The Rings of Power season 2 is now already more than halfway through, and it seems danger is lurking around every corner. The latest episode takes no prisoners either as one of the darkest outings of the Lord of the Rings show yet. However, with so many storylines and characters to navigate, you’d be forgiven if you were a little confused about where we stand in all corners of Middle-earth.
Below, we break down all the major happenings in episode five, from what Annatar’s latest plan means to just how much danger Khazad-dûm is really in. Then there’s what’s going down in Numenor, which could have big implications on the rest of Middle-earth.
However, before we get any further digging into one of the best shows on Amazon Prime Video, take this as your spoiler warning. We’ll be getting into major details of The Rings of Power season 2 episode 5 below so make sure you’re up to date before reading on.
The Rings of Power season 2 episode 5 recap
The latest episode of the fantasy epic begins in Khazad-dûm where the influence and power of the new rings rear their head. King Durin is opening up the mountain kingdom to the light, using the power of his ring to be able to tell his men where to dig. However, not everyone is so keen about his approach, as Disa tells Prince Durin she’s worried about the fact that its power may be too tempting for the leader to contain. And as we see a little while later, it already is causing issues as the King tells the other Dwarven lords they must pay a bounty to be able to use the rings.
Later in the episode, Disa buys a tuning crystal, but ends up losing it in the tunnels of the mine. As she goes into the darkness, she sings out to find it, but something terrifying replies in the depths of the mountain. This rings warning bells for Disa and Prince Durin as the King vows to ignore his restrictions and keep digging deeper into Khazad-Dum to find more gold. What could go wrong?
Meanwhile in Eregion, Sauron in Annatar form is still manipulating Celebrimbor and the work at the Elven forge. Celebrimbor has a surprise for them too: the Doors of Durin, which are covered with Ithildin. Annatar is trying to convince Celebrimbor to make rings for men, as they are suffering the most in Middle-earth. "It is a game you play is it not? Sowing seeds in others’ minds," he asks Annatar at one point, almost blowing the whole disguise wide open.
Undeterred, Celebrimbor refuses, getting Annatar to take on the task on his own, after he vows to find men who are pure of heart. "I shall make the nine myself," he says, but it proves to be harder than he imagined. Mirdania gets the rough side of this after she tries on one of the rings they’ve been working on, which takes her into the unseen world. "It was tall, and its skin was made of flames," she warns of a beast she saw hunting them.
Annatar uses it as an opportunity to try and persuade Celebrimbor to help with the making of the rings, as well as leaning on Mirdania to persuade him too with a cheeky compliment that she looks like Galadriel (calm down Haladriel shippers).
This is when the storylines between the Dwarves and the Elves collide as Durin shares his worries about how his father has been changed by the rings. Celebrimbor says it’s impossible that they’ve been corrupted, even by the ring makers. He confronts Annatar about this, asking if he’s been influencing the rings, who suggests that his deceit of Gil-galad is what tainted them. The conclusion plays right into his favor though, as Celebrimbor decides they must start again with the next rings, bringing purity into the nine.
Numenor is not immune from political machinations either as tension grows among the men. Now Pharazôn has taken the throne, he’s made the decision to cement his reign with an iron fist. Speaking to his son Kemen, he instructs him to squash all potential traitors. Ominously, he tells him too that his mother had a prophecy that he would “come to ill ends”. If he does his dirty work, Pharazôn will clarify how.
Elsewhere, Elendil tries to counsel Míriel to make a stand as the sea guard will protect her. However, she’s now so preoccupied with the fate of Numenor, and that it may have changed, so she wants to keep the status quo. This leaves Elendil in a challenging position – especially as his daughter Eärien has declared herself team Pharazôn – about whether to show loyalty. Ultimately, he decides against it, handing in his captain's robes to Kemen, just as his men also do.
It’s a decision that has bloody consequences in the final act as while praying in the temple for the souls that have been lost, Kemen’s men march in and overthrow him and Valandil. Kemen destroys a priceless artefact, as Valandil challenges him, aiming his sword at his neck, only not killing him on Elendil’s orders. Kemen is not as noble, stabbing Valandil in the back, murdering him in the most cowardly way.
We see very little of the Elves outside of the forge this week, aside from a small update as Gil-galad plots where to send his efforts – Eregion or towards Adar. He decides the latter as we get a tiny glimpse of just how the Orc’s ‘father’ is fairing with his new prisoner Galadriel. “I brought you here not as a prisoner, but as a potential ally,” he tells her. “For we share a common enemy.” Watch out Sauron.
The Rings of Power season 2 episode 5 Easter eggs
Doors of Durin: After Celebrimbor invented Ithildin earlier in season 2, it was perhaps inevitable that we’d see it in its most famous use on the Doors of Durin. The design of the doors is unveiled in the latest episode as Narvi explains it will be, “guarded by a password known only to friends”. Now if you know your Lord of the Rings, you’ll know exactly what this password is because Frodo and the Fellowship have to use it to enter Moria. It’s the Elven word for friends: mellon.
Palantír: Míriel and Elendil discuss the vision he saw in the Palantír, which is one of the crystal balls used in J. R. R. Tolkien’s novels to predict events to come. Elendil’s vision was himself riding lost from a city he doesn’t know. Given the fate of Numenor to come, it seems pretty clear it can’t mean anything good, even if it does reassure Míriel.
Rings for men: Annatar’s big plan in the latest episode of The Rings of Power is to get Celembrimbor to make rings for men, nine of them to be exact. These are the final rings that Sauron oversees before he instructs Celebrimbor to make the One Ring to Rule Them All. He suggests that they find trustworthy ring bearers, from Numenor to Rhûn. In The Lord of the Rings we never really find out who these men were, other than the Witch-king of Angmar, Khamûl, and the unnamed Ringwraiths. Could we learn more about the Nazghûl here?
The One Ring: At one point Mirdania puts on one of the rings that they’re working on that has been made using more Mithril than ever before. It makes her invisible and she enters the “unseen world”. It certainly seems that this might be an early prototype for the eventual One Ring, given its familiarity to the realm.
The Balrog: In the depths of Khazad-Dum, Disa spots something. When she uses her voice to locate her tuning crystal, a groan erupts from under the water. What’s hiding under there? Well, it seems pretty certain that it’s the Balrog, as we know the creature lives under the mountains from the Lord of the Rings – and it even appeared in the season 2 trailer.
For more, check out our guide to The Rings of Power season 2 release schedule and our The Rings of Power season 2 review.
