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The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Premiere Recap: Sauron Unmasked


You just can’t keep Sauron down.

Payne and Patrick McKay and writer Gennifer Hutchison seemingly decided to ease everyone back into the world of the series by keeping a tight focus on a few key characters as the premiere sets up the conflicts to come. Tolkien (or a Tolkien-inspired adaptation, in this case) if you didn’t have to keep track of multiple magical objects, characters with names broken by hyphens, strange spots on the map, and songs sung in invented languages. Nori’s thrilled to see her, having sorely missed her friend, and even the Stranger welcomes her arrival for a couple of reasons: (1) She brings food, and (2) she clues them in that, yes, they’ve been going in circles but the words of a Harfoot “walking song” could point them in the right direction.

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