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Shadow and Flame is the eighth episode of the second season of the American fantasy television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Based on J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, primarily material from the appendices of the novel The Lord of the Rings, it is set thousands of years before the novel in the Second Age. The episode depicts the climactic battle in the Siege of Eregion as Sauron's deception reaches its peak. It was written by showrunners J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay, and directed by Charlotte Brändström.

The series' second season, which was greenlit in November 2019, began filming in the United Kingdom in October 2022. "Shadow and Flame" premiered on the streaming service Amazon Prime Video on October 3, 2024.

Plot

Durin IV tries to persuade Durin III to take off the ring but he doesn't listen and ultimately unleases the Balrog. He realizes his mistake takes of the rings and apologizes to his son and fights the creature but dies.

The city of Eregion is breached by Adar's uruks, Anatar is torturing Celebrimbor to tell him where the nine rings are but he dies before telling him. The uruks find Anatar and ask if he is Sauron.

Isuldur is planning to leave to his home but he meets kemon who tells him how his father is king now and elendil is wanted for treason.

Stranger chooses to leave his destiny in search of his friends he finds them and the dark wizard. The dark wizard asks him to join forces against Sauron, he tells him how they knew each other in their world but stranger realizes the dark wizard is evil and denies to help him. Later he finds the staff realizing it was a test. He calls himself Gandalf from the phrase Grand-elf.

Galadrial is captured by uruks and brought to Adar who is now a full elf because of the ring. He returns it to her and asks her to defeat sauron. He promises to take his children back to Mordor. But his own children kill him and it's revealed they have joined Sauron.

Sauron and Galadrial fight for the ring but she jumps off the cliff. Elrond and Gil gadad rescue her.

After all that a few survivor from Eregion are seen leaving the city vowing to avenge the death and destruction.

The battle is lost and everyone realizes what's gone is gone forever.

Production

Development

Amazon acquired the global television rights for J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings in November 2017. The series was developed by J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay and ordered for production in 2019. Following the success of the first season, a second season was confirmed, with filming moving from New Zealand to the United Kingdom.

Casting

The episode stars Morfydd Clark as Galadriel, Robert Aramayo as Elrond, Charles Edwards as Celebrimbor, Owain Arthur as Durin IV, and Ismael Cruz Córdova as Arondir. Additional cast members include Amelia Kenworthy as Mirdania, Kevin Eldon as Narvi, Sam Hazeldine as Adar, and Charlie Vickers as Sauron.

Visual effects

The visual effects for the episode, especially the depiction of Sauron’s transformation and the creature of shadow and flame, were created by a range of companies, led by DNEG and Outpost VFX, with Jason Smith overseeing the VFX.

Music

The episode's score, titled "Flame's Descent," was composed by Bear McCreary and Jens Kidman, and was released digitally on Amazon Music in conjunction with the episode's premiere.

References

External links

• "Shadow and Flame" at IMDb

1. "'The Rings of Power' Season 2 Finale Recap: Highs and Lows".
2. "The 'Rings of Power' Season 2 Finale Makes a Not-So-Surprising Revelation". ELLE. 2024-10-03. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
3. Phipps, Keith (2024-10-03). "The Rings of Power Season-Finale Recap: A Stranger No More!". Vulture. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
4. Broadwell, Josh (2024-10-03). "Rings of Power Season 2 Episode 8 Review: Commodified Coolness". Men's Journal | Streaming. Retrieved 2024-10-03.

• The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power episodes
• 2024 American television episodes