Review: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, "Halls of Stone" | Season 2, Episode 5

Baby, we're gonna dig down deep

Photo by: Ross Ferguson/Amazon Prime

Say what you will about the second season of The Rings of Power, but it’s delivering on its title. We’re past the halfway mark (it’s wild how dropping three episodes at once as a premiere will speed things up), and Sauron has already guided—and corrupted—the creation of seven rings for the “Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone.” Only one ring has been delivered, but King Durin is well on his way to passing along the other six, and things seem to be going well for him and his people. Following the ring’s guidance, the King is able to find the right places in Khazad-dum to dig to let the sunlight back into the caves, seemingly solving his people’s greatest crisis with a few swings of a pick-ax. Disa is suspicious, and Duin tries to convince his father that something is wrong, but it’s of no use. The ring has him. These events have a certain trajectory.

It’s that trajectory that I’m here to watch. I want to see the show deliver on its title. I want to se…