The Rings of Power episode 6 recap & review: Udûn

The Rings of Power episode 6 sees Adar and his army of orcs battle the Númenoreans who have arrived to save the people of the Southlands, however, the sinistrous machinations are still afoot in the dark.

Recap

The Rings of Power episode 6 opens with Adar and his army of orcs marching to the tower of Ostirith. When they find the tower empty and abandoned, Adar orders them to search the place thoroughly.

Meanwhile, Arondir who was covertly awaiting them rises and destroys the tower, crushing a lot of orcs in the process. Villagers down in the village rejoice in the transient victory.

As the villagers prepare for the next onslaught, Arondir and Bronwyn meet and the former professes his love for the healer, promising to one day be together.

Meanwhile, the next battle ensues and the villagers discover the ones they defeated were the other villagers who joined Adar.

The slimy launch a long-range attack, managing to lay many dead and injured, including Bronwyn. Arondir and Theo try to heal Bronwyn while Adar arrives at the fallback point.

To save his mother, Theo reveals the place where the shard is kept hidden. Adar is in possession of the key while the Númenoreans arrive and defeat the orcs, captivating some of them.

Galadriel chases Adar and captures him, following which she asks where Sauron is. Adar claims that he killed Sauron and also reveals himself to be one of the Moriondor or Uruks — the Elves who were the first ones to transform into Orcs by Morgoth.

Queen Regent introduces Halbrand as the true king of the Southlands, with the people celebrating and hailing their new king. Theo finds that the shard they recovered from Adar is a decoy while the real one has been carried by Waldreg to the watchtower.

Waldreg inserts the shard into the ground and the mountains shake and the lands shudder. The dams break and the water rages down the hill, into the tunnels that the orcs had been building, ending up inside the magma chamber of Orodruin.

The volcano erupts because of all the water flooding into the lava, as Galadriel and the others behold the horrific barrage of fiery rocks and lava raining down on them. Galadriel watches on as The Rings of Power episode 6 cuts to the credits.

Review

• The Rings of Power shifts gear in episode 6 and gives the viewers the first proper battle and grand action spectacle.
• The episode reveals the origins of Mordor and it’s a grand and mesmerizing sequence of solid CGI, used to illustrate the clever machinations Adar has been supervising from the start.
• The violence in the episode is up a notch, including the ferocity in some of the fight sequences. The horse-riding sequences are some of the best highlights of the affair.
• Halbrand continues to be mystical and inspired great suspicion regarding his real identity. However, the episode does put off the theories regarding Adar being Sauron to rest.

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