Dwarves solve the growing problem of Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

Not to get political, but if you ask me which of JRR Tolkien’s fantasy humanoids is the best, dwarves or elves, I would pick dwarves every time. You’re free to think what you want – again, this is the way this nation is divided, God forbid we draw more lines here – but if you find yourself on Team Eleven, please do yourself a favor. Check out the second episode from Amazon The Rings of Powerand reconsider.

While Tolkien’s rich lore left behind many great tales about the elves, probably one of the best things will be seeing a more complete history of Galadriel The Rings of Power – Elves are among the most lumbering of Tolkien’s creations. While there’s a world steeped in tragedy and tradition in the immortal society he’s built, it’s all terribly self-serious in the way that much less Tolkien-inspired high fantasy comes across. You wouldn’t call any of Tolkien’s elves to help you throw a party.

Tolkien’s dwarves though? These people know how to calm down. This has never really been questioned. Even if you’ve only seen the movies, part of the horror of Moria is that Gimli promises everyone an underground bend, and instead learns they’ll be the hors d’oeuvres for a sea of ​​goblins instead. Hell, The Hobbit begins with a whole group of dwarves inviting themselves to Bilbo’s apartment block to throw a tantrum for his dime.

Photo: Ben Rothstein/Prime Video

In his second episode The Rings of Power not only gets it, it enjoys it. It even has Elrond (Robert Aramayo) looking for proof that he’s not like most other elves, cleaving rocks to gain the favor of the dwarves who are hostile to him for reasons he can’t figure out.

But the best part Rings of Power‘s second installment is that it takes them seriously on a dramatic level as well. Prince Durin (Owain Arthur) is a window into the dwarven perspective of Middle-earth through his confrontation with Elrond. Where previous adaptations of Tolkien’s work have focused on the dwarves on a superficial level, mostly discussing their craftsmanship and social hierarchy in the races of Middle-earth, is the second installment of The Rings of Power introduces us to a dwarf, Prince Durin, and uses him to do what fantasy epics rarely take the time to do: tell a story about a person and the intricate things they do in a moment of little importance ( for now) feel.

While there are plenty of other things happening in this episode, a big chunk of it (rock pun!) hinges on why the dwarf prince is Durin Absolute drunk in Elrond, when the Elf – who came to the dwarven realm of Khazad-dûm to ask for a favor of some magnitude – thinks they are still good friends.

[Ed. note: Mild spoilers for the resolution follow.]

The answer is wonderfully simple: Durin just missed his friend. Elrond, an immortal elf who will live many years, spent 20 years not attending Khazad-dûm, missing his marriage, the birth of two children, all the milestones one would celebrate with a friend. In Middle-earth, dwarves live longer than humans (roughly 300 years to mankind’s 100 or so years if things go well), but it’s still, as Durin Elrond says, a lifespana significant chunk of his limited time on Middle-earth.

In this little story, the focus is on the dwarves and their place in Tolkien’s vast tapestry: they are a culture of people just as diverse as any other, but shaped by their unique connection to the planet. By diving deep, they learn the mysteries of the world and constantly work to carve into it something that will last far longer than they do. Maybe this is the kind of thing that really lets a person know how to party. Maybe that’s the kind of thing that gets you excited when your friend misses one.