LOTR: The Rings Of Power Episode 4 Summary

Most of the action in the episode takes place in the Southlands. As the orcs slowly erode the region’s stability (literally), the people of the Southlands retreat to the abandoned Elvish watchtower, where Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi) takes an active role in leading the defenses. The only person she can’t seem to get to listen to her is her troubled teenager Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin), who sneaks into a nearby village with a friend to look for something to eat.

This little side adventure ends with Theo being nearly gutted by an orc… only to find out that his broken sword blade is the very object the invaders are ravaging the Southlands for. Theo is eventually rescued by the released Arondir and the two reunite with Bronwyn in the forest. They are chased by orcs but they make it back to the watchtower. So all ends well for now.

The real question here is what will happen next. If you get to the heart of the matter, what unfolded in the Southlands in the first half of season 1 is pretty simple (although they set it up in a very awkward way). Adar and his orcs sneak into the area looking for Theo’s sword hilt. At the same time, we know from the revelation of Sauron’s Seal in Episode 3 that this is the area that will eventually become Sauron’s new kingdom of Mordor. These two elements could be related. On the other hand, Adar may be trying to find a weapon with which to usurp the Dark Lord’s power. All of this assumes the fact that the Elvish-looking villain isn’t already Sauron. There are many intriguing factors at play here…hopefully some of them will unravel before the end of the season.