If you recall last week’s review, I was pretty cranky with Rings of Power. While I commend the show for not bouncing around as much in season two as in season one, last week’s chosen arcs featured the two I’m just not invested in. Thankfully, this week’s episode, Halls of Stone, was the complete opposite and is perhaps the best episode of the season thus far.

What stands out a lot between last week’s and this week’s episode is who the characters are. Chiefly, who wrote them originally. Last week featured a lot of characters that are original to the show and those who aren’t, like Isildur and Tom Bombadil, are in situations that are never alluded to in Tolkien’s works. This episode featured mainly Tolkien canon characters, tying into events, broadly speaking, that are from the source material. As such, the episode feels much more confident, focused, and more importantly, engaging than it did last week.

This week brought Sauron and Celebrimbor back into the narrative and these two continue to be the highlight of the season. It’s interesting that the Halbrand persona felt like a mystery box all of season one but now that we know he’s Sauron, he’s a far more interesting and well-written character. His manipulation of Celebrimbor is so fun to watch, as he rolls nat20s almost all the time, but, sometimes fails and we can see a tinge of fear in the Dark Lord’s eyes as he sees his project temporarily slip out of his reach. Celebrimbor was steadfast in his conviction that no rings should be made for men for fear of corruption (you got that right), but after learning the seven for the dwarves have produced some corruption of their own, he begins to question his work. Annatar sees his chance and convinces the seven that they were made out of distrust, as the elf lied to King Gil-galad about the status of the forge. In order to redeem the seven now, they must carry on and complete the set by making the nine.

This arc ties in nicely with the arc of the dwarves, who now have seven of their own rings. Durin III uses his ring to immediately dig through the mountain walls to bring sunlight back to his people, which probably gives him just enough goodwill to levy a 100% tax on all trade. His son, Durin IV, suspects the ring and is quick to blame Celebrimbor’s new friend, Annatar. It’s here where Annatar passes the blame back to Celebrimbor for being deceitful in his creation. His wife, Disa, also sings to the rocks, but gets a reply from the Balrog down below. Unfortunately, Durin the elder refuses the warning from his son and daughter-in-law and continues to dig deeper into the mountain. The show is a bit premature bringing the Balrog into the timeline (Durin’s Bane only arrives in the Third Age, this show is the Second Age), but it doesn’t feel too shoehorned in as the Balrog’s rise does seem to be tied to Sauron’s rise to power and the emergence of the Rings.

The show also focused heavily on Númenor, which has been sidelined a bit this season but that’s also okay, knowing their story will probably take up a good chunk of season three. Ar-Pharazônis now King and you can sense the hatred he has for elfdom and the envy he has of them, that they get to live forever while they won’t, despite their extended lifespans. It’s a critical scene, one that will come back into play down the line. Pharazon begins his reign with a purge: all those loyal to the former Queen Regent were stripped of rank. Elendil, captain of the guard, voluntarily retires in protest. Pharazôn son, Kemen, who was the least interesting character in season one, has stepped comfortably into that scumbag Umbridge role, with the writers giving him a lot of power to abuse and indifference about the consequences.

At a shrine where Elendil and company are in prayer, Kemen breaks up the meeting of the Faithful and before long, the confrontation turns violent and a brawl breaks out between him and Valandil, who is subsequently stabbed in the back by Kemen. He then arrests Elendil, blaming him for the uprising against him. The friction between Pharazôn’s elf-hating camp and Elendil’s Faithful is far more organic and believable this time around, with the writers avoiding lazy writing such as season one’s infamous “elves are taking our jobs” line. Now, events are hinged on natural distrust, xenophobia, and most importantly, fear, rather than shoehorning modern politics into the conflict. This arc will become one of the darkest of the show so drawing the battle lines and making them understandable and clearly distinct will only serve this arc down the line.

All in all, this was a significantly better episode than last week’s. I hope when it comes time for season three, the writers will see where their strengths lie and focus more on that. The show is very unbalanced overall, but when it works, like in this episode, then the show is far more fun to watch. With the board in place for a battle at Eregion, let’s see how the season tackles big action, something we’ve yet to see in season two.