RINGS OF POWER Episode 4 Breakdown: Every EASTER EGG from Lord of the Rings

Rings of Power episode 4 draws the battle lines in the Lord of the Rings saga. While Sauron’s agent Adar begins to build Mordor in the east, the Nimenoreans have to overcome elf-racism to fight a greater evil. And the episode is loaded with easter Eggs and references to the greater world of Middle Earth and Lord of the Rings.

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Written by Brian Silliman
Hosted by Ryan Arey (  / ryanarey  )
Edited by Harriet Lengel-Enright, Randolf Nombrado, and Srinidhi Rao

3RingsOfPower #Episode4 #EasterEggs

The petals have begun to fall from Nimloth the Fair, and this is not a good sign for the people of Numenor. Omens and portents are looking grim all around, but all is not lost. Not yet. Will everybody cling to hope, or will they give in to fear?

It’s time to remember the first words spoken in the premiere of this series. The line comes directly from Tolkien, spoken by Elrond in the book of The Fellowship of the Ring. His version of it is, “For nothing is evil in the beginning. Even Sauron was not so.”

This theme comes into even sharper focus in Episode 4, from the main title sequence onward. Some of our viewers have already pointed out that the main title sequence, that shows sand turning into shapes with the power of music, evokes the Song of the Eaunrwhich happens at the very beginning of The Silmarillion. Before time began, (ay-ahh) was sung into existence. Ay-ahh mean the world in Tolkien-speech.

Not even Melkor, the greatest of the Aunurcreated by Eru , was evil at the dawn of creation. The being who would go on to become the Dark Lord Morgoth became impatient and desired more power. He lost the faith and became resentful that there were secrets that he was not privy to. He wanted to create greatness of his own, and his selfish thoughts brought discord to the great music when it was sung. We see this happening in the opening sequence, when the dark slithering corruption comes sliding in.

The creators of this series have confirmed that this is what they wanted the opening credits to evoke the Music of the Aye-nurr, and it is only proper that the main title theme is written by Howard Shore, the Academy Award winning composer for all six of Peter Jackson’s movie adaptations of Tolkien. The great Bear McCreary takes the baton from him and writes all of the gorgeous music that you hear in the series itself.

If Melkor had never grown resentful, then everything would have been fine, there would have been no conflict, and Tolkien’s lore would comprise one brief, boring chapter. This is fantasy, but the defects of real human beings find their way in, cause conflict, and make the story applicable. Tolkien himself preferred that people refer to his work as being applicable, not allegorical.

Resentment, secrets, and the desire to attain more power- and the feeling that you are entitled to that power- is a theme that runs through every storyline in this episode. Even when the power being sought is going to be used to avert disaster, it becomes something of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Sauron is a great threat, but he’s not the only source of corruption there is. Like Melkor showed us at the beginning of time, conflict can arise from within–with no help from anyone.

The episode’s title is “The Great Wave” and it is the price of arrogance. Past a certain point, this wave cannot be avoided.

We’re reminded once again of Gondor as we join Queen Miriel, as the main audience chamber of Numenor looks exactly like the upper level and battlement of Minas Tirith as depicted in The Return of the King. [ROTK: Upper level of Minas Tirith]