Season 1, Episode 5 Review

[Note: Spoilers for The Rings of Power: S1, E5 Partings]

After a couple of weeks off, we have returned to The Rings of Power Season 1, Episode 5 “Partings”. The end to Episode 4, The Great Wave, led me to believe that the series’ freshman season may still have some life in it. With Númenor’s concerns out in the open and genuine intrigue heating up in Elrond’s storyline, The Rings of Power has the opportunity to make up for my current misgivings.

The Harfoot migration has begun. Although the Brandyfoot and Proudfellow wagon are in the back of the caravan, they have been able to keep up due to the help of the Stranger. Over the course of this journey the entire caravan has begun to bond with him, even if the nature of the Stranger is still up for question. While he may be able to protect the Harfoots from certain dangers, there is the potential for a far greater from the women known as “The Mystics” who have begun tracking their party.

Arondir stands beside Bronwyn at Ostirith as the remaining villagers prepare for an attack. Unfortunately, the Southlands really suffer from the decision to include all 4 plotlines in Partings. The lack of characterization for Arondir, Bronwyn, and Theo continues to show and makes their decisions difficult to understand. I understand that a fort like Ostirith under siege may evoke The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers at the battle of Helm’s Deep; the characters in the Southlands do not. When faced with certain death, it is difficult to get behind why these characters are choosing to remain here. It only seems logical that the creators want a big battle for Season 1 for The Rings of Power.

The challenges that Elrond faces in Episode 5 has to be my favorite piece of characterization given to him thus far. Knowledge of what the Dwarves found in Khazad-dûm weighs heavily as Elrond figures out that his presence in the Dwarven kingdom was no accident. While it was disappointing that Prince Durin did not ultimately end up seeking these answers out on his own, watching Elrond react to the gravity of the situation only to expertly find a way to keep his oath while helping his kind is a delight. 

The plotline of Númenor has dragged to a pace equivalent to which the governmental representatives of Númenor make decisions. The various storylines at home in the island kingdom take up the majority of screen time in Partings while being the least impactful. Even when characterization is intended, it is so poorly executed that the “behind-the-scenes” specials on Prime Video are the only way to derive any meaning from character actions.
While the various other plotlines in The Rings of Power have their own ebbs and flows, Númenor is weighing down a lot of my goodwill. As The Rings of Power is positioned as a potential Game of Thrones successor, it has become clear the intention behind Númenor is to evoke some semblance of King’s Landing. While the nastiness unfolding between the royal families in King’s Landing was an absolute joy, Númenor lacks any equivalent character that would make this location as fun as the former.