‘The Rings Of Power’ Episode 6 Recap And Review: Not Even A Battle Can Save This Dumpster Fire

There were battles and cavalry charges. The latest episode of The Rings of Power is the most action-packed yet, but it can't save the show. The writing is some of the worst I have ever seen in a big-budget television show. I never thought it would be worse.

This show is not a good adaptation of the work of J.R.R. or a good generic fantasy. It's a disaster.

The show's most grating storylines and characters are the reason why Episode 6 might be the worst yet. Is it a hot mess that the Galadriel/Nmenor plot and the Arondir/Bronwyn plot are coming together this week?

Adar is a terrific character and this week made me even more fond of him. He calls out Galadriel at one point, which earns him a few extra points, but mostly he's just a really fascinating villain. Everyone else in this episode looks bad because of him. I wish he had a better show to be such a bad guy.

Adar gives a stirring speech to the orcs at the beginning of the episode that makes the "rally the peasants" speech sound silly compared to Adar's speech. Everyone from Gil-Galad to Ar-Pharazn could learn a thing or two from the dark elf.

I want the orcs to win at this point. The end of this episode is the closest I have come to cheering on.

We are going to get to that. It was the first time.

Everything Wrong With Episode 6

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The Southlanders leave the tower and return to the village. The orcs walked into the trap blindly.

• In the village, the peasant army barricades all those too weak to fight inside the tavern . . . because I guess they want to make it easier for the orcs to burn them all to death? They refer to the building as their “keep” despite it not being a fortified location at all.
• Theo asks his mom to tell him what she used to tell him when he was a kid and it ends up being this long speech about “the shadow” and “finding the light” and I’m not sure if I should laugh or cry at the sheer pretentiousness of this show’s writers. This is not something a mother tells her wee babe and if it is it’s not something the child asks her to repeat. What about a lullaby or something normal? Why these ridiculous speeches? Maybe I won’t laugh or cry. This one actually kind of pisses me off.
• The orcs barely manage to defeat the villagers, and only by using a ruse in which they send human fighters in with the first wave and make it look like the good guys have won. Then they descend with their remaining forces to take the village.
• Remember, this is an army of orcs fighting a handful of peasants, but it’s still really touch and go. Adar may be inspirational but he really ought to have spent more time training his fighters if this is how difficult it is for them to take on peasants in an unfortified village.
• Bronwyn saves Arondir just in the nick of time, because yeah, it totally makes sense for healer ladies to save well-trained immortal elven warriors and not the other way around. Oh but then she’s wounded and Arondir gets to save her by healing her. The healer, you’ll note, does no actual healing. (Lots of last minute saving going on in this episode, including the cavalry’s perfectly-timed arrival. It’s annoying).

Galadriel To The Rescue!

The three Nmenorean ships are sailing across the ocean from Nmenor to Middle-earth. They will make the trip in time. There will be a sea voyage and a ride. They will charge from the sea to Mount Doom in battle gear.

There is a post about going up in the morning for fast- travel. It started out as a part of the review but grew so much that it deserved its own post.

Galadriel and Miriel and Elendil and Isildur and the others in the fighting force know where to go. I don't know how he knew the orcs would be in this village. The place where he was chased off before meeting Galadriel was not the same place. Look at the pretty shiny things and pretend that everything is okay.

There is a battle when the Nmenoreans show up and none of the good guys are killed or wounded. By the end of it, the person who was on death's door seems to have recovered. Theo said "Who is that?" when Galadriel chases Adar on her horse with full plate armor.

It was by golly, Theo. Arondir is the one who replied. The commander of the north's armies is Galadriel. Isn't she big?

She definitely is. Theo snapped his fingers in joy.

The stuff worn by the commander, captain, and soldier is very thin. Galadriel asks Isildur his rank on the ship and he shuffles his feet and says "stable hand" as he fights the orcs. She sends him in when she sees he's just itching for a fight, like a coach would. He is the only one of the reserves sent to assist in the fight.

Galadriel is looking in that ridiculous armor. She is wearing heavy armor if she is just going to dodge everything. Who thought this was a great idea?

The rank thing is out of place for the author. This isn't a film about the war. We aren't supposed to be concerned with captains and lieutenants as if everyone, including the elves, keeps a standing army at their back and calls at all times The elves didn't go around saluting their commanders because this feudal society had knights and men at arms. Elendil wouldn't be a "commander of the northern armies" anymore than Galadriel would be. They were influential nobles in their societies.

Adar Is The Best Character

Galadriel chases Adar and Halbrand also chases Adar, but Halbrand gets out in front of Adar and knocks the dark elf to the ground. He asked if he remembered him, about to blow him up.

It was funny when Adar said no. Galadriel stopped Halbrand before he killed Adar. She tells him that they need him alive and that he can't slake his thirst on saltwater for some reason.

Galadriel and Adar are talking at the village where Adar is chained. She wants to know if he is one of the elves that Morgoth corrupted early on. She cut him off when he talked about his children.

She says that they are slaves and that they are not kids.

Each one has a name, a heart, and is just as worthy of a home as Galadriel is.

Galadriel vowed to "eradication every last one of you" despite them being slaves. She said that Adar would be kept alive so that she could whisper in his ear that all his children were dead.

Adar says that he is not the only elf that has been changed by darkness. Maybe your search for Morgoth's replacement should have ended in your own mirror.

Galadriel promised to kill him last ten seconds ago, but forgot to say it.

Halbrand intervenes because he thinks these two are just trading places. He should have made a joke about it. There was a missed chance.

Halbrand refused to answer when Adar asked who he was. They are trying to get us on this one. Is he the king of the Southlands, or is he Sauron? It is possible that he is trying to reform. He told Galadriel he didn't think he could be good again. I don't like the theory but it's possible.

At this point, everything seems hunky dory and Miriel exchanges pleasantries with a miraculously recovered Bronwyn, introduces her to Halbrand, and they all hail as king.

When Galadriel, Halbrand and the rest stop Adar and his forces they take back the sword-key but nobody checks it. When Arondir gives it to Theo, we learn of Adar's plan.

Waldreg has taken the blade-key up to the tower and inserted it into the lock which breaks a dam and releases water into the system of tunnels and trenches that the orcs just dug.

I hope it wipes out all of them and wipes out Galadriel's expression from his face. I haven't rooted against the good guys and bad guys in a show in a long time, but I like Adar more than any of these characters and it's not even close.

Team orc! Down with the bad guys. Nmenor was down with him. Sauron, live long and prosper! May the lord of the jungle rule!

This episode was terrible. The key had to be triggered by a dam breaking in order to flood the volcano.

They could have used the key before the tunnels were dug. Poor the water out for no reason? This is a great scheme of a dark lord.

One of the most epic and world-changing events in the Second Age could be initiated by someone. That's not Adar! It's not Halbrand! It's Waldreg!

Is this show's writers good? Is it a good idea for them to get high if not. They need to start doing the opposite and fast whatever they are doing. An episode with a battle and a volcano shouldn't have a lot of problems. I am not able to shut my brain off completely to enjoy this show. It isn't enough.

What did you think of the show? You can let me know on social media.

There are more power posts from me.

We are talking about the magical fast-traveling Nmenorean fleet and army and how anti-Tolkien this kind of disregard for time and space is here on my website.

We have a new Rings Of PowerPodcast.

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