The Rings of Power’s second episode is what you would call an element in the chain of events to build up tension and pique the interest of the audience.
The series with a huge budget, and the most expensive show to be created by Jeff Bezos’s company, is trying to get the audience’s attention by releasing one episode per week.
Fans are already invested in the series and each episode leads to several theories and ideas filling in the internet.
After the release of the first episode, Galadriel has just boarded a ship going to Valinor. At the beginning of Adrift, she is still in the middle of the Sundering Sea, maybe that explains the title. The episode begins with Galadriel swimming alone in the vast sea with no shore in sight.
She encountered a makeshift raft where people on it are discussing whether to let her on board but do not have a good reaction to finding out that she is an elf.
Galadriel meets a guy who is the sole survivor of the attack by the sea worm, his name is Halbrand, and like Arondir he is not a character from J.R.R. Tolkien’s novels.
The two are at first doubtful about each other’s intentions, discussing their concepts and debating them. At one point, Galadriel says, “I am wondering what manner of man would so readily abandon his companions to death,”— which is, to be honest, a little contradictory since she was ready to do the same in the first episode.
Eventually, she discovers that Halbrand had to run away from his homeland after being chased by the orcs! Helbrand tells her that the real danger is luring in the South Lands.
Nori and Poppy do not tell anyone about the stranger and decide to take him back to their village. Nori believes that there must be a reason behind her finding him and that the stranger must be an important being.
Meanwhile, Bronwyn and Arondir are searching in the ruins of Hordern. The two find a large hole dug in the ground and Arondir decides to jump in it to find out more about the tunnel. Bronwyn warns him against it, but Arondir is firm in his quest to figure out what is inside it.
Bronwyn retrieves to her village where an Orc charges at her and Theo. Bronwyn kills and decapitates Orc and takes the head as evidence to alarm people about the looming dangers and convince them to abandon the village.
While in the realm of eleven smiths, Elrond is sent by Gil-Galad to Celebrimbor who is formulating a plan to create a new forge. On reaching, Elrond recommends taking the assistance of the Dwarves. So, he plans a visit to Durin who is furious at him for not meeting him in nearly two decades.
The tone of the second episode becomes highly inconsistent. It is really hard to carry the series when one of the main characters of the series is not only highly unlikeable but also contradicts her own actions.
The previous episode was gloomy and survived on Galadriel’s determination to root out all the evil forces even if it mean sacrificing her own people.
Nevertheless, in the second episode, she is quick to go against her own judgment and make remarks about it to Halbrand.
Moreover, the creators have not been able to blend the aspects really well. While Durin and Disa’s jokes take over the scene, it is soon switched to a horrible and brutal fight between Bronwyn and the orc.
The movie tried to mix both humor and action as well, but it was more carefully crafted to not produce any inconsistencies in the plot.
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