The Rings of Power Episode 5 review: The battle begins, or does it?

The Rings of Power finally seems to be reaching its climax with Episode 5, but it may leave audiences wondering…what has actually happened so far?

Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, while not as successful as the recent Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon, has still managed to make a splash with audiences.

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 5 finally begins building to a climax, but that in turn leads us to question the pacing of the series as a whole. But first, warning: while we will attempt to keep things vague, there may still be Rings of Power spoilers ahead…

Rings of Power Episode 5 doesn’t pack much power just yet

We are about to reach the endgame of this series as we begin the season’s second half. There’s definitely action worth getting interested in, from characters turning themselves over to the villains, to different motivations coming clear and new voyages setting sail.

However, when you look back on the series as a whole, the five hours we’ve just watched, you may wonder: What has actually happened so far? Since there are so many characters, it may seem like there’s a lot going on, but actually, most of these characters have done little in their own storylines, which brings down the pacing of the show as a whole.

This is obviously a problem – for lack of a better word – of the source material. That is, The Silmarillion, the book on which Rings of Power is based – is more of a historical text that an actual story, therefore we don’t have characters making plot-altering decisions every 10 minutes the way they do in Lord of the Rings. So while this show’s plot feels vast and grand, it should aim to get things going faster in the future.

Conflict is building, will it finally burst?

This series follows a time of peace that descends into darkness, so naturally, there’s tensions arising everywhere we go. There are some moments where it feels repetitive, there always seems to be an unlikeable guy trying to rile up a mob, but when the series focuses on the tension between main characters, that is where it shines.

A confrontation between Galadriel and Halbrand is probably the highlight of the episode. While it initially seemed as such, it’s nice that the series isn’t solely focusing on them as a potential romantic pairing, instead they work well as allies, pushing each other to be better.

With so much tension between folks in the series, it does feel satisfying when we get moments of understanding and communication. This also appears in a scene between Elrond and Durin, which is delightfully heart-warming. The actors all work well delivering emotional moments in the way that their characters respectively would.

The action is surprisingly light-hearted

Despite the plot leading towards what will likely be a bloody battle – which we only see a glimpse of with the orcs – the action in this episode gears more fun and zany.

There is a somewhat dangerous animal chase scene, but you can already sense how it is going to end, so the stakes don’t feel super high. There’s also a fun sword training fight later on, which again, lacks stakes, but the creative choreography easily makes up for that.

The villains of the series don’t pull major punches in this episode either. Even with a potential Sauron appearance, which we won’t dare talk about right now.

Just know that if you’re waiting for stuff to get real, now may be the perfect time to begin watching this series.

Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Episode 6 will premiere on Amazon Prime Video on September 30.