If there’s one thing The Rings of Power can’t be accused of, is doing poor action set pieces. This was true in the first season during the battle in the Southlands and this remains true with season two’s big action set pieces. What’s wild is that the action isn’t even done yet, as the assault will continue in next week’s finale! But just because the action is good, does that mean the episode was? Let’s find out.

And while there was tons of action, mayhem, brutality, and suffering this week, the penultimate episode of season two of Rings of Power focuses a lot of the screen time on Celebrimbor and Sauron’s relationship, as the elven blacksmith begins to see the cracks in the illusion that Sauron has conjured and ultimately realizes what’s really going on. I liked when the veil broke for just a moment and Celebrimbor saw his true reflection in the mirror, but questioned what he saw.

Charles Edwards really crushed it this week as Celebrimbor, offering up the best acting in the show to date as he straddled the line between madness and reason. I like how when he became himself again, the truth sounded too unbelievable for others to digest and due to his forgetfulness and Annatar’s silver tongue, and he was ultimately cast aside under the wrongful assumption that he truly was losing his mind in the middle of a battle. Even when Sauron was revealed, he continued to gaslight and manipulate Celebrimbor, never letting him stop working on the Nine Rings, which we know which cause all kinds of problems down the line. I especially liked Celebrimbor admitted that he knew, deep down, that Annatar was Sauron, but he let himself believe the lies in order to work on something amazing. Hubris and ego really are one hell of a duo. Acting against Edwards was Vickers, whose Annatar was calm (until he wasn’t), calculating, and ruthless. Like last week, I like that we get to see him use magic quite a bit, which showcases just how powerful he can be.

An issue I had with season one was how the costuming just didn’t feel right, particularly when it came to the armour. I’m happy to say that the elven armour this season seen in the siege was awesome. They felt like real, heavy pieces of metal and the way the light bounced off of them worked so well in the contrast between light and dark.

By its very nature of being a siege, this episode will no doubt be compared heavily to the Battle of Helm’s Deep from The Two Towers, arguably the best battle scene shot in a medieval or fantasy setting. And while I wouldn’t say it surpasses that, the bar is already set so high, what was on display here, bearing in mind this is television, was certainly impressive. Siege machines, CGI, practical effects, hundreds of extras, it had it all and the show did not waste a single penny on spectacle. The end result was a pretty entertaining 70ish minutes of blockbuster spectacle.

Unlike Helm’s Deep, Doomed To Die wisely doesn’t cut back to Nori or Numenor’s plotlines, which I think would’ve hurt this episode and derailed the pacing. The only time it did leave Eregion was to cut back to the dwarves, but since those two stories are tied together by the Rings and by Elrond’s request for Dwarven aid in the battle to come, cutting away to see how Durin IV is preparing for the battle while also juggling an attempted coup on the throne against his father made sense. The show also didn’t cut away to this subplot too often, giving us just enough to catch our breath while keeping the stakes up. It seems that Durin III will continue to mine deeper into the mountain, which will likely cause the Balrog Durin’s Bane to be unleashed in next week’s finale.

We’ll see where things go in the finale this time around, as the first season finale was incredibly rushed and felt a bit lacking. Continuing the action and closing out some arcs should pave the way for a stronger finale. I’m curious to see what will happen between Sauron and Galadriel, as she is now in possession of the Nine and we know Sauron gets the rings and that Galadriel doesn’t die, so how does he reclaim the rings I wonder? Also, is Arondir dead? I thought so at first, but it seems he may be alive? Guess we’ll (hopefully) find out in next week’s finale! But for this week’s entry, I’d say it was another overall win for Rings of Power, as it put on display everything that it does well: a more focused episode that doesn’t bounce around a lot, that balances fun action as well as character-driven dialogue. Do more of this in season three writers, lean into your strengths!