Developed by J. D. Payne & Patrick McKay
1.07 "The Eye"
Written by Jason Cahill
Directed by Charlotte Brändström
Starring Morfydd Clark, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Robert Aramayo, Markella Kavenagh
New episodes streaming Fridays on Amazon Prime

by Megan Bailey, Staff Writer

This week’s episode is a doozy, and I mean emotionally. The first half hour is pretty much punishing. Now that we’ve seen Mount Doom erupt and Mordor form, we have to also see how it’s affected everyone. From the jump, there’s death and destruction everywhere you look: Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) wakes, covered in ash; Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin) finds her but can’t find his mother or Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova); Isildur (Maxim Baldry) helps Valandil (Alex Tarrant) escape, but Ontamo (Anthony Crum) is dead—which if you’ll remember, I predicted! But then, Isil is presumably crushed under a burning building that Queen Míriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) barely escapes. While we know that Isildur will live another day, his father sure doesn’t. Then we discover that the Queen is now blind, so just about everyone’s having a bad day.

All of this destruction feels devastating. It’s unending. And that’s just the Southlands storyline! Down in Moria, Elrond (Robert Aramayo) and Durin (Owain Arthur) were unsuccessful in convincing the king to mine for mithril and save the elvish race. Elrond, Durin, and Disa (Sophia Nomvete) have a very touching, very sad scene where Elrond bids them “namárië,” which means farewell but also “go toward goodness.” Unable to save the elves, Elrond resolves to let those in Lindon know about their fate.

And then, on top of all that, you’ve got Nori (Markella Kavenagh) and the Harfoots, who’ve finally made it to the grove, but Mordor’s devastation has reached even that far. Many of the trees have been demolished—many burned and most fruit destroyed. The stranger tries to heal one of the trees, but Nori and her brother, Dilly (Beau Cassidy), are almost crushed by a falling branch. So the stranger is banished from the grove and sent to where the big folk live.

Must every plotline in this week’s episode wreck me? This holds deeply in line with Tolkien, where no battle is easily won, and everything comes at a cost. There’s no easy happy ending, as evil must always be fought and bested.

Finally, a solid 35 minutes in, a reprieve! Durin sees that the small piece of mithril revives the rotted leaf, which proves that mithril will help save the elves. He calls Elrond back, and they decide to mine anyway, even though his father doesn’t approve. While Durin chips away at the stone, they have a genuinely touching conversation and Durin almost tells Elrond his secret name. These two besties are so charming! I love, love, love an elf/dwarf friendship, and this one’s coming for my long-lasting love of the Legolas and Gimli friendship.

Unfortunately, just when things are looking up, King Durin arrives and casts Elrond out of Moria. And we’re back to sadness! Robert Aramayo’s expression and body language during this scene are so effective. My poor little elvish bestie! I’m worried about him. Not only that, but King Durin gives his son a talking to, and forcibly removes the crest that signifies his son’s rank as prince. The daddy issues have returned! 

Once more, we’re given a little bit of reprieve when the Harfoots, including Nori, discover that the grove has fully recovered and is bearing more fruit than they can possibly eat. All thanks to the stranger, of course. Everyone joyfully harvests the fruit and makes plans for what to do with the surplus.

But that mysterious, magical trio, who we know so little about, are on the stranger’s trail once again. The Harfoots hide, but Nori stands up to them when she realizes who they’re looking for. She tries to convince them that he went a different way, but they end up magically burning all the Harfoots’ carts in retaliation. Even though she’d been afraid of the stranger in the last couple episodes, she’s brave enough to put her life on the line to save him, which I find so touching!

Sidenote here to say that while I think they’re too far south to be in Hobbiton proper, I have been thinking about a tweet—that I unfortunately can’t seem to find anymore—that predicted that the wheels of the Harfoot carts would eventually become hobbit hole doors. That’s genius, and I can’t wait to see that person be right!

Thankfully, we’re heading to slightly less devastating territory now. Galadriel and Theo, who were separated from the other survivors, finally make their way to the Númenórean encampment, where Theo looks for Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi). After a (kind of cheap, not gonna lie) fake-out, Bronwyn appears behind him. They hug, and then Theo hugs Arondir too. I love this little family, and if anyone puts them in danger again, I will riot!

In the meantime, Galadriel believes that Halbrand (Charlie Vickers) is dead. She’s called to meet with Queen Miriel, who swears that the Númenóreans will return to fight against the evil taking foot in the Southlands. Elendil (Lloyd Owen), heartbroken at what he’s already lost in this fight, turns away to cry, and my emotions are off the charts! To see Elendil, who was so willing to fight with Galadriel, ultimately brought down because he believes he led his own son to death—ouch. It’s really devastating, especially since he and Isil had finally made up and resolved to talk about their issues in the previous episode. Again, we know that Isildur is alive. But Elendil is really going through some turmoil.

While Nori and the Harfoots are cleaning up the burned ruins of their carts, Nori resolves to go after the stranger and warn him about the mysterious people following him. And in true ride-or-die fashion, Poppy (Megan Richards) agrees to go with her. And then, Nori’s step-mom, Goldie (Sara Zwangobani), and Sadoc (Lenny Henry) announce they’ll go too. I just love how much heart the Harfoots have and how willing they are, as little folk, to go on big adventures when pushed. That’s the power of hobbit friendship, baby!

Galadriel finds out that Halbrand is still alive, though wounded. She declares that his wound needs elvish medicine, and they plan to ride for Lindon. As they leave, the survivors, including Theo, call for strength to the Southlands.

And now for the two most irritating scenes of the episode for me, both too heavy-handed for my liking. The first is Waldreg (Geoff Morrell) telegraphing for Adar (Joseph Mawle) to say that the Southlands no longer goes by that name, followed by the Southlands location tag fading and Mordor appearing in big scary red letters. I don’t know if that’s a studio note or just the showrunners not trusting their audience. But, guys, I think it’s obvious where they are!

And second, King Durin throws the elvish leaf down the big ass hole that his son dug earlier in the episode. We watch the leaf fall to great depths within the mountain where it lands softly and appears to wake up the balrog. I’m not sure this was necessary. The balrog was shown a lot in the marketing materials, which at this point, doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. While, yes, it’s an iconic monster from The Lord of the Rings, this scene is just an obvious nod to the audience. I don’t think we need it. 

I like the show much more when it trusts viewers to know where things are going or to simply be along for the ride, without a clue. When it tips its hat too much, or telegraphs seemingly obvious stuff, it loses a little bit of luster.

That being said, I really enjoyed the emotional rollercoaster this episode took me on. It felt like a counterbalance against last week’s episode, which was a battle almost won. I like that the fights here have consequences, and that the interpersonal stuff isn’t easily resolved. The issues that were there before are still present and continue to simmer. With one episode left, I think we’re heading to a satisfying season ending, with a lot of open-ended questions. And with production for season two starting this month, I can only hope that the show continues to deliver!