Rings of Power Episode 6 review: Onslaught of bloody action

After a slow build-up, Episode 6 of Rings of Power explodes (quite literally) into an onslaught of action. Has it been worth the wait?

Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is reaching its endgame now, so fans are gearing up for a finale to this somewhat slow but still interesting season.

So far we have been enjoying the series here at Dexerto despite its flaws, or have at least been enjoying how pretty it all looks, and you can read our review of the last episode here.

Episode 6 certainly kicks things into high gear, almost oddly so. But first, warning: while we will attempt to keep things vague, there may still be Rings of Power spoilers ahead…

Rings of Power Episode 6 is a non-stop battle

It’s almost funny how the earlier episodes have been pretty much slowish set-up, while this episode is pretty much nothing but action, which brings together most of the main characters. But the battle between the humans, elves, and orcs helps create an exciting and simultaneously dramatic episode which will likely be the favorite episode so far for many a viewer.

While the action takes place for most of the episode, it is paced significantly well, with moments of triumph and loss intertwining with one another. There’s some genuinely funny slapstick, but also multiple moments where you actually think they’re going to kill off a main character. And while some characters are given more plot armor than could be deemed reasonable, the action is enjoyable and tense enough that it’s easy to let it slide.

What makes the fight even more fun is that the most central villain thus far, Adar (Joseph Mawle), is also present. He is fascinating to watch whenever he is on screen, succeeding in both appearing vulnerable and intimidating.

Rings of Power pays homage to prior LOTR battles

The battle here can be compared to battles of The Lord of the Rings movies, for both better and worse. The action plays with more elf-epicenes and acrobatics, but also feels grounded, unlike the video game battles that took place in The Hobbit trilogy. The fighting feels intimate, taking place in only one village, but also feels larger than life, as the ensuing events turn out to be Earth-shattering – literally.

There is a similar sense of hopelessness that was present in many of the LOTR battles, which endears the main characters all the more to the viewer. And in comparison, Rings of Power actually manages to avoid stating how “hopeless” things are over and over again, unlike in The Twin Towers.

Although, there are a number of moments where the show is trying to be too poetic for its own good. The scene where Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin) asks his mother Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi) to repeat a poem that she told him as a child feels forced, like the writers just wanted to shove another “Not all those who wander are lost” moment in, to much lesser effect.

The speech that Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova) makes to the townspeople before the battle isn’t up to the caliber of Aragorn’s speeches, though nothing likely will. You also still don’t fully feel his and Bronwyn’s romance, granted romance has always been something lacking in the franchise. And the action does make it so you want to see them get out alive together.

Middle-earth is in the middle of a crisis

The ending of the episode is similarly as exciting, though by this point it almost feels like an onslaught of bad stuff happening to our characters.

But while the ending feels similarly as hopeless, since not every character is present in this episode, it’s possible that the next episode will introduce them to these specific events. If not, it’s at least fun to theorize!

Ultimately, this episode leaves you wanting even more action, which considering how much fighting was present, is no small feat.

Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Episode 7 will premiere on Amazon Prime Video on October 7.