'The Rings Of Power' Season 3 Episode 3 Recap: Is Marnûkh Deceiving Galadriel?

In episode 3 of The Rings of Power Season 3, we see the Dark Wizard trying to grow vegetation in Rhûn and failing to do so. One of his acolytes informs him that the Gaudrim (the delegates that had gone to Sauron) have returned. The Dark Wizard hears what she is saying but he chooses to talk about how the Tears of the Valar lilies used to be in abundance in Rhûn. When the acolyte asks him why they are all gone, the Dark Wizard doesn’t answer her query, and instead says that, once he has one of the Rings of Power, the land will be green again. As he heads to his throne room, we get a brief glimpse of Gandalf disguised as an acolyte; the Dark Wizard is clearly not aware of his presence, hence, he gets busy chatting with the Gaudrim without addressing the elephant in the room. The Dark Wizard notices Khamûl in his new attire and he spots a Ring of Power on his finger; so, he assumes that Rhûn and Mordor’s alliance has been forged and he asks Khamûl to give the ring to him, as that was the original plan. But Khamûl makes it clear that the ring belongs to him and so does the throne upon which the Dark Wizard sits. The Dark Wizard tries his best to not accept Khamûl’s demands but when Khamûl almost wrecks the jewel on his staff and reminds him that it’s his fault that Rhûn is in ruins, the Dark Wizard gives up. Khamûl tells the people in the room that Sauron wants the armies of Rhûn to join him in his conquest to take over Middle-earth. He says that he’ll return to Rhûn with his legions of doom on the next blood moon, and that’s when they’ll all march together under Sauron’s banner. This prompts all of the Dark Wizard’s acolytes to start chanting Sauron’s name. Gandalf turns to Bombadil and talks about how this doesn’t bode well for the future of Middle-earth; Bombadil obviously says something whimsical about living in the present and then advises Gandalf to exit the throne room before they are discovered. Instead of doing so, Gandalf goes to the castle’s backyard (he’s followed by one of the acolytes but his staff takes care of that attacker) and finds a demented oliphaunt. When Gandalf takes off the oliphaunt’s armor, he notices its eyes going from bright yellow to the natural bluish-grey it has. What happens next? Let’s find out.

Spoiler Alert

Gandalf Meets The Secret Fire

Gandalf meets up with Bombadil to share a theory that he has come up with after his interaction with that oliphaunt: they don’t need to defeat two armies (the ones from Mordor and Rhûn), they just need to defeat the Dark Wizard. He believes that everything that has been touched by the Dark Wizard is bound to him by his curse. Once that curse is lifted, those under the Dark Wizard’s spell will scatter and run away from Rhûn. Therefore, when Khamûl will arrive in Rhûn to expand Sauron’s legion of doom, they will find no one to recruit, and Sauron’s plan of using them to take over Middle-earth will crumble immediately. Bombadil doesn’t exactly agree with this theory but he also doesn’t say why he thinks Gandalf’s theory is bad, which really angers Sauron. Gandalf apologizes for his anger but that doesn’t stop Bombadil from inundating him with riddles. Gandalf exits Bombadil’s hut to look for the rabbit that he has been telling him to fetch. When he finds the rabbit, he chases after it and is transported to some kind of a spirit realm where the rabbit transforms into the Secret Fire. The disembodied voice of this seemingly celestial being states that he is in the DNA of every living being in the universe because he is the creator of the universe. Gandalf realizes that he is meant to serve him. The Secret Fire reveals that he had sent five servants to save Middle-earth; Gandalf is a member of that group. Gandalf informs the Secret Fire that the Dark Wizard, who also belonged to that order, has strayed far away from his role of  a protector and he has become a tyrant. The Secret Fire says that Dar Wizard’s actual name is Pallando, and he is one of the two wizards who were meant to look over Rhûn. But due to his ambition or greed, Pallando murdered his companion, which apparently had such a ripple effect that it turned Rhûn from a land full of greenery and rivers to a desert. Gandalf wonders how he can defeat Pallando; the Secret Fire says that Gandalf’s responsibility isn’t to kill Pallando, but to save him from his own doom. It’s actually his and Pallando’s union that can prevent the armies of Rhûn from joining hands with Sauron. On that note, the AR chat between the Secret Fire and Gandalf ends and the latter rushes to Bombadil’s house to tell him that he now knows what he has to do, but Bombadil has already left for Withywindle. All there’s left in there is a wizard’s hat and when Gandalf wears it, his look finally feels complete.

Elendil Is Abducted By Kemen

In West Númenor (Haven of the Faithful), Anárion is seen training his troops. That’s interrupted by Elendil, who takes him away from his camp and to the beaches to have a chat about Pharazôn planting a spy in their army. Anárion can’t believe it but Elendil believes that Eärien’s intel is correct. Queen Míriel has passed an order to identify this spy and punish him. Anárion assumes that that’ll take them months and distract them from their training to reclaim the throne of Númenor. Elendil clears up this misconception by revealing that, in the next few nights, this spy is supposed to meet Pharazôn’s men at the ruins of the old stargazing tower to deliver a map of all the locations where the Faithful have been hiding; if they can intercept that meeting, they can catch the spy. After briefly reminiscing about the past, Anárion wonders how long this civil war is going to last and how it will end. Elendil says that they should just focus on nabbing that spy because that’ll at least help them hide from Pharazôn’s armies; and he advises Anárion to not involve a lot of people in this spy-detection mission–only the two of them will try to catch the spy–or else the spy might find out that they are being tracked. Seemingly a few nights later, Anárion and Elendil try to catch this spy, but it turns out to be a trap set by Pharazôn to capture Elendil. The “messenger” is none other than Kemen and, during an exchange of verbal jabs, he informs Elendil that Eärien has died. On that note, Elendil attacks the Númenorean guards. When Anárion hears the commotion, he attacks the guards too and tries to save Elendil from being abducted, but he fails.

A Nazgnagôl Is Following Marnûkh, Arondir, And Galadriel

Arondir, Galadriel, and Marnûkh are seen heading from Rivendell to Mount Gundabad because that’s where the last of the Elven-smiths, Maitalle, is hiding. Marnûkh complains about Elven food. He almost kills a butterfly, but he keeps it in his pouch. They come across a patch in the woods where a skirmish between Orcs and Elves has taken place and both parties have suffered heavy casualties. Marnûkh tries to move one of the Orcs out of the rotting leaves because he used to be his mate, but Galadriel advises Marnûkh not to do so because if someone else comes through this path, they will know that somebody has moved the bodies. As Galadriel resumes their journey, Marnûkh says that they should take a different route to get to Gundabad because the squadron that has partaken in the skirmish whose aftermath they are looking at is going to lay siege on the Coldfells later that night. So, if they continue on their original route, they will be caught in the crossfire of the trebuchets. Arondir is doubtful about Marnûkh’s suggestion, but Galadriel chooses to believe him, largely because they have no choice but to trust the Orc who has betrayed his legion to stop Sauron. Soon after they head in the direction pointed by Marnûkh, a pair of Nazgnagôls reach the spot from which the trio diverted from their usual route. One of those Nazgnagôls transforms a sparrow into a raven and sends it to Mordor with a message for Sauron that Marnûkh is taking them to the North. Sauron’s Orc assistant theorizes that Marnûkh might be making a play for Galadriel’s ring. Sauron doesn’t like theories, which is why he tells his Orc assistant to gather as much information as he can on Marnûkh. After Sauron is seemingly done turning Theo into a Nazgnagôl, his Orc assistant approaches him to let him know that Marnûkh used to be a torture master and he played a role in the battle of Eregion. Hence, Sauron tells the Orc to gather all the details on what he did before, during, and after that battle, or find someone who is familiar with Marnûkh’s activities. Speaking of Marnûkh, en route to Gundabad, he recites a poem to Galadriel and Arondir. This moment is ruined by the arrival of those two Nazgnagôls, which prompts them to hide in the bushes. Galadriel extracts the butterfly from Marnûkh’s pocket and creates a distraction.

Sauron Heads To Gundabad

Later at night, at the temporary camp they have set up, Galadriel and Arondir accuse Marnûkh of leading them into a trap. Marnûkh retaliates by insulting Bronwyn’s memory, which almost causes Arondir to lose his cool and kill Marnûkh. Arondir walks away from the camp and Marnûkh warns Galadriel that Arondir will have them all killed. Galadriel goes after Arondir and reiterates his suspicions about Marnûkh’s allegiance, and he suggests that they return to Rivendell and resume their search for Maitalle when they have more info. Surprisingly enough, Galadriel sides with Marnûkh and she advises Arondir to go and look for Theo while she continues to head towards Gundabad. Since Galadriel orders him to do this, Arondir has no choice but to accept this directive. Going back to Mordor, the Orc assistant presents two Elves, Carammir and Ellas, before Sauron. They were captured after the Battle of Eregion and they have been working as labourers in Mordor. They used to know Celebrimbor pretty well and they were allegedly marched out of Eregion by Marnûkh. Sauron poisons Ellas and tells Carammir that if he can give him any info on Marnûkh–especially if he was carrying Celebrimbor’s research papers with him–then he will give Ellas the antidote and she will live; if he doesn’t, Ellas will die. Carammir has a vague idea of Marnûkh leaving him and Ellas in Mordor and then going away somewhere with an Elven-smith. He legitimately doesn’t know that the name of the Elven-smith is Maitalle or that he took her to Gundabad. But instead of appreciating Carammir’s honesty, Sauron sees the Elves as individuals who are useless to his cause; therefore, he lets both of them die (Sauron had given Ellas an exploding poison, so when she explodes, Carammir dies with her). That said, Sauron does deduce that Marnûkh might have gone to Gundabad, so he brings out a fell beast and decides to fly to that wretched place Speaking of Marnûkh, it turns out that he wasn’t lying to Arondir and Galadriel because Arondir witnesses the siege of Coldfells. Hence, instead of going to Pelargir, Arondir reunites with Galadriel and Marnûkh, and even volunteers to go into Mount Gundabad as Marnûkh’s prisoner. To what end? So that they can create some kind of ruse to fool the guards in there, search for Maitalle, rescue her, and then escape back to Rivendell before Sauron gets there.

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