"Halls of Stone" | |
---|---|
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power episode | |
Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 5 |
Directed by |
|
Written by | Nicholas Adams |
Cinematography by |
|
Editing by | Dan Crinnion |
Original release date | September 12, 2024 |
Running time | 61 minutes |
Cast | |
| |
"Halls of Stone" is the fifth episode of the second season of the American fantasy television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power . Based on J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, primarily material from the appendices of the novel The Lord of the Rings , it is set thousands of years before the novel in the Second Age. The episode explores the reactions of the Dwarves to their Rings of Power. It was written by Nicholas Adams and directed by Louise Hooper and Sanaa Hamri.
J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay were set to develop the series in July 2018, and a second season was ordered in November 2019. Filming began in the United Kingdom in October 2022, with Hooper and Hamri joining the series to direct multiple episodes. Production on the season wrapped in June 2023.
"Halls of Stone" premiered on the streaming service Amazon Prime Video on September 12, 2024.
King Durin III uses one of the new Rings of Power for Dwarves to help rebuild their infrastructure and bring sunlight back to Khazad-dûm. The ring also makes the king greedy; he plans to delve deeper for riches, and requires the other Dwarf lords to give him half of their riches in exchange for the other Rings of Power. Disa discovers that there is something evil living beneath the mines and Durin IV warns his father to stop the mining, but Durin III dismisses their concerns. He reinstates Durin IV as his heir.
In Eregion, Celebrimbor and the Dwarf Narvi celebrate the supposed success of the Dwarven rings by unveiling a new gate for Khazad-dûm, the Doors of Durin. Sauron, posing as Annatar, insists that they start work on Rings of Power for Men. Celebrimbor refuses to be involved, believing the risk of corruption with Men to be too high. While testing new ring designs with Annatar, Elven-smith Mirdania is transported to the unseen world and sees his true form. He convinces her that she actually saw Celebrimbor.
The new king of Númenor, Ar-Pharazôn, tasks his son Kemen with cracking down on members of the Faithful who remain loyal to former Queen Regent Míriel. He interrupts a memorial service that Elendil and other members of the Faithful are holding in Númenor's oldest shrine. When Kemen destroys a sacred relic, Elendil lashes out. This leads to a fight between Valandil, the friend of Elendil's son Isildur, and Kemen that ends with Kemen killing Valandil. Elendil is blamed for starting a riot and arrested.
Durin IV meets with Celebrimbor to express his concerns about the Dwarven rings, and Celebrimbor confronts Annatar to ask whether anything was done to the Dwarven rings that was not done to the Elven rings. Annatar notes that Celebrimbor lied to High King Gil-galad about making the Dwarven rings, suggesting that Celebrimbor's deception has caused any negative impacts arising from the Dwarven rings. Celebrimbor agrees to help make rings for Men in an attempt to redeem his work on the Dwarven rings.
Elrond returns to Lindon and warns Gil-galad that Adar's Orc army are marching to Eregion. Gil-galad realizes that Sauron has been manipulating them and believes the Elves cannot defeat him and Adar alone. As the Orcs arrive at the city, Adar proposes an alliance between himself and his prisoner, Galadriel.
Amazon acquired the global television rights for J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings in November 2017. The company's streaming service, Amazon Prime Video, ordered a series based on the novel and its appendices to be produced by Amazon Studios in association with New Line Cinema. [1] It was later titled The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power . [2] Amazon hired J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay to develop the series and serve as showrunners in July 2018. [3] [4] The series was originally expected to be a continuation of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies, but Amazon later clarified that their deal with the Tolkien Estate required them to keep the series distinct from Jackson's films. [5] Despite this, the showrunners intended for it to be visually consistent with the films. [6] A second season was ordered in November 2019, [7] and Amazon announced in August 2021 that it was moving production of the series from New Zealand, where Jackson's films were made, to the United Kingdom starting with the second season. [8] The season's all-female directing team was revealed in December 2022: Charlotte Brändström, returning from the first season; Sanaa Hamri; and Louise Hooper. [9]
The series is set in the Second Age of Middle-earth, thousands of years before Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. [10] Because Amazon did not acquire the rights to Tolkien's other works where the First and Second Ages are primarily explored, the writers had to identify references to the Second Age in The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and its appendices, and create a story that bridged those passages. [6] After introducing the series' setting and major heroic characters in the first season, the showrunners said the second would focus on the villains and go deeper into the "lore and the stories people have been waiting to hear". [6] [11] The season's fifth episode, titled "Halls of Stone", [12] was written by Nicholas Adams and directed by Hooper and Hamri. [13]
The series' cast includes Cynthia Addai-Robinson as Míriel, [14] Robert Aramayo as Elrond, [15] Owain Arthur as Durin IV, [16] Morfydd Clark as Galadriel, [17] Charles Edwards as Celebrimbor, [18] Trystan Gravelle as Ar-Pharazôn, [15] Ema Horvath as Eärien, [15] Sophia Nomvete as Disa, [19] Lloyd Owen as Elendil, [20] Charlie Vickers as Sauron, [21] Leon Wadham as Kemen, [22] and Benjamin Walker as Gil-galad. [23] Also starring in the episode are Peter Mullan as Durin III, Kevin Eldon as Narvi, Amelia Kenworthy as Mirdania, Alex Tarrant as Valandil, Calam Lynch as Camnir, Sam Hazeldine as Adar, Rachel Payne as Brenna, Laura Jane Matthewson as Revna, Jeany Spark as the Commander of the South, Selina Lo as Rían, Charlie Rix as Vorohil, William Chubb as the High Priest of Númenor, Kai Martin as Zhor, and Robert Strange as Glûg. [24]
Filming for the season began on October 3, 2022, [25] under the working title LBP. [26] Episodes were shot simultaneously based on the availability of locations and sets. [27] Directors of photography included Laurie Rose and Jean-Philippe Gossart. [28] The production wrapped in early June 2023. [29]
Visual effects for the episode were created by The Yard VFX, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), DNEG, Outpost VFX, Rodeo FX, Midas VFX, Monsters Aliens Robots Zombies, Untold Studios, Atomic Arts, and Cantina Creative. [24] [30] The different vendors were overseen by visual effects supervisor Jason Smith. [30]
A soundtrack album featuring composer Bear McCreary's score for the episode was released digitally on the streaming service Amazon Music on September 12, 2024. [31] McCreary said the series' episodic albums contained "virtually every second of score" from their respective episodes. [32] It will be added to other music streaming services after the full second season is released. [31]
All music is composed by Bear McCreary:
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Seven for the Dwarf-lords" | 4:47 |
2. | "Unveiling the Doors of Durin" | 3:16 |
3. | "Gazing to Eressëa" | 5:35 |
4. | "Gil-galad's Vision" | 2:12 |
5. | "Disa in the Depths" | 4:35 |
6. | "Mirdania Emerges" | 3:33 |
7. | "Assault on the Faithful" (featuring Clydene Jackson) | 4:42 |
8. | "Deceit in the Craft" | 9:05 |
9. | "Sauron's Design" | 2:26 |
Total length: | 40:11 |
"Halls of Stone" premiered on Prime Video in the United States on September 12, 2024. [33] It was released at the same time around the world, [34] in more than 240 countries and territories. [35]
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes calculated that 90% of 10 critics reviews were positive and the average rating for the episode was 6.9 out of 10. [36]
Leon Miller of Polygon praised the episode as the best of the season so far and highlighted its focus on Sauron's ability to manipulate others, a key element for the character during the Second Age that is not explored in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings or Jackson's films. He added that the episode was a "solid platform" for the rest of the season to build on. [13] Reviewing the episode for The A.V. Club , Matt Schimkowitz graded it a "B-" and praised the performances of Vickers and Edwards. He said the episode was "a little heavy on plot and light on spectacle" and felt the main storyline was moving "a little quickly for Tolkien", but found Sauron's deception of Celebrimbor to be more fun than the first season's story due to the audience being aware of Sauron's plans. Schimkowitz also found the Númenor scenes to be effective due to "the shorthand of Kemen being a total prick", despite there being little time in the episode and season dedicated to that storyline. [12] Samantha Nelson at IGN gave the episode 7 out of 10 and also said it was the best of the season so far, attributing this to it not including the season's Southlanders and Rhûn storylines. She praised the episode's main story and the performances of Vickers and Edwards, but thought the strength of their scenes showed how "one dimensional" the Númenor characters are. [37]
Collider 's Arezou Amin gave the episode 8 out of 10 and praised the way it brought the stakes of the season's plotlines together and focused on Sauron's manipulations of different characters. [38] Keith Phipps of Vulture gave the episode three stars out of five and said the main storyline was compelling and intense, while the scenes in Númenor were less so and came across as simplistic with the "straight-up sneering villainous turns from Kemen and Eärien". He found the episode to be well-plotted despite inconsistencies in the time it took different characters to travel between locations. [39] Writing for Gizmodo , James Whitbrook said the increase of pace in the episode was "a kick up the rear Rings of Power needed to get this season into high gear", but he felt it came at the expense of rushing key storylines: King Durin III becoming corrupted by his ring, Sauron's manipulations of Celebrimbor leading to his downfall, and the rising civil war in Númenor. Whitbrook partially attributed this to the showrunners' decision to condense the events of the Second Age into a short period of time, meaning events that take place over centuries in Tolkien's history have to play out far quicker in the series. He said the series needed to "find a middle-ground to actually develop its characters [or] the impact of the spectacle to come is going to be blunted". [40]
An episode of the aftershow Inside The Rings of Power for "Halls of Stone" was released on September 12, 2024. It features actress Felicia Day, the host of The Official The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Podcast, interviewing the showrunners and cast members Arthur and Owen about the making of the episode, with some behind-the-scenes footage. [41] [42]
The Rings of Power are magical artefacts in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, most prominently in his high fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. The One Ring first appeared as a plot device, a magic ring in Tolkien's children's fantasy novel, The Hobbit; Tolkien later gave it a backstory and much greater power. He added nineteen other Great Rings, also conferring powers such as invisibility, that it could control, including the Three Rings of the Elves, Seven Rings for the Dwarves, and Nine for Men. He stated that there were in addition many lesser rings with minor powers. A key story element in The Lord of the Rings is the addictive power of the One Ring, made secretly by the Dark Lord Sauron; the Nine Rings enslave their bearers as the Nazgûl (Ringwraiths), Sauron's most deadly servants.
Elendil is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He is mentioned in The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales. He was the father of Isildur and Anárion, last lord of Andúnië on the island of Númenor, and having escaped its downfall by sailing to Middle-earth, became the first High King of Arnor and Gondor. In the Last Alliance of Men and Elves, Elendil and Gil-galad laid siege to the Dark Lord Sauron's fortress of Barad-dûr, and fought him hand-to-hand for the One Ring. Both Elendil and Gil-galad were killed, and Elendil's son Isildur took the Ring for himself.
Isildur is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, the elder son of Elendil, descended from Elros, the founder of the island Kingdom of Númenor. He fled with his father when the island was drowned, becoming in his turn King of Arnor and Gondor. He cut the Ring from Sauron's hand, but instead of destroying it, was corrupted by its power and claimed it for his own. He was killed by orcs, and the Ring was lost in the River Anduin. This set the stage for the Ring to pass to Gollum and then to Bilbo, as told in The Hobbit; that in turn provided the central theme, the quest to destroy the Ring, for The Lord of the Rings.
Sauron is the title character and the primary antagonist, through the forging of the One Ring, of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, where he rules the land of Mordor and has the ambition of ruling the whole of Middle-earth. In the same work, he is identified as the "Necromancer" of Tolkien's earlier novel The Hobbit. The Silmarillion describes him as the chief lieutenant of the first Dark Lord, Morgoth. Tolkien noted that the Ainur, the "angelic" powers of his constructed myth, "were capable of many degrees of error and failing", but by far the worst was "the absolute Satanic rebellion and evil of Morgoth and his satellite Sauron". Sauron appears most often as "the Eye", as if disembodied.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is an American fantasy television series developed by J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay for the streaming service Amazon Prime Video. Based on J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, primarily material from the appendices of the novel The Lord of the Rings, the series is set thousands of years before the novel and depicts the major events of Middle-earth's Second Age. It is produced by Amazon MGM Studios in association with New Line Cinema.
The first season of the American fantasy television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is based on J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, primarily material from the appendices of the novel The Lord of the Rings. Set thousands of years before the novel in the Second Age of Middle-earth, the season depicts the emergence of the Dark Lord Sauron and the forging of the first Rings of Power. It was produced by Amazon Studios in association with New Line Cinema and with J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay as showrunners.
The second season of the American fantasy television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is based on J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, primarily material from the appendices of the novel The Lord of the Rings. Set thousands of years before the novel in the Second Age of Middle-earth, the season depicts the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron and the creation of more Rings of Power. It is produced by Amazon MGM Studios in association with New Line Cinema and with J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay as showrunners.
The music of the American fantasy television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is composed by Bear McCreary, with additional music by Howard Shore and other artists. The Amazon Prime Video series is based on J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, primarily material from the appendices of the novel The Lord of the Rings, and is set thousands of years before the novel in the Second Age of Middle-earth. It covers all the major events of the Second Age from Tolkien's writings.
"Adrift" is the second episode of the first season of the American fantasy television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Based on J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, primarily material from the appendices of the novel The Lord of the Rings, it is set thousands of years before the novel in the Second Age of Middle-earth during a time of relative peace and introduces the Dwarven kingdom of Khazad-dûm. The episode was written by Gennifer Hutchison and directed by J. A. Bayona.
"Adar" is the third episode of the first season of the American fantasy television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Based on J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, primarily material from the appendices of the novel The Lord of the Rings, it is set thousands of years before the novel in the Second Age of Middle-earth during a time of relative peace and introduces the island kingdom of Númenor. The episode was written by Jason Cahill and Justin Doble, and directed by Wayne Che Yip.
"The Great Wave" is the fourth episode of the first season of the American fantasy television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Based on J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, primarily material from the appendices of the novel The Lord of the Rings, it is set thousands of years before the novel in the Second Age of Middle-earth. The episode was written by Stephany Folsom and showrunners J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay, and directed by Wayne Che Yip.
"Partings" is the fifth episode of the first season of the American fantasy television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Based on J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, primarily material from the appendices of the novel The Lord of the Rings, it is set thousands of years before the novel in the Second Age of Middle-earth and shows several groups preparing for conflict with emerging evil forces. The episode was written by Justin Doble and directed by Wayne Che Yip.
"The Eye" is the seventh episode of the first season of the American fantasy television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Based on J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, primarily material from the appendices of the novel The Lord of the Rings, it is set thousands of years before the novel in the Second Age of Middle-earth and explores the aftermath of the battle and volcanic eruption from the previous episode. "The Eye" was written by Jason Cahill and directed by Charlotte Brändström.
"Alloyed" is the eighth and final episode of the first season of the American fantasy television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Based on J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, primarily material from the appendices of the novel The Lord of the Rings, it is set thousands of years before the novel in the Second Age of Middle-earth and introduces the first Rings of Power. The episode was written by Gennifer Hutchison and showrunners J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay, and directed by Wayne Che Yip.
"Elven Kings Under the Sky" is the first episode of the second season of the American fantasy television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Based on J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, primarily material from the appendices of the novel The Lord of the Rings, it is set thousands of years before the novel in the Second Age. The episode explores the reactions of the Elves to the first Rings of Power. It was written by Gennifer Hutchison and directed by Charlotte Brändström.
"Where the Stars are Strange" is the second episode of the second season of the American fantasy television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Based on J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, primarily material from the appendices of the novel The Lord of the Rings, it is set thousands of years before the novel in the Second Age. The episode shows the beginning of more Rings of Power being forged. It was written by Jason Cahill and directed by Charlotte Brändström and Louise Hooper.
"The Eagle and the Sceptre" is the third episode of the second season of the American fantasy television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Based on J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, primarily material from the appendices of the novel The Lord of the Rings, it is set thousands of years before the novel in the Second Age. The episode primarily follows characters from the island kingdom of Númenor. It was written by Helen Shang and directed by Louise Hooper and Charlotte Brändström.
"Eldest" is the fourth episode of the second season of the American fantasy television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Based on J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, primarily material from the appendices of the novel The Lord of the Rings, it is set thousands of years before the novel in the Second Age. The episode introduces the mysterious character Tom Bombadil to the series. It was written by Glenise Mullins and directed by Louise Hooper and Sanaa Hamri.
"Where Is He?" is the sixth episode of the second season of the American fantasy television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Based on J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, primarily material from the appendices of the novel The Lord of the Rings, it is set thousands of years before the novel in the Second Age. The episode builds up to the climactic events of the season, particularly the Siege of Eregion. It was written by Justin Doble and directed by Sanaa Hamri.