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

This is not to be political. But if I were asked which J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy humanoids is best, dwarves or elves, I would go with dwarves every time. You are free to think what you wish — again, this nation is so Split, heaven forbid we draw more lines here — but if you find yourself on Team Elf, please do yourself a favor. Check out the second episode of Amazon’s The Rings of PowerReconsider, then.

While Tolkien’s rich lore has left plenty of great stories to tell about the elves — seeing a more complete history of Galadriel will likely be one of the best things about The Rings of Power — elves are among the most stodgy of Tolkien’s creations. While there is a world of tragedy and tradition in the immortal society he built, it’s all terribly self-serious in the way a lot of lesser high fantasy inspired by Tolkien comes across. You wouldn’t call one of Tolkien’s elves to help you throw a party.

Tolkien’s dwarves, however? These people know how to be down. It has always been a fact. Even if all you’ve seen are the movies, part of the horror of Moria is that Gimli promises everyone a subterranean bender and instead learns that they will be the hors d’oeuvres for a sea of goblins instead. Hell, The Hobbit kicks off with a whole squad of dwarves inviting themselves over to Bilbo’s pad for a rager on his dime.

Photo: Ben Rothstein/Prime Video

Its second episode is available here The Rings of Power doesn’t just get this, it delights in this. It even has Elrond (Robert Aramayo) on a quest to prove he is Not Like Most Other Elves and splitting rocks to gain the favor of the dwarves, hostile to him for reasons he can’t figure out.

However, the best thing is Rings of Power’s second episode is that it also takes them seriously on a dramatic level. Prince Durin, Owain Arthur), is an open book to Middle-earth’s dwarven view. He hashed out his disagreement 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, the second episode of The Rings of Power introduces us to a dwarf, Prince Durin, and uses him to do what fantasy epics rarely take the time for: tell a story about a person, and the complicated things they’re feeling during a moment of only minor (for now) consequence.

While there’s lots of other things going on in this episode, a big chunk of it (rock pun!) It all depends on the reason why Durin, the Dwarven Prince of Durin is absolutly insane. Pissed at Elrond when the Elf — who came to the dwarven kingdom of Khazad-dûm to ask for a pretty big favor — thinks they’re still great friends.

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

It is very simple. Durin has just lost his friend. Elrond, an immortal elf who will live for many years, spent 20 years without visiting Khazad-dûm, missing his wedding, the birth of two kids, all of the milestones you would celebrate with a friend. In Middle-earth, dwarves live longer than humans (about 300 years to humankind’s roughly 100, when things go well) but it’s still, as Durin tells Elrond, a Your lifeHe has a considerable amount of time left on Middle-earth.

In this small story, dwarves and their place in Tolkien’s wide tapestry snap into focus: They are a culture of people just as diverse as any other, but shaped by their unique connection to the planet. As they dig deeper, they discover more about the world. They work hard to make it last longer. This is perhaps the thing that really makes someone know how to have a good time. Maybe that’s the sort of thing that will make you upset when your friend misses one.