as one of Adar’s servants, but the rest are suspicious as he does not have Adar’s brand. This leads to a fight until the ents ambush the servants of Adar and take Theo captive. Only Isildur manages to escape with Berek, confused about where Theo is.
Damrod has Arrived
In Mordor, Adar (Sam Hazeldine) talks with his lieutenant, Glug, about their war preparations against Eregion and Lindon. They are going to war against the elves after fearing that Sauron has manipulated the immortal race to his ends and is crafting a power enslaving every race, including orcs, in Middle Earth. Glug is hesitant as he believes the orcs should not go to war and are safe in Mordor against the dark lord’s reach. However, Adar rebuts that they need to ensure Sauron is dead and that they shouldn’t underestimate the Deceiver. Glug understands and he later meets with his child who is holding his baby child.
Glug, a caring orc father to his wife and baby child, has sparked outrage across the internet and among Tolkien fans. Although many sources agree that Tolkien hesitated into making orcs an irredeemable race, it should be noted that orcs do not have free will and that they are slaves to the will of both Morgoth and Sauron. The behaviors and personalities they have are merely them mimicking the personalities of that of elves, dwarves, and men without even understanding how to express or be normal. Orcs are savage murderers through and through and they are only bred for war, not peace, so the thought of orcs being kind like Glug is laughable.
Soon, the great hill troll Damrod (Benjamin Walker) arrives: Hill-troll of the Ered Mithrin, Killer of Stone Giants, and Eater of Dragon Bones. Adar welcomes the troll veteran but is disturbed when he sees his orc messenger’s decapitated head. Despite this, Adar asks if Damrod heard their message and the hill-troll confirms by asking where Sauron is. It seems that Damrod also has a grudge against Sauron and the hill-troll looks like an old war veteran likely having fought during the First Age. However, this is not the case as the lifespan of trolls is around 200 years, and the First Age happened thousands of years ago. This means that Damrod doesn’t know Sauron and he just accepted Adar’s request just to head out to war and have fun.
Durin IV Confronts Annatar
Durin IV (Owain Arthur) and Disa (Sophia Nomvete) arrive at Eregion and are greeted by Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) and Annatar (Charlie Vickers). Celebrimbor explains he sympathizes with the plight of the dwarves and wishes to aid them as they once aided the elves of Eregion in constructing the great forge tower. The Lord of Eregion offers to give the seven dwarven lords seven rings so their individual powers can be used to save their dominions. It worked with the three elven rings when they healed Lindon and its great tree to the joy of Durin IV and Disa. The dwarven couple are overjoyed that Elrond was successful in finding a way with Celebrimbor to heal their lands and stop the elves from fading in Middle Earth.
Durin IV presumes that Celebrimbor needs more mithril to construct the Rings of Power and Celebrimbor acknowledges the need for the rare ore. The Lord of Eregion asks Durin IV if he can be an intermediary between Eregion and Khazad-dum in the construction and gifting of the seven dwarven rings. Durin IV is hesitant but Annatar intervenes that all of this is to help the dwarves and that this offer may help strengthen Durin IV’s bond with his father to the point of becoming a dwarven prince once more. Annatar even lies, stating that Elrond sees Durin IV as the wisest dwarf and wishes nothing more but to help his people via the Rings of Power.
Durin IV is suspicious as that is not how Elrond behaves. He knows his best elvish friend but Annatar does not. This causes the former dwarven prince to not trust Annatar and become even more skeptical of the Rings of Power. Disa asks for more time to consider the offer but Annatar insists that the decision must be made now. Celebrimbor allows the couple to take their time to give the offer to Durin III before they begin the work. Annatar is hasty because he has already convinced Adar to attack Eregion and Lindon. His lack of understanding of friendship has made him fail to deceive Durin IV.
Annatar Manipulates Celebrimbor
Following the meeting, Annatar manipulates Celebrimbor that their work must hasten as Gil-Galad and the other elven leaders don’t know of their work. Annatar deceives the Lord of Eregion and puts the High King of Lindon in a bad light stating he does not want more rings to be made to help the other races of Middle Earth. Celebrimbor falls for the manipulation as he is desperate to help both the dwarves and the men with their plight no matter what. This leads the great elven smith and leader to write a false letter to Gil-Galad, lying about how he is closing up the forge and not making any more rings, just to give him and Annatar the time they need to make the rings for both the dwarven lords and the kings of men.
Father and Son
Durin IV wants to refuse the offer but Disa asks her husband to share this offer to his father since the dwarves are desperate to find a solution. As a result, Durin IV reluctantly decides to meet his father and relay Celebrimbor’s invitation. At Khazad-dum, Durin III shares the royal grain reserves with his people and Narvi (Kevin Eldon) warns that the reserves will only last for three months. Nonetheless, Durin III does his duty to help feed his people. He is starting to get desperate until Durin IV meets his father to share Celebrimbor’s offer.
Durin IV slowly works to rekindle his bond and love for his father. He does this by swallowing his pride and apologising for disrespecting his father in Season 1. However, the bonding does not seem to work to Durin IV’s sadness. Nevertheless, Durin IV begs his father to not accept Celebrimbor’s offer since he finds the Rings of Power suspicious. The former dwarven prince adds his father’s explanation that the elves’ fate are their own as is the dwarves. Despite this, Durin III is desperate for any solution and accepts the offer.
Tar-Palantir’s Funeral
At Numenor, Queen Regent Miriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) mourns the death of her father Tar-Palantir and attends his funeral with the aid of both Elendil (Lloyd Owen) and her cousin, Pharazon (Trystan Gravelle). Elendil attends the funeral but he is confronted by his daughter, Earien (Ema Horvath), who despises Miriel for starting the campaign in the Southlands that led to Isildur’s presumed death. Earien was never in the books as Elendil only had two sons: Isildur and Anarion. During the funeral, a grieving mother slaps Miriel out of anger for her son’s death in the Southlands.
Miriel & Pharazon
At night, Miriel visits her father’s room. Pharazon asks his cousin about her choice of gown: Crimson (Kingsmen) for Numenor’s future or white (Faithful) for its past. The choice of gown is for Miriel’s coronation as the official Queen of Numenor and to reveal her true allegiance as either a Faithful or a Kingsmen. Miriel chooses to remain Faithful as her father was, and decides not to be neutral after witnessing the darkness rising in Mordor. As a result, Pharazon sees Miriel’s choice and has no choice but to go through with a coup to ensure that the Kingsmen have more power over the Faithful.
The Kingsmen Scheme
Pharazon discusses his concerns with his fellow Kingsmen: His son Kemen (Leon Wadham) and Lord Belzagar (Will Keen). Earien also attends as a friend of Kemen’s and, she too, desires Miriel to be overthrown. She is doing this out of vengeance since she assumes Isildur died during Miriel’s campaign in the Southlands. Earien proposes a plan to garner more support for the Kingsmen. There is a palantir Miriel uses to guide her decisions and if they reveal the palantir publicly, many will turn against Miriel and side with the Kingsmen. Pharazon is keen with the plan as is Kemen and Lord Belzagar.
Soon, the supper is interrupted by Valandil (Alex Tarrant), a friend of Isildur’s and a Faithful, who volunteered to be a soldier in Miriel’s campaign in the Southlands. He is upset at the Kingsmen for insulting Miriel behind her back and explains how she was heroic in fighting for the Southlands. He also seems upset that Isildur’s own sister is working with the Kingsmen.
The Failed Coronation
The coronation begins with Queen Miriel wearing a white dress, symbolising her status as a Faithful and their protector. This angers the Kingsmen led by Pharazon, but they nonetheless comply with Miriel’s ascent to throne. However, Pharazon puts his plan into action as Earien appears holding the palantir. She accuses Miriel for using an elf artifact to guide Numenor’s decision to attack the Southlands, leading to many Numenorean men losing their lives on the battlefield. Miriel explains that the Palantir is essential but she can’t stop many angry Numenorean citizens from turning on their new queen.
However, the failed coronation is interrupted by a great eagle of Manwe who arrives to support Miriel’s ascent to the throne. Lord Belzagar tricks everyone into believing that the Great Eagle is there to support Pharazon. This resulted in the Numenoreans cheering the ascent of Pharazon as the new King of Numenor. The end result of the failed coronation stuns Miriel and Elendil, as the Faithful is no longer safe and the leader of the Kingsmen himself is now sitting on the throne of Numenor. The great eagle then escapes to warn the Valar of what has transpired marking the beginning of Numenor’s fall and dark age.
The Forging of the Seven Dwarven Rings
The episode ends with Durin III, Durin IV, and the other dwarven leaders arriving in Eregion. There, the forging of the seven dwarven rings begins as a step to save Khazad-dum and the other dwarven realms from the dark plague that leaves their realms in darkness. The dwarves even bring a bounty of mithril to ensure the forging is successful. However, Annatar secretly enchants the mithril and twists the forging process with his magic so the seven rings will be bound to him. Unlike the three elven rings, the seven and the nine were made with Sauron’s touch and they were most vulnerable to Sauron’s corruption. Fortunately, the stubbornness of the dwarves that has been indicated throughout Season 2 will save them as it helps them endure through the corrupting effects of the Rings of Power.
Rating: 7/10