‘The Rings of Power’ season 2 finale ending, explained

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for The Rings of Power season 2 finale.

The last episode of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 premiered today on Prime Video, bringing Amazon’s billion-dollar television venture to another controversial and contentious close. Here’s a recap of everything that happened in the finale.

“Shadow and Flame,” referring to the Balrog of Khazad-dûm, opens with Prince Durin trying to dissuade his father from mining the mountain deeps to no avail. The king opens the way into the heart of Khazad-dûm, where they are confronted with the Balrog. The king comes to his senses at the last minute, and taking off the ring, charges the Balrog head-on.

In Eregion, Sauron continues to torment Celebrimbor to retrieve the nine rings of Men, but the greatest of Elven smiths resists his every verbal and physical jab. Enraged, Sauron stabs Celebrimbor with a spear, but not before the latter gets the last word in. “You’re their prisoner,” Celebrimbor says, referring to the artifacts they created together. “Sauron, Lord of the Rings.”

Meanwhile, Galadriel is leading the survivors of Eregion out of the city when Adar’s orcs surround her. They take him to Adar, who, upon wearing Galadriel’s ring, has realized that his scars can be healed using the power of the Three. Galadriel beholds Adar in his original Elven form, but the Lord-father takes off the ring and offers it back to Galadriel. They vow to kill Sauron together, but Adar is betrayed and killed by his own Uruks, at which point Sauron emerges from the woods and reclaims Morgoth’s crown.

Sauron asks Galadriel to give the rings over to him, but she refuses, and the two start to duel, Sauron wielding Adar’s sword and Morgoth’s crown and Galadriel using her sword and Nenya, the Ring of Adamant, to oppose him. Sauron gets into Galadriel’s head and manages to beat him, finally claiming the nine for his own. Galadriel withholds Nenya from him and jumps from the cliff face to get away. The Dwarves of Khazad-dûm finally arrive at Eregion and cover the Elves’ retreat, allowing High King Gil-galad and Elrond to escape with the rest of the refugees.

Over the seas in Númenor, King Ar-Pharazôn persecutes the Faithful by connecting them to Sauron, and Elendil is forced to escape from the capital of Armenelos to the west, where the Faithful might still hold some power. Prince Durin mourns the death of his father the king, and learns that some in Khazad-dûm wish for his brother, as of yet unrevealed, to become the next ruler of the mountain kingdom.

On the other side of Middle-earth, the Stranger journeys to the Stoors’ haven, and there finds the Dark Wizard waiting for him. The Stranger refuses to join with the fallen Istar, forcing him to leave and attempt to kill everyone in the dwelling. The Stranger taps into his powers to save them, whereupon he and Nori Brandyfoot say goodbye to one another and part ways. The Stranger finally finds his staff and returns to Bombadil, who confirms that he will go on to be called “Gandalf” by the peoples of Middle-earth.

The Rings of Power season 2 closes with Sauron’s machinations bearing fruit and leaving all the lands in darkness and doubt, but the finale takes us to the Elves in the final moments, who seem to have found the vale of Imladris, the so-called Last Homely House in the east, where Elrond will build Rivendell.

Gil-galad asks whether they should go on the offensive or prepare to defend against Sauron’s onslaught, and Galadriel suggests that the way to fight darkness is not through strength, but light. The sun shines through the east and Gil-galad, Elrond, Galadriel, and Arondir look at the remnants of the Elves down in the glade, with the High King raising his sword and exciting a cry of defiance from the onlookers.