The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Episode 5 Review - "Partings" - IGN

Warning: the below contains full spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Episode 5, which is now streaming on Prime Video.

War is on the horizon in The Rings of Power Episode 5, which provides a look at what various characters are fighting for.

The harfoot plot is pretty brief, anchored by a sweet travel sequence set to music that really feels like it gets to the adventurous spirit of Tolkien’s work.

This storyline mostly continues to make clear just how powerful the Stranger is.

Waldreg’s been a scumbag since Episode 1, when he tried to hide news of the spreading corruption from Arondir, and he just keeps doubling down.

It’s really funny to see how quickly he pivots from pledging loyalty to Sauron to offering to serve whoever’s leading the orc army.

In many ways, it feels like The Rings of Power has set itself up as the anti-Game of Thrones, even as comparisons to House of the Dragon continue to run rampant.

Game of Thrones would have played out the council session in Númenor to show some sharp-tongued intrigue, but Rings of Power just gives us the setup and then a shot of Halbrand showing just how well he cleans up.

It looks like Bronwyn and Arondir plan to destroy the tower to prevent Adar from achieving his objective, but that will likely lead to their deaths unless reinforcements arrive in time.

Their friendship is the most charming relationship in the show, driven by just how funny Durin is.