Full spoilers follow. The rings of power Season 2 episode 5.
The rings of power Season two has passed its halfway point, and the stakes have certainly been raised in Númenor after what happened in the fifth episode of this season.
In fact, with the release of episode 5 of season 2, titled 'Halls of Stone', the first online discussions surrounding the latest installment of the hit Prime Video series have been dominated by one sequence in particular: the death of a minor but no less popular character.
This is your final spoiler warning: Don't read beyond the image below unless you've seen it. The rings of powerThe newest episode of!
So who dies in the “Halls of Stone”? Valandil, a Númenórean soldier who not only served under Elendil, but was also (until his death) Isildur's closest friend.
Some fans, myself included, had sensed that Valandil might not be around for long after his tense clashes with Pharazon’s son Kemen throughout Season 2. However, his demise at the hands of Kemen in the final installment of the Amazon series was shocking. This came after Valandil had spared Kemen’s life — albeit after Elendil had pleaded with him not to kill Kemen — following a bloody fight between The Faithful, i.e. the Númenóreans who are still friendly to elves, and The King’s Men, who are jealous of the immortal elven race.
#tropspoilers #TheRingsOfPower VALANDIL 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭September 12, 2024
As I mentioned, Valandil is not a main character in Amazon. The Lord of the Rings prequel series, but the fact that he perished at the hands of Kemen has angered the high fantasy show's global audience. In fact, Kemen has slowly become one of the most resentful individuals in the fanbase and this latest act has only fueled viewers' hatred for the fictional being.
Need proof of this? Just go to The rings of powerThe network's official Reddit page, where viewers are already demanding that Kemen meet a particularly gruesome end for what he did to Valandil. Ahmadthepianoguy led the charge on that front, writing “I need Kemen to die the worst death possible and I want them to not skimp on the budget for gore,” while Home-Furnishing suggested that they “haven't felt this much hate for a fictional character since Got [Game of Thrones]”. Hanburgundy expressed a similar sentiment by stating simply, “Middle Earth finally has its Joffrey”; Joffrey, of course, being the obnoxious Lannister teenager who inflicted misery on many of Gotother houses before meeting their end in season 4, episode 2 of the hit HBO series.
Comment by r/LOTR_on_Prime
Numerous other fans on Reddit, as well as other social media sites like X/Twitter, also criticized the act of taking Kemen's life, but many, and I mean many, batch – many of them are expletive-filled comments telling him where to go, so I’ll refrain from posting them here. As for the non-rude comments, some redditors, such as Jayk_Dos31 and snostorm8, theorized that, given his malicious tendencies, Kemen seems like an obvious candidate to receive one of the nine rings of the Kings of Men. The rings of powerThe creators of The Dark Knight recently told me that these rings are “more seductive and sinister” than their elven counterparts, so the bitter and evil Kemen is certainly ripe enough to be corrupted by them. You know, if he’s gifted one, which seems like a stretch because, well, he’s not a king.
But I digress. While Reddit users reacted with fury to Kemen’s actions, many X/Twitter users spent their time mourning the loss of one of Prime Video’s best shows’ most notable supporting characters. Users like cauldrononfire, boldlybookish, and eshiehoshi were just three of the many people who mourned Valandil’s disappearance, and I suspect more viewers will do so once they’ve seen “Halls of Stone.”
Don't even talk to me about Valandil.#tropspoilers pic.twitter.com/HbSVdX4yrwSeptember 12, 2024
As always, I plan to bring you even more news, exclusives, and fan reactions. The rings of power The second season will air between now and its finale on October 3, so keep following TechRadar for more. In the meantime, read some of my previous coverage in the section below.
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