"Doomed to Die" is the seventh episode of the second season of the American fantasy television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The series is based on J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, primarily material from the appendices of the novel The Lord of the Rings (1954–55). The episode is set thousands of years before the novel in Middle-earth's Second Age. It was written by showrunners J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay, and Justin Doble, and directed by Charlotte Brändström.
Payne and McKay were set to develop the series in July 2018, and a second season was ordered in November 2019. Filming began in the United Kingdom in October 2022, with Brändström returning from the first season. Production on the season wrapped in June 2023. The episode is dedicated to the Siege of Eregion.
"Doomed to Die" premiered on the streaming service Amazon Prime Video on September 26, 2024. It was estimated to have high viewership and received positive reviews, with multiple critics praising it as the best episode of the season and highlighting the character development, narrative focus, and the execution of the action sequences. The cast and crew defended a controversial kiss between the characters Elrond and Galadriel. The episode was nominated for several awards.
Plot Celebrimbor creates nine Rings of Power for Men, not knowing that Eregion is under attack from across the river that surrounds the city. He begins to notice signs that he is trapped in an illusion. As Sauron, posing as Annatar, discusses the defense of the city with its Elven soldiers, Adar orders his Orcs to aim their trebuchets at the mountains beyond the city. They cause a rockslide that blocks the river upstream, allowing the Orcs to assault the city's walls on foot.
Elrond comes to Khazad-dûm and asks Prince Durin IV to send aid to Eregion. King Durin III attacks Disa and Narvi in an attempt to mine more mithril. Concerned that his father's actions could awaken the evil beneath the mines, Durin IV prioritizes stopping him and decides not to send their army to Eregion.
Celebrimbor confronts Annatar and the latter ends the illusion, revealing the battle and that Celebrimbor has made the nine rings using Sauron's blood rather than mithril. Celebrimbor tries to warn his soldiers about Sauron, but the latter has convinced them that Celebrimbor is mentally unwell and makes it look like Celebrimbor pushes the smith Mirdania from the city walls to her death. Celebrimbor is imprisoned in his forge, where Sauron promises to spare the city if the nine rings are completed.
Elrond, High King Gil-galad, and the forces of Lindon arrive at Eregion to find the Orcs holding Galadriel hostage. Elrond attempts to negotiate her release, but refuses to hand over her ring, Nenya, to Adar. Elrond kisses Galadriel as cover to give her a pin that she can use to escape her shackles. The Elves continue their attack. That night, Galadriel attempts to escape while Adar and the Orcs are mourning their dead. She is saved from some Orcs by Arondir and the pair sneak into Eregion.
Celebrimbor attempts to escape with the nine rings and is captured by his soldiers. Galadriel finds them and convinces the soldiers that Celebrimbor has been telling the truth. He gives her the nine rings and takes the soldiers to delay Sauron. Elrond, Arondir, and Gil-galad kill the Hill-troll Damrod. As the sun rises, a small number of Elves are faced with a new wave of Orcs led by Adar. Elrond is disappointed when Durin IV does not arrive. Adar stabs Arondir and takes Nenya from Elrond.
Production Development Amazon acquired the television rights for J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings (1954–55) in November 2017. The company's streaming service, Amazon Prime Video, ordered a series based on the novel and its appendices to be produced by Amazon Studios in association with New Line Cinema. It was later titled The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Amazon hired J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay to develop the series and serve as showrunners in July 2018, and Justin Doble joined as a writer by the following July. The series was originally expected to be a continuation of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings (2001–2003) and The Hobbit (2012–2014) film trilogies, but Amazon later clarified that their deal with the Tolkien Estate required them to keep the series distinct from Jackson's films. Despite this, the showrunners intended for it to be visually consistent with the films. A second season was ordered in November 2019, and Amazon announced in August 2021 that it was moving production of the series from New Zealand, where Jackson's films were made, to the United Kingdom starting with the second season. The season's all-female directing team was revealed in December 2022: Charlotte Brändström, returning from the first season; Sanaa Hamri; and Louise Hooper.
The series is set in the Second Age of Middle-earth, thousands of years before Tolkien's The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings. Because Amazon did not acquire the rights to Tolkien's other works where the First and Second Ages are primarily explored, the writers had to identify references to the Second Age in The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and its appendices, and create a story that bridged those passages. After introducing the setting and major heroic characters in the first season, the showrunners said the second would focus on the villains and go deeper into the "lore and the stories people have been waiting to hear". The season's seventh episode, titled "Doomed to Die", was written by Payne, McKay, and Doble, and directed by Brändström. The title references a line from Tolkien's Ring Verse poem: "Nine [Rings] for mortal Men doomed to die".
Writing Star Robert Aramayo said he was against the kiss between his character, Elrond, and Morfydd Clark's Galadriel at first, but came around to the idea after discussing the scene with Clark. He explained that it is not romantic and is primarily a strategic move to give her the pin so she can escape, but that it is also an emotional goodbye. Clark suggested that kissing would not mean the same thing for Elves as it does for humans. McKay reiterated these thoughts, saying they thought the kiss was "a delightful way to show that [Elrond] was sorry that he mistrusted [Galadriel] for so long, and he loved her, and he was going to have to leave her to her own fate. He needed to distract the room so that he could slip her a hope that maybe she could get out of there. A kiss means a different thing between Elves. Thousands of years of friendship mean a different thing to Elves."
Casting
The season's cast includes Robert Aramayo as Elrond, Owain Arthur as Durin IV, Morfydd Clark as Galadriel, Ismael Cruz Córdova as Arondir, Charles Edwards as Celebrimbor, Peter Mullan as Durin III, Sophia Nomvete as Disa, Charlie Vickers as Sauron, and Benjamin Walker as Gil-galad. Also starring in the episode are Amelia Kenworthy as Mirdania, Kevin Eldon as Narvi, Sam Hazeldine as Adar, Kai Martin as Zhor, Simon Haines as Malendol, Selina Lo as Rían, Robert Strange as Glûg, Charlie Rix as Vorohil, and Jason Smith as the voice of Damrod. Mark Archer, Bridie Sisson, and Stephen Shanly play unnamed Orcs in the episode.
Filming Filming for the season began on October 3, 2022, under the working title LBP. Episodes were shot simultaneously based on the availability of locations and sets. Alex Disenhof returned from the first season to work with Brändström as director of photography. Vic Armstrong was the stunt coordinator and second unit director for the season. The production wrapped in early June 2023.
Visual effects Visual effects for the episode were created by DNEG, Outpost VFX, The Yard VFX, Midas VFX, Monsters Aliens Robots Zombies, Untold Studios, Atomic Arts, and Cantina Creative. The different vendors were overseen by visual effects supervisor Jason Smith.
Music
A soundtrack album featuring composer Bear McCreary's score for the episode was released digitally on the streaming service Amazon Music on September 26, 2024. McCreary said the series' episodic albums contained "virtually every second of score" from their respective episodes. It was added to other music streaming services after the full second season was released. A CD featuring the episode's music is included in a limited edition box set collection for the season from Mutant and McCreary's label Sparks & Shadows. The box set was announced in October 2025, and includes a journal written by McCreary which details the creation of the episode's score. All music was composed by Bear McCreary:
Release "Doomed to Die" premiered on Prime Video in the United States on September 26, 2024. It was released at the same time around the world, in more than 240 countries and territories.
Reception Viewership Luminate, which gathers viewership data from smart TVs, said the series was watched for 398.3 million minutes in the week ending September 26, which included several days of viewership for the sixth episode in addition to the seventh episode's debut. It tied for fourth place with Netflix's Emily in Paris. Whip Media, which tracks viewership data for the 25 million worldwide users of its TV Time app, again listed the series third—behind Hulu's Only Murders in the Building and Disney+'s Agatha All Along—on its US streaming chart for the week ending September 29. Nielsen Media Research, which records streaming viewership on US television screens, estimated that The Rings of Power had 733 million minutes viewed in the week ending September 29. This made it the fourth biggest original streaming series of the week behind Netflix's Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, Nobody Wants This, and Mr. McMahon. Samba TV, which also gathers viewership data from smart TVs, listed the series ninth on its chart of top streaming programs for the week ending September 29.
Critical response Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes calculated that 100% of 12 critics reviews for the episode were positive, and the average of rated reviews was 8.4 out of 10.
Matt Schimkowitz of The A.V. Club graded the episode an "A-" and said it "raises the show to exhilarating new heights". He specifically praised Brändström's direction, the use of the series' large budget to realize the battle sequences, and Edwards's performance as Celebrimbor. Reviewing the episode for Polygon, Leon Miller praised it as the best of the season and possibly the series, specifically for its thematic clarity and character development which he felt was allowed by the focus on just the Siege of Eregion and related scenes in Khazad-dûm. Miller lamented that the rest of the season could not be so focused due to the number of different storylines. He also praised the work done by Armstrong and the writers in designing unique action moments that allowed the episode to stand out from previous The Lord of the Rings battle sequences. Samantha Nelson at IGN gave the episode 8 out of 10 and called it the best of the season, though she did not think it bested the "dramatic twists of fortune" in the first season's "Udûn". Similar to Miller, Nelson attributed the episode's success to its focus on Eregion and expressed concern that the season finale would not be able to match this with the number of storylines needed to be resolved by the end of the season. She praised the episode's action and character moments.