Honestly. You wait a whole season for three magic rings, then seven turn up after five episodes. Here’s our Rings Of Power season two episode five review.
It’s the turn of the Harfoots and the Stranger to take an obligatory break this episode, as we get stuck into the goings on in Númenor, Eregion and a newly enlightened Khazad-dûm. Thanks to Celebrimbor and Sauron’s seven rings (of “for the dwarf lords” fame), Durin III has led his people out of the literal darkness they’ve found themselves in since the collapse of their light holes at the start of the season. The episode even starts with a rather lovely shot of a mountain transitioning into a sapphire-blue ring. Very tasteful.
Less tasteful, perhaps, is the king’s newfound obsession with gold. Not content with a 100% rate of VAT (they don’t call it that) and declaring his people “free from the tyranny of the sun” (they explicitly are not, but it’s a nice line so I’ll forgive them), the elder Durin has started muttering sane-sounding things about gold, and plans to dig deeper under the mountain until he finds it. Everyone needs a hobby, I suppose.
Away from the dwarves, Sauron and Celibrimbor are a little worried their last batch of jewellery – surprise, surprise – may not have gone entirely to plan. How best to rectify their mistake? Why, nine more rings, of course! I’d posit that Sauron’s scheming and manipulating would be a bit more interesting to watch if he faced any obstacles in the process (or at least let out the odd evil cackle every now and then), but at least the show’s newfound pace in season two is cutting to the chase with this ring-making malarky – we all know they’re going to wind up making them anyway.
Meanwhile, in the episode-long break since we last saw them, the people of Númenor have found themselves a new government. Pharazôn, having claimed the blessing of a visiting eagle during Míriel’s coronation back in episode three, seems to be in charge now, ridding the Sea Guard of queen-regent loyalists and being generally wicked. Again, it’s hard not to think that the show keeps skipping over the wrong bits of the story here – we seem to have jumped from grumpy citizenry to completed coup without much of the political/murder content that makes such stories interesting.
On the whole, though, I did enjoy episode five a little more than its predecessors this season, even if I couldn’t put my finger on quite why. The generally shortened runtime definitely helps the experience feel a little less like a chore compared to season one, and some of the dialogue this episode didn’t feel quite as laboured as it has recently.
Read more: The Rings Of Power season 2 episode 4 review | A shortcut to nothing much
Maybe, though, this is just a symptom of managed expectations. By now, it’s hard to imagine anyone continuing to watch The Rings Of Power and feeling disappointed. Fans of the show’s style of storytelling (and the internet informs me there are plenty) get another hour of luxuriating in a sunset-lit fantasy world; everyone else will probably have stopped watching a few episodes ago.
With that in mind, I’m almost starting to enjoy my time in Middle Earth. Nothing much seems to be happening, the clean, orange look of the show is starting to wear off, and I couldn’t give a Warg’s buttock about many of the characters; but there’s something comforting in a glossy, too-expensive fantasy epic pottering towards a destination we all know by heart. I imagine this is how a lot of people felt about Inspector Morse – though I’m not sure the comparison is one Bezos and co will have been aiming for. If they were, there was probably a cheaper way of doing it.
The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power is streaming now on Prime Video.
