This article contains spoilers for The Rings of Power
After spending several weeks in the Second Age of Middle-earth, it’s time for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 1 to come to an end. The Amazon Prime Video series based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings novels and their appendices has once again introduced an evil force to Middle-earth that challenges the worlds of Men, Elves, Dwarves, and even Harfoots.
Based on the trailer for The Rings of Power episode 8 released at New York Comic Con, rumors of Sauron’s reappearance have not been greatly exaggerated. After weeks of theories about which character is actually Sauron in disguise, it seems as though his true identity (identities?) will finally be revealed in the season finale.
But the Sauron reveal isn’t the only hint in the finale trailer. A brief glimpse of a molten forge indicates that we may also finally get to witness the creation of the titular rings. In fact, when asked when the rings would appear at The Rings of Power’s NYCC panel, Celebrimor actor Charles Edwards simply said, “There is jewelry imminent.”
In other words, the season finale is bound to be an epic event that will hopefully answer many of our biggest questions so far. While you wait for the finale, here’s everything you need to know to prepare for episode 8.
When Does The Rings of Power Finale Come Out?
Episode 8, the season finale of The Rings of Power, will be available to stream for all Amazon Prime Video subscribers on Friday, Oct. 14 at 12 a.m. ET.
The Rings of Power Season 1 Recap
From the beginning of the season, Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) has been skeptical that Sauron is truly dead. She has spent the season defying the orders of High King Gil-galad (Benjamin Walker) in her quest to ensure that the evil forces that killed her brother don’t resurface. After discovering that Sauron’s sigil is a map of the Southlands during her time in Númenor, and that Adar (Joseph Mawle) and his army of orcs have been attacking humans there, she and Queen Míriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) set sail to aid them and stop their evil forces from spreading.
Galadriel and Míriel are joined by Númenoreans Elendil (Lloyd Owen) and his son Isildur (Maxim Baldry) whose relationship is strained after Isildur is kicked off of the Númenorean Sea Guard. Other Númenóreans are willing to join the fight as well, but many on the island kingdom are against joining another war with the Elves.
The humans of the Southlands, led by healer Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi) and aided by Elven warrior Arondir (Ismael Cruz Cordova) do their best to fight against the encroaching orc army. However, even with Galadriel and the people of Númenor, Adar and his army unleash the fury of Mount Doom upon the Southlands. The fire and ash that rain down upon the land permanently transform it, and Adar renamed the land Mordor.
The surviving humans, which thankfully includes Bronwyn and her son Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin), decide to leave the Southlands and head for Pelargir, a settlement in the south of what will one day become the kingdom of Gondor. Meanwhile, Galadriel rides back to the land of Elves to report to the High King what she has witnessed in hopes of convincing him that evil truly has returned to Middle-earth. And she doesn’t arrive alone.
Early in the season, Galadriel meets a mysterious man named Halbrand (Charlie Vickers), who is later revealed to be the rightful King of the Southlands. Although at first he’s hesitant to claim the throne, he is later convinced to join Galadriel, Míriel, and the rest of the Númenóreans on their journey back to Middle-earth to save the Southlanders. While Halbrand is key to capturing Adar, he is later wounded during the calamity caused by the eruption of Mount Doom. Galadriel decides to bring him back with her to the Elven doctors who can save his life.
We also get to visit the Dwarven kingdom of Khazad-dûm in the first season, where Prince Durin IV (Owain Arthur) and his wife Disa (Sophia Nomvete) have discovered the precious metal mithril in the mines of Moria. King Durin III (Peter Mullan) has forbidden the Dwarves from mining the metal, worried that doing so is too dangerous. This doesn’t stop Durin IV, Disa, and the elf Elrond (Robert Aramayo) from trying to convince him otherwise…and then mining mithril anyway until they’re caught. It’s revealed late in the season that mithril is the key to the Elves’ survival in Middle-earth, and they are willing to pay the Dwarves a pretty penny for it. But until Durin IV takes the throne, it seems like the mithril mines will have to wait.
As war rages in the Southlands, a little Harfoot named Nori Brandyfoot (Markella Kavenagh) tries to figure out the intentions of the mysterious Stranger (Daniel Weyman) whom she found after he literally fell out of the sky. The man seems to have no memories, nor is he able to communicate with Nori or the other Harfoots in her caravan, but he does possess magical abilities. Even though he has used his powers to help Nori and the others many times, he also seems to lack control over them and has also harmed and scared her a couple of times. The end of episode 7 sees them part ways with each other, with the Stranger conjuring some life back into the desolate wasteland as he walks along on his own. It’s possible we’ll find out once and for all who the Stranger truly is in the finale, especially the mysterious trio of witches searching for him finally catch up to him…