Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power Recap: Númenor, Girl, You In Danger

The following contains spoilers for Episode 4 of Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Proceed accordingly.

Here's one thing Númenóreans have in common with the Disney princess Ariel: They're both under the sea. At least, that's what Míriel sees in her chilling vision of the island kingdom's future.

In Episode 4 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, we returned to Aragorn's sea-faring ancestors in Númenor, where Queen Regent Míriel is on edge after a prophetic dream of the island being swept underwater. Her people were uneasy about having Galadriel in their presence, and one man delivered his best audition for Fox News by riling up a crowd with claims that the elves — who never tire or grow old — will steal their jobs if they're invited in. Yeah, sure, dude.

After agreeing to a truce with Galadriel, Míriel showed her the kingdom's doomed future in a palantír — one of seven crystal balls in existence which are used for communication, and to see the past or future. (Saruman used one throughout the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and Pippin accidentally used it to peek into Sauron's plans in Return of the King.)

Galadriel urged the queen regent to send soldiers to the Southlands, where Sauron has taken up shop. But Míriel did not want to involve her people in another war and almost sent Galadriel on her way. But after seeing a bad omen — leaves falling from the white tree, signaling the tears of the Valar — she decided to personally escort Galadriel back to Middle-earth and called for volunteers to join them in the fight. Isildur, who was kicked off his current ship for daydreaming about sailing west, volunteered to tag along. The question remains, will Míriel's bold move be enough to save her people?

See below for more notable moments in this week's episode....

In Eregion, Celebrimbor revealed that he met Elrond's father Eärendil — the revered half-elf who personally sailed to Valinor and convinced the Valar to join the fight against Morgoth — many times. Eärendil once told Celebrimbor that the elf ruler's future would be in his son's (Elrond) hands. Interesting that he would bring that up now.

Remember that mystery box Prince Durin and his father King Durin III were hiding from Elrond? Well, it turns out the dwarves discovered mithril in an old mine. Described as "lighter than silk" and "harder than iron," the miracle ore is the same material as the shirt Bilbo gave to Frodo in Fellowship of the Ring. (That shirt saved Frodo's life when he was stabbed by an orc in the mines of Moria.)

Unfortunately, mithril is extremely dangerous to obtain and King Durin ordered the mine to be shut down and sealed off. This angered Prince Durin, who cursed his father for crushing his dreams. As the dwarf put it, finding mithril meant "this could be the beginning of a new era for our people."

Elrond offered up poignant words of wisdom about his own father, whose deeds were so great that the Valinor elevated him "beyond the bounds of this world to carry the evening star across the sky."

"For many years at day's end, I would look up at it, wondering what might he think if he were watching me? Would he be proud of what I've accomplished with his legacy, or disappointed by the countless ways I'd failed to live up to it?" Elrond shared with Prince Durin. "But then, one night it struck me that I would be only happy to hear any judgment, so long as it granted me the opportunity to have but one more conversation with my father."

He then urged his dwarf friend, "Do not waste what time you have left with yours."

This moved Durin to apologize to his father, and they were back on the same page. Elrond invited Prince Durin to Lindon, and both dwarves were suspicious about Gil-galad's intent. Even so, they agreed that Prince Durin should go and see what's up.

The surviving orcs of that insurrection in last week's episode spared Arondir's life and instead brought him to their leader, Adar. After a long chat, we learned that Arondir is from Beleriand — which sank during the War of Wrath and all that's left of it now is the elven capitol of Lindon — and Adar, also an elf, recalled walking those lands.

Adar sent Arondir back to his old watchtower, where Bronwyn and the rest of the villagers from  Tirharad relocated, with a message: Surrender their claim over the Southlands and join Team Sauron, or face the Dark Lord's wrath. So, is there a third option...?

If Stranger Danger were a person, it would be the creepy old dude who pulls up on Theo after the injured kid survived an orc attack with help from Arondir. The elder recognized the broken hilt Theo carried around and showed a similar mark, suggesting he once wielded it.

According to the old man, it's not a sword but rather a "power fashioned for our ancestors" by Morgoth. Remember, Theo and his mother Bronwyn are decedents of the humans who sided with Morgoth in the War of Wrath. Theo was then warned save his strength and prepare for what's coming. The Stranger flying across the sky before crash-landing on earth? Yeah, that was a sign that Sauron's return is imminent.

If there's one man not to trust, it's Pharazôn. That man is way too good of a politician, which automatically means he's shady.

Speaking of untrustworthy men, Halbrand is a guy with secrets. Galadriel seems to believe he is the man who can unite the Southlands, but all signs point to him being... Sauron.

For starters, he's from the Southlands, which is Sauron's current base of operations. Plus, in Episode 3, he violently beat up the locals who confronted him about stealing a gold coin. The way he snapped a guy's arm and demanded to be called Halbrand suggested there might be evil flowing through those veins. And in this week's episode, he convinced Pharazôn to allow Galadriel to escape while still locked in his cell.

Spoiler alert for those who haven't read The Silmarillion or the Lord of the Rings trilogy: Pharazôn captures Sauron at one point, and the Dark Lord eventually manipulates him into letting him go. Halbrand's jail scene felt like the start of that.

What do you all think? Is Halbrand Sauron in disguise or just a guy with anger issues? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.