"The Eye" is the seventh episode of the first season of the American fantasy television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The series is based on J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, primarily material from the appendices of the novel The Lord of the Rings (1954–55). Set thousands of years before the novel in Middle-earth's Second Age, the episode explores the aftermath of the volcanic eruption in the previous episode. It was written by Jason Cahill and directed by Charlotte Brändström.
"The Eye" is the seventh episode of the first season of the American fantasy television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The series is based on J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, primarily material from the appendices of the novel The Lord of the Rings (1954–55). Set thousands of years before the novel in Middle-earth's Second Age, the episode explores the aftermath of the volcanic eruption in the previous episode. It was written by Jason Cahill and directed by Charlotte Brändström.
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"The Eye" is the seventh episode of the first season of the American fantasy television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The series is based on J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, primarily material from the appendices of the novel The Lord of the Rings (1954–55). Set thousands of years before the novel in Middle-earth's Second Age, the episode explores the aftermath of the volcanic eruption in the previous episode. It was written by Jason Cahill and directed by Charlotte Brändström.
The series was ordered in November 2017. J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay were set to develop it in July 2018. Filming for the first season took place in New Zealand, and work on episodes beyond the first two began in January 2021. Brändström was revealed to be directing two episodes of the season that May, including the seventh. Production wrapped for the season in August 2021. Payne and McKay said the episode was about characters facing the consequences of their actions. The look of the episode's post-eruption setting was designed by cinematographer Alex Disenhof based on reference pictures from wildfires, including some he took of the 2020 Oregon wildfires.
"The Eye" premiered on the streaming service Amazon Prime Video on October 7, 2022. It was estimated to have high viewership and received generally positive reviews, with praise for the visuals and the focus on characters and consequences, but criticism for the ending scenes which show a Balrog and a "Mordor" title card.
Plot
Following the eruption of Orodruin, Tirharad is covered in ash and fire. Galadriel finds Theo and they begin making their way out of the Southlands. They bond over their shared guilt regarding the events leading to the eruption, and Galadriel discusses her husband Celeborn whom she believes to be dead. Isildur and Valandil find Ontamo dead. They help Queen Regent Míriel rescue survivors from a burning building, but it collapses and Míriel loses her eyesight. Isildur is presumed dead in the collapse.
Development
Amazon acquired the television rights for J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings (1954–55) in November 2017. The company's streaming service, Amazon Prime Video, ordered a series based on the novel and its appendices to be produced by Amazon Studios in association with New Line Cinema. It was later titled The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Amazon hired J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay to develop the series and serve as showrunners in July 2018. Jason Cahill joined the series as a writer by July 2019, and Charlotte Brändström was set to direct two episodes of the first season by May 2021. The series was originally expected to be a continuation of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings (2001–2003) and The Hobbit (2012–2014) film trilogies, but Amazon later clarified that their deal with the Tolkien Estate required them to keep the series distinct from Jackson's films. Despite this, the showrunners intended for it to be visually consistent with the films. Amazon said in September 2019 that the first season would be filmed in New Zealand, where Jackson's films were made.
Writing
Brändström said the episode was an opportunity to slow down and focus on the characters following the action-heavy sixth episode, "Udûn". The showrunners added that the episode was about characters facing the consequences of their actions. After taking inspiration from World War I for the Orc tunnels earlier in the season, the writers noticed a parallel between the smoke, ash, and fire of this episode's post-eruption setting and chemical weapons used in that war. This led to a suggestion that one of the character
The Harfoots finish their migration to the Grove, an orchard that has been destroyed by the nearby volcano. They ask the Stranger to help fix it but his attempts lead to a large tree branch landing on Nori and Dilly Brandyfoot. Scared, the Harfoots send the Stranger away. The next day they awake to find the orchard regrown. When the three mysterious women arrive in search of the Stranger, Nori attempts to send them in the wrong direction. They retaliate by using magic to burn all the Harfoot wagons and then continue their search. Nori leaves to find the Stranger and warn him of the danger, accompanied by Poppy Proudfellow, Sadoc Burrows, and her mother Marigold.
Galadriel and Theo reach the Númenórean camp outside of the Southlands where Theo is reunited with Bronwyn and Arondir. Elendil learns of Isildur's loss and lets the latter's horse, who cannot be calmed, gallop away. Before the Númenóreans depart Middle-earth, Míriel promises to return and seek revenge. Galadriel is reunited with a gravely wounded Halbrand and helps him ride north to receive Elvish medicine. The other human survivors seek refuge in nearby Pelargir, an old Númenórean colony.
In Khazad-dûm, Elrond and Prince Durin IV ask King Durin III for permission to begin mining mithril, but he refuses. When they see proof that mithril can reverse the fading power of the Elves, the pair begin mining the ore in secret but are caught by Durin III. Elrond is banished, taking a small piece of mithril with him, and Durin IV is stripped of his royal status. Durin III orders the mithril mine be sealed, not knowing that a Balrog lives deep below it.
In the Southlands, the Orcs and their human allies name Adar "Lord of the Southlands". He says that place no longer exists: it is now the land of Mordor.
The series is set in the Second Age of Middle-earth, thousands of years before Tolkien's The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings. Because Amazon did not acquire the rights to Tolkien's other works where the First and Second Ages are primarily explored, the writers had to identify references to the Second Age in The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and its appendices, and create a story that bridged those passages. The first season focuses on introducing the setting and major heroic characters to the audience. Written by Cahill and directed by Brändström, the seventh episode is titled "The Eye".
