The Rings Of Power Episode 4 Review & Breakdown

The 4th chapter of season 2 titled ‘Eldest’ gave viewers the complete Middle- earth experience from Ents, Barrow- wights and even Tom Bombadil… but did this all work? Well let’s discuss.

Let’s Go Through the Mines

The episode starts with Galadriel and Elrond arguing about which path they should take with the inevitable path chosen by Elrond despite the warning of Galadriel, ending up with the company facing creatures of terror and the breaking of their group… which is quite similar  to when in the movies Frodo decides to go into the mines of Moria but first they get attacked by a creature of Terror in the Watcher which eventually leads to the Breaking of the Fellowship.

Barrow-wights Killed Messenger 

We also find out in this episode that the Barrow-wights probably acted on Sauron’s orders and/or returned due to his rising presence of darkness and evil and ultimately stopped Calenwe from reaching Eregion and alerting Celebrimbor about the true identity of Halbrand

Prophecy of the Shire

So Nori had the runes and drawings on the wall explained to her by Gundabel about the prophecy of the land they might one day find and establish. The bridge and everything alike is very reminiscent of course of the Shire and is this a reference and foreshadowing of where the Harfoot storyline will go whereby Nori and co end up establishing Rhun.

Grand Elf

So one of the biggest teases and Easter eggs of this episode is Gundabel teasing potentially the Stranger’s identity as when Nori is trying to overall explain the identity of the stranger to the Harfoots, Gundabel ends up comparing him to a  “grand elf”. So is this where the name Gandalf may potentially come from? We shall see.

Evil Wizard Istar

We also learn in Rhûn that the dark wizard played by Ciaran Hinds is in fact an Istar and one of the 5 wizards from Tolkien’s legendarium. We also learn that this Istar also went and learnt from Tom Bombadil. One theory could be that he is one of the Blue Wizards and he killed his other blue wizard counterpart and this is why the stranger was sent to save the day and re establish order.

Nameless Things

One big moment of the episode is when Arondir kills the worm creature after slicing through it internally and afterwards when explaining to Isildur and Estrid he mentions a line very similar to what Gandalf said in Moria when mentioning that there are “nameless things in the deep places of this world”.

Galadriel’s Visions

Galadriel’s visions through Nenya showcase what’s to come with the sack of Eregion and the toppling of Feanor’s statue and a teaser of the finale showdown between Galadriel and Halbrand in episode 8 which hints at Sauron using his original clean shaven Halbrand form to maybe convince Galadriel in a decision.

Tom Bombadil

Well, isn’t there a lot to unpack! Tom is referred to of course as the Hermit and very coincidentally has an Old Man Willow esque tree near his house where the Stranger got consumed. We received a hint at Goldbery through hearing her talk, but did not get to see her on screen. We also learn that Tom Bombadil is out in Rhûn to investigate what has happened to the once green lands which as he mentioned to The Stranger, he had seen as he is the ‘Eldest’.

Ent and Entwives

Seeing the pair walk off holding hands was sweet, and the male ent was voiced by well known Harry Potter Star Jim broadbent (Professor Slughorn).

Review & Thoughts

Episode 4 of The Rings of Power Season 2 almost felt like it’s own standalone episode in the sense that it felt like the main protagonists encountering and fighting off against different creatures whether that be massive worms, barrow-wights, ents or even Tom Bombadil. Tom Bombadil is a divisive addition, you will either love him or hate him. We hear the famous song and his dialogue is mostly from the books- it’s just more-so his seriousness and whether it’s justifiable yet to have him in this narrative. The Elven fight with the Barrow-wights was shorter than expected,  but the best parts of the episode goes to the ents and entwives which provided many warm and heart melting moments, especially the moment with Arondir.

The Eldest 3/5