THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER: Episode 2.2: “Where the Stars Are Strange”

Here's the decision. This is one of the strongest episodes RINGS OF POWER has produced — extremely well-written, and its writing does something rare in fantasy television: it carries Tolkien's Christian moral vision without flinching. The dialogue between Sauron and Celebrimbor, among the dwarves, and between Galadriel, Elrond and the Elf King is full of dramatic nuance that serves real themes. Guarding against evil, temptation and gossip. Wisdom, humility, repentance, forgiveness, and the protecting of life. There's even a striking scene naming God as the omniscient "Judge who sees all things."

The cost is mild but worth naming. There are scary, malevolent characters — masked men who attack, a "Dark Wizard" who summons a demonic-looking helper from a ritual using blood — and brief but intense action violence. That's why this one earns a caution for younger children rather than a clean bill.

So: if you're a teenager, an adult, or the parent of an older child who can weather frightening villains, this episode is well worth your evening. For little ones, wait until they're older.

Posing as Halbrand, the evil Sauron returns to the Elf Lord Celebrimbor in Eregion, sweet-talking him toward forging rings of power for men. Far away, Galadriel learns Sauron is on the move and begs King Gil-Galad to let her confront him — but those who love her remember he deceived her once before.

In the wilderness, the Stranger and his two hobbit companions find five evil men on their trail, sent by a corrupted "Dark Wizard." And beneath the mountains, the dwarf kingdom of Khazad-dûm faces a deadly new threat, while a father and son let their pride keep them apart.

Four stars, and they're earned. The script is the star here — extremely well-written, with dialogue that does double duty as drama and moral argument. Watch how Sauron works: he doesn't threaten, he flatters. He tells Celebrimbor that the artist never gets the benefit of his own work, that more powerful people are always cheating him, that this is simply the way of the world. He awakens the elf's jealousy and slips his suggestion right into the wound. It's a masterclass in how temptation actually operates.

The dwarves' storyline lands with equal skill, weaving repentance and forgiveness into a family quarrel. And the scene between Elrond and the wise elf Círdan is quietly sublime — a warning about evil that also shows the way to overcome it. This is Tolkien's spirit on screen, and the craft is worthy of it.

This episode carries a very strong Christian, redemptive, morally uplifting worldview — and it comes by it honestly. The whole depiction of good and evil in RINGS OF POWER flows from J.R.R. Tolkien, the devout Christian author behind THE LORD OF THE RINGS and THE SILMARILLION. The episode promotes being on guard against evil, temptation and gossip, and it extols wisdom, humility, repentance, forgiveness, fighting evil, and protecting life.

The dwarf scenes make repentance and forgiveness tangible. Prince Durin's wife, Disa, rebukes two women for spreading rumors — "A rumor's like a songbird. It may sound filling from afar, but up close, it's an empty feast" — and later tells the stubborn King it takes more strength to apologize and seek forgiveness than to lean on royal pride. But the crown of the episode is Círdan's counsel to Elrond: judge the work, he says, and "leave judgment concerning those who wrought it to the Judge who sees all things." In Tolkien's world this is a clear reference to Ilúvatar, the Father of All — God as the omniscient Judge, an attribute the Bible affirms.

The episode also shows evil's power plainly: Sauron's seductive deceit, a "Dark Wizard" perverting supernatural power, a scary blood-summoning ritual. These are real dangers, not decoration. But the show never mistakes them for the point. The point is how evil is overcome — by wisdom, by reliance on God, and by not abandoning our friends. Fans should note the creators have taken some creative license with how the rings were forged; the source judges they haven't strayed far from the spirit of Tolkien, though others may disagree.

The longing here — for a Judge who truly sees, before whom flawed makers and beautiful works are rightly weighed — is one Scripture answers directly. "For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:14).

This is RINGS OF POWER at its best: gorgeous, morally serious television that lets Tolkien's Christian imagination breathe. It also has scary villains and a couple of intense, frightening scenes, so little ones should sit this one out. For everyone else, it's worth watching — older children and up. Gather the older kids and settle in.