Rings of Power's Most Pause-Worthy Moment Even Haters Appreciate
Whatever you think about The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, it cannot be denied that the show included a number of visually impressive scenes, almost worthy of Peter Jackson's Middle-earth movie trilogies.
The majestic Two Trees of Valinor. The Stranger in the crater. The spectacular introductory views of Khazad-dûm and Numenor. The vision of Numenor's watery destruction. Scenic landscapes over which the Harfoots wander. The Balrog's awakening. Mount Doom's eruption. And some viewers can probably add more to their personal lists.
But what scene in the entirety of Season 1 was considered the most visually impressive, the most pause-worthy? Well, insofar as reactions of the audience are concerned, the favorite is clear: the raft reflection scene.
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To elaborate, when Halbrand reveals himself to be Sauron in the season finale, he traps Galadriel in an illusion, which creates visions of different points in her past. When Galadriel fights off his first attempt at mental influence, and he resorts to subtler means, another of these visions takes the pair back to their life raft, adrift on the ocean, where they first met.
At this point Sauron is trying to win Galadriel over to his side in a seductive fashion, by pretending redemption and insisting that he's acting for the greater good of Middle-earth. At one point, he even suggests that they could have been king and queen together. At that moment the camera pans down into the water to show a warped reflection of the two characters in regal form.
The thought of Sauron and Galadriel as partners in crime — and rulers of Middle-earth, to boot — is mind-blowing, and the vague but spectacular image is a perfect place for a pause.
Indeed, it is easy to see to quite a few people have paused on this scene, and more than once, considering the tiny details they have noticed. Or, perhaps, the details they merely imagined, if you follow the discussion.
In any case, it is obvious that no other scene in the series earned such attention from the fans. Even the haters of the show have noticed it, even used it for their memes and trolling – though the haters use it to highlight the romantic subtext of the relationship between Galadriel and Sauron, which they ruthlessly mock.