As a Lord of the Rings Fan, These Are the 10 Best 'Rings of Power' Episodes

The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power adapts the appendices of The Return of the King and chronicles the Second Age — the fading of the elves, the rise and fall of Númenor, and the forging of the 19 rings of powers. Despite its vast budget, the series was hampered by baffling writing choices, lore contradictions and scatterbrained characters, and only 37% of viewers completed the first season.

Even so, individual episodes contain strong moments of production, performance or unintended humor, and this piece highlights the best of those. In "Adrift" (Season 1, Episode 2) Galadriel is rescued by human survivors and forms a fraught alliance with Halbrand, while Elrond travels to Khazad-dûm to secure a forge for Celebrimbor and mend his friendship with Durin IV.

Nori discovers the Stranger and Bronwyn endures an orc attack. Khazad-dûm’s design and the Elrond–Durin interactions stand out, and the Southlands sequence shifts effectively from horror to a desperate fight for survival.

rings, powers, second age, galadriel, halbrand, elrond, khazad-dûm, celebrimbor, durin iv, númenor