Developed by J. D. Payne & Patrick McKay
1.04 “The Great Wave”
Written by Stephany Folsom and J. D. Payne & Patrick McKay
Directed by Wayne Che Yip
Starring Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Owain Arthur, Robert Aramayo, Joseph Mawle
New episodes streaming Fridays on Amazon Prime

by Megan Bailey, Staff Writer

I must confess: I didn’t gel with this episode on first watch. Not because it’s bad, but I didn’t immediately lock onto anything the way I had for the previous three. But upon rewatch, I realized why that is. This is a Daddy Issues episode!

We see or hear about several dads in this episode, including Tar-Palantir, Queen-Regent Míriel’s father; King Durin III, Prince Durin’s father; Eärendil, Elrond’s father; and then of course, Adar, who is acting as a father/ruler to the orcs. We find out more about these relationships throughout the episode, including a tearful conversation between Elrond and Prince Durin about how Elrond wishes he could speak to his father again. He explains that his father has been turned into a star–calling back to the line Sadoc said in a previous episode about knowing people can turn into stars, but not the other way around, and setting up the light of Eärendil that Galadriel gives Frodo in Fellowship. And so, obviously, communication isn’t exactly possible. He urges Durin not to waste any time he has left with his father. Which, cool, but some of us have Bad Dads, Elrond! (I’ve written on the Bad Dad concept before with Emily Maesar.)

So, while this Daddy Issues aspect just wasn’t my cup of tea on the first go-round, I do think it’s done effectively here. It’s grounding the character work and fills out the world a bit more. It explains why Míriel has been so resistant to Galadriel thus far, shows us more about Elrond and Durin’s friendship, and gives us an understanding of why the orcs revere Adar. The orcs grunt respectfully at him, which is my new favorite subtitle.

This episode also features some pretty scary portents of the future, if things continue down this path. We see two visions of what could happen to Númenor, including one using a palantir. Bad news! Míriel’s father saw the vision and tried to re-align Númenor with the Valar, but the people rejected it. Now Míriel is in charge and faced with avoiding that awful flooding fate. She’s now placing her hopes that helping Galadriel will save them from it.

And on the smaller scale, Númenor seems to have some little jerks running around, stirring up an “elves are going to steal our jobs” conspiracy. While this is a bit on-the-nose, in my opinion, it does seem like there might be more to it: Pharazôn, Míriel’s adviser, very easily convinces the conspiracy theorist, and everyone listening, that everything is fine. Maybe he’s trying to set up his own political power to challenge Míriel down the line?

And then there’s Adar, who sends Arondir back to the watchtower with a warning: The people must swear fealty to Adar and surrender their lands, or he’ll come take them by force. After we’ve seen Theo and Arondir barely escape the orc’s clutches, this isn’t a good sign either! However, the scene of Theo, Arondir, and Bronwyn in the woods being chased by orcs is gorgeous. It’s a truly incredible scene, with Bear McCreary’s score over the lovely gray tones in the forest, as more and more orcs come running after them.

There’s some more set-up in this episode, including Isildur and his besties being kicked out of the sea guard before the trial. Isildur felt the call to the west again and intentionally let go of a rope. But he’s able to make up for it by volunteering to go with Galadriel to the Southlands along with his friends.

Also, Durin was keeping something from Elrond, and after some spying, Elrond finds out that the dwarves have been mining Mithril. It’s dangerous to collect, and a mine collapses with several dwarves still inside. Disa, in another lovely scene, sings a plea to the rocks to let the miners out alive. Her incredible song works, but we now understand just how dangerous the Mithril mining is. And we’re able to see a little more about Khazad-dûm before it comes to the end we know awaits it.

Stepping into Speculation Corner once again: I still think that Adar and Halbrand are too obviously being set up as antagonists to be Sauron. Call me crazy, but I think the Sauron reveal will be more of a surprise. Of the two, I would rather it be Adar than Halbrand, as I want Halbrand to be more of a tragic figure than an outright betrayal. We’ll see! Because Adar is a mangled elf, I think it’s likely he was one of the first elves that Morgoth created and is a sort of head figure now that Morgoth is gone and Sauron is in the wind.

While Halbrand definitely helped Galadriel in this episode, counseling her to find a better way to negotiate, I don’t think the show is particularly subtle about what may be lying underneath. I still think he could be the Witch King, and seeing a reverse Aragorn, someone who has the chance to restore his kingdom but instead falls to Sauron, would be interesting!

All in all, while I didn’t love this episode on first watch, I still like where it’s going. And it looks like the next episode will have all the storylines, so we’ll see things start to link together even more.