Joanna and Mal are back in Middle-earth to talk about the penultimate episode in Season 1 of The Rings of Power. They start by discussing their overall impressions of the episode (7:43). Then, they go for a Helm’s-Deep deep dive into the episode to break down all the details and character moments in every story line (11:59). Later, they discuss their theories about what’s in store for the finale (2:02:22). Finally, they take a dip in the Forbidden Pool and analyze Prince Durin, looking ahead to what potential book spoilers might mean for his character arc (2:11:18).

If you would like to email Mal and Joanna about the show, you can reach them at hobbitsanddragons@gmail.com.

Hosts: Joanna Robinson and Mallory Rubin
Associate Producer: Carlos Chiriboga
Social: Jomi Adeniran
Addition Production Support: Arjuna Ramgopal

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Mallory Rubin

Mallory Rubin is the head of editorial at The Ringer and the cohost of ‘House of R’ and ‘Binge Mode.’

Joanna Robinson

Joanna Robinson is a cultural critic appearing on several podcasts, including ‘House of R,’ ‘Prestige TV,’ and ‘Trial by Content.’ Formerly a senior writer at Vanity Fair from 2014-21, she is the author of the New York Times bestselling book ‘MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios.’