‘Rings of Power’ Episode 6 Recap: ‘Udûn’ is the Darkest, Bloodiest and Best Episode Yet
Michael Nordine author Anyone who’s been waiting for “The Rings of Power” to pick up the pace will have their wish granted by “Udûn,” an hour-long battle sequence with a few brief interludes thrown in for viewers to collect their thoughts. It’s the most focused episode to date, as two of the main narrative threads are conspicuous in their absence: Elrond and Durin’s odd-couple bromance and the hobbitses’ migration. It’s also the most consequential. It would appear that having a stronger, larger army matters little when attacking a fortress in Middle-earth. Just as Saruman learned this the hard way in “The Two Towers,” Adar does in the opening moments of “Udûn.” He and his battalion of orcs and human conscripts march on Ostirith, the watchtower where Bronwyn, Arondir, and their people have taken shelter; the battle promises to be a short one, with little hope of survival for the good guys, except there’s no battle at all. The tower is abandoned, and yet Adar is sure that Arondir remains — “I can smell him,” he tells one of his officers. He’s right, of course, but he failed to anticipate the trap he’s just walked into: With a few arrows and graceful movements, Arondir brings the whole place down via a booby-trapped tower as he makes his nimble escape, presumably wiping out Adar’s forces in one fell swoop. Though yet to show as much personality as some of the show’s other characters, Arondir can always be counted on for a balletic action sequence.